Gargoyles
by TVfan
Summary: Goliath and his clan have come a long way since awakening in New York. He has found love with Elisa. The clan has grown with the transformations inflicted on Elisa and the female trio. But, they have many battles still to fight and a long way to go to win acceptance. (transferred from the Gargoyles Fan Website where I'm SN and have forgotten my password.)
1. Surrounded

All characters appearing in Gargoyles and Gargoyles: The Goliath Chronicles are copyrighted to Buena Vista Television/The Walt Disney Company. No infringement of these copyrights is intended, and is not authorized by the copyright holder. All original characters are the property of SN.

Note: I'm disregarding the events of the "Goliath Chronicles", with the exception of "The Journey" because I do not wish to use the rest of the "Goliath Chronicles" as canon to my story. This story takes place two weeks after "The Spoils of War".

Surrounded

By SN/TVfan

Email: Sam_Nary

**Warehouse, Long Island**

"Come on," Fang complained, "The clan sure has to have gotten over your return by now."

"I would prefer to wait until we are ready," the new Thailog answered, "A direct return to Manhattan might get us caught."

"There's the Pack," Fang offered, "They escaped Nightstone too! I'm sure I could get them to help."

"There is a flaw in your thinking," Thailog retorted, "The Pack are mercenaries, and greedy at that. Great people, but I do not have the funds to pay them. As far as they are concerned, they can fight the clan all they want."

"The clan is looking for us!" Fang argued, "We should meet them head on."

"If we are found, our priority is to escape," Thailog corrected, "We are outnumbered by both the clan and the Pack. For now we must bide our time and build up our strength. There is much we can do without coming to direct blows with Goliath."

With that, Thailog strolled around the abandoned warehouse, leaving Fang to snarl at his new 'ally'. Since Thailog's planned attention grabber two weeks ago, the two had descended to what was quite essentially petty crime. Fang thought some of this was fairly effective. It was far easier to get someone's money when they'd been knocked out before they realized what happened to them. The warehouse they had found was also quite a find. It was completely abandoned and other than a few pieces of completely broken machinery was also empty.

Fang watched Thailog for a few minutes until the black skinned gargoyle clone stopped beside a makeshift safe that they had made. Inside the safe was well over one hundred dollars now. Of course to Thailog this was chump change and more was required. Fang, meanwhile, was quite content with it.

"So when will we take on the gargoyles?" Fang demanded.

Thailog looked up from the safe and answered, "Once I have secured the funds and power I need to dominate this city and therefore destroy Xanatos."

"What do you got against him?" Fang asked, "I don't want to end up in any situation like Nightstone."

"Don't worry," Thailog smiled, "My business with Xanatos is really more of a 'father-son' rivalry. Nothing along the lines of megalomania."

**Castle Wyvern**

Matt sat quietly on one of the castle's benches as Goliath and Elisa paced before him. He finally found himself with a night off, but again found himself helping the clan with their various problems. Fortunately, their problems were caused by others and Matt did not have to play the part of a mediator between two or more gargoyles.

"You're certain you haven't found him?" Goliath asked.

Matt slowly nodded, "There has been nothing to indicate that Thailog has been active for the past two weeks. Petty crimes and muggings have gone up in the past two weeks, but as you know..."

"That isn't Thailog's style," Elisa finished, "It is not entirely sinister enough for him or entirely very profitable."

"I'm sorry I can't be of more help, but the Quarrymen have gone into overdrive with political protests," Matt sighed.

Goliath and Elisa traded looks for a second before Goliath stepped forward.

"You have been of great help to us, Matt," Goliath answered, "Elisa and I would not be able to even make an attempt to track him without you."

Elsewhere on the battlements, Brooklyn and Amy landed after finishing a short patrol. Hudson was the first to greet them.

"Did ye find anything?" Hudson asked.

"Nothing but the usual muggers and so forth," Brooklyn sighed, "No sign of Thailog."

"I got to bring one of the muggers in," Amy said proudly.

Hudson smiled to himself at the yellow female's enthusiasm. Candy and Amy had seemed to accept what Demona had done to them fairly easily, and Amy even more so of the two.

"I wouldn't boast too much when ye make yer report to Goliath," Hudson answered, "He and Elisa want Thailog off the streets before he causes problems."

The two beaked gargoyles silently nodded.

Action inside the castle was no less nervous. Sitting at a computer consul, Owen Burnett was furiously typing away, as the winged form of Xanatos paced behind him.

"Are you sure this is necessary, Mr. Xanatos?" Owen asked, "We didn't even do this to deal with Sevarius."

"True, but Sevarius never tricked me out of twenty million before," Xanatos grunted.

"This Thailog is probably only Thailog in name," Owen argued, "Sevarius has no knowledge of magic and how to summon members of the Third Race and Demona is not in New York. And even if Demona was here, or if Sevarius did know magic, why would they want to bring the original Thailog back? He'd betray Sevarius, and he's already betrayed Demona. The doctor will be a tad nervous and Demona hates him."

"It never hurts to be cautious," Xanatos sighed, "And in my current situation, there isn't much I can do. Thailog will eventually make a move against the clan or at least against Wyvern. I can not lose. I must not lose."

Owen merely nodded, "Yes, Mr. Xanatos."

Xanatos watched as his assistant returned to typing on the computer. He was changing Xanatos Enterprises account codes and the codes to Xanatos's own personal fortune. Thailog was a cunning and devious opponent. Even if this new clone was merely a lookalike gargoyle with the same name, Xanatos couldn't risk losing everything. The castle. The business. His family. The gargoyles.

Xanatos then turned to leave, and said, "I'm going to make my own sweep."

"As you wish, Mr. Xanatos," Owen replied.

**Warehouse**

Jackal slipped in through one of the warehouse's roof windows and landed roughly on the cement floor. Wolf stood quietly in the center of the room, barely containing himself from chuckling.

"Using the 'hidden entrance' again?" Wolf asked.

"Shut up, fur ball," Jackal growled, "Damn muggers on Long Island are attracting cops from everywhere. They don't want any of that activity spreading here. Hyena should be right behind me."

Wolf raised his head to hear the sounds of Hyena's feet tapping on the roof.

"How did your mission with Canis and Vulpine go?" Jackal asked.

"Boring," Wolf snarled, "We didn't even catch of whiff of the gargoyles. If they do regular patrols they don't come where we were watching and waiting."

Hyena then entered the warehouse through the same window that Jackal had, and her landing was far more smooth.

"We caught sight of the red beaked one and a yellow beaked one," Hyena chuckled.

"Yellow beaked one?" Wolf asked.

"One of the recent 'additions' the gargoyles made to their clan while we were working for Sevarius," Jackal noted.

"I wanted to get her name, but bro wouldn't let me cut her tail off," Hyena chuckled.

"You could have got them?" Wolf roared, "Why didn't you kill them?"

"Because we need information," Jackal argued, "Or are you too dumb to realize that they've always beaten us when we simply try attacking them? I've told you before, we need to know the exact extent of their patrols and what their average patrol strength is. When they attacked Nightstone they pretty much brought their entire clan with them. Even with all our strength, we can't beat the entire clan easily and we can't risk serious damage. I can set broken bones, and Hyena and I can fix the most basic damage to our cybernetic parts, but none of us have the knowledge or expertise in medicine or cyber-biotics to risk one all out battle. A battle we might not even win."

"You take too long to plan your battles, 'general'," Wolf snarled.

"A good Pack is always prepared," Jackal answered.

"That's the Boy Scouts," Hyena teased.

Wolf only growled again, and stalked off.

**Over Manhattan**

"I don't think he's here," Broadway muttered as he and Angela glided over the city, swerving around buildings as they went.

Angela gazed out over the horizon of buildings, and like her mate, saw nothing.

"I wonder what he's doing," Angela said, "Father, Elisa, Bronx, and I ran into him once on our World Tour, and of course we ran up against him when he made the clones. He seems to be one to favor direct action."

Broadway growled slightly, silently remembering the other times the clan had run into the clone of Goliath.

"At least this Thailog is a clone," Broadway sighed, "Maybe he will be easier to beat than the old one."

Suddenly a figure came out of the darkness, and Broadway and Angela didn't recognize her until she had got right in front of them.

"Sorry to scare you," Caroline said.

"Did you see anything?" Angela asked.

Caroline shook her head, "No. I haven't seen anything except a few Quarrymen handing out pamphlets to somebody."

Broadway and Angela growled at the mention of the hate group.

"You'd think they'd just die off," Broadway muttered.

Angela nodded, "Yeah. Caroline, Broadway and I are going to make another sweep, you can head back to the castle."

Caroline slowly nodded and began gliding off in the direction of the Eyrie Building.

**Quarrymen Headquarters**

Castaway's contact sat quietly behind a makeshift desk in the Quarrymen's new headquarters. A lone aide stood in front of him.

"Recruitment is up, sir," the aide reported, "But the mayor is refusing to listen to our concerns or arrest the clan living in the Eyrie Building."

"They don't understand what we do," the contact muttered, "We need to keep the demonstrations up! Those demons should pay for their crimes. I want an armed team ready in an hour. We've finally identified our traitor who won't come to meetings anymore."

"Traitor?" the aide asked.

"Abigail Wexmand," Castaway's contact snarled, "She's been spotted at the Eyrie Building repeatedly after dark. Now she doesn't work there, so why would she be there after dark?"

"To meet with the gargoyles," the aide answered.

Castaway's contact smiled, "Bingo, and Castaway's rule is to kill any race traitor that exists!"

**Castle Wyvern**

Goliath and Elisa leaped from the castle's walls to begin their own patrol in silence. Each was rather nervous.

"Don't worry Goliath," Elisa encouraged, "He can only hide for so long. Eventually we'll find him."

"I am more worried that he will strike us when we are unprepared," Goliath sighed, as they made their way south.

Elisa looked a the street several stories below her. She silently chuckled to herself that there was a time when this would have scared her silly, but then things had changed. And yet, little had changed. She was still guarding the city and some of the same problems were still coming back.

"We have other problems besides Thailog," Elisa offered, "If he's really getting to you, you could release your frustrations on some street thugs or something. They are still causing problems too. There are all those muggings on Long Island."

"Thailog may be in the area," Goliath sighed in response.

Elisa returned a weak smile, and angled herself toward Long Island as Goliath himself moved into a position above her.

Meanwhile at Thailog's hideout on Long Island, Fang paced across the floors of the empty warehouse. Thailog had gone off on another of his 'money missions' and Fang was left to guard the warehouse. Fang only stopped to look at the makeshift safe that Thailog had constructed.

"Damn gargoyle's going after pocket money and not after anything big or after the gargoyles," Fang growled, "Why am I even here?"

Elsewhere on Long Island, Thailog contented himself to stalking a young woman as she walked down a dark street. His red eyes focused on her from the roof he was hiding on. She didn't see, hear, or sense him. He smiled as he watched her continue her stroll. Once he was certain that she was in a location where no one would see him, Thailog leapt from the roof to rob his next 'victim'.

The woman turned just as Thailog hit her, his eyes glowing a bright red. One of Thailog's great fists struck the woman in the face and she was knocked flat on her back before she could scream.

Thailog landed and placed one foot on the woman's stomach.

"What do you want?" the woman screamed, while crying at the same time.

Thailog looked down at the woman and smiled, "Your money, madam. And you are to forget this ever happened. If I learn that you told the police about me in the future, I will kill you."

"How do you?" the woman asked out of fear, while handing a few bills into Thailog's hands.

"I know," Thailog answered, "Now, please, just hand over your money

Thailog just got his talons onto the woman's money when he heard the sounds of approaching wings. He turned his head to see both Goliath and a female gargoyle he didn't quite recognize diving on him.

Before the two Wyvern gargoyles could reach the clone, Thailog muttered to himself, "Well THIS is interesting."

Elisa was first to reach the black gargoyle, and she swiped her talons across his face, tearing the head piece off as she went. Goliath was close behind her, and delivered a punch directly to the top of Thailog's head. The blow brought the black skinned clone to the ground. Goliath then flipped in midair to land next Elisa.

While Goliath moved immediately into a position to block Thailog's approach, Elisa moved to help the woman.

"Are you okay miss?" Elisa asked.

"Get away! I don't have anymore money," the woman screamed at Elisa.

Elisa shuffled back a few steps and quickly cloaked her wings.

"Miss, we have no intention of harming or robbing you," Elisa said politely, "We want to help you."

The woman stared at Elisa and then at Goliath before struggling to her feet.

"Why aren't you helping him?" the woman asked pointing at Thailog.

"Because he is corrupt, and not worthy of being a gargoyle," Goliath growled, his eyes beginning to glow white.

"Aww," Thailog chuckled, "Still jealous that I'm more successful?"

Goliath lunged at Thailog and punched the clone at the stomach. This time, however, Thailog was ready for him and was only forced to shuffle back a few feet. The clone then turned and slapped Goliath across the face with his tail.

"Elisa, get her to safety," Goliath yelled.

Elisa quickly turned to the woman behind her, "Quick down that alley. I'll make sure no one else can jump you."

The woman weakly nodded and ran down the alley, while Elisa moved cautiously behind her.

**Abigail Wexmand's Apartment**

"Should we really be here?" Lexington asked, "Goliath wants us... well, at least me and the rest of the clan that has experience in patrolling, patrolling. He also wants..."

"I know," Candy answered, "He wants you guys to trail Amy, Caroline, and I in 'the gargoyle way'. But there's more to life than flying around and beating up bad guys. Besides, if we're going to go steady, you need to meet my mom."

"I've met your mother," Lex answered, "She comes to visit us at the castle. She was once a member of the Quarrymen, but she quit because she decided you were more important to her than those racists."

Candy landed on the fire escape outside her mother's window as Lex followed.

"Yes, but she doesn't know that we're going out," Candy explained, "Now I will warn you, if you thought that the Quarrymen hate gargoyles, you have no idea how much my mom hates boyfriends."

"What?" Lex asked as Candy tapped on the window.

"You'll see," Candy answered.

The two web-winged gargoyles sat on the fire escape until Abigail Wexmand appeared at the window.

"Candy, how are you? What are you doing here?" Abigail asked quickly.

"I'm fine," Candy answered with a smile as she entered her mother's home through the window, "Lex and I were just going for a glide around the city and we decided to stop by."

"Glad to see you still think of your mother," Abigail answered, "I was just preparing diner, are you two interested?"

Candy looked back to Lex. Lex only answered with a shrug.

"Sure Mom, but it has to be a quick one," Candy said.

Diner wasn't much more than a couple of microwave pizzas. Both Candy and Lex had eaten before they left, but decided to eat anyway. They made their decision to be polite.

"So, what's new with you two?" Abigail asked, "Are the others okay?"

"The clan is fine Ms. Wexmand," Lexington answered.

"Call me Abigail," Abigail interjected, "Ms. Wexmand is far to formal. Candy is my daughter and you're a friend of hers. Now what's new with you?"

"Well..." Candy began with a nervous look to Lexington, "I kinda found myself a boyfriend."

"You're dating?" Abigail asked, dropping her slice of microwave pizza.

"Yes," Candy answered weakly, looking down, then adding defensively, "And why not, I'm almost nineteen."

"You've never dated anyone before," Abigail replied.

"No one ever asked or said 'yes' when I asked," Candy retorted, "Besides I'm old enough to make my on decisions."

"I don't want you to get hurt," Abigail answered, "There are many men out there that are very rude and inconsiderate and leave their wives for no apparent reason."

"Lex isn't like dad, mom," Candy blurted.

Abigail turned her head to Lex, "YOU are dating my daughter?"

Lexington gulped, "Yes."

"How old are you?" Abigail asked.

"In terms of how long I've been alive or how mature I am physically?" Lexington asked back.

"Is there a difference?" Abigail demanded.

Lexington looked to Candy for a second, and sighed, "Actually yes. I've been alive for roughly thirty-nine years, but a gargoyle doesn't age during the during the day it doesn't age during half the course of a year. So physically, one year equals one-half year for gargoyles. So physically I'm only a little older than a nineteen year old human. There is no real age gap between us."

Abigail then sighed, "Well I guess this is going to be something I guess I'll have to get used to." Abigail then glared at Lex, "But if you ever harm my daughter emotionally or physically, so help me, I will beat the living tar out of you, do you hear me?"

Lexington gulped, "Yes."

"Good," Abigail replied.

Candy's mother was about to say more when the door to her apartment exploded in a hail of splinters. As the dust settled, several armed Quarrymen burst through with laser rifles.

**Long Island**

Thailog and Goliath's battle had taken to the roof tops. It appeared that neither Goliath nor his clone could really gain an advantage.

"Come now Goliath," Thailog said, "You know you can't win. At best you'll forge a tie and we'll both have to leave, unless you trust Fang not to smash you during the day. In fact he's probably killing your little girlfriend as we speak. Shame really. I rather liked that human you were palling around with."

Goliath roared with anger and glared at his clone. Three deep gashes marked his face where Elisa's talons had cut him. As usual, the thumb had failed to either make contact or break the skin. It was something that always puzzled Goliath, but it was also something he couldn't dwell on at the moment.

"Do not refer to Elisa as 'that woman'," Goliath growled, deciding to keep the fact that the 'woman' that Thailog remembered was the gargoyle that had clawed his face.

"Struck a nerve, didn't I?" Thailog teased.

Thailog threw a strong punch at Goliath's face, but the lavender gargoyle ducked under it. Goliath the grabbed Thailog's extended arm and threw the clone across the roof. Thailog landed roughly, but quickly recovered.

"You're getting better, Goliath," Thailog smirked, "Or should I call you 'dad'?"

Goliath was about to advance on the clone again when he saw a second pair of glowing red eyes appear behind Thailog. Thailog stared at Goliath's pause and silently chuckled.

"My recovery must have really frightened him," Thailog thought to himself as he felt a talon tap him on the shoulder.

Thailog turned to see the tan-skinned female that had clawed him earlier. Before Thailog could say anything, the female punched him in the face. The blow was strong, but not enough to do serious damage. Thailog tentatively raised a hand to his face and felt that one eye had swollen shut. The repeated blows of both Goliath and now this female had given him a black eye, not that his black flesh would let the bruise show through.

Goliath leaped at his clone, only to be back-handed against the chin by Thailog. Goliath landed on the ground a few feet away. Elisa had leaped from the roof ledge and had her arms wrapped around Thailog's neck in an attempt to choke him.

"Well, it appears you've got me beat," Thailog admitted, and then reached back and lifted Elisa over his head, releasing himself from her choke hold.

Thailog then threw Elisa at Goliath. Goliath managed to catch his mate without trouble, but the distraction had given Thailog the time to get to the ledge of the building.

As Thailog leaped from the building, "Until we meet again."

Goliath sighed, but it sounded more like he was growling at Thailog's escape.

"Well at least we beat him," Elisa chuckled, "I doubt he'll try the same thing again, now that he knows that we know that he's behind these Long Island muggings."

"I guess we'll have to take our victories as they come," Goliath replied, "Evil, apparently, will never be defeated easily."

"You'll be the gargoyle to do it, my love," Elisa encouraged.

Goliath smiled, "Come, we'll need to return to the castle."

**Warehouse**

"Where Wolf go?" Vulpine asked as Wolf made his way to the exit to the Pack's new 'headquarters'.

"I'm going to find and attack and kill some gargoyles or at least find some sort of action," Wolf snarled, "Jackal isn't going to be happy until he knows what they eat for breakfast every evening."

"We come," Canis announced, "We help Wolf."

"Pack," Vulpine added.

Wolf added a quiet snarl to himself, "It appears that I have a following. Jackal won't be top dog for long."

Wolf then smiled, "Sure, the more the merrier! Shoot, with you we might be able to bag two gargoyles!"

The two mutate clones then followed Wolf out the door. Jackal and Hyena watched them leave.

"You going to let him get away with that?" Hyena demanded.

"Only until whatever resemblance of a plan that his 'brain' could come up with blows up in his face," Jackal chuckled, "Then I'll give him a healthy dose of 'I told you so'!"

Hyena laughed.

"Come on now," Jackal encouraged, "We'd best get our own action. Most of the stores are closed, but I feel like doing a little shopping."

"I could use a new diner set," Hyena laughed, "Lets all the rich people know that they're being robbed with class!"

**Castle Wyvern**

Caroline noticed Xanatos and Fox standing out on the castle's battlements when she landed. Hudson and Bronx weren't standing too far away.

"What's going on?" Caroline asked, looking around the castle's walls for anyone else.

"I'm getting ready to make my own sweep and to make sure Thailog isn't infiltrating any Xanatos Enterprises warehouses," Xanatos answered, "Hudson's waiting to take the reports of every gargoyle that returns from its patrol, and Fox is hopefully going to wish me luck."

Fox smiled lightly at Xanatos and then joked, "I thought you didn't believe in luck?"

"First time for everything," Xanatos replied as he launched himself from the battlements.

Fox watched her husband glide off for a few moments and then turned back toward the castle. Caroline watched both for a while and then moved toward Hudson.

"Hi, Hudson," Caroline greeted politely, "I'm back."

"Did ye find anything, lass," Hudson asked.

"No, not anything that you guys are looking for," Caroline answered, "I ran into Angela and Broadway. They told me to tell you that their going to make another sweep before returning."

Hudson turned and looked to the east for a moment.

"It will be dawn in a few hours," Hudson commented, "Did ye run into anyone else?"

Caroline looked to the east as well and slowly shook her head.

**Abigail Wexmand's Apartment**

Candy, Lexington, and Ms. Wexmand ducked behind the overturned diner table as the Quarrymen that had just busted through the front door began firing at them.

"I knew it!" one Quarryman shouted.

"You're a traitor!" another added.

"Why are you shooting at me?" Ms. Wexmand demanded in a desperate and terrified voice.

"You quit coming to meetings," another Quarryman snarled.

"You're associating with two of those demons right there," a Quarrywoman added.

"You don't understand," Abigail began.

"TRAITOR!" the Quarrymen shouted in unison.

"I don't think they're willing to listen," Candy whispered as a laser shot went through the table and exploded against the fridge behind them, splattering Lex, Candy and Ms. Wexmand with pieces of plastic and destroyed food.

"We gotta get out of here," Lexington said, taking a brief glance at the table, "This table isn't going to be much of a shield for much longer."

"How?" Candy asked trying to keep both her mother and herself as low as possible.

Lex looked around hesitantly and noticed two chairs sitting behind them.

"Those chairs," Lex said, "If we grab them and then throw them at the Quarrymen, that will either give us the time to get close to them or knock them out, allowing us to escape."

"But there's eight of them and only two of you," Abigail protested, "And I don't want my daughter hurt."

Candy followed Lex's lead and pulled one chair up next to her.

"I don't think I'll fare much better if we just sit here, mom," Candy sighed, "Besides, I can't just sit here and let you get killed."

Abigail looked like she was about to protest but said nothing. Candy and Lex then launched the two chairs in unison over the table. Instantly the Quarrymen turned their fire to the chairs. They successfully hit one chair, which exploded, but they mostly hit the ceiling, sending various pieces of tile crashing onto the floor. The other chair landed among the eight Quarrymen knocking two to the ground, and the rest dove out of the way.

Lex gave as loud a roar as he could as he vaulted the table and charged towards the distracted Quarrymen. Candy leaped after him in nervous silence. Candy quickly tackled on Quarryman from behind and lifted him into the air. Before the man could struggle free, she threw him at the remaining Quarryman near the door.

Lex meanwhile, found himself battling three Quarrymen at once. None were overly strong, and he was just fast enough to avoid hitting punched or kicked in a place where he would be seriously hurt. He managed to wrap his tail around the neck of one of them, and he squeezed until he thought the man was unconscious. He threw the man against a nearby wall. This however gave the other two Quarrymen time to recover. One kicked one of his knees while the other dove out with one arm extended and brought him to the ground. The Quarryman that kicked him then retrieved his laser rifle and pointed it directly at Lex's head.

Abigail watched in horror as the battle progressed. Candy had knocked out one and had the rest scattered or trying to recover. She watched as her daughter pushed a couch toward the front door in an effort to block their entrance into the apartment. The green gargoyle, which her daughter referred to as Lexington and had announced as her 'boyfriend', was not doing so well. One Quarryman held him down while another stood over him with a laser rifle. Candy didn't see them. Her mouth gaped as she watched the armed Quarryman inch his finger toward the trigger.

Lex fought as hard as he could, but the Quarryman that was holding him down had a firm grip on his shoulders and the Quarryman standing above him had one foot on one of his shoulders as well. He couldn't shove both of them off at once. All of a sudden, a desperate scream filled his ears.

"NOOOOOOOO!" Abigail yelled out as she made a running tackle on the armed Quarryman.

Both fell to the ground and the Quarryman, by reflex, pulled the trigger on his weapon and fired a blast at a space heater near the far wall. There was a great flash of electrical energy that combined with the laser's own explosion to blow a sizeable hole in the wall. It was just big enough that someone could slide through it if they were lying down.

With the other Quarryman's boot off him, Lexington managed to wrestle the other off of him as well, and then managed to knock that Quarryman out with a quick punch to the temple. Lexington's mood was not good, however, when he saw what he saw when he got to his feet.

"You'll die, traitor," the Quarryman snarled to Ms. Wexmand as he held her in the air.

The Quarryman's gun was discarded, lying a few feet away from the hole in the wall. The Quarryman settled for backhanding Ms. Wexmand and knocking her to the ground, leaving what surely become a very nasty bruise. The Quarrymen then dove for his weapon when he heard an angry roar and turned to see the pink female diving at him, her eyes glowing bright red.

Candy had just got the couch through the space where the front door used to be and flipped it over on top of the five remaining Quarrymen, when the other Quarryman struck her mother. Upon seeing this, for the first time in her life as a gargoyle, Candy became angry and leaped the Quarryman, roaring as she went.

One of her fists hit Quarryman across the face and knocked him to the ground, she then glared at the Quarryman.

"No one strikes my mother!" Candy growled before kicking him in the face.

The Quarryman fell unconscious. The sounds of police sirens could be heard in the distance and getting closer. The voices of Ms. Wexmand's neighbors filled the hallway.

"We gotta get out of here," Lexington said turning his ears to both the neighbors and the approaching police sirens.

Candy nodded and turned to her mother, who was sitting up on the floor.

"Mom, you should come with us," Candy said nervously, "If they wanted to kill you earlier, they will really want to kill you now."

"I don't know..." Abigail began.

"I can carry you," Lexington offered, "Granted I will have to grip you with my feet and I can only hold on to your arms you should be safe."

"I..." Abigail began again before groans outside interrupted her, "Fine, Candy you go and get out of here first."

The maneuver to get Ms. Wexmand airborne was rather tricky. Candy climbed out the window and glided out a little way and then hovered in place for a few minutes. Lex then climbed and out climbed up to the roof. Candy watched as her mother crawled out onto the narrow ledge that protruded from under the apartment's windowsill. Once her mother was out, Lex dove from the roof and grabbed her wrists and fore arms with his feet. It reminded Candy of an eagle diving on something.

"Mom!" Candy exclaimed, "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine," Abigail gulped as she looked down.

The extra weight of Ms. Wexmand weighed Lex down. He could only get her to the roof of the apartment across the street before he needed to take a break.

"At this rate we won't reach your castle until a week from now," Abigail sighed.

"We wouldn't make it there at all," Lexington answered weakly, "This is one of those times when I really envy Goliath and the others. I can't carry anything unless it easily fits in one hand and isn't heavy or I can safely grip it with my feet. They can carry just about anything because their wings are separate limbs of their own, instead of these dumb membranes between my arms and legs."

"We're faster though," Candy piped in trying to cheer him up, "In terms of all out speed, the rest of the clan has nothing on us."

"Speed isn't what we need," Lex replied.

"Don't worry, Lex," Candy encouraged, "I'm sure you can think of something."

**Xanatos Enterprises Warehouse**

Xanatos landed on the rooftop of one of Xanatos Enterprises's warehouses in the region where news reporters said that Thailog had robbed the homeless shelter. He took a few deep sniffs. There were a few gargoyle scents in the region, but they were airborne and that meant that the scent could have been blown from anywhere in the city. It was also Broadway and Angela's scent. The black furred winged wolf mutate that also ran a business that was bigger than most third world countries then looked down and sighed heavily.

Xanatos then made his way inside the warehouse. In all likely hood, Thailog wouldn't let himself be caught out in the open during the night. He would be out during the day when most people would only suspect him to be a stone statue.

Meanwhile, Broadway and Angela were on their way back to the castle from their patrol when they noticed the open roof hatch to the warehouse.

"Do you think that is who I think it is?" Broadway asked, pointing to the open roof hatch.

"I don't know," Angela sighed, "We should check it out to be sure."

Broadway nodded as the two gargoyles moved to land on the roof. Meanwhile, inside the roof, Xanatos heard them land, but he had wandered far from the his 'roof entrance' and had no idea who was really there.

"Great," Xanatos thought to himself, "I come here looking for Thailog and instead, Thailog and Fang find me!"

"Hello?" Angela called, "Anyone in here?"

The lavender female leaped through the hole in the roof with Broadway soon after her. When she landed she saw a lone dark figure leaning against one of the crates. However, this creature did not have black skin, but rather black fur.

"You know, you really should knock first," Xanatos joked, "It's not polite to interrupt a man when he's doing business."

"Xanatos?" Broadway exclaimed in a slightly startle voice, "What are you doing here?"

"This is one of MY warehouses, and I'm inspecting it," Xanatos smirked, "And I presume you're here to do the same."

"What?" Angela and Broadway asked in unison.

"You know, the general inspect a possible site where an evil gargoyle clone could be hiding himself to launch attacks on my business and your clan," Xanatos replied with a shrug.

"I don't know about gargoyle clones," came a new voice from above them, "But I'm sure you'll settle for mutate clones."

Soon afterward, Wolf, Canis, and Vulpine dropped from the roof.

"I'm in need of a snack," Wolf snarled as he licked his lips.

**Castle Wyvern**

Brooklyn was waiting with Hudson on the top of the tower when Goliath and Elisa returned to the castle. Goliath also noticed that Caroline, Amy, Othello, Desdemona, Lexington, Candy, and the Guatemalans were gathered in the far Court Yard below them. Abigail Wexmand was also with them.

"I didn't know tonight was the night that Ms. Wexmand visited," Goliath said as he and his current mate landed.

"It isn't, lad," Hudson sighed, "It appears that yer clone ain't the only one causin' problems."

"What's happened?" Elisa demanded, taking a brief glance at the gathering below them.

"It was the Quarrymen, Goliath," Brooklyn began, "Lex and Candy stopped by her mother's apartment after their patrol. Eight Quarrymen then busted up the place during diner. Lex and Candy got Candy's mother out of there, but it's completely unsafe for Ms. Wexmand there anymore."

"Aye," Hudson added, "According to what Lexington and Candy heard, the Quarrymen feel her to be a traitor to them. They're looking to kill her now."

Goliath sighed audibly and Elisa shook her head.

"Is Matt still here?" Elisa asked.

"No, he went home a few hours ago," Hudson answered, "He said something about catching up on his sleep."

"Speaking of 'sleep'," Goliath rumbled, "It will be dawn soon. There is something I wish to discuss with the clan before we go to sleep."

"Then that'll have to wait awhile," Brooklyn sighed, "Broadway and Angela aren't back yet an it was close getting Lex, Candy, and Ms. Wexmand here. If Othello, Desdemona, and Zafiro's clan hadn't noticed them on their way back, they'd be stuck taking short trips from roof to roof."

Goliath only sighed again.

**Xanatos Enterprises Warehouse**

Wolf was the first to really make a move as he leaped into the air and then landed on Xanatos's chest. The mutated executive rolled with the blow and after landing on his back, Xanatos used his legs to catch and throw Wolf back into the air and across the warehouse. The Pack member landed with far more grace than his body and size appeared capable of, and soon they began circling each other.

Meanwhile, Angela and Broadway had their own problems.

"Gargoyles," Canis and Vulpine announced as they prepared to fire electric blasts at the two gargoyles in front of them.

"Hit them before they can fully charge," Broadway roared as he lunged forward at Canis.

The mutate clone of Xanatos dodged Broadway's blow easily, but lost the electrical charge it was building up in its fists. Broadway then turned with another punch and knocked Canis to the ground. His victory was short lived as he was hit by a powerful electric blast from behind. Apparently, Vulpine had hit Angela first, before Angela could get close enough to deliver a punch. Then the mutate clone of Fox turned and fired at Broadway's unguarded back.

Xanatos didn't like what he saw. He had managed to get Wolf into a headlock and was preparing to give Wolf the 'shock' of his life when he noticed Vulpine shock both Broadway and Angela. He distraction gave Wolf the time to elbow the billionaire in the gut and then throw him off of him. Xanatos landed amongst a pile of boxes, splintering the wood as he landed. Before Wolf could attack again, he activated a com-link on his own 'uniform'.

"Owen? You there?" Xanatos asked hastily.

There was a pause for a few seconds before he heard Owen's voice.

"Yes, Mr. Xanatos," Owen said.

"Owen we have a problem down on the west side warehouse," Xanatos said, "Broadway, Angela, and I are under attack by Wolf and the two mutate clones that Sevarius made of me and Fox. I want you to send four Steel Clan robots to my position immediately! It will be dawn soon!"

"Yes, Mr. Xanatos," Owen responded.

Xanatos then dodged another attack thrown at him by Wolf.

"Your butler can't help you now," Wolf snarled

"We'll see," Xanatos smirked.

**Castle Wyvern**

Abigail Wexmand sat quietly on a bench looking out over the sky, which was already begin to get light in the east.

"They tried to kill me," she muttered under her breath.

"You're perfectly welcome to stay here," came a new voice.

Abigail turned to see the female red-furred fox mutate that was now Fox Xanatos.

"I'm sorry?" Abigail began.

"I said you're welcome to stay here," Fox repeated as she sat down next to Ms. Wexmand.

"What?" Abigail asked in surprise.

"The Quarrymen attacked your apartment because you didn't attend their meetings," Fox said, "Because you survived you are still a target. You will be safer here until the Quarrymen are officially brought under control."

"How will I be safer here," Abigail complained, "From what I've heard, this castle has been attacked by everything from Vikings to wizards."

Fox smiled, "True we've seen more action here than most people, but how long would you last in a unguarded apartment during the day? The Quarrymen will be wanting to kill you even more because you survived. If they attack here you will have David, Owen, the Steel Clan, myself, and of course the gargoyles during the night."

"Steel Clan?" Abigail asked.

"David will probably tell you all about it later," Fox answered, "My point is you'd be safer here, and you can be with your family. I'm know the clan won't mind and I'm absolutely positive that David won't."

"Well I guess I could do that," Abigail sighed, "But I really liked my old apartment."

"It had to be in a bad neighborhood if eight armed Quarrymen could simply blast through your front door without getting caught first," Fox pointed out.

"It WAS a safe neighborhood," Abigail protested, "I don't know how this all happened! But, I guess for my daughter's sake, I can move in."

"Thank you," Fox smiled.

Just then Owen appeared and the sound of jet engines filled the air. Fox hurried to the wall and Abigail was close behind her. Sounds of commotion also began coming from the gargoyles tower. Fox looked over the edge to see four Steel Clan robots flying out over the city.

"What are those," Abigail asked in surprise and wonder.

"They are four of my husband's new Steel Clan robots," Fox answered, "They are robotic gargoyles made to resemble Goliath and are just strong as any gargoyle and can combine this strength with powerful laser fire as well."

Fox then turned to Owen, and demanded, "What is going on?"

"Mr. Xanatos was attacked by Wolf, Vulpine, and Canis at one of our warehouses," Owen answered calmly, "He had contacted me to call for reinforcements."

Fox was about to leap over the parapets when Owen stopped her.

"The Steel Clan will suffice with this mission," Owen said, "Broadway and Angela are more than holding their own against Canis and Vulpine. Mr. Xanatos is also fairing quite well against Wolf. The Steel Clan is being sent to assure a swift victory before Broadway and Angela turn to stone."

"I should still go," Fox argued.

"You are almost one month along in your pregnancy, Mrs. Xanatos," Owen answered, "Mr. Xanatos gave me complete instructions to make sure you don't put yourself in a dangerous situation for you or the baby. He will return alive, I assure you."

Fox stepped back for a minute and looked down, "I'll kill you if you're wrong."

"I'd commit suicide if I where wrong," Owen answered coldly.

**Xanatos Enterprises Warehouse**

Broadway ducked behind a large crate as Canis attempted to fire electric blast after electric last at him. The blasts missed, but he knew he had to get this battle over quickly. He could sense the sun rising, and it wouldn't be long before he wold have to go into stone sleep for the day. Broadway began pushing on the crates, and knocking them over. He heard whelp of pain and surprise as one of the boxes landed on Canis. When Broadway peered around he saw that Canis was caught under the boxes and could not move. As the sun rose over the area, the whine of jet engines was heard above everything else.

Vulpine meanwhile had chased Angela to the wall closest to New Jersey and nearly had the female gargoyle trapped. Angela, however was doing fairly well. Fox's mutate clone, while a good fighter, had a hard time improvising with the obstacles that the warehouse threw at it.

"Now we'll see who's got who," Angela growled, her eyes glowing red.

Angela quickly grabbed a hold of the brick wall with her talons and threw the improvised weapon at the approaching clone. The brick hit Vulpine in the head, startling the clone. Angela then leaped at it and grabbed it by the shoulders and kneed it in the gut. She followed that up with a left cross across Vulpine's muzzle. The mutate clone was knocked to the ground, but Angela couldn't do anything else, as the sun rose and the sound of jet engines filled her ears before she turned to stone.

Wolf noticed this as he dodged a punch thrown at him by Xanatos and yelled, "Smasher her! Quickly! She can't fight no more!"

Before Vulpine moved, Xanatos roared and tackled Wolf. The mutate clone paused and looked between Wolf struggling to fight Xanatos, Canis trapped under boxes and the stone gargoyle standing next to her. The clone didn't get a chance to do anything as the first of four Steel Clan robots appeared inside the warehouse.

With careful aim, the first Steel Clan robot fired on Vulpine, striking the surprised mutate clone in the chest and throwing it into a wall, where it slumped unconscious. That robot and following three then zoomed toward Wolf and Xanatos.

Wolf growled angrily as he saw the robots coming toward him. He had just gotten Xanatos's claws of him and suffered to minor electrical blast wounds in the process when they approached.

"You and your damn robots!" Wolf roared, "Can't you comprehend a fair fight?"

"Can you?" Xanatos smirked back as he begin firing a series of electric blasts at Wolf, "You ordered Vulpine to kill that gargoyle while it was in stone. The gargoyle could do no more to harm Vulpine or you. I don't call that a fair fight. You have to possibility of escape or capture or victory."

Wolf took two lasers blasts before he decided to make a run for it. Between Xanatos's electric blasts and the robot's lasers, he wouldn't last long.

Once Wolf was gone, Xanatos reactivated his com-link, "Owen, you'll need to send a helicopter to pick up Broadway and Angela, and bring some restraining devices, we've captured Canis and Vulpine."

**Castle Wyvern, The Next Night**

Goliath awoke feeling slightly nervous as the new day ended. As usual, as the sun set, he and the rest of the clan broke free of their stone shells and roared into the night. He and Elisa turned to see Xanatos standing on the battlements. Owen had informed him of Wolf's attack on Xanatos, Broadway, and Angela before the clan went to sleep the previous day, and while seeing that his former enemy, now ally, was okay, he was still nervous and concerned for his daughter and a member of his clan.

"Broadway? Angela?" Goliath began slowly.

"Absolutely fine," Xanatos smiled, "Broadway took out Canis before dawn, and if dawn hadn't come so quickly Angela would have finished off Vulpine."

Goliath and Elisa looked at him with a confused look.

"The Steel Clan made sure that Vulpine was dealt with before it could do anything to your daughter," Xanatos added, "Everyone is safe and unharmed."

Goliath sighed with relief, "Thank you Xanatos."

"Don't mention it," Xanatos smirked.

Goliath nodded, "The clan and I will need to meet in the court yard to discuss matters. Is there anything else you wish to discuss with me at the moment?"

Xanatos shook his head, "No, but I'll come with you. Most of the matters that are concerning your clan will also affect me and my family because of our alliance."

Goliath nodded again and then vaulted over the battlements, with Elisa close behind. Xanatos paused for a few moments before following. They all soon gathered in the center of the courtyard.

"First, I will begin by saying that Elisa and I discovered Thailog's general area of activity last night," Goliath began, "He is operating out of and on Long Island right now. It was Thailog who was behind all the muggings in that region. He has been beaten back, but not fully defeated yet."

Goliath then looked down for a moment and continued, "I have also been informed that Thailog is not our only foe who is currently active. The Quarrymen have attacked Candy's family and Wolf, Canis, and Vulpine have attacked the clan's ally and two members of the clan."

Goliath looked around the clan before continuing further, "While I can say with pride that none of these foes have defeated us, I must admit that they have left us with enemies on all sides. We can not simply chase one or the other."

"It would put us on the defensive then, brother," Othello said, "If we have multiple enemies, we should let them come to us, where we have the advantage."

"As much as I'd like to see all of them off the streets as soon as possible," Elisa added, "I'd have to agree with Othello. Our victory over Thailog last night was not total and some might say that we didn't really win. Between Thailog and Fang, the Quarrymen, and the Pack we just don't have the numbers to deal with them all. Talon and the guys in the Labyrinth I'm sure would be willing to help us, but they already have enough to worry about. We can't simply go to them every time we find ourselves outnumbered."

Goliath nodded, and growled slightly under his breath, "I agree with both of you. Chasing Thailog will leave us open to the Quarrymen or the Pack and will leave the castle unguarded."

"If I may cast a ray of light on this storm," Xanatos interrupted, "We've captured Canis and Vulpine. The Pack is back down to three members and won't be as big of a threat. Your real problems are in Thailog and the Quarrymen."

"That doesn't matter," Goliath rumbled, "Hyena, Jackal, and Wolf are still dangerous foes. Ignoring any threat they pose will leave us vulnerable, and Jackal has the intelligence to know when and how to strike his opponents."

"So what do we do, Goliath?" Brooklyn asked.

Goliath looked down, "We will patrol as though nothing were wrong. That way we can catch any activity by the Quarrymen and monitor any activity by the Pack or Thailog."

"What if the 'Pack' or 'Thailog' attack the patrol groups in force?" Desdemona asked.

Goliath sighed, "I don't know. I find it unlikely. Right now, what we need is information on where their hideouts are specifically. We can't figure that out by hunting one group or the other. And there are other concerns. If the Quarrymen came after Candy's mother, they may go after the parents and family of the rest of the new trio."

Goliath then turned to Elisa, "They may go after your family as well."

Elisa didn't say anything. There was a short silence for awhile before Lex broke it.

"So we're caught between a rock and a hard place?" Lex said, "If we go out in force to stop one, we leave ourselves open to an attack by the other two. And, if we simple patrol as normal, while none can easily attack us, we leave ourselves under-strengthed in case they attack our individual patrol groups in force."

Zafiro stepped forward, "If I may offer help, Goliath. My clan can deal with the Pack, as you refer to Jackal, Hyena, and Wolf. We know how Jackal and Hyena operate, and from what you've told us of Wolf, he should not be too difficult to deal with."

Goliath smiled, "I thank you for your clan's help, but we can not risk that. You and your clan are still adjusting to the city. There are things that the Pack knows that you do not yet know. Right now our only hope is time. In time we can hopefully defeat the Pack, Thailog, and the Quarrymen for good."

"My clan will still be there to help you," Zafiro said.

"I thank you for your help," Goliath answered, "I believe we will need it."

"Owen and I will help in any way we can Goliath," Xanatos added, "It's the least we can do."

"Thank you Xanatos," Goliath replied slowly, "I guess now all there is to do is carry on and see how long it takes for the 'shoe' to 'drop'."

"Don't worry, Father," Angela said, "We'll be ready for whatever comes."

**Long Island**

Thailog roared angrily as he broke free of his stone shell as the sun set. He raised one hand to his face. The scratches that the tan female had inflicted on him had healed in his stone sleep, but he had lost the part of armor that he wore on his head. He growled slightly to himself.

"What happened with you last night?" Fang asked from across the warehouse, "You looked like a kid with his hand caught in the cookie jar last night when you got back."

"Being caught is essentially what happened," Thailog snarled, "Goliath and some tan female caught me last night. The clan surely knows of our operations here by now."

"Bring it on," Fang growled.

Thailog nodded, "Yes, we need to fight the clan, but we must fight smart. Now I just had an idea on how to deal with our friends at Castle Wyvern. It shouldn't take too much time."

Fang looked at that black skinned clone and said, "It better not."

**Warehouse, Manhattan**

"See what going out and attacking someone when everyone isn't ready gets you?" Jackal asked in a mocking voice, "It gets your fur sizzled and Canis and Vulpine captured."

"How was I supposed to know that Xanatos would call in his damn robots," Wolf roared back.

"He runs a company and has billions of dollars and those robots in the first place," Jackal retorted, "He knows about us and how dangerous we can be. What makes you think that we wouldn't use all his available options?"

Wolf didn't answer.

"Do you have any common sense?" Jackal demanded.

"I don't think so," Hyena laughed.

"Shut up!" Wolf roared.

"So now what are we going to do now that we're back down to three?" Hyena asked.

"The same as before," Jackal said, "Taking out the gargoyles and Xanatos will be tougher now, but we can do it. That is if Wolf has learned not to bite off more than he can chew."

Wolf only glared at the cyborg.

"Don't worry, fido," Hyena offered, "We'll get those flying lizards yet!"

"That we will," Jackal added with a cruel smile.

**The End**


	2. True Clan

All characters appearing in Gargoyles and Gargoyles: The Goliath Chronicles are copyrighted to Buena Vista Television/The Walt Disney Company. No infringement of these copyrights is intended, and is not authorized by the copyright holder. All original characters are the property of SN.

Note: I'm disregarding the events of the "Goliath Chronicles", with the exception of "The Journey" because I do not wish to use the rest of the "Goliath Chronicles" as canon to my story. This story takes place one day after "Surrounded".

True Clan

By SN/TVfan

Email: Sam_Nary 

**The Mayor's Office**

Maria Chavez sat nervously in a cramped wooden chair outside the Mayor's office. Clerks were busy shuffling in and out of various offices to pay any attention to her as she sat quietly. Finally the door to the back and right of her opened revealed a very serious looking mayor.

"Mr. Mayor," Chavez answered standing up, "You wished to see me?"

"Yes, I did," the Mayor answered, "Come in."

Chavez followed the man into his office and sat down in a leather chair.

"Now Captain, I thought all this business with the Quarrymen was long since over," the Mayor began, "Why did I receive a report from the Chief of Police that they have attacked an innocent women in her home?"

"The Quarrymen attempt to take control of the city in order to destroy the gargoyle clan was stopped yes," Chavez answered, "That doesn't mean that the organization ceased to exist."

"Most of their New York City members were sent to prison," the Mayor replied.

"Not all of them, Mr. Mayor," Chavez sighed, "Only those who directly participated in John Canmore, alias John Castaway's scheme. They were the only ones who committed a crime."

"And now they've attacked an innocent woman's house," the Mayor snarled, "They are operating in your precinct, Captain. You should inform those people that there are laws against assault and murder."

"The woman wasn't killed, sir," Chavez answered.

"Yes, the Chief of Police told me it was the victim who called the police," the Mayor answered, "It still doesn't change the fact that you, Captain have been unable to combat their threat to this city."

Chavez sat quietly.

"I'm taking major heat for making that deal with Sevarius, I don't need to now suddenly appear to be unable to keep a bunch of Fascist, Nazi, KKK, and Hitler imitators from causing trouble," the Mayor said sternly, "I have always based my campaigns on combating crime. If this isn't stopped, I may not keep my position."

"What do you propose we do, sir?" Chavez asked, "Arrest every single known Quarrymen on trumped up charges and simply hold them because they're Quarrymen? There is a thing called Freedom of Speech."

The Mayor growled, "You know what I mean. I want them off the streets. If so much as one more human is attacked by these nuts in your precinct's area, I swear, that I WILL have your badge for it. Do you understand me?"

"Yes sir," Chavez answered, "What about the gargoyles, sir?"

"What?" the Mayor asked in an annoyed voice.

"All eight of the Quarrymen that participated in the attack have been arrested, and all eight said that the woman was a Quarrymen member who has been collaborating with the gargoyle clan," Chavez explained, "Any operation to combat the Quarrymen will attract the gargoyles's attention as well."

The Mayor smiled, "As far as I'm concerned, the gargoyles don't truly exist. All evidence shows that they haven't done anything besides looks scary. The Quarrymen have also preached the destruction of all gargoyles anyway. If any of them run into any of your people during this operation, I'm sure they will be more than willing to help you."

Chavez left the office quietly and somewhat relieved. She was grateful that the Mayor didn't want anything done to the gargoyles, but she was silently concerned about his interest in stopping the Quarrymen. The Mayor was coming from a political position that was trying to secure itself after being tricked by two really evil people. Chavez didn't exactly blame the Mayor for either of the events, but the rest of New York did in one way or another. As the Captain of the precinct now being jokingly called "gargtown" walked to her car, she kept herself in silent and reserved thought.

**Castle Wyvern's Dungeon**

Owen Burnett slid a platter of food into one of the filled cells inside the dungeon. The mutate clone of Xanatos began greedily feeding on the food.

"You can't hold me here forever!" a voice yelled from another of the cells.

Owen slowly paused and starred at the cell that housed the now mutate Sevarius.

"Have you completed the list of cures for all of the mutates?" Owen asked.

"No," Sevarius growled back.

"Then we can hold you here forever," Owen answered, and slowly walked out of the dungeon.

Meanwhile, in a different portion of the castle, the owner of the massive skyscraper sat quietly in a wooden chair while looking at the morning paper.

Xanatos chuckled as he read the front page, "Heh, some things still surprise me."

"What is it?" Fox asked, looking up from her coffee.

"Remember that Goliath and Elisa found Thailog?" Xanatos asked with a smirk.

"And from what I heard, they kicked his butt," Fox responded with a matching smile.

"Well," Xanatos then began to explain, "According to the paper, the woman that Thailog tried to rob has blown the whole thing out of proportion. She's now saying that she won't prosecute because two gargoyles saved her."

"I guess that could be good news for the clan," Fox shrugged.

"Yeah, but it gets Thailog off the hook if he's ever caught by the police," Xanatos answered.

Fox then leaned forward and tapped her red furred muzzle with one finger, "And what makes you think that Goliath and his clan will let him get away with everything he's done?"

Xanatos never stopped smiling, "I guess not. I better get going. It takes a lot of work to run a company secretly, even when you're the guy who should be running it in the open."

**Matt Bluestone's Apartment, Dusk**

Matt Bluestone slowly rolled out of the bed in his new apartment as his alarm blasted away with its usual ringing.

"Here comes another long night," Matt thought as he sat up and began searching for his pants.

He shuffled around his new apartment, eating a few store bought doughnuts and half and a bagel and then hurried out the door. Matt found the precinct in a bustle of officers moving around from different offices and cubicles to other sections of the building.

"Good evening, Detective," Morgan said with a smile.

"Evening Morgan," Matt replied.

"How's everything up there with the gargoyles?" Morgan asked.

"They're good," Matt answered.

"That's good, hate to tell you this, but Captain Chavez wants to see you," Morgan said, "Now I gotta get going before I get fired."

Matt chuckled and slowly walked into the Captain's office.

"You wanted to see me, Captain?" Matt asked poking his head in.

"Yes, I did," Chavez answered from inside, "Come in."

Chavez sighed to herself as Bluestone came in and sat down in one of the chairs across from her desk.

"Bluestone, the Mayor spoke with me this morning," Chavez began, "He isn't happy with what happened concerning the Quarrymen."

Matt groaned visibly, "I knew something like this was going to happen. What does he want?"

"He wants the Quarrymen off the streets," Chavez answered, "And for that reason I'm calling back the Gargoyles Task Force."

"You're not sending me after the clan again, are you?" Matt exclaimed in a shocked voice.

"And send Elisa to jail?" Chavez questioned, "NO! I want you to monitor every Quarryman that might have any connection to the attack on that woman's apartment, even if it's just as an administrator."

Matt sighed.

"I'm also assigning someone who has been familiar with the Quarrymen to help you in this job," Chavez began.

"Captain, Elisa's my partner," Matt began to protest.

"Not officially," Chavez sighed, "Remember, she just woke up a little while ago and the fact that Yale fired her. Detective Flariaty is has been observing the Quarrymen since their beginning to try and identify if Castaway had any knowledge of the Canmores."

"That explains where all the official evidence that proved Castaway was Canmore came from," Matt mused.

Chavez nodded, "Yes, now you're supposed to meet Detective Flariaty in ten minutes."

Matt slowly got up and turned to leave.

"Oh, and Bluestone," Chavez interrupted, "Keep the clan and the Quarrymen apart. I don't want anyone getting hurt or getting the Mayor even more agitated."

"Yes Captain," Matt answered.

**Castle Wyvern**

Caroline looked up to the top of the Castle's Tower. Elisa stood there alone. Goliath had gone to talk with his 'brother' and 'sister' about something as far as the blue gargoyle knew.

"Now's as good a time as any," Caroline muttered to herself.

She slowly began climbing up the wall of the tower to talk the former detective.

"Excuse me, Ms. Maza, may I speak with you?" Caroline asked.

Elisa turned and smiled, "Sure, Goliath and I don't leave for our patrol in a little while. And please, call me Elisa."

"Okay... Elisa," Caroline shrugged, "May I ask you a question?"

"Go ahead," Elisa answered.

"Do you like being a gargoyle?" Caroline asked.

Elisa looked at the younger former human. Caroline always seemed to be the most affected by what Demona had done to her and her friends. Of course, Caroline also didn't have a male gargoyle to have for companionship and support the way Amy and Candy had found companionship in Brooklyn and Lexington. On the other hand, Elisa also knew that Caroline also had an existing boyfriend. A boyfriend who was still human.

"Well," Elisa began, caping her wings around her shoulders, "To put it simply, yes, I like being a gargoyle. Although, I think the better term is that I've accepted that I'm a gargoyle."

"Do you miss being human?" Caroline asked.

"Sometimes," Elisa commented turning her gaze to Manhattan's skyline, "Mostly though it seems to me that mostly what I miss are aspects of being human. I miss seeing the sun and too some extent I miss a lot the contact with other people that I had when I was human."

"Then why do you like the fact that you've lost it?" Caroline asked, "I just can't get past it all."

"Because I have Goliath and the clan to support me," Elisa replied, "I know that this is bound to be hard on you, but the clan is like a family. We will always be there to help. I'm sure that Goliath would also welcome your friend Lawrence if you wish him to."

"You sound like Desdemona or Angela," Caroline sighed looking down.

"And why not?" Elisa asked back, "It's the truth. Caroline, Goliath and the clan have helped me through some pretty tough scrapes. They have cared for me and worried about me long before the Mage did this to me. To some extent I don't miss being a policewoman, because I don't see much of a difference. Goliath and his clan have apprehended more crooks in the few nights since their first awakening than some cops have arrested in their lifetimes. It is a gargoyle's primary purpose and instinct to protect. That's partially why I don't fully miss being a policewoman. I'm essentially doing the same job. In addition, I can glide on currents of wind that wouldn't normally hold something with the weight of a pencil for very long and I can be with Goliath in every possible way."

"But I don't really want to be a gargoyle," Caroline retorted, "I don't want to run these patrols every night. I just want to be normal."

"I'm sorry but there isn't a way to change you back," Elisa sighed, "If there were, I would have used it long ago."

"But..." Caroline began to protest.

"Just because I've accepted what's happened to me and the fact that I like certain aspects of being a gargoyle, does not mean that I would want things to back to normal myself," Elisa sighed, "This is very hard on my folks. In about eight years I will lay my first egg. Ten years later it will hatch a gargoyle. If my brother and his wife have a child before Xanatos's scientists find a cure for the mutates, the child will be a mutate. My youngest sister, Beth, is right now my mom and dad's only hope for normal grandchildren and considering the 'guy' she's dating, the word 'normal' might still be stretching it."

"Demona said that she could reverse what the Mage did to her..." Caroline began to say.

"That I don't think is an option," Elisa said, "Demona was probably in denial about what happened to her, and even if it is true, I bet for whatever magical cure to work, you would have to cast the spell yourself."

Caroline looked down.

"Don't worry," Elisa said finally, "The clan will help you get used to this, and if you really don't think that is possible, I'm sure my brother would allow you to join the Labyrinth clan. They don't patrol as often, if at all, as we do."

"But I can't leave Candy and Amy," Caroline protested, "And I don't think they'll leave Lex or Brooklyn."

"The clan will always be there for you. No matter what," Elisa said, as she turned to see Goliath returning from one of the castle's interior rooms, "It's your choice whatever you do. Now, Goliath and I need to get going."

Caroline stood there and watched Elisa leap from the tower and glide off. She stood there till after Goliath had rose up to join her.

**Elsewhere**

The P.I.T. gathering was a new experience for Abigail Wexmand. Amy had told her about the meeting, and she had decided to mend fences with Ms. Axel. She found the woman filling up a large punch bowl.

"Judy! Judy!" Ms. Wexmand called.

Mrs. Axel looked up from the punch bowel and nearly stepped back in surprise.

"Abigail?" Mrs. Axel began, "What are you doing?"

"I came to talk with you," Ms. Wexmand replied.

"Huh," Mrs. Axel said in a cold manner, "I heard about what your apartment. Now do you believe that gargoyles aren't the bad guys?"

Ms. Wexmand shook her head, "I'm not a member of the Quarrymen any more. I haven't been one for a long time. I'd also like to apologize to you. The things I said about gargoyles were spoken falsely."

"Absolutely right they were false," Mrs. Axel replied.

"I'm sorry," Ms. Wexmand said looking down, "Do you still wish to have me as a friend?"

Mrs. Axel looked up and smiled, "We were always friends. I'm glad that you've thought this over."

Ms. Wexmand hugged her old neighbor and friend, "The Xanatoses and the clan have invited me to stay at the castle. Your daughter seems to be getting along well."

"She tells me that Candace is getting along quite well as well," Mrs. Axel smiled.

"She's found herself a boyfriend and everything," Ms. Wexmand smiled back.

**Long Island**

"Electrical wiring?" Fang fumed, "You had me steel electrical wiring!?"

"Yes," Thailog answered angrily, "Goliath and a tan female..."

"Elisa Maza," Fang corrected.

"What?" Thailog demanded turning his head.

"It was one of the last things we got from Sevarius before he got beat," Fang shrugged, "Somehow, Elisa Maza's been turned into a gargoyle."

Thailog grinned evilly, "Anyway, Goliath and Elisa humiliated me last time..."

"Because we weren't just trying to destroy the gargoyles," Fang argued.

"I have a plan for that!" Thailog yelled, "But it requires that we gain a very large amount of money. And since you and I have no money of our own we need to take other people's money."

"And you intend to do this with electrical wiring?" Fang asked.

"No," Thailog growled, "As I said, Goliath and Elisa Maza humiliated me. I was able to get away with the money, but they not only found me but proved that if they had arrived earlier, they could have stopped me."

"So what do you intend to do with your miraculous defeat?" Fang demanded.

"We cant take on the whole clan," Thailog answered, "But with that electrical wiring, we can take on Goliath and Elisa Maza."

**Over Manhattan**

Caroline glided alone above they city skyline. Her mind remained especially troubled over her own thoughts as to who and what she was. Many of the words that Elisa had spoken to her echoed in her mind.

'The clan is like family.'

'The clan will help you get used to this.'

"I can't do this," Caroline muttered to herself, "I'm not a gargoyle. I'm merely a human's soul trapped in a gargoyle's body. I can't do this."

'My brother would allow you to join the Labyrinth Clan.'

The Labyrinth, Caroline realized was her only real safe place. With the exception of the clones, everyone there that had wings, used to be human. Caroline then heavily shook her head as she remembered something she said to Elisa.

'I can't leave Candy and Amy. And, I doubt they'll leave Lex or Brooklyn.'

'The clan is like family.'

Caroline screamed into the night, a scream that sounded more like a feral roar than the girlish cry she wanted. Her mind was caught between two problems. She just couldn't leave Candy and Amy. They were her best friends. Strangely, ever since the three had become gargoyles, Caroline felt even closer to Candy and Amy. They felt like sisters to her.

On the other hand, she wasn't a warrior. She hadn't been trained by some medieval knight the way Angela was. She hadn't been a police officer before she was transformed the way Elisa was. She hadn't battled her way through Viking raids the way the rest of the clan had. Every fight that Caroline found herself in, she found herself beaten and bruised. She was even only barely successful against common muggers.

Caroline only shook her head and continued gliding.

**23****rd**** Precinct Headquarters**

Matt walked into the old office that had been cleared when the 'Gargoyles Task Force' was first created. The redheaded detective had done his best to find the evidence that the gargoyles had nothing to do with the destruction of the clock tower. He still found it amazing how Jason and Robyn Canmore could confess to everything and people still blame the gargoyles.

"Nice night, Detective?" a voice asked from inside.

Matt turned to see a woman sitting in one of the conference chairs. She wore a blue and orange windbreaker with the Mets's trademarked NY symbol on the right chest. The woman left the jacket unbuttoned and Matt could make out the plain white tee-shirt underneath. She wore plain blue jeans and a pair of white sneakers.

"Detective Jennifer Flariaty," the woman introduced herself.

"Detective Matthew Bluestone," Matt replied, shaking her hand, "Is this everyone? Just the two of us?"

"No, there are about four others," Detective Flariaty answered, "Two from your precinct and two from mine. None of them are expected tonight though. So for tonight, it is just you and me, tough guy."

Matt shrugged, "Okay, let's get going."

Detective Flariaty jumped up from her seat, "Great, my car's parked around back. I'll drive."

"Great," Matt thought to himself, "Another partner who won't let me drive."

Meanwhile, several blocks away, Wolf, Jackal, and Hyena crouched behind a series of dumpsters. Each Pack member was looking toward the sky.

"This is boring," Wolf growled.

"I suppose you'd want to get your ass kicked again?" Jackal teased.

"I pay to see that!" Hyena laughed along with her brother.

Wolf only scowled.

"Your way of simply finding one failed miserably," Jackal pointed out, "We need knowledge of the gargoyle's movements, their 'patrol' routes, and most importantly their strengths and who is patrolling. You stumbled onto the fat one and his girlfriend. Both have faced us before and both are capable of defending themselves. We need to target the weaker ones. Eventually we will eliminate them, one by one."

"Its still boring," Wolf muttered, not noticing the single blue female gargoyle glide over the buildings the Pack was hiding behind.

**Above Manhattan**

Elisa and Goliath glided in silence as they scanned the roof tops and alley ways for any sign that might indicate activity by either Thailog, the Pack, or the Quarrymen.

"See anything?" Goliath asked.

Elisa shook her head, "Nothing to even suggest that there are even innocent people in the most likely locations that our foes might be."

Goliath growled to himself, "Perhaps we should try Long Island again. That's where we found Thailog the last time."

"We can't get that lucky twice," Elisa muttered, "We should stick to Manhattan for now."

Goliath pulled a small communicator from the pouch on his belt, and pressed the activation button.

"This is Goliath to all patrol teams," Goliath spoke into the communicator, "Does anyone see anything?"

"No brother," Othello answered, "Desdemona, Hudson, and I have not seen anything other than the usual band of crooks."

"Hudson's with you?" Goliath asked.

"Yes, brother," Othello responded, "Our younger clan sister, Caroline, was to patrol with Hudson, but he could not find her."

"I see," Goliath said.

Elisa tapped Goliath's shoulder, "Tell Othello that he should refer to Caroline simply as Caroline."

"What?" Goliath asked looking back at his mate.

"Caroline was talking to me earlier about how I feel about being a gargoyle," Elisa explained, "I don't think she's fully accepted the fact that she is a gargoyle now and that a lot of the 'brother' and 'sister' talk is sort of over her head."

Goliath raised a questioning face but agreed, "Othello, Caroline might still be having problems adjusting to being a gargoyle. I'm going to need you and Desdemona to make your best effort to refer to her by her name and not as a clan sister."

"We will try," Othello answered.

"Very good," Goliath nodded, "Has anyone else seen anything?"

Zafiro was the next to answer, "My clan and I have not seen anything Goliath. We even made a few patrols during the day, and we still did not find him."

"Amy and I haven't found anything, either," Brooklyn reported in, "We're getting ready to check out a PIT function. Make sure Amy's parents are okay."

"Candy and I stopped a couple of carjackers, but there wasn't any sign of the Pack or Thailog," Lexington reported.

"Broadway and I haven't found anything either," Angela said slowly, "I'm sorry father."

Goliath growled slightly again, but got no chance to answer as two heavy fists connected with the back of his neck. Elisa dove to catch her mate, but soon fell victim to a similar attack.

**Castle Wyvern**

Xanatos slowly made his way to the castle's parapets, while Owen followed quietly behind.

"I want you to keep an eye on Fox and Alex," Xanatos instructed, "I'm going to keep running my own sweeps of the city until we catch at least one of our foes."

"Yes, Mr. Xanatos," Owen answered, "I will also remind you that there was a break in at one of our warehouses on Long Island."

"Yes someone stole electrical wiring and equipment," Xanatos answered.

"And several of the high performance batteries used to power the Steel Clan," Owen answered.

"I guess this guy doesn't want to pay for gas anymore," Xanatos smirked as he leaped off the wall and glided into the night air.

Back on the streets of New York, Matt Bluestone sat quietly in the passenger seat of Detective Flariaty's car.

"Not very talkative, are you, Detective?" Detective Flariaty asked.

"We have a job to do," Matt answered.

"Doesn't mean we can't talk," Detective Flariaty answered, "Besides, the way traffic goes, it will take us another hour to get to the Quarrymen headquarters."

Matt looked questioningly at her, "Why there?"

"As everyone commonly knows," Detective Flariaty began, "the Quarrymen operate like an army of secret police force. The attack on that woman's apartment was not organized by those eight men. There had to be many others who either supplied or instructed them. But since the eight we arrested claim they planned and organized everything themselves, we have no evidence to prove that there were more people involved."

"I think we might have some evidence to the contrary," Matt mumbled, not really to anyone.

"Huh?" Detective Flariaty asked.

"Oh, there's a woman who has recently left the Quarrymen organization who could help us," Matt answered.

"Yes, the victim of the attack," Detective Flariaty mused, "Unfortunately since she was the target, any testimony that comes from her about how the Quarrymen operate will be viewed as biased."

Matt sighed, "It's the best we got."

"That's why we're going to their headquarters," Detective Flariaty replied, "We'll talk to those people and see what we can collect right off the bat."

**Quarrymen Headquarters**

Castaway's contact paced angrily inside his office. Things were continuing to go bad. Not only had the attempt to eliminate the traitor Wexmand, but any formal charges that might have been placed on a gargoyle were dropped because two other of those demons had showed up to 'save' the human.

"Sir, enlistment is up," a lone female Quarrymen squeaked form across the room.

"It doesn't matter," Castaway's contact growled, "Enlistments will be down the once the full information about the traitor and the demon activity on Long Island get out."

The female Quarryman continued typing something onto a computer.

"If only we could get Mr. Castaway out of prison," Castaway's contact mused, "Yes! Now we've got it."

"Got what?" the female Quarrymen asked.

"We're going to bust Mr. Castaway out of jail," Castaway's contact said, "To hell with these visits! We're going to set him free."

**Over Manhattan**

Caroline continued on her way over the skyscrapers that made up the island of Manhattan. As she looked down she noticed truly how high up in the air she actually was. She then turned her head to look at her wings. The large blue appendages easily caught every updraft and gust of wind that she needed to maneuver. Despite all of her thoughts about why she shouldn't be a gargoyle, Caroline did admit, at least to herself, that she liked gliding. She was essentially defying gravity without an engine or any other man made apparatus. She was doing it all on her own.

"So what will I do?" Caroline thought, "If I become human again, I can't enjoy this... but I'm no good at being a gargoyle, and all I've done is let the clan down."

Just then the sight of something in the distance caught her attention. Far ahead of her, two shadowy figures looked to be gliding away from her, and carrying something big with them. Off to her left another figure seemed to headed for Long Island and appeared to have come from the Eyrie Building.

"Oh great," Caroline sighed to herself, "Someone's gotten captured and I guess I'm the one who's going to have to rescue them."

**Long Island, some time later**

Goliath awoke later to find himself chained to a heavy steal girder. He also found Elisa chained to same girder.

"Elisa? Are you okay?" Goliath asked softly.

"I'm fine," Elisa growled, "I just want to know where we are."

Two sets of foot falls then came from behind the girder.

"I've decided to invite you to stay here for a little while, Detective," came Thailog's voice.

Goliath's eyes began glowing white while Elisa's began to glow red.

"Thailog..." the two growled as they struggled against the chains that held them.

"No don't get up," Thailog laughed, "Fang and I will be so hurt if you leave."

"What do you want with us?" Goliath growled.

"You may consider this awfully petty," Thailog chuckled, "But mostly it's revenge for ambushing me earlier."

"You're insane," Elisa growled.

"Maybe," Thailog chuckled, "But your clan is now without its leaders. You will watch your entire clan be defeated and killed from the luxury of my base. By for now."

As Thailog strolled off, Elisa turned to Goliath and whispered, "We need to get out of here."

Carolina quietly looked through a small window in the roof.

"Thailog?" Caroline thought, "That's the guy they said robbed those old people! Now he's holding them hostage! I gotta tell someone!"

Caroline quickly turned and glided off back in the direction of Castle Wyvern.

**Abandoned Warehouse**

Wolf lifted a large crate and crushed in his bare hands.

"We ran around all night and there was no sign that any of those flying freaks ever left," Wolf roared.

"Easy, Wolf," Jackal laughed at Wolf's method of blowing off steam, "Gathering the information we need will take time. You didn't expect us to get immediate results, did you?"

"It takes too long," Wolf growled, "We ought to just find a group of the gargoyles and wipe them out."

"The last time you tried that you cost us two members," Jackal warned.

"I didn't think you liked Canis or Vulpine," Wolf snarled.

"That doesn't mean we didn't need them," Jackal replied.

Wolf took a threatening step toward Jackal as he realized that the cyborg had the upper hand in th debate. Jackal began to activate his wrist lasers. Both were about ready to come to blows when Hyena extended her hands out from her hands and pushed both opponents back.

"As much as I'd like to see you two tear each other limb from limb," Hyena said in a teasing voice, "I'm tired and hungry. If you two want to kill yourselves, please wait till I can watch."

**Quarrymen Headquarters**

"Of course we can answer some questions, detectives," Castaway's contact answered after finding Matt and Detective Flariaty at the door.

"Thank you, Mr. ..." Matt began.

"I am called Jonah," Castaway's contact answered.

"I take it you're currently in charge of the Quarrymen organization?" Detective Flariaty asked.

"I have taken over leadership since Mr. Castaway was so cruelly punished," Jonah replied.

"Mr. Jonah, he killed the DA," Matt interrupted, "You can't call life imprisonment for murder cruel."

"Mr. Castaway was trying to do what was best for humanity's survival," Jonah answered, "The death of Margot Yale was tragic but it was not why he was sent to prison."

"Then why do you think he was sent to prison then?" Detective Flariaty inquired.

"Because the Mayor listened to that rich, traitorous, scumbag of a industrialist, David Xanatos," Jonah growled back, "If the Mayor stuck with us, humanity would not be endangered by those demons."

"We know the Quarrymen Organization's opinion of gargoyles, Mr. Jonah," Matt interjected, "We are here on different business."

"Very well," Jonah sighed angrily, "We'll discuss this in my office."

Jonah lead Matt and Detective Flariaty through a maze of improvised hallways. It was clearly obvious that building they were in was a former warehouse. Eventually they were lead into a central office which was far better furnished than the rest of the building. Once inside Jonah motioned for Matt and Detective Flariaty to take a seat.

"Now what is it specifically that brings you here?" Jonah asked.

"Are you aware of the attack that members of your organization carried out recently?" Matt asked.

"I'm aware that a woman's apartment was attacked, yes," Jonah answered, "But I do not understand why you are questioning me about it. From what I understand all eight of the people that participated in that attack were arrested."

"We believe that they did not operate alone," Matt said slowly, "And even if they did, they did not have the means to secure their weapons. They had to have some outside contact."

"As I'm sure the eight you have arrested have already told you, I and Quarrymen organization had nothing to do with what they did," Jonah answered.

"They used your weapons," Matt pointed out.

"Without my authorization, Detective," Jonah growled, "Since the mayor had his little change of heart, we are only allowed to use our weapons if the gargoyles attack this building. If you hadn't arrested those eight, we would have punished them ourselves."

"Could you give us a possible motive then as to why those eight did what they did?" Detective Flariaty asked.

"Of course," Jonah growled, "The name of the woman that owned that apartment is Abigail Wexmand. She joined the Quarrymen shortly after the gargoyles destroyed the Twenty-third Precinct clock tower. Recently..."

"First of all," Matt interrupted, "It was your former boss, John 'Castaway' Canmore, his sister Robyn, and brother Jason that destroyed the clock tower. Second, we're not here for Ms. Wexmand's history as a member of the Quarrymen. We want a possible motive for why her apartment was attacked."

"She has recently been seen associating with various members of that demon's clan," Jonah answered.

"What does that have to do with anything?" Matt demanded.

"Detective, our organization is trying to protect the human race from creatures that intend to kill us all," Jonah replied, "In our eyes anyone who associates with those demons is a traitor to the human race and is likely to help those demons."

"Do you personally believe Ms. Wexmand to be a 'race traitor'?" Detective Flariaty asked.

"I do," Jonah nodded, "And the eight that you arrested probably think the same. I however have the knowledge that we do not have the power to get exactly what we want."

"So these eight were merely extremists within your organization?" Detective Flariaty asked.

"Yes," Jonah answered with a smile.

Matt sighed and looked to Detective Flariaty, "I guess that covers everything for now. We may need to ask you some more questions to help prove that those are really the most extreme members of your organization."

**Over Long Island**

Caroline hurried as fast as she could to get to Wyvern, but found that the wind was not blowing strong enough for her to gain much speed. She was about ready to cross over the body of water that separated Long Island from Manhattan Island when she heard a strong whistle. She turned her head to see Xanatos standing on a warehouse near the water.

"Xanatos!" Caroline exclaimed, "What are you doing here?"

"Well I..." Xanatos began to answer.

"Never mind, Goliath and Elisa are in trouble," Caroline said quickly, "Thailog's got them..."

"Thailog?" Xanatos snarled, his eyes beginning to illuminate.

"He's got both of them chained up in a warehouse," Caroline exclaimed, "I'm afraid he's going to kill them."

"Where's the warehouse?" Xanatos growled.

"I can't explain where it is, but I can show you," Caroline answered, "We just gotta get the others first..."

Xanatos shook his head quickly, "There's no time for that. By the time we'd get to Wyvern and get a team assembled and then get back here it would nearly be sunup and you would turn to stone. We gotta go now."

Caroline began to protest but remained silent as she suddenly realized what would happen if they didn't get there soon. Goliath and Elisa, along with the rest of the clan as well, would be chopped to bits by Fang and Xanatos couldn't do much to fight him without risking accidently killing some of the stone gargoyles as well.

"Alright," Caroline sighed, "I'll lead."

**Long Island Warehouse**

Goliath looked out over the warehouse in which Thailog and Fang had been operating from. There was little there. There were a few steel boxes laying about the floor and on abandoned forklift. Neither Fang nor Thailog were in his field of vision. He could easily hear Elisa struggling to break free of the chains that held her to the girder.

"We gotta get out of here," Elisa said in an urgent voice.

"I know," Goliath rumbled making his own attempts to pull himself free, "Can you see Thailog or Fang in your field of vision?"

Elisa shook her head, "No. I think he went up to the roof."

"That will give us the opportunity to break free of these chains then," Goliath said.

"I wonder how he got into a position to ambush us?" Elisa asked, "We had patrol teams going all over Manhattan."

"He's eluded us before," Goliath rumbled, "We shouldn't worry about that now."

Goliath tried to stretch out his arms and break the chains. The chains however, refused to budge.

"This isn't going to work," Elisa stated, "Thailog's using some chain that we can't break."

"That's impossible," Goliath growled as he tried again.

"I assure you Goliath," came Thailog's voice from above them as the black skinned clone dropped from the ceiling, "Those chains can not be broken. Powerful as you and I are, neither you nor I could break those chains alone."

"You won't win," Goliath growled.

"I already have," Thailog chuckled, "Unless you really think that poor excuse of a second can defeat me. I tell you now Goliath, I will rebuild the clan you stole from me and I will become the richest being on the planet. Humanity will serve me and I don't care how many lives I have to take to get there. I think I will start with your clan."

"How can you know about that?" Elisa questioned, "How do you know that the clones didn't simply run off somewhere?"

Thailog smiled, "I'm assuming that your friend, Burnett, has already found the 'Phoenix' program."

**Castle Wyvern**

Owen sat behind one of the castle's main computers trying as best as he could to unravel the codes that protected Nightstone's 'Phoenix' program.

"What are you up to?" came a voice from behind him.

"Is there something you need, Mrs. Xanatos?" Owen asked as he turned around.

Fox took a brief bite out of a sandwich she was holding, "No. I just want to see what you were up to. That's all."

"I am still working to break the codes that have kept us out of this 'Phoenix' program that we discovered at Nightstone," Owen answered returning his attention to the computer screen, "It should give us information about the new Thailog."

Suddenly the computer clicked and whirred as the information stored in the program was finally revealed.

"You've done it!" Fox exclaimed.

"Yes, now to see what I've done," Owen muttered.

**Long Island Warehouse Roof**

Fang stood calmly looking out over Long Island. His brown furred ears turned as he heard Thailog climb back up to his location.

"I'm going out to work toward our mission," Thailog stated, "I'll be back before dawn."

"What about the two gargoyles we got?" Fang asked.

"We are to hold them until after we've killed each and every one of Goliath's clan in front of them," Thailog called back as he leaped over the side and into the air.

Fang only sighed as Thailog glided off. Part of his mind was more interested in directly fighting the clan, but Thailog had always been a smart character. Fang knew that this clone of Goliath wouldn't do anything without a reason. He still wished, however, that Thailog would do things faster.

Suddenly Fang heard a voice cry out from above him.

"There that's the warehouse he has them in!" a feminine voice yelled.

Fang turned to see black furred wolf mutate dive down and only got his hands raised when the furred fist collided with his temple. The cougar like mutate rolled several steps when a blue skinned female gargoyle landed next to him. As he struggled to get up, the gargoyle kicked him in the stomach.

Fang growled and fired an electric blast. He smiled as the gargoyle screamed in pain, but the gargoyle soon recovered and glared at him with glowing red eyes. He soon felt the gargoyle' foot connect once again with his stomach. This time the blow sent him flying into another punch thrown by Xanatos. Fang soon collapsed unconscious.

Caroline stared at the unconscious body of the cougar like mutate.

"That's Fang?" Caroline asked.

"Yep," Xanatos nodded, "Now come on. Thailog may be here, and dawn isn't too far off. We don't have time to take prisoners of our own."

Caroline reluctantly nodded and moved to the window that she had earlier spied through.

"Ladies first," Xanatos offered with a wave of his hand.

"Thanks," Caroline replied and leapt threw the open window.

She landed to find Goliath and Elisa both struggling to break free of the chains that bound them to the girder.

"Caroline!" they exclaimed in unison.

"Yeah, it's me," Caroline replied, looking down, "Xanatos is with me and we're here to help."

"How did you know we were here?" Goliath asked.

"I saw two shadows carrying something off in the night," Caroline answered, "I thought someone got captured and I couldn't let them be a prisoner. So, I followed the shadows here to find out that it was Thailog and that it was you two who were captured."

Goliath smiled, "You have my thanks, but we must hurry. Thailog will return before dawn."

Caroline and Xanatos nodded as they grabbed onto Goliath's chains. Goliath meanwhile began to try again to break the chains himself. After a few moments with the combined strength of Goliath, Caroline, and Xanatos, the chains around Goliath snapped. All three were relatively exhausted afterward, but quickly set to freeing Elisa.

Once she was free, Xanatos's pointed ears turned to the sound of footfalls in the distance.

"Someone is coming," Xanatos said, "We'd better get out of here."

**Quarrymen Headquarters**

Jonah silently stared at the far wall of his window as a lower ranking Quarrymen came in.

"You asked to see me sir?" the man asked.

"I did," Jonah replied, "In order for us to succeed we must get Mr. Castaway out of jail. However, the NYPD has decided to investigate our organization. Therefore we must hire someone to break him out for us. I want you to organize recon teams to find suitable mercenaries."

"Do you have anyone in mind, sir?" the Quarryman asked.

"Not in particular," Jonah answered, "You are to find someone who can go in and go out."

The Quarrymen saluted, "Yes sir."

"Oh, and one more thing," Jonah interrupted before the man left, "Go straight home. Don't start looking till tomorrow."

"Yes sir," the Quarryman nodded and left.

**Over Manhattan**

Caroline glided up close to Elisa as the group of four continued on their way to Castle Wyvern.

"I've been thinking about what you said to me earlier," Caroline commented.

"Oh," Elisa responded.

Caroline looked down, "Yeah, I guess I really need to get used to this, right?"

"The clan will be there to help you," Elisa said politely.

"I know," Caroline replied, "It's like you said, the clan is like family."

"Yes," Elisa smiled.

"It's partially why I came to try and help you," Caroline said, "I've been moping around about what's happened to me, and I've ignored a lot of the help you've tried to give me."

"You've been through a lot," Xanatos commented from ahead of them, "It's perfectly understandable."

"Yeah, but since I can't reverse it, I need enjoy the perks of being like this, I guess," Caroline answered.

"Remember, however, that you do not have do anything you don't want to do," Goliath said.

"I know," Caroline answered, "But I should still help. And if I ever need help..."

"You can talk to us," Elisa smiled.

They found Owen with a large circle of gargoyles standing around him in the courtyard. Fox was also with them.

"What's going on Owen?" Xanatos asked.

"I have uncovered information on our new Thailog, sir," Owen answered, "The 'Phoenix' program codes have been broken."

"What is the 'Phoenix' program?" Goliath asked as he landed.

"The 'Phoenix' program was the original Thailog's plan to cheat death," Owen answered, "He named the program in reference to the mythical bird that burns to ashes when it dies and later rises again from the same ashes."

Goliath's glowed with a harsh white light, "So it is the real Thailog?"

"Not precisely," Owen answered, "The body is still a clone of Thailog and what's in his mind can be questioned as to whether it's really Thailog or not."

"Huh?" everyone but Fox asked.

"When Thailog first created Nightstone..." Owen began.

**Nightstone Unlimited Building, The past**

Demona in the form of Dominique Destine stood outside the Nightstone Unlimited building with a crowd of reporters in front of her.

"Ms. Destine, you said you've started this corporation with a partner; could you reveal the name of your partner to us?" one reporter asked.

"I may," Ms. Destine smiled, "He is Alexander Thailog, but I'm afraid he's far too busy to talk to any reporters now."

"Is there any chance of us ever meeting with Mr. Thailog?" another reporter asked.

Ms. Destine smiled again, "Perhaps after dark, although I wouldn't recommend it."

That night Thailog awoke from his stone sleep as any other gargoyle would and stretched himself out.

"Good evening, my love," Demona greeted him as she came from one of the side rooms.

"Good evening, my angel of the night," Thailog smiled.

"I have some matters to attend to, do you wish to join me?" Demona asked.

Thailog shook his head, "No, I'm afraid I have some business to attend to. We don't want Xanatos to eventually buy us out now do we?"

Demona shook her head while grinning widely, "No, we wouldn't."

Thailog stood there and watched Demona depart out into the night. Once she was out of sight, Thailog quietly walked to the buildings elevators. Once he was inside he pressed a button that took him to Nightstone's basement and his secret lab. The lab was nothing but a series of computers and other electronic equipment, and housed no other equipment.

"My 'angel' is a perfect fool," Thailog chuckled to himself, "For the time being our fortunes are combined, but eventually she will either betray me or do something to hurt my plans. However, I can't simply kill her because she is immortal, after all."

Thailog then sat down in a chair in the middle of the room and placed a large helmet like device over his head.

"Begin memory and intelligence download," Thailog commanded.

After five minutes, Thailog turned the helmet off and stood up, and said, "There, now if my 'angel of the night' kills me, the means of my resurrection is at hand."

**Castle Wyvern, Present**

"By downloading his mind and memories into a computer, Thailog made is technically possible for him to control Nightstone even after his death, because technically, he was still controlling the company's computer network," Owen explained.

"That explains why Nightstone's private funds always remained level despite the fact that company profits were up," Xanatos mused, "The computer Thailog was shuffling them to a different location."

"Then why doesn't he use that now?" Brooklyn asked.

Owen shook his head, "That we can't know. The best presumption is that Demona found out about him and did the best she could to make sure he couldn't do any real damage."

"Then we aren't dealing with the real Thailog, here," Goliath growled, "Merely a computer version come to life."

"Don't worry, brother," Othello assured, "Your clan is behind you. This living computer won't win."

Caroline once again approached Goliath as the group was preparing to take their places on Wyvern's tower.

"Uh, Goliath, I don't want to bother you, but could I ask you a question?" Caroline asked nervously.

"Sure," Goliath replied, "What is it you want?"

"I want to know if I could invite Lawrence here?" Caroline asked.

"As a guest?" Goliath asked back.

"No, as a..." Caroline said slowly, "member of the clan."

Goliath patted her shoulder, "The clan will always be open to those willing join. You may invite him."

"Thank you, you... and your... mate are true friends," Caroline replied.

"We are clan," Goliath answered, "We look after each other."

**Long Island Warehouse**

Fang dodged under another brick thrown at him by Thailog.

"I gave you a simple job of guarding two prisoners and you let them escape!" Thailog yelled.

"It wasn't my fault some gargoyle and Xanatos ambushed me!" Fang yelled back.

The next brick Thailog threw connected with Fang's head, as the clone yelled, "You were careless. You should have seen those two coming."

"I wasn't careless," Fang argued, "I was wondering why you're taking everything so slow in terms of dealing with the clan."

"We have to take things slow because we don't have the ability to go fast," Thailog growled, "If you couldn't handle a gargoyle and a mutate, what makes you think we can fight thirteen or more gargoyles and two mutates?"

Fang only looked down, "I'm sorry, Thailog."

"You'd better be," Thailog growled, "We'll have to relocate know. Xanatos may send his Steel Clan here during the day to see to it that I'm taken care of."

Fang watched Thailog grab their makeshift safe, stuff some money into it and then hurry for the nearest manhole cover. He then reluctantly sighed and followed.

**23****rd**** Precinct Headquarters**

Matt and Detective Flariaty sat down quietly in Chavez's office.

"So how was your first night?" Chavez asked.

"We've got the Quarrymen's official story about the whole situation," Matt sighed, "Their leader said that the eight we have in jail acted on their own. Essentially the same that the eight said."

"They are quite militant, Captain," Detective Flariaty stated, "I'm pretty sure that their leader had to have been involved. He was insistent that John Canmore is the victim of this whole drama and that the eight that we arrested were protecting humanity by doing what they did."

"What a load of nonsense," Chavez sighed.

"It is," Matt added, "But there's a lot of legal questionability. We may not be able to gain enough definite evidence for a while."

"Just get the evidence," Chavez sighed, "I'll see what I can do to help you guys."

"Thank's Captain," Matt and Detective Flariaty replied.

**The End**


	3. Escape and Release

All characters appearing in Gargoyles and Gargoyles: The Goliath Chronicles are copyrighted to Buena Vista Television/The Walt Disney Company. No infringement of these copyrights is intended, and is not authorized by the copyright holder. All original characters are the property of SN.

Note: I'm disregarding the events of the "Goliath Chronicles", with the exception of "The Journey" because I do not wish to use the rest of the "Goliath Chronicles" as canon to my story. This story takes place one week after "True Clan".

Escape and Release

By SN/TVfan

Email: Sam_Nary 

**Somewhere under Manhattan**

The new Thailog walked in awe into a large room of an underground complex on Manhattan's south side. The place was abandoned, but looked like a state of the art facility.

"Would you mind telling me what you're smiling at?" Fang demanded from behind him.

"This was one of Nightstone Unlimited's early smuggling bases," Thailog explained, "When Demona and I founded the company, we knew that even with our combined fortunes, we couldn't challenge Xanatos directly in the business world. Our profits would never be high enough to do that right off the bat. So we established several of these secret underground smuggling bases. We stocked weapons and many different pieces of equipment to secretly sell on the black market. The money we made from these places allowed us to bolster the company's 'legal' funds. I had assumed that Xanatos or Renard had learned of these places when they shut down Nightstone."

"You thinking on selling more stuff?" Fang asked.

"Not much," Thailog replied, "We will need some of the weapons and stuff we have here in order to deal with Goliath and his clan. Besides, without a company to manufacture such equipment, we can't maintain a steady stream of equipment to sell."

Fang looked around the room as Thailog moved back to the entrance and closed the door behind them by pressing a button.

"I think this will be quite satisfactory," Thailog commented, "If Xanatos hasn't found it already, he won't find it. Not unless we lead our enemies here."

Fang growled, knowing that the clone had made a deliberate reference to the incident a week ago when Xanatos and a blue skinned female gargoyle had knocked him out rescue Goliath and a tan skinned female gargoyle, whom Thailog presumed to be Elisa Maza.

"Come now," Thailog instructed as he now began walking deeper into the underground bunker, "Let's see if Demona and Sevarius left anything for me here."

"Left you anything?" Fang growled, "What? She ask for a divorce or something?"

"No, but after I was killed, Nightstone gained the profits it needed to challenge Xanatos Enterprises legally," Thailog retorted, "Therefore, the smartest decision would be to remove anything connected with company, should it be discovered. There is however an outside chance that merchandise that I had smuggled through these places will still be here. Demona focused too much on genocide and Sevarius was never even informed on the existence of these bases."

Fang silently nodded and followed Thailog down the bunker's underground passageways.

**23****rd**** Precinct Headquarters**

Matt Bluestone carefully set the report folder that the officers of the 23rd Precinct had compiled with the various incidents involving the Quarrymen on the elongated table around which several other policemen sat. Detective Flariaty sat in the chair immediately next to his.

"Well, good evening men and women," Matt began as he sat down, "As I'm sure you're all aware of by now, the Mayor has decided that the Quarrymen's activities have become too violent and dangerous toward this city to allow them to continue their activities."

Matt then lifted the folder into the air for all to see, "Inside this folder is the records of attacks and other criminal actions taken by the Quarrymen organization. Some of which dates back to when the Canmores blew up the old Clock Tower."

Matt then began passing the papers around the tower to the other officers. Detective Flariaty passed them by her.

"We have been assigned to monitor the Quarrymen for any and all possible illegal activity for the time being," Matt continued, "However, since the gargoyles that have taken residence in this city are not considered to be citizens of any nation, the Quarrymen can not be charged with anything related to hate crimes. All criminal aggression taken out on people is and will be judged to be assault and crimes of that nature. Regrettably any crimes involving a Quarryman attacking a gargoyle are being viewed as creating a disturbance."

"What is our stance on the gargoyles, Detective?" an officer toward the end of the table asked.

"The orders we have received from the Mayor indicate that we are to keep the gargoyles and the Quarrymen apart," Matt answered, "While the lack of recognized citizenship toward gargoyles makes all crimes against them committed by the Quarrymen to be less serious, it also prevents us from fully charging the gargoyles with anything, since there has also been no official classification that gargoyles are a sentient race."

The man looked at Matt with a puzzled look on his face.

"Officially, all we're supposed to do, concerning the gargoyles, is to make sure that the Quarrymen and the gargoyles are kept apart," Matt clarified.

Meanwhile in an apartment across town, a relatively young man with dark hair sat in a wheel chair not far away from a small window. The face of Jason Canmore had changed little during his three plus years in prison, although he had been kept in a medical wing and had no contact with the rest of the prison population. He and Robyn had been released a two days ago, and the former Hunter contented himself to sitting by a window and looking in the direction of the Eyrie Building.

"They're up there now," Jason commented to no one in particular.

"Who's up there?" Robyn asked from the kitchen.

"The gargoyles," Jason answered, "Those guys that we so foolishly tried to kill. They're all up there safe in the Eyrie Building."

"It's good they're there," Robyn answered walking across the small apartment's floor to where Jason's wheelchair sat, "I don't know about you, but I did receive some news as to what was going on the outside. The Quarrymen have not made life easy for them."

Jason looked down, "I heard about that. It's all my fault you know."

Jason then looked up again at the window, "It' s all my fault."

**Castle Wyvern**

Owen Burnett slowly walked into the castle's Great Hall holding a folder in his hands. The normally quite stern faced Burnett actually looked somewhat depressed as he came into the large room and set the folder on the large table that stood in the center of the room.

"Everything okay, Owen?" Xanatos asked from his chair at the other end of the table.

"I'm afraid not, Mr. Xanatos," Owen sighed, "I've just received the overall test results concerning the blood samples that were taken from you and the other mutates."

Xanatos looked down, visibly depressed by the news, "What are the results, Owen?"

"The doctors here have only been able to discover that the formula that Sevarius used is bonding to each of your individual cells, not just altering them," Owen answered, "Meaning that there is no easy solution that we can use. And since Sevarius will not give us any information relating to a cure, I'm afraid we will need to find a geneticist who is a specialist in fields similar to Sevarius's."

Xanatos got up slowly, shaking his head as he went.

"Things aren't looking good," Xanatos sighed heavily, "We have Thailog out there. The Quarrymen are still a problem. We haven't seen any sign of the Pack. And we're making little or no progress on trying to find a cure for this."

"I can begin looking for someone, sir," Owen answered.

"Begin doing that," Xanatos answered, "We've got to find a cure as soon as possible."

Meanwhile, in another section of the castle, Elisa and Goliath sat in a rather comfortable couch in one of the castle's family rooms. Elisa quietly stroked Cagney's fur while she and Goliath talked. Remarkably, it was a fairly light hearted discussion. The clan was taking a much needed break from the nearly constant patrols that they had been taking to try and find Thailog.

"You know, Goliath, I'm somewhat glad things have been pretty quiet over the past week," Elisa commented, "My wings are getting sore."

"Our stone sleep should heal that," Goliath commented with a slight smile.

"It does," Elisa smiled back, "But that doesn't mean that my wings were feeling sore before the sun rises. A moment to relax is just what we need."

"I agree," Goliath nodded.

**Quarrymen Headquarters**

Jonah paced his office quietly as he waited for the Quarryman he sent out to scout for someone to break Mr. Castaway out of prison. Then with a heavy creak, the door opened and a uniformed Quarryman moved into the room, slowly.

"Report," Jonah commanded.

"Well, I've spent the better part of the last week sneaking through back alleys and checking with many of the advertised 'soldiers of fortune'," the Quarryman reported, "None seem interested in going to Devils Den Prison."

"Have you found anyone that is capable?" Jonah growled, "I didn't send you out for a hitman. I want someone who can take on several SWAT teams and possibly withstand a barrage of tear gas."

"Well, I did notice..." the man began.

"OUT WITH IT!" Jonah yelled.

"Well, it looked like Jackal from that TV show, but he had all this metal on him," the man said nervously.

"The Pack?" Jonah mused, "That would be interesting, but they could be difficult to handle..."

The Quarryman watched Jonah pace the office again, before finally turning to face him.

"Make contact with the Pack," Jonah instructed, "They might be able to break into that prison and break Mr. Castaway out."

"Yes sir," the Quarryman said with a quick salute.

"Be careful," Jonah instructed, "Those two cops that came sniffing by last week are up to something, I can feel it. And the Pack are not going to be overly enthusiastic about being a jail breaking team. Tell that their payment will not be discussed until a meeting between them and myself can be arranged."

"Yes sir," the Quarryman answered and turned to leave the office.

**Under Manhattan**

Thailog carefully set the last piece of electrical equipment in place along the sewer wall and floor that lead to the abandoned Nightstone smuggling station. He had originally intended to use them to torture Goliath and his mate and to kill his clan, but that idea had quickly vanished when his prisoners had managed to escape. That matter no longer concerned him. This new base was far better. He carefully turned as he heard Fang come walking up to him.

"I've completed the 'inventory' of the weaponry that Demona ignored and Sevarius was ignorant of," Fang reported.

"Go ahead," Thailog smiled.

"We have over fifty five laser rifles and one hundred grenades, thirty different computer programs, and there also seems to be about five weird looking things," Fang stated.

"Weird looking?" Thailog asked, slightly confused.

"Looks like medallions or something out of the Spanish Armada," Fang answered.

"I'd better see this," Thailog muttered, "It seems my 'Angel' was smuggling something other than weapons."

"Maybe they're valuable," Fang offered, "We can make money off of them."

"Maybe, but Demona believed in things that seem beyond what most men will believe," Thailog countered, "She's a sorceress, and perhaps they might have some magic in them."

The black skinned clone followed Fang into the room where he'd been taking inventory. As Thailog stepped in he noticed the numerous racks, on which hung several laser rifles. Crates with the word 'grenades' written on the top were lined up along the wall opposite him. There was a row of shelves marked 'computer tech' on the far eastern wall of the room and in the center was a table on which sat the 'weird looking things' that Fang had reported.

"Yes, they are weird in comparison to the rest of this stuff, aren't they?" Thailog commented as he approached the table.

Sitting on the table were five different gold items. One resembled a medallion and hung on a gold chain. In the center of the medallion was a bright red ruby. The second was a ring with another large ruby fixed to the top of it. The third and forth seemed to be jewel encrusted arm bands, strangely though, the only jewel on them where rubies. The fifth was simply a large red ruby held up by a gold platform.

"Yes, my 'Angel' was most certainly dealing in something other than what we agreed these smuggling centers were for," Thailog chuckled as he eyed each item closely, "These are most certainly connected with some form of magic."

"How can you tell?" Fang asked.

"Demona was not one to hide her skills in magic," Thailog explained, "Whenever she cast a spell she would chant something in Latin. Usually it was in an imperative form and in some cases quite short."

Thailog then took the medallion and wrapped it around his neck, "These items have Latin written on them. The phrases are in the imperative form."

"You intend to do magic?" Fang asked skeptically.

"Why not?" Thailog smiled, "Besides, magic may be what we need right now. I need a clan of my own to face off with Goliath's clan and you hardly count as a clan. Perhaps if we could use magic to get people to follow us, we could build up more than enough numbers to deal with the clan and Xanatos."

Fang looked at the large clone skeptically, "And how do you suppose to do that? Do you even know any spells?"

"No," Thailog answered, "But I've studied Demona enough to know how she worked it. All we need is a book or something that contains the right spells. If it works, it will augment our other endeavors perfectly."

"So where do we get this book we need then?" Fang asked.

"I have a good hunch as to where one might be located," Thailog smiled, "But we'll look into that tomorrow night. There is still other things that we must do."

**23****rd**** Precinct Headquarters**

Matt and Detective Flariaty walked quietly out of the building and gazed up at the sun, which was just beginning to peak over the horizon of spires that made up New York's skyline. Matt sighed heavily as he looked at the rising sun. The past week had been long and hard for him, and he wanted to tell the clan that they needed to keep their distance from the Quarrymen for the time being, but now that would have to wait for tonight. The clan, except for Guatemalans, is now asleep.

"Troubles?" Detective Flariaty asked.

"No," Matt answered politely as he shook his head, "I was just thinking about getting in touch with someone, but right now I think it'd be rude to bother them."

"The gargoyles, you mean?" Detective Flariaty questioned him with one eyebrow raised.

"How did...?" Matt began.

"When Castaway took over Manhattan he had you arrested specifically; when this precinct's clock tower was blown up and the gargoyles were discovered, you were put in charge of the Gargoyle's Task Force," Detective Flariaty answered with a smile, "If you didn't know them personally Castaway wouldn't have kept you out of his way and the Gargoyles Task Force might have captured or killed at least one gargoyle."

Matt looked down at his feet, and then finally asked in a stern voice, "So what is your opinion of the gargoyles?"

"I don't know," Detective Flariaty answered, "The few reports of people claiming to be attacked by gargoyles that arrived at my precinct were mostly filed by people who didn't even have a scratch on them, and the few that did have scratches on them also had warrants for their arrest. But from what I've heard and seen on the news, those things do not exactly look very friendly."

Matt looked at her questioningly.

"I will add though that I don't think it's right to kill them all though," Detective Flariaty finished, "That's like saying we need to kill bears because some people might be killed by one."

"Well, that's good then," Matt answered, "I'll see you tonight."

**Castle Wyvern**

Zafiro and his clan gazed silently over the city of New York. He sighed heavily as he did so.

"You miss home?" Jade asked from his left.

Zafiro slowly nodded, "Yes. What makes me sad about all of this is that we can not return home. I've seen some of the news programs that Hudson watches. The area around the Green is suffering from serious flash flooding. There are no trees there to hold back the rain water."

"The government there is working to try and plant new trees there," Obsidiana said hopefully.

"Not the trees that used to grow there," Zafiro argued, "And they're not trying to restart the rainforest, they're just planting some trees that might hold back some water so they can let archeologists explore our pyramid."

"All they will find will be our clan's stone-shells and shells of our clan's shattered eggs," Turquesa said sadly, "There is nothing there left for us to protect."

Zafiro turned and looked up at the others, frozen in stone for the day, "At least Goliath was generous enough to allow us to remain here."

"He and his clan are good amigos," Obsidiana commented, "You think they wouldn't accept us?"

Zafiro and the others slowly shook their heads.

Meanwhile, deep inside Castle Wyvern, Fox made her way into the castle's dungeon. As she did so she glared at the cells that held both sets of clones that Sevarius had made of her and David. Once she settled in front of Sevarius's cell, she stopped and stared into the lynx mutate's eyes.

"You come to free me?" Sevarius growled.

"I've come to ask you why you wont give up a cure," Fox answered, trying to remain calm.

"What makes you think I want to cure you?" Sevarius answered angrily, "Besides, YOU can't take the cure until that lovely little kid of yours is born."

Fox's had immediately moved to her stomach, where her second child was slowly developing and would continue to develop for the next seven or eight months.

"There are others that can take the cure now," Fox answered angrily, "And besides, my mother told you, herself, that giving us a cure for this would be the only way you can be cured. From what I've heard, you don't want to remain this way either."

"I'll find a way to escape," Sevarius growled defiantly, "And then I'll cure myself."

Fox's eyes began to glow at the insane doctor, "You can't escape these cells. Each one is surrounded by an electronic force field. Even if you managed to tunnel through the stone of the floor, or the metal of the walls and ceiling, you'd only electrocute yourself."

Sevarius then only shrugged, "Well, I know that if I do give the cure you will only release me to the police, that is if your stone friends don't decide to kill me first."

"The gargoyles do not believe in cold hearted execution," came the dry voice of Owen Burnett from behind Fox, "You will be released to the police because you've committed very serious crimes."

"So have you and your boss and his wife," Sevarius retorted.

Fox gave a slightly vulpine smile, "We haven't gotten caught. You have."

**Robyn Canmore's Apartment**

Jason slowly rolled his wheelchair up to the apartment's door. Opening it was rather difficult for him to do since he practically had to lean out of the chair in order to reach the door handle without having the chair so close to the door that it would prevent the door from opening.

"Jason, are you going out?" Robyn asked from her room.

"Yes, I'm going down to the precinct," Jason answered.

"Detective Maza won't be there, she works the night shift," Robyn said quickly.

Jason's eyes looked down sorrowfully, "I'm hoping for a job, actually."

Quietly he rolled his chair through the door and then carefully closed it behind him. Robyn's report had slightly depressed him. He hadn't seen or heard from Elisa since he was placed in prison, yet aside from Robyn and Jon, she was almost all that he thought about. Guilt had also weighed heavily on him. His thoughts remained with black haired woman that he remembered as he rolled his chair to elevator at the end of the hall.

Meanwhile, in another section of Manhattan, police sirens were going off much louder than normal. The commotion was originating from a local savings and loan style bank as various police squad cars began to arrive and block traffic and to watch a large hole in the wall of the building that looked like someone had shot at it with a laser beam.

"We got the traffic blocked off, sir," one officer called as he ran up to the lead officer.

"Good," the lead officer answered before motioning toward the others, "Keep your guns aimed at the hole there! The 9-1-1 call was cut short, but we can be certain that whoever's doing this is pretty powerful."

The lead officer then raised his own handgun toward the blast opening, while wondering who would be crazy enough to run this kind of bank robbery in broad daylight.

Inside the bank was a different story. Inside the lobby a large 'man' covered in grey fur held a large shotgun in its paws and kept the people that were either in there to do their business or the people that worked in the bank in the lobby. His partners had meanwhile had the bank manager escort them to bank's safe. Wolf stood there half bored while waiting for Jackal and Hyena to load up the money they needed or wanted.

The fur on the back of Wolf's neck stood up when he heard a laser blast come from the back room where Jackal and Hyena had gone. Soon after Jackal and Hyena appeared again in the lobby. Neither of them had anything in their hands.

"Where's the money?" Wolf demanded.

"Inside internal compartments," Jackal answered, "We each removed some minor stuff from our chest cavities in order to stuff the money sacks there."

Wolf cringed at the mention of the word 'removed'. He silently questioned the logic behind Jackal and Hyena's thinking when they upgraded themselves into cyborg bodies. They were vulnerable to rust and magnets. Their armor was not enough to fully protect them from a full fledged blast by one of Xanatos's Steel Clan robots.

"Fine," Wolf muttered, "We gotta get out of here, now! The cops got this place surrounded."

Jackal paused and glanced at the surrounding walls and the direction from which the Pack entered the bank. Using his cybernetic eyepiece, Jackal easily detected several police squad cars blocking every exit and the makeshift entrance that he had blasted open to surprise the bank staff.

"The roof!" Jackal ordered, "That's our only chance!"

The SWAT teams were just arriving as a great rumbling sound began to emanate from the building.

"What the devil..." the lead officer cursed as he began to tighten his grip on his gun's trigger.

Suddenly several terrified people began running out of the building. All of them were dressed in plain cloths, and none of them matched the description of the attackers that was delivered by the 9-1-1 call before it was cut off.

"Should we send the SWAT teams in, sir?" one officer asked.

"Move in to help get the people out," the lead officer answered quickly, "I don't know what's going on, but it feels like an earthquake."

Just as he said the word 'earthquake', the roof, which was four floors up seemed to explode, sending a shower of rubble down on the people below. After the lead officer shielded his eyes from the falling dust and debris, he turned his eyes skyward. As he did so, he saw three figures in the air. Two seemed to flying under their own power while the third seemed to be dangling from one of the flying one's hands.

"It's the Pack!" the other officer yelled.

"Keep evacuating the people," the lead officer called to the others and then turned to the officer next to him, "You, get on the radio. Tell dispatch that we need helicopters out here NOW!"

A few blocks away another man was watching the sky and watching the three members of the Pack flying off. He quickly rushed to his car as they flew over his position and hastily began to follow them as quickly as he possibly could. He also pulled a cell phone off of the car's arm rest and dialed.

"Jonah, it's me," the man said, "I've got the Pack in sight. They've just blown their way out of a bank. I'm on my way to let them know of your offer."

He heard a hasty affirmative and then hung up.

**Abandoned Warehouse, Half an hour later**

Jackal chuckled loudly as he set the sacks of money that the Pack had apprehended on a small wooden crate.

"Look at that," Jackal said, "That's what we need. Now we got us some money."

"Bah! What can we do with it?" Wolf demanded, "We all need to wear huge trench coats and large brimmed hats to hide what we really look like. We can't just use that money for going down to the corner store."

"Yeah, but the black market doesn't care what you look like, just as long as you have money," Jackal argued, "We can use this money to buy upgrading equipment as well as other things from them."

Wolf only snorted, "There was no action in it."

"You'd rather get caught by Goliath and his goody-goodies?" Jackal argued back, "We need to do more to build up our strength. Some more money and we might be able to bribe Xanatos's ground grunts into letting us break Vulpine and Canis out of that cell they probably got them in."

"Yeah, and be glad we at least got something to do," Hyena added, "We could just be sitting here."

Wolf was about to argue again when there was a knock at the far door.

"Go chase that guy away," Jackal sighed, "It can't be the cops. They'd just knock the door in."

When Wolf got to the door, he found a single man standing there. He was wearing a heavy black coat that descended down to his ankles. The jacket was unbuttoned and Wolf could easily see the jumpsuit of a Quarryman behind it.

"Good morning," the man said, "You're Wolf are you not?"

Wolf looked at the man curiously.

"I have a message I'd like to deliver to you," the man then added.

**Castle Wyvern, Dusk**

Xanatos was there to greet the gargoyles as they awoke for the new night. Even with his enhanced mutate strength, he was forced to take a step back as the great creatures broke free of their stone sleep.

"What is it, Xanatos?" Goliath was the first to ask as he and Elisa slowly got down from their perches.

"Just an update what is going on in New York," Xanatos answered, "We just need to wait for everyone to arrive."

Once everyone arrived at the top of the tower, Xanatos then sighed and prepared to explain what had happened. He then recoiled back as several pairs of eyes began to glow at the information he had given them.

"Was anyone hurt?" Elisa asked.

"No," Xanatos replied, "Thankfully, no one was hurt. But they did get away with over seven hundred thousand dollars."

"They are descending to the level of petty thugs," Broadway growled from his position.

"No one has hired them, and Jackal is greedy enough that if someone won't hire him, he'll go looking for some way to make money," Xanatos answered.

Goliath slowly nodded, "We will remain on the lookout for them. Brother, sister, Caroline, I want you to patrol the west side docks. Brooklyn, Amy, Hudson, I want you to patrol north toward the Bronx. Angela, Broadway, Lexington, and Candy, I want you to patrol the north side of Manhattan. Work with Brooklyn's team if you have to. Elisa and I will take the east side and southern Manhattan."

"If I may, Goliath," Zafiro interrupted, "My clan is quite willing to help. We will take the east side."

"Yes, and we still owe Jackal a good butt kicking for his participation in destroying our home," Obsidiana added.

"Very well," Goliath nodded, "Zafiro, you and your clan may take the east side."

"I'll be heading out myself to check the center of Manhattan," Xanatos chimed in, "It's the least I can do."

**Quarrymen Headquarters**

Jonah was seated quietly behind his desk as the man he had sent out lead the members of the Pack in.

"Good evening," Jonah welcomed them, "Please have a seat."

He watched as Hyena and Jackal calmly took seats while Wolf seemed content to stand behind them.

"What do you want?" Wolf demanded immediately.

"More importantly, how much are you willing to pay?" Jackal added.

"I've called you here because I want to hire you," Jonah explained, "Currently, John Castaway, or as the law called him, Jon Canmore, is currently in a Federal Prison in upstate New York. Without him the Quarrymen Organization has lost much of its importance. We have members that have betrayed us and have looked to those monstrous gargoyles for protection."

"Awww, that's too bad," Hyena laughed, "If I could cry I'd ask for a tissue!"

Jonah then frowned as the female cyborg then descended into somewhat heavy laughter.

"Now, now, sister," Jackal interrupted Hyena's chuckling, "Now is not the time to insult someone who is offering us a job."

Hyena glanced at Jackal and then at Wolf, who looked ready to simply leave, and settled down.

"The Quarrymen needs its leader, and regrettably, I can not fill in Mr. Castaway's shoes," Jonah continued, "I am willing to hire you to go to Devils Den Prison and break Mr. Castaway out."

"Devil's Den?" Jackal chocked out, "I've heard of that place. That place ain't exactly good for prisoners."

"I'm not asking you three to intern yourselves there," Jonah replied, "You can even destroy as many sectors of it as you wish."

"Attacking Devil's Den Prison won't be easy," Jackal said seriously, "How much money are you willing to spend on this little endeavor?"

"How much are you asking for?" Jonah sighed.

"Roughly, five hundred thousand dollars now and another five hundred thousand when we deliver your boss to you," Jackal said coldly.

Jonah growled inwardly to himself.

"What do like the minimum wage a mercenary earns?" Wolf taunted, "If your situation is so bad that you're going outside your organization, money shouldn't be an issue."

"Fine," Jonah said and then pressed a small intercom buzzer on the underside of his desk, "Janice, bring me in the suitcase."

**23****rd**** Precinct Headquarters**

"This is a first, Mr. Canmore," Captain Chavez sighed as she sat down behind her desk, "It isn't everyday when a man who had participated in an attack on New York's finest comes in asking for a job."

Jason sat quietly in his wheelchair looking into the eyes of the elder woman. It had taken him far longer to get to the Precinct Headquarters than he had anticipated and he then only found out that he would have to wait for the Precinct's Captain. Chavez had only now just arrived.

"Captain, my family and I never intended to put you or any of your other officers in harms way," Jason began, "We were trying to obtain justice for the murder of our father, but we went to far. Our original intention was to kill a female gargoyle known as Demona..."

"I know what you, Robyn, and Jon Canmore were doing here," Chavez snapped, "Two of my detectives knew of the gargoyles long before you exposed them and they explained it to me. You three came here hunting Demona over a blood feud that's been going on for the better part of a thousand years and then attacked the gargoyle clan that was living atop this Precinct's clock tower because they were gargoyles."

"The feud is over for me and for my sister," Jason answered, "It was one of your detectives that convinced me that this was wrong. A lot of what we did was wrong."

"And you expect me to give you a chance because you've had a change of heart?" Chavez questioned, "You and your sister were EXTREMELY lucky that no one was killed in that blast."

Jason looked down, "I know. I also feel lucky and relieved that the gargoyle clan has survived."

"No thanks to your brother and the organization he founded," Chavez answered, "The Quarrymen are now giving the Mayor a headache because they're attacking innocent human beings."

"I'm willing to help stop them," Jason said quietly.

"You would?" Chavez asked, "You? A person who once hunted gargoyles?"

Jason slowly nodded, "The incident that occurred on the Hunter's Moon has changed my opinions, Captain. The quest of the Hunters to kill gargoyles was wrong. Perhaps tracking down Demona may have been right, but not at the expense of the rest of the gargoyle race and certainly not at the cost of humans who support them."

Chavez sighed, "It will take awhile to file all the paper work and process your police academy graduation records from the UK. We'll let you know in a few days."

"Thank you, Captain," Jason answered and then turned to roll his wheelchair out.

**Under Manhattan**

Thailog and Fang quietly made there way through the underground tunnels that made up New York's sewer system.

"Magic can have its uses," Thailog explained, "With these 'jewels' in our possession, we can increase our power exponentially."

"You can't do magic," Fang argued, "You may be smart enough to pick up on your girlfriend's tricks but that doesn't mean you can mimic them."

"I guess we'll need to hire a sorceress or sorcerer, then won't we?" Thailog smiled.

"Were are we going to get one?" Fang asked, "From what I understand your old girlfriend didn't like it very much when you tried to kill her daughter."

"True," Thailog nodded, "But there are always people who are drawn to such things. Just there are people who have unusual bedroom habits."

"I didn't need to hear that," Fang answered as the two continued walking.

**Over New York**

Brooklyn, Amy, and Hudson made a soft landing on the roof of an old apartment building in the Bronx. Upon landing, Brooklyn moved to the building's outer most ledge and gazed out at the streets and alleys below them.

"Do you see anything?" Amy asked from behind him.

"Nothing," Brooklyn sighed, "We'd better get going. If the Pack is out there causing trouble, we can be sure it isn't quiet."

With scarcely a second thought, Brooklyn and Amy were off again. Hudson taking his time to catch his breath followed behind. The group had only gone a few yards when the sounds of a mugging reached their ears.

"It isn't the Pack," Hudson commented, "But it'd be worth our investigation."

Brooklyn nodded as he lead the three down toward the crime scene.

Meanwhile, on Manhattan's west end, Othello, Desdemona, and Caroline landed on top of a dock side warehouse. While there was no sign of the Pack or Thailog, it was Othello's eyes that picked up on the sight of several men, somewhat better dressed than what would be expected, sneaking out of another warehouse nearby. One ran in one direction while a few others ran in another direction.

"I don't think they're members of the Pack," Caroline said.

"They look more like members of the mob," Othello commented.

Desdemona leaped down from the roof and began to glide down toward them, "Come on you two! We can't just watch."

Caroline and Othello nodded and followed the golden skinned Desdemona.

"My mate and I will take this group," Othello instructed, "Can you get the other guy?"

Caroline nodded, "Yeah, I'm getting better at this. I think I can get him."

Caroline easily altered her course to chase the other man. She had gotten progressively better at being a gargoyle and mostly her mind thought it was due to her finally paying attention to the better parts of being one. She still missed being human but she no longer let it be the thing that controlled her. She easily caught up to the man who ran down in a different direction from the other group. The man was carrying a small plastic bag that was filled by some white substance.

"I bet that's drugs," Caroline thought to herself, "This gargoyle body has great senses and that doesn't smell like flour or any legal white powdery substance I've seen."

Three minutes later Caroline tossed the unconscious man down next to the two men that Desdemona and Othello had rounded up. Caroline also set the bag down at her feet.

"I think those two are drug runners," Caroline said pointing to the two that Desdemona and Othello caught, "My guy had that bag there."

"Were you two dealing drugs?" Othello growled at the two men.

One man looked to the other and then at Othello's glowing white eyes and then the scowls of the two female gargoyles with him and immediately nodded.

"Tell that to the police when they arrive," Othello growled as wrapped a discarded pipe that he had found around the group of criminals.

"I guess this another plus to being a gargoyle," Caroline commented quietly as she looked around, "We aren't too far away from where Candy, Amy, and I used to live. Not exactly the safest place. Without these guys maybe it will be safer."

"Maybe, but these men are not our quarry," Desdemona answered, "We must return to our patrol."

As the three gargoyles finished their interrogation of the three men and began to scale the nearby warehouse wall, they failed to notice a large van with the Quarryman logo on its side drive by on a nearby side street.

Inside the van, Wolf, Jackal, and Hyena sat on a crowded bench with two armed Quarrymen sitting on the opposite bench.

"I don't see why we need them," Wolf muttered, fingering the two Quarrymen.

"Devil's Den Prison is not like any other prison in the country," the Quarryman opposite Jackal said, "There are more guards there than any other prison, all hired out of former military police members. It has most of the latest security measures from Xanatos Enterprises and Cyberbiotics. On top of all this, the prison is equipped with a highly efficient radar. Than can detect anything that might conceivably try a break out attempt before it has a chance."

"We won't have the advantage of surprise!" Jackal exclaimed, "You do know that they will call for backup immediately after they realize they're under attack?"

"Yes," the Quarryman answered, "That is why we are along. We will get you as close as possible and on the same side as the outer wall of Mr. Castaway's cell."

"What if those guys shoot at us?" Wolf demanded.

The Quarryman turned, reached under his seat and pulled a laser rifle out from underneath it and handed it to Wolf.

"I'm sure that you are more than capable of shooting back," the Quarryman replied.

"Fine," Jackal smiled, "We'll do this during the day, while he gargoyles sleep and any attempt by Xanatos to use his robots or to come in person will only expose himself and hurt his business."

The Quarryman and the other Pack members nodded.

**Elsewhere in Manhattan**

Jason quietly rolled his wheelchair down the hallway that he remembered fairly well. He had called Robyn earlier to tell her what he was doing. She protested, but he had ignored her. As he reached the door he calmly and nervously reached out a hand and knocked on the door. He heard a rush of screams of 'I got it' before a rather young girl with blonde hair opened the door.

"Yes?" the girl asked.

"Um," Jason stuttered, fearing he had knocked on the wrong door, "Does Elisa Maza live here?"

The girl quickly turned her head back into the apartment, and yelled, "DAD!"

A short time later a rather tall man came to the door, and the girl went up to him.

"The crippled man is looking for an Elisa Maza," the girl said.

"Don't be rude Jenny," the man said, "I'm sorry, sir. Kids sometimes just don't know things aren't polite."

"Some adults do know the same things either," Jason sighed, "I'm sorry to bother you, but does Elisa Maza live around here?"

"Who?" the man asked.

"Elisa Maza," Jason repeated.

The man paused, and said politely, "I'm sorry sir, I don't know an Elisa Maza, and everyone else living in these apartments were here long before we moved in. They told me that the previous occupant of this apartment had moved out."

Jason's eyes drifted toward his feet.

"I'm sorry I couldn't be of more help," the man replied as he shut the door and as Jason slowly rolled his chair away toward the elevator.

Little did Jason or the new apartment owner know, Elisa Maza was looking in. Elisa and Goliath had recently finished their patrol and, like the other groups had only managed to bring in a few common criminals. Elisa stood quietly and stared through the large skylights that were once hers.

"Why are we here, Elisa?" Goliath asked calmly from beside her, while he wrapped one of his wings over her shoulder.

"I guess it's just an urge to make sure my old home is safe," Elisa commented, "Just like a gargoyle's instinct to protect. I used to live there. I want it to remain safe."

"I feel the same way about the castle," Goliath rumbled, "It is our home."

"Yes it is," Elisa said quietly as she gazed through the skylight at the young girl playing with a toy in the middle of the family's living room.

Goliath glanced at this and noticed what his mate was looking at.

"Soon we will have our own hatchling, Elisa," Goliath said politely.

Elisa turned her head to Goliath and smiled lightly, "I know. It's sort of been on my mind since the Mage did this to me."

"It has been on my mind as well," Goliath added, "Come. We need to get back to the castle. Perhaps some of the others had better luck than we did."

**Destine Mansion**

"This is the place Demona called home," Thailog commented as he and Fang landed on the roof.

"What makes you think she has a book on magic?" Fang asked, "You just said she knew magic."

"Knows," Thailog corrected, "Demona is immortal. It will make it all the more fun to torture her. And I believe she has many magical volumes, how useful each will be will be up to the Latin written within them."

The black clone carefully opened a large skylight that lead into what would be a human's bedroom, but since Demona was a gargoyle, Thailog doubted that it had ever been used.

"I'll go down to the first floor and work my way up," Thailog instructed, "You take this floor and work your way down. Look for anything written in Latin. Err... Make that anything in a language that isn't English. I'll identify if it's Latin or not."

Fang grumbled something under his breath, but complied. Thailog, meanwhile moved down three flights of stairs to the ground floor. He found himself very impressed with Demona's sense of style. The entire mansion seemed to modeled on seventeenth century French Palace, but then when she took Dominique Destine for her 'human' name, the 'French' connection wasn't all that well hidden.

The first room that Thailog looked in on the main floor appeared to be a study of sorts. A large fireplace sat at one end, soot and ambers from old fires still lying there. There were also various marble busts that seemed to be part of the walls. All of them were of gargoyles. To Thailog's surprise the each head resembled the old Wyvern Clan. Even her former mate and now enemy numbered among them.

"Well, aren't you a little jigsaw puzzle, Demona," Thailog commented to himself.

The large clone of Goliath then moved to a bookshelf. There were several books there. Thailog began looking from book to book and tossing any book written in English or any other language that wasn't Latin. Finally he came across a book that looked much older than it appeared. As Thailog opened it he found page of page of Latin writing. All of it was in an imperative form. Thailog then carefully read the title.

"I thought Demona said that book was destroyed," Thailog muttered to himself, "Oh well. It will come in handy when I find a sorcerer or sorceress to serve me."

**23****rd**** Precinct Headquarters**

Chavez slowly stumbled through the paper work that had to be done to decide whether or not to hire Jason Canmore. Half of it she couldn't believe. The man had graduated from a very good police academy in the United Kingdom, but retired in 1996, shortly after making a rank in the UK's police force that was equivalent to a detective in the US. Of course that was when he came here with his family to attack a group of creatures that her best detectives had described as protectors. Chavez was very much tempted to let this man find some other place to work, but considering problems with the Quarrymen and the fact that the 23rd was seriously short on officers at the moment, Chavez wasn't about to let this situation drop.

She was about to get another cup of coffee when there was a knock on the door to her office.

"Come in," Chavez sighed.

Matt stuck his head in, "We're about to see if we can get spy into the Quarrymen organization, Captain. Just thought you should know."

"Come in for a second, Bluestone," Chavez said in slightly stressed voice, "I need to talk to you about something."

Matt entered and sat down, looking exceedingly nervous.

"You didn't get fired, did you?" he asked.

"No," Chavez shook her head, "I've had a rather... 'interesting' job applicant today."

"I'm sorry Captain, but getting this undercover guy into the Quarrymen is pretty important," Matt began, "I should..."

"It was Jason Canmore," Chavez said slowly.

Matt sat back down.

"He and his sister were apparently released a few days ago, and he came here looking for a job," Chavez sighed.

"Am I on the day shift now?" Matt asked with a chuckle, remembering the first time Jason Canmore came to the 23rd Precinct.

"This is serious," Chavez answered coldly, "He sounds quite sorry for all that has happened, but I just don't feel I can trust a man who had helped fire a rocket at this building."

"It's worth a shot to trust him," Matt shrugged, "Elisa mentioned to me that he tried to stop his brother from continuing the hunt and took a powerful laser blast for Goliath. That's why he's in the wheelchair."

"You wouldn't mind him working with you?" Chavez asked.

"I need someone to do my paperwork," Matt chuckled.

**Manhattan's East End**

Zafiro and his clan had less luck than any of the other groups. So far, not even an ordinary criminal had been found.

"I don't like this," Zafiro muttered, "The Green was like this just before something terrible would happen."

"Yes," Turquesa nodded in agreement, "It's too quiet, even for this city."

The four former Guatemalan gargoyles turned to meet an air current that would take them back up the region again toward the Eyrie Building. Just as they had turned around, Jade spotted two men running around a large isolated warehouse that was close to the water.

"What is that human doing?" Jade asked out loud, as he pointed at the man.

Zafiro turned his full focus to the sight. He noticed that the man had some large cannister in his hands. It was red and had a yellow nozzle dangling from its handle by a piece of string. There were also faint markings on the cannister that Zafiro couldn't make out, but he did notice that the man was shaking the cannister in a fashion that shot a strange smelling clear liquid onto the building's walls.

"That's gasoline!" Obsidiana exclaimed, "He' pouring gasoline on that building!"

"Why's he pouring gasoline on a building?" Jade asked in a somewhat perplexed voice.

As Zafiro watched this man he remembered something that the olive green skinned Lexington of Goliath's clan had told him.

'Those cars down there they run on gasoline. It's what makes a car engine run. But you have to be careful with it and around it because it's highly flammable. So flammable, in fact, that even a small spark could set off a fiery explosion.'

"Stop him!" Zafiro yelled, "He wants to burn that building!"

The word 'burn' sharpened them into action. Partially because Goliath's clan had explained that such action toward human property was illegal and partially because it sparked memories of the fate of their former home.

**Castle Wyvern**

Fox slowly moved herself to the ringing phone. Although many had told her, including some of the gargoyles, that she needed longer period's of rest in her condition, she insisted to wait for Xanatos to return from his sweep of the city. Owen was busy with other tasks and the red furred fox mutate decided to answer the phone. Fox also wondered who might be calling at such a late hour. It was nearing twelve thirty in the morning and David rarely worked that late, even on the hardest days. Although now he spent much of the day asleep and he aided the gargoyles during the night.

"Hello, Xanatos residence," Fox answered the phone.

"Hello," came a nervous voice from the speaker of the phone, "Is Detective Maza or any of the gargoyles there? I've heard that Mr. Xanatos has been providing them with his protection."

"My husband is protecting the gargoyles, yes," Fox replied specifically, "Who am I speaking to?"

"My name... my name is Jason Canmore, Mrs. Xanatos," the voice answered, "I need to speak with either Elisa Maza or one of the gargoyles."

"I'm sorry but none of them are here at the moment," Fox said politely, "Even Mr. Xanatos isn't here at the moment."

There was a silence on the other end of the line, but the man didn't hang up.

"Is there any message you wish me to convey to them?" Fox asked, trying to get more information.

"Could you arrange a meeting with them for me?" Jason asked over the phone, "Elisa specifically."

"I don't think they'd meet with you tonight," Fox commented.

"Tomorrow night then?" Jason asked.

"I think we can arrange that," Fox sighed.

Fox pivoted her pointed ears around as she hung up the phone. She heard two foot falls coming from elsewhere in the castle. Fox then turned to meet with whoever had returned, or convey the message to Owen, who would surely convey the message if she didn't. It turned out to be of all the gargoyles, Goliath and Elisa.

"You had a phone call, Elisa," Fox began.

Elisa raised a browridge and turned her eyes to Goliath who shrugged.

"Who was it?" Elisa asked.

"He said his name was Jason Canmore," Fox answered, "One of the Hunters, I believe."

"Jason?" Elisa asked, "He's been released?"

"I would imagine so," Fox nodded, "He wants to meet with you."

"After all this time?" Elisa exclaimed, "He's wanting to meet with me? Between helping the clan and chasing after the Quarrymen for the past three years I haven't really had the time to visit him, and now... now I don't have the ability to visit him."

"He still wishes to meet with you nonetheless," Fox answered.

Elisa glanced at Goliath for a moment and then said, "I'll meet with him here after dark tomorrow."

"I'll inform Owen to make the call," Fox nodded.

Goliath watched Fox turn and walk toward the section of the castle that Owen was probably working in. Once she was out of sight, Goliath returned his attention to Elisa.

"My love, do you think this is a wise course of action?" Goliath asked

Elisa was silent for a moment, and then answered, "Goliath, you haven't seen him since the Hunter's Moon incident in 1996. I haven't seen him since he confessed a few days later."

Elisa was quiet for a moment afterward.

"There is some attraction that he feels toward me," Elisa began, "At least the human me. That is all he can remember. I must at admit that there was some attraction that I felt toward him, perhaps because some parts of him reminded me of you or that I was trying to run away from my feelings for you. Either way, he has to know what has happened. He has to know that we are mates, Goliath. He has to know... that I'm no longer human."

"I understand," Goliath nodded, "He will need to know. But, please my love, allow me one thing."

"And that is?"

"Allow me to be there when you meet with him," Goliath responded.

"Of course," Elisa smiled, "Jason himself said that the hunt is over. He confessed and apologized on television. So did Robyn. It's time for you two to bury the hatchet. Like you and Xanatos have buried the hatchet."

It was at the moment that Xanatos returned, and having overheard the last line, remarked with a half hearted grin, "I never recall either of us owning a hatchet."

The clan had reacted with a mixture of surprise and confusion upon learning that Jason had called. Othello, Desdemona, the Guatemalans, and the clan's newest members needed the back story to Jason Canmore and the Hunters.

"Why would they hunt gargoyles for a thousand years only to turn themselves in and apologize?" Amy asked curiously, "We all, that is, Candy, Caroline, and I, saw that stuff on the news."

"The Hunters aren't like Demona," Brooklyn answered her, "Jason, Robyn, and Jon were only the latest Hunters. Their family has simply hunted gargoyles and Demona in particular from generation to generation."

"Our sister has caused more harm to her own kind than any human has," Desdemona growled sounding truly angry at Demona for the first time.

"Still, even if Demona is the root of the problem," Othello began, "It does not change the fact that these three hunted our kind and nearly killed all of you. What if he intends to do it again?"

"Because Jason and Robyn have given up the Hunter's quest," Elisa sighed, "Jon Canmore may not have given up, but that is no longer important. He's behind bars for life. Their Hunt is long over. It ended when Jon tried to kill Goliath with a powerful laser blast and Jason took it for Goliath."

Elisa then looked down, "The blast has left him paralyzed from the waist down for the rest of his life. He is in no physical condition to harm any of us. Besides, Owen knows, and that means Xanatos will know..."

"And that means Xanatos and his Steal Clan will be waitin' fer 'em if he tries anythin'," Hudson finished.

"Regardless of what happens in the day, we will not patrol until Jason Canmore and Elisa have finished their business," Goliath stated strongly, "That will provide extra strength should he try anything."

**Thailog's base**

"We go into that mansion just for that?" Fang demanded looking at the book Thailog had taken.

"The other books you found were journals and written in French not Latin," Thailog answered, "They were of no importance."

"How can you tell?" Fang demanded again.

"I was programed to have a great deal of intelligence," Thailog replied, "Including the ability to understand, write, and speak up to ten languages, including: English, French, German, Japanese, Russian, Latin, Chinese, Spanish, Swahili, and Arabic."

"What about all that stuff that was there?" Fang growled, "That had to be worth a fortune!"

"True," Thailog countered, "But if we had taken that, Demona would have thought it to be a common house robbery and would likely curse her own carelessness for not casting a protection spell on her house..."

"She wouldn't know about us then," Fang pointed out.

"She still won't know about us," Thailog replied with a smile, "She believes I'm dead and you're in the Labyrinth. She will believe that Goliath and his clan likely apprehended it from her to protect this city. She will fly into a rage that her former mate dared to touch her property, which if my memory serves me correctly, wasn't really hers to begin with."

"You expect Demona and the clan to fight our battle?" Fang asked, "Where's the fun in that?"

"Knowing that Demona and the clan will wipe each other out," Thailog smiled again, "Demona's immortality will save her, unless Macbeth is there, I'm sure that either Goliath or Angela will deal her a fatal blow before the battle is truly over, but not before she kills Elisa and possibly one or two other members of the clan. Then once we have our magician, we'll be able to easily capture and strip my 'Angel' of her powers."

**Outside Devil's Den Prison**

Internal timing circuits awoke Jackal and Hyena with the dawn. The two cyborgs stretched as much as it was possible for them before prodding Wolf and the Quarrymen that were with them, who were all still asleep. Wolf growled as he woke up and took a swing at Jackal, but since the large wingless mutate was still sleepy he missed.

"Hey, wake up," Jackal growled, "It's time to go."

Wolf was the first of the group to hop out of the large van and looked at the prison on the horizon. He snarled at the high walls and watchtowers that surrounded the facility. He growled inwardly as Jackal began giving instructions to the Quarrymen behind him.

"Hyena and I will fly straight at the wall and take the towers and the wall out with our lasers," Jackal began, "Wolf will then leap through one of the holes in the wall to create a distraction on the inside while Hyena and I move to blast a hole in the wall where Castaway is. Once I've got Castaway out, Wolf will exit and Hyena will carry him to safety. Once the 'fighting' starts you Quarrymen need to get out. They may call for helicopter units to back them up when they fully realize it's the Pack that's attacking them. We can lose them, but they may decide to forget us when they realize that the person we broke out is on the ground."

The Quarrymen nodded and Hyena began sharpening her metal talons.

"Just so long as I get a hack some of them guards," Hyena laughed, "I don't care what you all do."

Inside the prison, things had barely even come to life. The day shift guards were still yet to fully go on duty and most of the prisoners were still asleep. In the prison's central radar room, one guard noticed two incoming objects and one running along the ground somewhat behind.

"We got break out attempt!" the guard yelled, "Start the lock down!"

The guard in his hurry then pressed the alarm button.

Castaway awoke to the sound of a high pitched and screeching siren. It sounded like the air-raid alarm that was heard in old war movies. He immediately awoke to see several guards run in a panicked fashion run by his cell several times.

"What's going on?" Dracon asked as he pulled himself out of his bunk on the other side.

Castaway was about to about to answer when the sounds of violent explosions rocked the entire building and the two men rushed to look out the small window. What caught their eyes was something out of a war scene. Two of the nearby towers were in flames and their placed stun lasers were destroyed. There were now several man sized holes in the outer wall that connected the two towers. If there were any prisoners in the outside exercise yard, they could have easily escaped.

"Looks like someone doesn't like this prison," Dracon commented.

Castaway ignored him as he saw two figures appear in the air over the smoke and flames of the two burning towers. They mostly seemed to be clad in golden colored metal and flying with the assistance of jet packs. The most prominent feature about them, however, were symbols that resembled a head on look of a fox's head with two narrow red eyes.

Castaway growled, "It's the Pack. That foolish organization formed by Xanatos. What are they doing here?"

"Probably to bust someone out," Dracon answered, "Why else would you attack a prison?"

Some of the other tower's laser cannons began firing on Jackal as he and Hyena came through the flames and smoke of the two destroyed towers. Jackal took a brief glance behind him to see that Wolf made it inside the prison's walls.

"Hey bro!" Hyena laughed and pointing at a window along the wall, "We got an audience!"

Jackal looked down at the window she was pointing at. Inside was one man with blonde hair and another that had black hair with a white streak running from front to back in the middle of his head.

"Yep," Jackal chuckled, "It's our target and skunk boy. Hold off the other towers while I blast Mr. Castaway out."

Hyena nodded and turned her lasers toward the nearest tower and began to return fire as the tower aimed most of its firepower at Jackal. The male cyborg of the Pack brought himself down to the level that Castaway and the other man were on, it was slightly above ground level and as Jackal got closer he noticed that several other guards had come out on the ground.

"Lovely, more fun," Jackal chuckled to himself.

Jackal and Hyena had made several large blast holes in the outer wall of the prison and Wolf found it quite easy to leap through one of the holes. The strength of the prison's walls or the power of Jackal and Hyena's lasers were underestimated. Wolf saw that the blasts went straight through a narrow passageway into an exercise yard.

"Hold it right there!" a voice yelled from beside him.

Wolf turned to see three men standing to his right, all armed with handguns. All of the firearms aimed at him. The large werewolf-like creature reached behind his back and produced his laser rifle.

"Put that down or we'll shoot!" the man yelled again.

"I'd love to see you try," Wolf snarled as he fired his weapon at the three men.

Wolf's shot went wide and ricocheted though the hallway. A split second later the three guards began firing. Unfortunately, the large breast plate that resembled a fox's head and was affixed to Wolf's chest easily deflected the bullets, and they gave Wolf the time he needed to grab one of the guards in his hand. Then, lifting the man up with one hand he flung his captive into the other two. After checking to make sure they were down, Wolf began to move toward one of the holes in the far wall.

Jackal had found himself working more to dodge the guards attacking him from the ground than from trying to break Castaway out of his cell. Hyena was still busy with the towers and to Jackal's dismay, these guards were armed with laser rifles when he swore he had heard simple handguns a moment before.

Jackal moved in quick diving attacks to try and knock the guards off balance and while he usually successful in knocking down a few, he felt his metal pieces be nicked by their laser fire.

"Any more of this, and I'll be whittled down to nothing," Jackal cursed to himself.

Suddenly laser fire echoed through the air and several guards fell to the ground, dead. Jackal turned his head to see Wolf taking shots at the guards that were bothering him. The male cyborg once again moved to the cell window.

"You two might want to stand back," Jackal instructed.

Jackal watched the two step back as he powered up his weapons. He then fired at full power into the wall, sending shattered bits of concrete everywhere.

"Okay Mr. Castaway, time for early release," Jackal joked as the smoke cleared to reveal two men in orange prison jumpsuits brushing bits of concrete and dust off of them.

Castaway quickly leaped into the air and Jackal easily caught him with one hand.

"Hey, Robo! Get me out of here!" Dracon yelled as he leaped from the cell down to ground level.

"I am called JACKAL," Jackal growled at the gangster.

"Fine, get me out of here too!" Dracon sighed as he ducked a laser blast fired at him, "I'll pay you."

"Now you're talking," Jackal smiled and the yelled up to Hyena, "Okay sis, time to go. Grab Wolf."

**Robyn Canmore's Apartment**

It was nearly ten in the morning when Jason was aroused from his sleep by his bedside phone. It wasn't much and didn't even have the option of an answering machine. He slowly managed to roll over and pull the phone up to his ear.

"Hello?" Jason began.

"Good morning, Mr. Canmore, this is Owen Burnett," came a voice from the other side, "I believe you called here earlier."

"Here?" Jason asked.

"I work for Mr. Xanatos, Mr. Canmore," Owen answered, "You called the Eyrie Building."

"Oh, yes, I did," Jason answered, using his arms to pull himself up into a sitting position, "I called to try and contact Elisa Maza. Is she there?"

"She is, but she is unable to come to the phone at a moment," Owen answered, "I have been instructed to let you know that she will be available to meet with you here just after dark."

"Thank you," Jason smiled, "Tell her I'll be there."

"I assure you that is not necessary," Owen replied and then hung up.

He sighed as he set the phone back down and sighed again when he realized what time it was and that Robyn was probably out job hunting at the moment. He then struggled to get himself up and over to his wheelchair.

**Quarryman Headquarters**

It was nearly dusk when the van that was carrying Castaway and Dracon and their rescue team returned. The van had extremely poor suspension and the people inside were severely shaken by the large speed bumps that were just inside the converted warehouse doors.

"Well, I must thank you three for busting me out," Castaway said to the three Pack members as he got out of the van.

"We're only in this for the money," Jackal said as he leaped out.

Dracon was next to hop out of the van. The gangster stretched his back and legs before speaking.

"I just hope you have some clothes I could change into," Dracon commented, "Prison orange doesn't do well for hiding out."

"I'll see to that, but first there is Mr. Jackal's money," Canmore answered, "Now I must find Jonah. He'll know where the Quarrymen's money is."

**Outside the Eyrie Building**

Jason leaned his head way back to look up at the Eyrie Building and the medieval castle at its top. He was amazed at how big it looked. He had seen it when he, Robyn, and Jon first came to New York, but he had never gotten a chance to see it up close. Jon told him that the interiors of the building and of the castle were very well done and the that the place simply screamed royalty. He hadn't really cared about it at the time, but now he was curious.

"Hey there, Jason, long time no see," a voice called from behind him.

Jason turned his head to see Matt Bluestone standing there with a polite smile.

"Hello, detective," Jason answered, "What are you doing here?"

"I need to talk to the clan about something," Matt answered, "It's nearly dusk and they'll be awake soon, and we got some stuff going on at the precinct right now and I don't want the clan to go off on a vengeance streak when they hear about what happened today."

"What did happen?" Jason asked out of confusion, having spent most of the day asleep.

"I'll tell you when I tell the clan," Matt sighed, "Now come on, I've got to get to Mr. X before he tells the clan."

Jason was surprised out of his wits to see that David Xanatos was a large black wolf with bat-like wings. He was even more surprised when he learned that the man who did this to him and his wife was imprisoned in the castle's dungeon. Somehow, he managed to control himself. It was Matt, however, that began the real conversation with him.

"Were you planning on telling the clan what happened today?" Matt asked.

"When things like this happens, I usually do, or Owen does," Xanatos answered and then shrugged, "We're usually the only ones here."

"What happened today?" Jason demanded, "I want to know."

Matt flashed a look at Xanatos and then said, "I told you that I'll tell you when I tell the clan. I'm running late as it is. I don't have the time to repeat myself."

Jason sighed and then looked down, "I don't suppose this could wait for a few moments for me to talk with Elisa and possibly Goliath as well first?"

Matt looked at him for a moment and then sighed, "Yeah, I guess so."

Just as Matt finished speaking, the sound of the clan's awakening roars echoed through the castle down to their level.

Above them, the clan quickly shook of the last bits of stone that remained after their day's hibernation. Once all of the stone was free, Elisa took on step toward the edge of her pedestal and looked over Goliath.

"Are you ready?" Elisa asked.

Goliath slowly nodded and followed her into the air. The two gargoyles easily glided over the courtyard and landed outside a door that led to the castle's interior.

"Well, let's hope he doesn't freak," Elisa commented nervously as she caped her wings.

Jason slowly rolled his wheelchair into a rather dark room. As he brought his wheelchair to a stop, he noticed a relatively tall man with blonde hair and glasses.

"Goliath and Elisa will be here in a few minutes," the man said, "They have requested that the lights be kept low."

Jason watched him leave, and soon after there were more footfalls. He turned his head to see Goliath step into the room. He could someone else with him, but whoever it was standing in the back where the low light obscured his view.

"Hello Goliath, how's your clan?" Jason asked.

"The clan is healthy," Goliath answered.

"Is Elisa with you?"

"I'm right here, Jason, it's good to see you again," said Elisa from the shadows.

"Can't you come into the light?" Jason asked, "I haven't seen you since St. Damian's."

"Not yet," Elisa answered, "I'm sorry I never got the chance to visit you."

"You have now idea how much I've missed you," Jason said.

He heard a slight growl come from Goliath and a nervous sigh come from Elisa.

"I'm sure you did," Elisa sighed, "But many things have changed since you were imprisoned. I'm different."

"Different?" Jason asked in a confused voice.

Jason heard more footfalls as Elisa came into the light where Jason could see her. The former Hunter gasped in shock and surprise at what he saw. He saw two long feet with three toes, each tipped with strong talons and a curved spur growing from behind the ankle. From a human perspective, she was standing on tip-toe and her legs were bent in a fashion to maintain balance. Each knee sported sharp looking spurs that were growing in front of her knee caps. A blue denim loincloth hung from her hips and was held in place by a brown leather belt. He also noticed the long tan tail slowly twitching behind her. She was wearing a black long sleeved tee shirt that left part of her belly and most of her forearms exposed. Jason then noticed that the shirt covered the sharp spurs growing from her elbows. The shirt was probably made specially to fit a gargoyle, Jason deduced. He then shuddered as he looked up to her face. She had a weak browridge in comparison to Goliath, weak enough that lead Jason to think they were eyebrows, but on closer inspection he realized it was a gargoyle's brow ridge. He also saw the two wings growing from her back with their three talons at the apex of each wing and the red membrane on the inside of the wing. This left Jason with no doubt in his mind about what the woman that had preoccupied his thoughts for the past three plus years now was.

"I'm different," Elisa repeated with a weak smile, revealing four fangs.

"Wha...How...When?" Jason stuttered in a surprised voice.

"This happened a few months ago," Elisa answered, "It was done by an evil sorcerer, who's now dead. And I've been changed into a gargoyle."

"You're a gargoyle!?" he exclaimed, still somewhat in shock.

"Yes," Elisa answered looking down, "But that isn't the only change that has occurred."

"Only!?" Jason exclaimed gripping the armrests of his wheelchair.

"Do you remember the night you came to my apartment?" Elisa asked quietly.

Jason nodded. He remembered all too well.

'Hey. You wanna have dinner?' 'I hope you don't mind. I just wasn't up to a crowded restaurant.'

'Not a problem, believe me.'

'Besides, I've got one of the best stocked refrigerators on the East Coast. With friends like mine it's safer.'

'Well, who's this friendly guy?'

'This is Cagney. He seems to like you.'

'Yeah.'

'Here, I- I'll take him.' (Sigh) 'W-wait. We shouldn't.'

'What's wrong?'

'Uh, well, for one thing we're partners.'

'Temporarily. In a week you'll be back on night shift with Bluestone. There's someone else.'

'Y-yes. No, not really. (Sigh) I mean, there's someone that I care for deeply, but it would be impossible to get involved with him.'

'Guess I got a little carried away. S-sorry about that. It's just, there hasn't been anyone for me for a long time. You thing you're used to it... Well, bad timing. I'll go now.'

Elisa nervously recaped her wings over her shoulders, "When you asked if there was someone else, I don't believe I told you the whole truth."

"But..." Jason began sensing what was coming.

"Goliath and I have been through a lot together, Jason," Elisa answered, "And thinking back on it, there were many instance when we could have realized how we felt about each other. It took the events of your family's pursuit of Demona to really open our eyes about that sort of thing."

"What are you saying?" Jason asked.

Elisa looked down and sighed, "I'm saying I love Goliath. I've been in love with him for a long time now. I'm sorry to have to tell you this, Goliath is my mate. We're married."

"But you're the only one I've thought about since going to prison," Jason protested.

"I'm sorry," Elisa said looking down, "But this was stuff you had to know."

Jason turned his wheelchair around, looking thoroughly depressed.

"I'm very happy for you both," Jason said slowly as he began to roll his wheelchair away.

"Wait!" Elisa called, grabbing one of the back handles to his wheelchair, "Stay, please. I'm sure you came to catch up and find out what's been going on. You shouldn't leave because things didn't go as you'd hoped."

"It's not that there's been... changes," Jason sighed, "It's that you never even contacted me. I never heard from you the entire time I was in jail."

"Your brother did not make it easy for Elisa to make the time to meet with you," Goliath rumbled somewhat angrily.

Elisa then moved herself around in front of Jason's wheelchair, "And once 'this' happened, it was no longer possible for me to even consider visiting, unless I wanted my OWN cell to be in."

Jason didn't say anything and tried to avoid looking Elisa in the eye, hoping that she wouldn't see the shock and surprise that he felt at the moment.

"If it makes you feel better," Elisa said, "I'm sorry."

That got Jason to look up. Despite the dramatic changes that had occurred, Jason saw something in a gargoyle's face that he had never seen in Demona and nothing that his father or any of his trainers had seen. He saw that Elisa was truly sorry. Jason paused to look at Goliath, who was standing a few feet away and while the large gargoyle didn't look angry, he didn't look exactly comfortable either.

"Well, I guess the better male won," Jason commented with a very weak chuckle.

"There was never a competition," Elisa commented, "I just didn't listen to my feelings."

"It will take some time to get used to this," Jason added.

"I know," Elisa commented, "It took my parents awhile to get used to it and they were there when I was transformed."

Jason sighed and then suddenly remembered something, "Oh, your partner's here, Elisa. He says he something important to tell everyone."

Matt was still pacing over the room he was in when Goliath leading the clan entered with Jason Canmore rolling his wheelchair. The former Hunter's face looked far more shocked than Matt had anticipated, but he didn't have the time to get into that at the moment.

"You wished to say something, Matt?" Goliath asked curiously.

Matt took a brief glance at Jason, wondering to himself how the discussion went between him and Elisa before he cleared his throat to answer, "You all know about the Pack's recent activity?"

"Aye," Hudson nodded, "They robbed a bank two days ago."

"Well first of all, I need you guys to promise to avoid all contact with the Quarrymen, even if they attack you," Matt said firmly.

"What do the Quarrymen have to do with the Pack?" Angela asked.

"Why must we avoid them?" Zafiro added.

Matt rubbed the back of his head, "Well ever since the Quarrymen attacked Candy's mother's apartment, the Mayor has got us 'boys in blue' running circles try to cut their ranks down. And the situation is delicate. If you guys are attacked by any Quarrymen and the fight makes the news, it could blow our attempts to arrest most of their remaining members."

"We will ignore the Quarrymen for now," Goliath affirmed, stepping forward, "Now, what do the Quarrymen have to do with the Pack?"

"This morning, while you were all asleep, the Pack attacked Devil's Den Prison upstate," Matt answered.

"Who'd they break out?" Brooklyn asked before Matt could continue.

"Anthony Dracon and Jon Cas... Canmore," Matt answered slowly.

Matt recoiled in shock as he heard relatively angry growls erupt from each gargoyle's throat and squinted as their eyes lit up.

"The attacked Jon?" Jason spoke up weakly.

"No, he was sent to jail for deceiving the New York government, killing Margot Yale," Matt answered, "He's also responsible for Elisa being transformed, although the court never received that evidence. The Pack has recently broke him out."

Jason sighed and looked down and muttered, "It's all my fault."

"We all make our own choices, Mr. Canmore," Candy piped up from behind Lexington, "Whatever your brother's done, it was his decision to make."

"I thank you, but you don't understand," Jason sighed.

"Regardless of who is at fault, Jon Canmore and the Quarrymen must be stopped," Goliath growled, "The Pack must be stopped. Thailog must be stopped."

"Thailog?" Jason asked.

Elisa leaned over his chair, "I'll fill you in later."

**Robyn Canmore's Apartment, Half an Hour Later**

Robyn was busying herself with a stack of dirty dishes when Jason returned.

"So how was your meeting with Elisa?" Robyn asked.

"It went as fine as it could, considering all that has happened," Jason sighed.

"What?" Robyn asked.

"You'd better sit down," Jason said slowly.

Robyn sat quietly as Jason explained everything. She was just as surprised at what had happened as Jason was when he saw what had happened.

"I'm sorry Jason," Robyn commented, "You seemed pretty smitten with her."

"Well, I've been thinking," Jason began, "It's going to take me awhile to understand and or get used to the fact that there is a magic spell that can turn human beings into gargoyles and that Elisa and three other women are now that spell's only victims so far, but I think that I was barking up the wrong tree with Elisa to begin with."

"Come again?" Robyn asked.

"Elisa reminded me of the one time I'd seen her apartment," Jason said, "I asked her if there was someone else and she pretty much said yes. Her answer was 'no' but the way she said it, it indicated that she didn't want to admit that there was someone else."

"So you're content to simply be a friend?" Robyn asked.

"I'm going to have to be," Jason chuckled, "She and Goliath are married."

Robyn nodded.

"There's something else," Jason sighed, "The clan has also filled me in completely on what Jon's been doing. I lead him down the path to being a criminal degenerate. The police are after him. We've got to get him to turn himself in."

Robyn slowly nodded, "I saw the news reports about Devil's Den Prison, but I didn't want to tell you."

"As much as I'd like him to be free," Jason said, "We can't allow it. He's killed someone. He had Elisa transformed. I can't let him do that again. Not to anybody."

**To Be Continued...**


	4. Family Matters

All characters appearing in Gargoyles and Gargoyles: The Goliath Chronicles are copyrighted to Buena Vista Television/The Walt Disney Company. I've taken the idea for the Unseelie Court from the TGS. No infringement of these copyrights is intended, and is not authorized by the copyright holder. All original characters are the property of SN.

Note: I'm disregarding the events of the "Goliath Chronicles", with the exception of "The Journey" because I do not wish to use the rest of the "Goliath Chronicles" as canon to my story. This story takes place four days after "Escape and Release".

Family Matters

By SN/TVfan

Email: **Sam_Nary **

**The Labyrinth**

"Here you are," Talon said as he quietly walked into his and Maggie's private room.

Maggie slowly lifted her head to look at the panther-like mutate for a few moments as he walked in. She carefully tried to hide one of the old family albums that Diane and Peter Maza had given them.

"Yeah, I'm here," Maggie answered with a weak smile.

"Are you okay?" Talon asked, "You've been kind of depressed ever since the results from those blood tests came back."

"I'm fine," Maggie insisted, "It's just..."

"You still want a family," Talon finished as laid his arm around her shoulders.

Maggie slowly nodded, "There's that, but there's also my family. I'd hoped that we'd be cured and I wouldn't have to tell them about all this. Now it looks like I don't have much choice."

"Do you want to tell them?" Talon asked.

A tear slowly rolled out one of Maggie's eyes as she answered, "I think we have to."

"I could ask my folks... or Elisa," Talon offered, "They could help."

"I'm sure they could," Maggie sighed, "Although I'd prefer your parents. I don't they'd understand a gargoyle explaining to them that their daughter is freakish cat with wings."

Talon decided to ignore the last part of what Maggie said, deciding it was only said out of frustration.

"What about the other stuff?" Talon asked.

"A family of our own?" Maggie sighed back, as one hand drifted to the old family album, "I don't know. I still want a family, but from Owen discovered, I don't... I don't really want to go through what Fox and Xanatos went through to have a baby."

It was now Talon's turn to sigh as he looked down, "I talked with Owen the other day. He's still having more blood tests being done to analyze everything that Sevarius has done. He doesn't think there's any other way, outside of adoption."

"An adopted child wouldn't be ours," Maggie sniffled, "It would merely be us taking in some poor kid who's parents either didn't want the child or couldn't provide for it. But I don't want to behave like an animal."

"So you want to have kids of your own," Talon said, "But you don't want to 'behave like an animal'."

"Yes," Maggie nodded firmly.

"Perhaps you should talk with Elisa about this," Talon offered, "I don't really know what to say."

Meanwhile, somewhere above in the city, a middle aged woman struggled to make her way through the city streets. She wore very plain clothes that were probably bought for practical purposes and nothing else. Her face was full of worry and concern and looked as though she was looking for a long lost relative.

**Quarrymen Headquarters**

Jon Canmore sat quietly in the makeshift 'hidden' office that had been constructed for him. He was slightly aggravated that the NYPD seemed to monitoring Quarrymen activity and he feared that they knew what was going on.

"Mr. Castaway," Jonah said as he entered.

"Canmore," Jon interrupted, "My name is Jon Canmore. The government knows who I am."

"Very well, sir," Jonah replied, "There's a man here to see you. He says he's your brother."

"Jason?" Jon blurted.

"I didn't catch his name," Jonah answered.

"Never mind, show him in," Jon sighed.

Shortly after that Jon saw as Jason Canmore rolled his wheelchair into the room.

"Lovely setup you've got here," Jason commented coldly.

"Brother! You're free!" Jon smiled as he got out of his chair, "Have you come to join us?"

Jason looked down for a moment, "Jon this madness has to stop."

"What?" Jon asked in a slightly surprised voice.

"This! The Quarrymen! Everything!" Jason answered sternly, "The hunt ended long ago."

"What?" Jon growled.

"Jon, the gargoyles aren't humanity's enemy," Jason sighed, "You can't go on treating them like they are."

"I can and will," Jon answered slowly, "You yourself said 'one or one thousand, we will kill them all.' How can you abandon this?"

"Because I've finally come to my senses," Jason answered, "You were right when we first came here. Goliath and his clan aren't our enemies. I was wrong then and it's my fault you're in the situation you are. And that will haunt me forever. But I'm here to ask you to turn yourself in and end all this."

"I won't," Jon growled, "Those demons nearly killed you. I will not stop."

"Then I can't convince you?" Jason asked.

"No," Jon said as he turned around.

Jason only sighed, "I've taken a job with the NYPD. I can't take a field job, but if you harm a single gargoyle... Jon if you hurt them I'll see to it that you see a jail cell for the rest of your life."

Jason then turned his wheelchair and rolled quietly out the door. Jon turned again to try and get his brother to reconsider, but found the room empty and the door shut.

"You don't understand," Jon said quietly, "You don't understand."

**Castle Wyvern**

Elisa heard a half startled yelp as she broke free of her stone shell. She and Goliath turned to find Maggie standing nervously on top of the tower with them.

"Maggie?" Elisa asked, "Is anything wrong in the Labyrinth? How's Derek?"

Maggie shook her head, "There are no problems and Talon is fine. I'd like to talk to you about some stuff though."

Elisa shot the lioness-like mutate a concerned glance and then turned to Goliath.

"I'll take Maggie on my patrol tonight," Elisa said placing one hand on one of Goliath's biceps, "You'll do okay without me?"

"I'll be fine," Goliath chuckled.

Maggie stood nervously as Elisa caped her wings around her shoulders and moved toward the stairs. Maggie looked somewhat puzzled at why the gargoyle wasn't leaping from the parapets.

"Did you say you had to patrol?" Maggie asked.

"I did, but I assumed that we would eat something before we leave," Elisa answered, "You can't fight crime on an empty stomach."

Maggie didn't answer.

"Would you care to join us?" Elisa asked, "The whole clan will probably eat before going on patrol."

**Club, Newark, NJ**

Holly Gretchin slowly sipped from a beer glass, and carefully kept her fake ID pocketed, and hoped that no cops would bust up the joint. The club was very different from typical bars around the country and probably around the world. Everyone in the club seemed to sport some sort of punk-like attire and other forms that seemed to clash with social norms. Holly was dressed in the outfit that she commonly wore, black leather pants and a black leather jacket over a white tank top. She also wore a spiked dog collar as a necklace. In most places she was judged to be abnormal. Although considering the thing she was talking to, she thought herself to be pretty normal.

"So what's your name again?" Holly asked.

"Fang," the cougar-like mutate answered, "You can call me Fang."

"Interesting name, where did you get the costume?" Holly asked.

"I've had the experience of knowing a man who was a brilliant geneticist," Fang answered, "Although I'm a bit more of a mythology man myself. Science is for nerds."

"You said it!" Holly agreed hastily, "But there's more truth to old mythology than you think. There are those gargoyles in New York you know. Say you look an awful lot like one of them, except you're missing the tail."

"Yeah, the geneticist didn't figure that out," Fang chuckled, "Say I know a gargoyle. You wanna meet him?"

Holly's eyes widened with excitement, "Sure. I'd love to."

"Say you don't know any real magic do you?" Fang asked quickly, "The gargoyle I know is looking for a sorcerer to help him. Now I'm talkin' real hocus pocus, none of that rabbit out of a hat stuff."

"Witchcraft?" Holly asked, "Sure I know a little. Most of the people that come into this club have some interest in the 'dark arts'. I can't do much more than lift a pencil though."

"I'm sure he'll be thrilled anyway," Fang smiled, "He has some stuff that might help you in terms of power."

"Cool," Holly smiled back.

**Urbis Family Apartment**

"Where is she?" a rather overweight man screamed at the man in his late teens standing in the doorway.

"Keep it down," Lawrence answered, "I don't want to get busted for making too much noise."

"Where's my daughter you hooligan?" the man screamed.

"Mr. Nexus, you and your wife couldn't be bothered when I told you she was missing and you wouldn't even file the missing persons report," Lawrence said back defiantly, "I filled it out myself and cost myself half-a-day's schooling to do so. I want a logical explanation for why your only just know looking for Caroline."

"Something big is coming, you fool and she needs to be with her family," Caroline's father fumed, "Now, tell me where she is."

"She's living with friends and she doesn't really wish to go back to you," Lawrence answered coldly as he shut the door.

Sadly he listened to Caroline's father scream at the closed door for about five minutes.

"Great, he finally shows some interest in looking after his daughter," Lawrence thought angrily, "And he has to think I kidnaped her."

**Castle Wyvern**

Maggie watched as almost all the gargoyles left the castle in a hurry to get to their patrols. Maggie also noticed that Elisa's eyes followed Goliath carefully as he and Hudson leaped into the night.

"Well we'd better get going," Elisa commented as she moved toward the edge of the battlements.

Elisa leaped first and Maggie slowly followed.

"So, what's up?" Elisa asked, "What did you want to talk to me about?"

Maggie bit her lip nervously, "I'm sure you know that the test results that Xanatos has run and himself and the rest of us?"

Elisa slowly nodded, "Yeah. It's going to be a long road but Xanatos seems pretty determined to find a cure."

"What if he finds out there isn't?" Maggie asked nervously, "What if we end up like you? Stu... I'm sorry."

"I'm not offended," Elisa replied, "If it turns out that you and the others won't be human again, you'll need to ask yourself some pretty tough questions."

"I know," Maggie nodded, "I've accepted that this is what I am, but we can all have hopes can't we?"

Elisa nodded, "Indeed, but our hopes can change. Before Goliath and the clan came to New York, I was hoping to make Captain someday with the NYPD. Now I'm hoping that the clan can be accepted by the people of New York."

"All I'm really hoping for is that Talon and I can have a family someday," Maggie sighed.

"Fox is currently pregnant," Elisa answered, "I don't think that it should be too hard for you an Derek."

"That's the problem though," Maggie said quickly.

"That it's possible for you and Derek to have a family?" Elisa asked, somewhat confused.

"Not that it's possible," Maggie replied, "But that Talon and I would have to be... well... very active over the course of a week."

"You're afraid to become an animal," Elisa commented.

"Yes," Maggie sighed.

**Over Manhattan**

Lexington and Candy made a quick leap from a nearby roof and were quickly in the air, leaving three average street thugs tied up to a stop sign. Lexington looked over at Candy as she angled upward to clear some nearby skyscrapers. The young olive green gargoyle felt captivated by her.

"You coming, Lex?" Candy called down.

"I am," Lex answered, "I was just..."

"Checking me out," Candy giggled.

"I was not," Lex protested, "I was..."

Lex quit when he saw Candy roll her eyes.

"Oh don't pout," Candy called down, "I check you out from time to time."

"I've never seen you..." Lex began to answer.

"That's the point," Candy interrupted with another chorus of giggles.

Lex decided to change the subject of the conversation, "So, how's your mom been getting along? Does she like the castle?"

"She's been doing good," Candy answered, "Although her work's been keeping her very busy, and they've been kinda conflicting with the periods in time in which we're awake. She goes to work shortly after dawn, gets done around dusk, and goes straight to bed."

"Ouch," Lexington cringed as he came up along side her.

"Yeah, but she's got some time off coming up," Candy smiled, "She'll be wanting to meet with us then."

**23****rd**** Precinct**

Matt and Detective Flariaty sat reviewing the reports that their undercover man had uncovered. The Quarrymen didn't trust him with anything important yet, but Matt expected that. Most of the information was about their arms shipments. Their hammers and other weapons had to come from somewhere. Although the most recent stuff was apparently stolen. Matt only looked up from the folder when he heard a knock on the door to the office.

Soon after, the door opened and Jason slowly rolled his wheelchair into the room.

"It's as you suspected, Detective Bluestone," Jason said calmly, "Jon is with the Quarrymen."

"Damn," Matt muttered.

"Jon Canmore is back with the Quarrymen?" Detective Flariaty gasped, "That means they hired the Pack! We need to move now."

"We can't," Matt answered, "The mayor wants the Quarrymen done. This would only get Canmore and possibly that Jonah guy. We have no evidence that links other members of the Quarrymen, and Jonah would be very quickly released because we have no evidence of any sort of transaction between the Pack and the Quarrymen."

Detective Flariaty grumbled heavily at that.

"I tried to get Jon to turn himself in," Jason said slowly, "He didn't feel like listening."

Matt sighed as Jason turned to return to his own work.

"Thanks for trying," Matt said to the former Hunter.

Jason barely nodded before he returned to work.

"So what do we do now?" Detective Flariaty asked.

"We keep an eye on the Quarrymen," Matt answered, "We also need to play dumb like we don't know that Canmore is with them."

**Over Manhattan**

"I can understand that you're nervous, Maggie," Elisa said calmly, "But I don't really understand the rest of it. You want to have a family, but you don't want to 'act like an animal' even though it's your only real option unless by some miracle a cure is found."

"It would be easy for you," Maggie growled, almost angrily, "You don't have this problem. From all the scientific data that Owen's collected I would have to act like an animal."

Elisa glanced at the city below, "Maggie, things won't be exactly be easy for me when the Breeder's Moon rises in eight years. From what I've been told, it will be a pretty wild up here, and no one in the clan will really be acting rationally."

Maggie glanced at Elisa questioningly, "That doesn't sound right to me."

"I'm sorry," Elisa sighed, sounding slightly embarrassed, "But I've been turned into a gargoyle. From what Goliath has told me, all gargoyles will feel the effects of the Breeder's Moon, and to insure that every female is impregnated we will be running on some very powerful instincts that we won't be able to ignore."

Maggie gasped. From the sound of it, Elisa wouldn't get much of a choice as to whether or not she would get pregnant. She would simply get pregnant. It sort of shamed her to complain to her now when she had a choice about having a family.

"I'm sorry I bothered you," Maggie said weekly.

"It's okay, Maggie, really," Elisa replied, "You're my sister-in-law. And anyone that can put with Derek is a good friend."

Maggie briefly chuckled at the joke, "So, Elisa, what do you think I should do?"

Elisa shrugged as she tilted her wings to turn around one of Manhattan's skyscrapers, "I can't be really one to judge. Although to be honest with you, if you really want a family of your own, you might as well go ahead with it and get it over with."

Maggie nodded as she followed Elisa past the Gen-U-Tech building, where most of the research being done to cure the mutates was being done.

Meanwhile, inside the building, a middle aged woman was busy questioning one of Xanatos's security guards.

"Are you sure she doesn't work here?" the woman pleaded, "The last time I've had contact with her was a long time ago. She called to tell me that someone here gave her a job."

"I'm sorry miss, but no one on the employees list has that name," the guard answered, "Are you sure you're looking for a Margaret Reed?"

"Yes," the woman replied.

"I'm sorry then ma'am," the guard sighed.

The woman turned away and walked sadly toward the door. She briefly glanced upward as she exited the building to see two gargoyle like creatures glide in the air past the building. One resembling a tan colored biblical demon, the other looking like a winged lioness without a tail. She watched them glide off for a moment.

"I bet their daughters aren't missing," the woman thought to herself.

**A few blocks away**

Fang carefully landed and set Holly down.

"What are we doing here?" Holly asked, "I thought you were going to take me to this gargoyle you know."

"I am," Fang quickly nodded, "But he wants to see some proof of your magical ability."

"Sheesh is he hooked on the stuff or something?" Holly asked raising an eyebrow.

"No, he has some ideas that he wants to try out, but he because circumstances beyond his control, he needs a real sorcerer," Fang answered.

"Ideas?" Holly asked, "Something illegal, no doubt?"

"Of course..." Fang began.

"Don't try to kid me," Holly smiled, "I ain't exactly a good girl. Remember, you found me in a bar an I'm only nineteen."

From his position Thailog smiled a bit. Even if this girl couldn't do magic, her attitude alone might make her useful.

"Okay," Fang slowly shrugged, "Why don't you just prove your magic and my gargoyle friend will show himself."

"Fine," Holly nodded, as she rolled up the sleeves to her jacket.

Holly then noticed a small skylight about five feet away.

"This gargoyle is around here, right?" Holly asked.

"Yes," Fang answered.

"Can he see that skylight?" Holly added.

"Yes he can," Fang nodded.

"Very well," Holly shrugged and aimed her arms at the skylight.

Thailog sat patiently as the girl pointed her arms at a small skylight near her. She said few words, but Thailog assumed they were in Latin and shortly thereafter, the glass on the skylights shattered.

"There," Holly sighed, "I hope that impressed him, because I don't have the power to do much more. Can I meet this gargoyle now?"

"Off course," came a third voice from behind her.

**Castle Wyvern**

Fox slowly tested her wings on the night breeze as she stood on the castle's battlements. Owen stood nearby.

"Do you wish me to announce your visit?" Owen asked.

"No," Fox sighed, "Just keep an eye on things here till David gets back and make sure Alex tends to his lessons."

"Of course, Mrs. Xanatos," Owen nodded.

Fox then returned her gaze to the city above them and soon leaped off of the battlements and began gliding toward an object obscured by the clouds.

**Elsewhere in Manhattan**

Holly couldn't help but gasp at what she saw. A tall seven foot black skinned gargoyle stood before her. It wore some system of armor, and unlike most of the gargoyles she'd seen on TV, this one had red eyes.

"Good evening," Thailog said with a simple bow, "I am Thailog."

"Holly," Holly replied.

"I will apologize if Fang was rough on you in anyway," Thailog said politely.

"Oh quit it you two," Holly growled, somewhat annoyed, "You need someone to do magic for you. I know magic. You need me. Spill it."

Thailog smiled, "Very well. Miss Holly, are you aware the idea of natural selection? That the strong will replace the weak."

"That's an evolution thing right?" Holly asked.

"Sort of," Thailog shrugged, "You see Miss Holly, gargoyles are stronger than most humans. Therefore, gargoyles should rule over them. Now there are exceptions. Fang here is mutate and he is stronger than normal humans. There is also you yourself. You know magic and therefore you're stronger than normal humans."

"Stronger?" Holly recoiled, "I was at my limit when I made that skylight shatter."

"That is because you had nothing to channel the magic through," Thailog explained, as he pulled the medallion he was wearing out from around his neck and handed it to her, "This will help."

"What is it?" Holly asked as she took the medallion placed it around her neck.

"It's a medallion that should allow you to channel more magical energy," Thailog answered as he then pulled a very old book out from behind him, "And this is a book of spells for you to practice."

Holly began to reach for the book, but the gargoyle stopped her.

"You will help me accomplish my goals, won't you?" Thailog asked.

"Of course," Holly replied, "You're handing out power. Stuff I've never even been considered for!"

"For the time being I only require you to perform only one spell in the book, and the page is marked," Thailog commented.

Holly quickly found the page and her eyes widened as she read it, "Hey! You were talking about the strong ruling the weak and so forth. Now you're saying you're wanting me to do this?"

"Only to a select few," Thailog nodded, "The strongest average humans that we can find who are willing to follow me."

"This sounds kinda fishy to me," Holly muttered.

"I'm involved in a bit of a feud with another gargoyle and his clan who don't quite agree with me," Thailog answered, "I unfortunately did not have the luck to have a clan handed to me. I had one at one time, but it was stolen from me."

"Well, I'm not quite sure I can perform the spell," Holly commented as she took a closer look at the book, "This looks like full fledged sorcery. I was only involved in a little black magic here and there."

"Feel free to practice," Thailog offered, "I'm sure that many of the people would be willing to support us once the spell is cast."

Below them the middle aged woman earlier looking for Margaret Reed at Gen-U-Tech was walking slowly through the crowds of busy New Yorkers. She barely noticed the figure of a girl in leather move to the edge of a nearby skyscraper.

Above them, Elisa and Maggie were on their way back to the castle. Again there was little sign of any of their enemies.

"Well," Maggie sighed, "Again I'm sorry to bother you with all of this."

"No problem," Elisa replied with a fairly weak grin, "So when can I expect a little niece or nephew?"

"I don't know," Maggie answered, "I guess when Talon and I get around to it."

Elisa chuckled for a moment before Maggie began speaking, "Elisa, what's that girl doing?"

Elisa raised a browridge to look to a nearby roof. On top of it was a teenage girl holding a large book with an arm pointed down toward the street. She was wearing a golden medallion around her neck, and to Elisa it looked like it was glowing. However, she didn't react to that sight as much to what was standing in the shadows behind the girl.

Maggie nearly dove away when she saw Elisa's eyes begin to glow with a burning red light.

"What is it?" Maggie asked nervously.

"Look behind the girl," Elisa growled.

Maggie focused on the shadows behind the girl she saw. Her mutate vision allowed her to see through the night as easily as any of the gargoyles. Maggie easily picked up two figures lurking in the shadows. One looked a lot like Goliath and Maggie only knew of that form. The other one, Maggie knew all too well.

"Fang and Thailog, I presume," Maggie muttered.

Elisa only growled in response and pulled one of Lexington's communicators out from a pouch on her belt, "This is Elisa to any available gargoyle out there."

"This is Angela and Broadway," came Angela's voice, "What's up?"

"We got Thailog and Fang on the south side," Elisa said into the communicator angrily, "I've got Maggie with me, but we might need some help."

"We'll be right there," Angela answered.

"Thanks," Elisa answered as she put the communicator back into the pouch, and then she turned to Maggie, "I'll buzz the girl to knock her to the ground. I've a bad feeling that Thailog's doing something with her. Once she's away from the edge, I'll go for Thailog. I need you to keep Fang busy until Angela and Broadway arrive."

Maggie nodded weakly.

Meanwhile on the roof, Thailog turned his gaze from watching Holly to looking at the sky above them. He sneered at what he saw. Approaching at a high rate of speed was a tan female gargoyle and a tailless lioness with wings. Thailog had no idea who the lioness was, but he easily identified the gargoyle as Elisa Maza.

"Miss Holly, if you're going to do any practicing now, I'd make it VERY quick," Thailog called to her, "We're about to have some company."

Holly glanced to see what was approaching. Perfect timing. She had just built up the concentration she needed to complete the spell. She inwardly sneered at it. She needed the practice and with the energy built up to try the spell, it now had to go somewhere. What made her sneer was that she could not see if she actually cast the spell. She quickly began the Latin chant and aimed her hand at a rather plain looking woman on the sidewalk.

Elisa let loose a ferocious battle cry as she saw a trickle of emerald energy trickle up from the book the girl was holding to her medallion and then to her outstretched.

"She's a sorceress!" Maggie yelled.

Unfortunately, Elisa's power-dive was a second to late as the emerald energy rushed from the girl's hand and flew towards some person on the street. Holly felt herself knocked to the roof of the building as a tan skinned female gargoyle dove right at her, and she had all she could do to avoid being impaled on the gargoyle's knee spurs.

Elisa powered onward and into Thailog, knocking him into the framework of a piece of the building that housed a set of stairs to the building's lower levels.

"Fang get our young sorceress out of here!" Thailog yelled.

Fang did immediately what he was told. Dodging a quickly thrown electric blast by Maggie, he dove to where Holly lay. She was knocked unconscious when her head hit the roof. Luckily the medallion and the magic book were still in her possession.

"Where are you going with her?" Maggie demanded.

"Away from you," Fang smiled as he fired a blast that knocked Maggie to the ground.

Elisa noticed Fang leap off the building when she heard a scream from down below. Thailog attempted to throw a punch at her, but Elisa quickly dodged it and used Thailog's momentum to throw him across the roof. She had silently hoped Angela and Broadway had arrived by now. Maggie was just getting up to go chase after Fang, but after hearing that scream, Elisa stopped her.

"Maggie that girl cast a spell on someone down there," Elisa called to her, "Can you see what it is?"

Maggie glanced downward toward where the girl had earlier pointed her arm, "I can't see entirely. Whoever it is, that person has moved into that alley."

Elisa growled again and was about ready to charge Thailog again when she noticed that the black skinned clone had fled again. Elisa only growled at him as he fled. She was about to chase after him when Angela and Broadway landed behind them.

"What happened?" Angela asked.

"Thailog and Fang have picked up a new ally," Elisa growled, "Some teenage girl who knows magic."

"We'd better get down there," Maggie insisted, "We need to find out what that girl did to whoever she hit with that spell.

The plainly dressed woman, who had earlier been looking for Margaret Reed walked nervously down the street. First she heard a roar that sounded like there was a mountain lion loose in the city. Then she suddenly felt some strange energy wrap around her. She didn't see where it came from but it quickly wrapped itself around her. Once the energy wrapped itself around her, she felt the most intense feelings of pain and she dragged herself into a nearby alley. Pain had entirely wracked her body as she pulled herself behind a large garbage can. She screamed as she looked down to see her skin change from a normal peach-like color into a pale lime green. She couldn't help but continue as she felt bones reshape themselves. She also felt something push out of her back and out from the base of her spine.

Elisa, Maggie, Angela, and Broadway made a quiet landing in the back of the alley where they wouldn't bee seen by anyone on the street. Elisa easily made out the figure of something hunched down and crying among several garbage cans. The group recoiled in shock as they got closer to the figure and saw exactly what it was.

**Air Fortress Two**

Halcyon Renard sat quietly in a private office inside Air Fortress Two. The old man felt somewhat cramped in small office, which was furnished like a military headquarters.

"Mr. Renard?" came Vogel's voice from the door.

Renard looked up to see him there, "What is it?"

"Mr. Renard we have a radar coming up behind us," Vogel answered, "It appears to be Fox, sir."

Renard carefully set a stack of papers that he'd been working on down on the desk, "Let her in. I'll meet her on the bridge."

"Very well sir," Vogel answered.

Fox landed on one of Air Fortress Two's back cargo bays. She found Preston Vogel there to meet her.

"Good evening, Mrs. Xanatos," Vogel greeted.

"Hello, Preston," Fox replied, "Am I to understand that my father is here?"

"Yes he is," Vogel answered, "He is waiting for you on the bridge. Follow me."

Fox slowly nodded and followed Renard's chief assistant. Renard was sitting calmly looking out the large windows of the air fortress.

"Good evening Janine," Renard greeted, but not turning his chair to face her.

Fox strolled around side of the wheelchair and sat in one of the few chairs that were installed there for Vogel to sit in.

"Hi, how have you been feeling?" Fox asked politely.

"I'm fine," Renard growled, "It's the doctors that have something wrong with them!"

"What?" Fox gasped.

"Mr. Renard's doctors believe his disease is accelerating," Vogel said from the back door, "Unfortunately there is not much they can do besides keep him comfortable."

Fox looked somewhat nervously at her father. The two had been very slowly repairing their relationship since Alex was born. The man had powered through every threat thrown at him, including herself. Now as she was beginning to redeem herself, Fox found out that his health was deteriorating.

"What are you looking so depressed about?" Renard asked somewhat angrily, "You've known about this for a long time. You've known this was going to happen for a long time. I'm an old man."

"I don't want you to die," Fox said quietly.

"And why not?" Renard asked, "We all must die. It is our lot in life."

"But we all need you," Fox answered, "I need you."

"You need me?" Renard coughed skeptically, "You're married to a... to a man that has more money than I'll ever have. Until someone finds a cure for your... condition, you can glide and shot lightning bolts. You have a clan of gargoyles living above you. Why do you need me?"

Fox looked down and very weakly said, "I'm pregnant."

**Elsewhere in Manhattan**

Huddled amongst the trash barrels was a pale lime green gargoyle in plain clothes that were ripped in various places where her wings and tail had grown out. She had no horns, or at least none that anyone could make out. Her face was hard to see since her head was facing the ground. Her wings were split and resembled Desdemona's almost exactly in terms of structure.

"Are you okay, ma'am?" Angela asked stepping forward.

The gargoyle lifted her head and brushed her sandy colored hair away from her eyes, gasped for a moment in shock, and shouted, "Don't touch me!"

Maggie gasped at the sound of the voice and began to back away, silently muttering something to herself.

"What have you done to me?" the woman cried in a frightened and confused voice.

"We didn't mean to frighten you," Elisa said calmly, "We just want to help."

"What have you done to me?" the woman cried again.

"Oh, Thailog will pay for this!" Broadway growled, "He's scared this poor woman out of her wits!"

"And ended her life," Maggie muttered to herself.

Angela took a brief glance toward the end of the alley and noticed that some passers by were stopping to look. Some didn't continue and were still there.

"We will answer every question you have ma'am, but right now is not the time or place," Angela said quickly, "We're attracting a crowd."

"We need to get to a manhole cover," Elisa muttered, "I don't think she is anywhere near comfortable enough with this to try scaling a wall to get the height needed to try gliding. We'll need to take her to the Labyrinth."

Maggie quickly nodded and scrambled for what appeared to be a manhole cover near the end of the alley.

"Can you walk ma'am?" Elisa asked the frightened woman as she and Angela moved to help her up, "We promise we won't hurt you. We just want to get where you won't be harmed."

The woman slowly nodded and let Elisa and Angela help her up. She stumbled slightly as found herself walking on her tip-toes. Maggie was the last to enter and she carefully lowered the manhole cover back into its rightful place.

"Did you see that?" one of the spectators to the incident asked another.

"Yeah," the other answered, "Something hurt that green one, and the others helped it."

"What did you do to me?" the woman asked once the group had gotten into the sewer tunnel, and were following Maggie toward the Labyrinth.

"We didn't do anything to you, ma'am," Elisa sighed, "But apparently, the sorceress that did this to you has allied with one of our enemies."

"Sorceress?" the woman squeaked.

"Someone who does magic and is also female," Angela answered.

"The world is much more complicated than I'm sure you imagined," Elisa added weakly, "Things such as gargoyles, magic, and other strange things apparently truly exist."

"So who DID do this to me?" the woman asked.

"We don't know," Elisa answered, "I've never seen the girl who cast the spell, but I easily know the one who ordered her to."

The transformed woman looked at Elisa questioningly.

"His name is Thailog," Elisa growled, "He is a clone of my mate and is the utter opposite of any gargoyle I've ever met."

"Clones?" she asked suddenly.

"Yes created by a man named Anton Sevarius," Broadway answered, "But we've got him locked up in the castle's dungeon for what he did."

"We will try our best to make you comfortable and help you out," Angela encouraged, "Do you live around here?"

"No, I'm from Ohio," the woman sighed weakly, "I'm looking for my daughter, but I don't think she'd even bother to look at me now."

Something about what the woman said clicked inside Elisa, Angela, and Broadway's heads. Something about Ohio was vaguely familiar, but they couldn't place anything at that time. Maggie, meanwhile remained silent.

"We could help you find your daughter," Angela offered, "I'm sure if we explain it correctly she will understand.

"No," the woman protested, "She can't see me like this."

"Could you tell us your name then?" Elisa asked.

"My name is Eleanor Reed," the woman answered weakly.

The woman the crashed into the backs of Elisa's and Angela's wings as they stopped suddenly.

**Castle Wyvern**

Xanatos made a quiet landing in the middle of the medieval castle's courtyard to find Owen waiting to meet him.

"What is it Owen?" Xanatos asked.

"I might have some good news," Owen answered, "As you know our original mind reading device was destroyed when the Pack raided the building."

"Yes," Xanatos growled at the memory of his kidnaping by Fang.

"Well, our engineers have recently informed me that the replacement device has been constructed," Owen said calmly.

Xanatos smiled, "Now we can probe Sevarius's mind."

"And find a cure," Owen added.

"Get it hooked up as soon as possible," Xanatos ordered.

"Yes sir," Owen nodded.

Xanatos then walked into the interior of the castle. He found Ms. Wexmand sitting in the clan's television room. The station was tuned into some round the clock news station, and Ms. Wexmand looked like she was only watching it to stay awake.

"Anything wrong?" Xanatos asked.

"No, thank you, Mr. Xanatos," Abigail answered, "I'm just waiting until Candy comes back."

"You ought to get some rest, it's after midnight," Xanatos commented, "And to Candy, its only going to feel like noon."

"I need to spend time with her," Abigail protested, "Between work and the PIT meetings, I'm overworked."

"Okay," Xanatos shrugged, "I'm going to turn in."

**Air Fortress Two**

"You're pregnant?!" Renard exclaimed, nearly toppling his wheelchair over.

Fox slowly nodded, "Sevarius's mutation formula had some unexpected side effects."

"I'll kill him," Renard growled, "Vogel! Change our course! I want to strangle that nut with my own hands!"

"No!" Fox protested, "For right now, Sevarius is our only real hope for a cure. We've either got to find a way to get him to give up a cure or find a way to dig it out of his mind ourselves. Killing him won't help."

"How can you say that!" Renard growled, "He raped you!"

Fox sighed, "No the side affect was not something that he did to us, but some hormone or something that activated after we beat him. I kinda went into heat and David and I..."

"Oh dear lord," Renard cursed, "You're going to give me a heart attack as well!"

Fox looked down. Renard pivoted his wheelchair back to face her.

"Why didn't you tell me sooner?" he asked.

"I was embarrassed," Fox admitted, "You didn't react all that well when you found out that I'd been mutated, I was afraid you'd hate me if you found out that your second grandchild will have wings."

"Janine, our differences have been over your actions, not about things that are family business," Renard answered.

"Are you fully used to this?" Fox asked indicating her mutate form.

Renard avoided her, "I can try to make it to see the baby when it's born."

Fox looked down, slightly depressed.

"I think I'm making progress with all of this," Renard said weakly, "These things take time."

**Somewhere under Manhattan**

"What did you say your last name was?" Elisa asked looking seriously surprised.

"Reed," the woman answered.

"You said you were looking for your daughter?" Broadway asked as he turned around.

"Yes," Mrs. Reed answered.

"What's her name?" Angela asked, "Just curious."

Mrs. Reed sighed, "Her name is Maggie. She came here looking for a job. I'm sure she's happy, but I haven't heard from her for so long. I just had to come here. Now I don't think she'd even bother to look at me."

Elisa was about to say something when she noticed Maggie had turned around and was giving her a look that said, "Please don't tell."

"Mrs. Reed," Elisa began, "I can't believe that your daughter would not want to look at you because of what some sorceress has done to you."

"But I'm a monster!" Mrs. Reed moaned as the group began walking again.

"You aren't," Angela immediately protested.

"I'm not human!" Mrs. Reed argued.

"There are a lot things that aren't human that aren't monsters," Elisa answered, "You've been turned into a gargoyle. Gargoyles aren't monsters."

"Gargoyles?" Mrs. Reed said in a startled voice, "They only live at the Eyrie Building."

"That's where we live," Broadway answered, "But we also try to protect this city as much we can."

"I'm sorry if I offended you," Mrs. Reed answered quickly, "I've never seen a gargoyle before."

"It's okay," Angela answered politely.

They made the rest of the journey to the Labyrinth in silence.

**Thailog's Headquarters**

"So did the girl's spell work?" Fang asked as he looked at the sleeping form of Holly on one of the smuggling center's metal tables.

"I'd imagine so," Thailog smiled, "Elisa neglected to give chase."

"I could have taken Reed," Fang growled.

Thailog nodded, "I know. And we will have to deal with the mutates eventually. After all, they stole my clones from me. But until we can get some more allies or a clan to serve me, our strategy is to avoid conflict and play our other foes against the clan."

"Other foes?" Fang asked.

"Demona, the Pack, the Quarrymen, and most organized crime syndicates," Thailog counted.

"Why did you list the Pack and the mob as our enemies?" Fang asked, "You could use them."

"I could," Thailog said, "But the Pack are too expensive to control at the moment, and if they don't get the money they want or feel they're being kept cooped up, they may decide to either desert us or rebel on us. The mob may partner with us for awhile, but they will expect us to do a favor for them in return, and they can be quite tenacious in getting us to do it."

**Over Manhattan**

Goliath and Hudson had long since finished their own sweep of Manhattan and began to head toward where Elisa and Maggie had been patrolling. Angela had reported the incident with Thailog and that the clone had escaped once more, but the leader of the Wyvern Clan had heard nothing else. Slowly the current and past leaders landed on a roof that had a skylight that looked like it had been blown out. Hudson noticed a moderate crowd gathering around an alley.

"A gargoyle or something was hurt or frightened, and these others helped it," one man at the center of the crowd was saying, "I swear!"

"It seems we might be a gettin' a positive response to our presence," Hudson commented as he listened to the speaker.

"Yes," Goliath added, "But sadly it only confirms what Angela reported. Thailog has turned some innocent human into a gargoyle."

"He donnae know sorcery," Hudson grumbled.

"Worse," Goliath mumbled, "Perhaps he's allied or hired someone who does."

"Demona?" Hudson offered.

"No," Goliath shook his head, "She is too independent to let any as controlling as Thailog get the better of her twice. Besides if she were to return and cause trouble, she would let us know directly. She wouldn't just begin deliberately turning people into gargoyles. The incident involving her and the girls was clearly an accident."

"And ye said the Magus and the Archmage died?" Hudson asked.

"Aye," Goliath muttered, "Unless the Archmage found some way to cheat death again. I doubt Thailog would have the wish to go after the Magus if he survived. He may not even know of Avalon, other than what Demona had told the original."

Hudson nodded, "Then this be a new problem. The first Thailog was crafty enough with a business behind him. If he has a sorcerer on his side, he might be able to build a new one."

"And with other matters to be concerned with, we are spread too thin to do little more than react to what he does," Goliath growled.

"Come on, we must be a gettin' back to the castle," Hudson commented.

**23****rd**** Precinct Headquarters**

Matt was beginning to dose off. The constant searching for clues was leading him nowhere, and the end of the night shift was getting close. So far the undercover man had only uncovered minor crimes that were committed by the Quarrymen. Not enough to bust the organization. And nothing that the organization's attorneys could probably reduce.

"Bluestone!" came Chavez's voice from the doorway.

"Yes, Captain," Matt answered.

"What's the situation with the Quarrymen?" Chavez asked.

"Canmore's confirmed that Castaway is back with his old buddies," Matt answered, "And our undercover guy has been able to get some junk on the Quarrymen, including: theft, weapons smuggling and trading, and to some extent what is compared to Dracon's old protection scams. But nothing serious enough to bring in the entire organization for long."

"Very well," Chavez answered, "Keep it up, but on your shift. Go home. Canmore and Detective Flariaty left half an hour ago."

"But Captain..." Matt began.

"Go home," Chavez ordered sternly.

"Yes Captain," Matt answered.

Matt found a familiar face waiting for him on the steps of the headquarters building.

"I don't have time for you, Hacker," Matt muttered.

"Oh come now, what makes you think I'm here on business?" Hacker answered, faking shock, "Can't I talk to you a former partner to former partner?"

"No," Matt growled, "You kept from me that you WHERE an Illuminati member when I was in the FBI, and then when I help the clan defend themselves from the guy who created the Illuminati, you blow my apartment up, killing six people. And I can't bust you for it because the Illuminati would pack the jury with Illuminati members and you'd be scot free in an hour. Does that answer your question."

"Would it help if I where to offer you information about problems that are quickly coming your way?" Hacker asked.

Matt's own curiosity got the better of him, "What sort of information? And what's in it for me?"

"Important information regarding powerful enemies, more powerful than you think we are," Hacker answered, "And quite possibly, what's in it for you is your life!"

Matt yawned and was about to answer when Hacker stopped him.

"I appear to have stopped by at a bad time," Hacker sighed, "You ought to get out of the Precinct more often. You'll live longer. I'll see you this evening. Central Park. Just after dusk."

"Fine," Matt sighed in an annoyed voice.

**Quarrymen Headquarters**

Canmore quietly organized the paperwork that he had been working on since his 'release'. Jonah was there to see him out.

"I'm just going to the lounge," Jon Canmore said to him, "No one is to enter until after I wake up and leave."

"Yes, sir," Jonah responded, "Is there anything you wish us to do?"

"Keep putting fliers and hold peaceful demonstrations," Canmore answered, "We need to rebuild our strength, and if you're right to assume that the police are monitoring our activities, the last thing we need is to cook up some hair brained scheme and get caught."

"Yes, sir," Jonah nodded.

**The Labyrinth**

The return to the Labyrinth was quieter than expected. Talon and Claw were busy in the main part of the Labyrinth while Delilah had the clones busy with a movie. Broadway and Angela had taken Mrs. Reed with them as they reported to Talon, while Elisa pulled Maggie into a more secluded spot. Elisa hoped that Derek wouldn't let it slip that Maggie had been in front of her the entire way back to the Labyrinth.

"You have to tell her," Elisa protested, "This is much different from making decisions about children. She has a right to know what happened to you."

"I can't tell her!" Maggie whimpered, "She came all this way to find a human woman not a cat freak with wings!"

"She needs you," Elisa countered, "If that girl performed the spell correctly she'll never be human again. She needs you to help her."

"And how could I do that?" Maggie asked.

"Tell her who you are," Elisa answered, "Tell her what happened to you. Tell her you'll be there to help her adjust to what's happened to her."

"And how do you suppose that will go?" Maggie cried back, "I just go up to her and say, 'Hey, guess what? Not only did you lose your humanity, but you found your daughter, who lost hers a long time ago!' Is that what you want?"

"No, I want you and your mother to be okay," Elisa answered, "She's in utter shock about what's happened to her and she believes that you won't even bother to look at her now."

"I..." Maggie stuttered.

"She's your mother," Elisa continued, "She deserves that."

Maggie was about ready to answer when she saw Elisa tense up as she began her routine transformation from a living being to a stone statue. Maggie sighed and dropped her head. Her ears perked when she heard the door open. She turned to see Talon enter casually.

"I see you've invited friends over," Talon joked with a weak smile, "You okay?"

"I don't know," Maggie said weakly sitting down on the bed, "I finally get the whole situation concerning us having a family and then my mother shows up. She came all the way from Ohio to find me, and what happens? Some witch robs her of her humanity."

Talon carefully moved Elisa's stone form to a safer spot in the room.

"Thailog will be caught and defeated," Talon assured Maggie, "And so will anyone who allies with him."

"That doesn't help the current situation," Maggie sighed, "I still need to tell her that I am her daughter. But how will she react? I was still skeptical that I should even tell her before because how she might react. Now, how will she react now that her own humanity's been robbed?"

"There's only one way to find out," Talon answered, "Although, I guess you have some good news now. You have all day to figure out what to say to her, and she doesn't need to explain what happened to her to you."

**Castle Wyvern**

Fox returned somewhat tired and thankful that her father finally knew of what had happened. Renard had promised to be there when the baby was born, even if it did have wings. Fox was a bit depressed that the child would be a mutate, at least from the fact that it was so difficult to tell her father. She yawned and was about ready to head off to bed and sleep for awhile when Puck actually appeared in the courtyard and then was quickly replaced by Owen.

"Forgive me, Mrs. Xanatos for the elfish entrance," Owen gasped, "But we have a slight problem."

"What is it?" Fox asked as her eyes narrowed.

"Mr. Xanatos's father is here," Owen answered as he was beginning to regain his composure, "He wishes to see both you and Mr. Xanatos."

Fox's eyes widened. David still hadn't told Petros about what had happened to him. Therefore, no one had explained to him why Alex was sent to him two months ago.

"Where's David right now?" Fox asked.

"He's asleep," Owen answered, "But that didn't settle him down. He is waiting for him in the Great Hall."

Fox glanced at the tower. Goliath and most of the clan were there, but Goliath looked relatively nervous, and Fox could see why. Elisa, Angela, and Broadway had not returned to the castle.

"Is Alex awake?" Fox asked.

"Eating breakfast in the kitchen, Mrs. Xanatos," Owen replied.

"Once he's done, let Alex into the Great Hall to meet with him," Fox answered, "Tell him we're busy and will arrive shortly."

"Yes, Mrs. Xanatos," Owen nodded as he turned around to make his way back into the castle, while Fox moved as quickly as possible to get inside while avoiding both the great hall and the kitchen.

Petros Xanatos sat quietly in the Great Hall of the castle. The old fisherman was somewhat nervous about coming to the castle uninvited, but things were just getting too strange. He saw news reports that showed his son agreeing to partner with Nightstone, and then a short time latter he sees other news reports that show his son's assistant and the Cyberbiotics chief assistant jointly buying Nightstone. There was also the particular instance of a Xanatos Enterprises helicopter intercepting his boat, while he was fishing no less, to drop of his grandson. He got no explanation as to why his grandson was suddenly being dropped off with him and having no idea what was going on, Petros decided it was time to get some answers.

He turned his head when he heard on of the castle's mechanical doors open. Instead of seeing his son and daughter-in-law, it was his grandson that came scampering up.

"Grandpa!" Alex shouted.

"Hey there kid," Petros smiled at the young kid, "How are you?"

"Great! Prize in cereal!" Alex smiled.

Petros only chuckled, "I don't suppose your folks are here?"

"Mr. and Mrs. Xanatos are getting ready," came Owen Burnett's voice from the doorway, "They should be down in a few minutes."

Xanatos felt like he had only slept for five minutes when he felt someone shake him.

"What?" Xanatos growled as he rolled over to see who was shaking him.

He found a very nervous Fox standing over the bed.

Xanatos sat up and yawned, "What is it, Fox?"

"David," Fox began, "Your father is here. He's down in the Great Hall with Alex, and according to Owen, he wants to know what's going on."

For the first time in their marriage, Fox noticed that Xanatos looked relatively nervous.

"I hoped we wouldn't have to show him this," Xanatos commented.

"I know," Fox agreed, "I didn't really want to tell my father that I was pregnant, but we both know it was necessary. Perhaps it's time that you did tell him."

Xanatos weekly nodded and moved to a nearby intercom, and slowly spoke into it, "Owen. Could you pour a cup of coffee please, have it in the Great Hall when Fox and I get there."

**Robyn Canmore's Apartment**

"He won't turn himself in?" Robyn asked as she helped Jason get into bed from his wheelchair.

"No," Jason sighed, "We need to do something. He won't give up his quest to fight the clan, and I'm afraid Goliath and his clan will suffer for it."

"Xanatos would not let any harm come to them," Robyn answered, "The gargoyles will be safe."

"We still need to stop him," Jason said, "Everything he's doing, even if he doesn't hurt the clan, it's still my fault. If I hadn't gone on a revenge streak when father was killed..."

"You can't blame yourself, Jason," Robyn protested.

"But it is my fault," Jason muttered as he lay down, "It's all my fault."

**Castle Wyvern**

Petros Xanatos was still sitting his chair and was actually quite amused by some of young Alex's stories about his magic lessons and he tried to keep up as best he could. But, as with all youngsters, some of Alex's sentences weren't grammatically correct, and at others, he wandered off the subject. Petros was thankful that the child was at least happy. He was about to get up when a far door opened and Owen came through the door.

"How long does it take them to get out of bed?" Petros demanded.

"They are here," Owen answered raising his hands to calm the old fisherman down, "I am here to act as a mediator."

"Why do I need a mediator to talk to my own family?" Petros protested, "Some very strange things have been going on and I want answers."

"I assure you that you will receive your answers," Owen nodded and then paused.

"Well?" Petros said in a stern voice as Owen paused.

Owen sighed, "Well, as you said, 'some very strange things have been going on here'. As I'm sure you know, Xanatos Enterprises and Nightstone Unlimited were recently involved in a rather extensive corporate war. The business side of the war was to cover up the Nightstone CEO's plan of defeating both Xanatos and the gargoyle clan."

"I don't need the back story," Petros argued, "I just want to know what's going on."

"I assure you the back story is quite necessary," Owen insisted, "The Nightstone CEO was a genius in genetics and literally knows a formula that can change a human's physical form."

"You're not saying what I think you're saying?" Petros began, sounding nervous.

"I just want to tell you that he is still your son," Owen answered.

"I don't believe you," Petros said defiantly.

Petros then heard two sets of footfalls approaching the room from the door behind Owen. Soon after two figures moved into the room. One was a large black furred wolf with two large wings. The other was a red furred fox with wings and a blue fox head mark over one eye. Both were wearing clothing that Petros recognized from the old Pack television show.

"Oh god..." Petros began.

"Hi pop," Xanatos shrugged in a nervous manner and with a very weak smile.

"David?" Petros gasped, "What the devil happened to you? What happened to both of you?"

"Well as Owen was saying," Xanatos sighed, "The Nightstone CEO was a brilliant geneticist and got his hands on Fox and I, and he did this."

" The 'Nightstone CEO'," Petros asked raising an eyebrow, "Wasn't that Anton Sevarius? One of your previous flunkies?"

"Yes," Xanatos said putting his head down, "I'm currently paying for my previous wrong doing."

Petros taking his time to answer.

"As much as I think you need to reminded of what you've done, and how none of this is earned," Petros stated, and then indicated to his son's mutate form, "I never believed that such a thing was possible. I never thought that THIS is what you deserved."

"I'm sorry to disappoint you," Xanatos sighed.

**Urbis Apartment**

Lawrence just shut the door to leave for his next day at school to find Caroline's father standing outside the door.

"Where is my daughter?" Caroline's father demanded angrily.

"She's not here," Lawrence answered, "I don't know where she is otherwise."

"I know you know," the older man growled, "She seems to like you."

"Strange you never seemed to like her," Lawrence muttered as he walked away from the man.

If Lawrence had looked behind him, he would have noticed that the man had drawn his hands into fists.

"I better talk to her tonight," Lawrence muttered to himself once he was sure he was far enough away from his girlfriend's father.

**Castle Wyvern, later that day**

Petros Xanatos was not the type of man to drink before noon, but after listening the back story how his son and daughter-in-law were turned into mutated dogs and the additional story of Fox going into heat was a bit too much for him.

"You are looking for a cure, right?" Petros asked, his voice sounding far weaker than he wanted it to.

"Yes," Xanatos nodded from his seat, a set of the day's paperwork in one hand, a cup of coffee in the other, "Right now it's one of our top priorities. We have Sevarius locked up in the dungeon until he gives up the cure."

"After that?" Petros asked suspiciously.

"The clan will turn him over to the police," Xanatos answered.

**The dungeon**

Owen had meanwhile let Xanatos and his father work out their own differences. Fox had gone to be to get some rest and Alex was playing inside a playroom that was a room that Xanatos had not earlier touched. However, the activities of his employer an his family were not on his immediate concerns. Up on ladders were Bruno and a few other members of Xanatos's security guards as well two technicians.

"Okay, we should be good, Mr. Burnett," one of the technicians smiled as he flicked a switch on the bottom side of the device.

"Very good," Owen answered, "You may return to your normal duties."

All the men carefully descended the ladder and began carrying the equipment out of the room. As the left, Owen pulled a small remote from the inside of his jacket and turned toward the cells.

"What do you want now?" Sevarius growled.

"I'm offering you one last chance to voluntarily give us a cure," Owen said coldly.

"Never," Sevarius snarled, turning up his nose, "It only means that you've won."

"Very well," Owen sighed as he activated the mind reading device, which immediately began the process of reading the captured doctor's mind.

Owen didn't bother to say anything to Sevarius as he turned and left.

**Elsewhere**

A large crowd of people had around an old skyscraper on the north side of Manhattan. Several of them were reporters, but there were also members of the police force and what looked like tech crews. A small platform and podium had been placed in front of the building. Standing at the platform was an imposing man that looked to be in his late thirties, perhaps, even early forties. Flanking him was a woman with black hair and emerald green eyes and looked like she was in her late twenties to mid thirties.

"Greetings, ladies and gentlemen," the man began speaking in a low and almost frightening voice, "As I'm sure you're aware, I am Nicholas Maddox and this is my associate, Mavis O'Conner. It is our intention to open Maddox Technologies, Manhattan Office in this building behind us."

"Mister Maddox," a reporter called from the street in front of the podium, "What made you decide to come to New York?"

"I have always had an interest in America, and I feel that it is now time for Maddox Technologies to enjoy a piece of the American dream," Maddox smiled, "It is also important that a country famed for its democratic freedom to be broken from the economic control that Xanatos Enterprises and Cyberbiotics place on many parts of this fine country."

"Are you saying that David Xanatos and Halcyon Renard are trying to forge a monopoly?" another reporter asked immediately.

"Of course," O'Conner answered, "They dominate the New York area and many of the other cities in which their tentacles have spread are struggling to keep up. We intend to restore true competition to American economics."

Maddox made there way into the building about half an hour later and also after suffering nearly a million questions.

"You did not need to accuse Xanatos of building monopolies," Maddox said quietly.

"We are here under the guise of establishing a new business headquarters," O'Conner replied, "This will merely cement us as being aggressive businessmen."

"Our true business is to pave our path to Avalon," Maddox countered, "With our immunity to humanity's accursed Iron assured, these human endeavors are only to be a distraction from our true intentions."

"And what be our true intentions?" O'Conner asked, "If not to build our own empire her as well as in our homeland?"

"We are to find the three mortals that traveled to Avalon the human way," Maddox answered, "It is their method we need."

"They live atop the Eyrie Building," O'Conner answered, "If Xanatos's Empire falls, we will be able to collect them much easier."

"We will discuss this later," Maddox replied as he approached a mirror that was built into a frame designed to scare people.

**Castle Wyvern**

"I don't like this Maddox Technologies," Petros grumbled as Xanatos shut the television off.

"Think I'll lose my money?" Xanatos asked with a smile.

"No," Petros frowned, "There is more to them than they appear. I don't like them."

"Well, we'll have to see how things go," Xanatos sighed.

That evening as the sun gradually disappeared and the clan broke free from its stone shells, Lawrence Urbis made his way up to Caroline's level on the tower. He found her just stepping down from her pedestal between Candy and Amy as he arrived.

"Lawrence!" Caroline smiled as she lifted him up, hugging him, and then wrapping her wings around him, "What brings you here? We don't have a date tonight, do we?"

Lawrence shook his head, "No, we aren't scheduled to do anything for a few days. I'm here because we have a slight family problem."

Caroline sighed heavily and placed her head in one of her hands.

"What sort of family problem?" Lexington asked coming up behind Lawrence.

"Caroline's father believes I've kidnaped her," Lawrence answered.

"WHAT?" Lex and Brooklyn demanded in unison, while Amy and Candy muttered, "Not again."

"Well," Caroline began weakly, "As you guys know, my folks don't really care about me. To them, I'm a sort of trophy. You know, they watch TV shows with families on them and decide they want to emulate those families. The problem is that they didn't want kids and I was mostly raised by my grandparents. But all they did was make sure that my folks served enough food for me. They didn't really pay much attention to me either."

"Your family is whacked out," Brooklyn muttered as the rest of the clan began to gather around them.

"The real problem is," Caroline sighed, "Is that occasionally, they get involved in social events that require them to present a typical TV family. That is when they decide they like me."

Caroline paused as the sounds of the rest of clan growling at what she had said before continuing.

"This has happened once before," Caroline said with a half sigh, "My dad invited some of his friends from work home that night, and intended to show me off to them. Unfortunately, Lawrence and I had scheduled a date for the same night several days before and we went to a movie. Unfortunately, since my parents pay about as much attention as a brick, they never heard me tell them about the date."

"My home was between the movie theater and Caroline's," Lawrence then explained, "As she was walking me home, we found four squad cars parked outside my apartment, and my family's apartment had been torn up. I spent the next night in jail under kidnaping charges, and while Caroline's father dropped the charges the next day, he never admitted that I never kidnaped her. Not to the police. Not to me or my family. Not to Caroline. I officially have a minor criminal record because of the whole incident. Now he's bothering me again and I fear he may go farther this time."

Caroline's eyes lit up and she took a step toward the edge of the tower.

"I'm going to put an end to this," she growled angrily as she leaped from tower.

"What should we do?" Lex asked as his gaze shifted back and forth between Goliath and the direction that Caroline was gliding in.

"Nothing for now," Goliath answered, "Angela, Broadway, and Elisa have not returned from last night. We will need to wait for them to arrive."

**The Labyrinth, Dusk**

Eleanor Reed awakened from a black void to see the black furred mutate called Talon shuffle the clones, who had seemed so excited to meet her the night before. Ms. Reed had no real idea why. She turned her head to see Angela and Broadway helping Talon move the clones out.

"What's going on?" Ms. Reed asked.

"I know you didn't want to meet with Maggie now, Mrs. Reed," Talon began, "But, uh, we've known her for awhile actually and she's quite a good friend of ours. She's here and she wants to meet with you."

"My daughter?" Ms. Reed said nervously, "She wants to meet with me? I can't see her like this! I'm a monster!"

"Maggie also knows the gargoyles," Talon answered politely, "She won't think you're a monster."

Ms. Reed only gulped, and turned around and looked down.

"How can I let her see me like this?" She asked herself quietly, "I'm a monster!"

Ms. Reed heard footfalls behind her and began to turn nervously to see the lioness mutate that had been with the three gargoyles that found her in the alley.

"Um, hi, do you know my daughter, Maggie?" Ms. Reed asked.

The mutate nodded with a face that looked tremendously depressed.

"Is she coming?" Ms. Reed asked.

Then in a faint voice that Eleanor Reed could barely hear, and took a little while to recognize, the mutate answered, "She's here."

"Maggie!?" Ms. Reed shrieked.

Outside the closed door, Talon paced nervously, stopping only occasionally to place his ear next to the door.

"Are you sure that's the right idea?" came Elisa's voice from behind him.

Talon turned to see the tan gargoyle standing over him with a slight smile on her face.

"I don't think you've changed since we were kids," Elisa chuckled, "Mom and Dad tried so hard to give you surprise parties for your birthday, and you'd sit outside their room and listen to their plans."

"I just want to make sure Maggie is okay," Talon said defensively.

"Fine then," Elisa sighed, "If you insist on listening in what's going on in there."

"Maggie is slowly explaining what's happened to her," Talon answered and then pressed his feline ear closer to the wood of the door, "And Maggie's mom seems to be muttering 'this can't be real'."

Inside the small room, Maggie felt almost as nervous as her mother was in front of her.

"I had a hard time finding a job when I first got here mom," Maggie sighed, "A man that looked fairly well off found me and offered him a job. I was so desperate for a job that I simply took it. I had no idea that the man was an insane geneticist working for another man trying to gain immortality."

"Don't tell me, the Sevarius guy that created these clones," Ms. Reed muttered.

Maggie nodded weakly, "Shortly after he hired me as a lab assistant, he jabbed me with a large needle and then shoved me into a holding cell. When I woke up, I looked like this."

Ms. Reed looked down, and continued her shocked muttering.

"Eventually the gargoyle clan helped us get away from him, and we've established ourselves here," Maggie said, "But I was afraid you'd reject me if you saw me like this, so I never contacted you."

Ms. Reed came fairly close and looked the female mutate in the eye, "Are you sure you're my daughter? I don't quite believe all of this."

"When I was three, you caught me playing around dad's farm equipment," Maggie answered, "I was so startled when you screamed my name that I accidently started it and got my shoes stuck in the machine and was lucky not to have lost a foot."

Ms. Reed stepped back shocked. That was something that only her husband, herself, and Maggie knew.

"I don't believe this," Ms. Reed said in a slow voice, "You are Maggie."

Maggie smiled weakly, "I'm sorry about all this, mom."

Ms. Reed was about to answer when she suddenly felt something strange going on. It felt like a knot inside her stomach. Soon it changed into pain and she slumped to the ground screaming. Maggie immediately rushed to her mothers aide as she saw her mother's body begin to reshape itself.

"HELP! HELP!" Maggie cried, "SOMEBODY HELP!"

The door quickly opened as Talon and Elisa rushed in, and Maggie could hear others moving through other portions of the Labyrinth to get to the room. Elisa's eyes widened as she looked upon Ms. Reed's form. The spell that was cast on her was seemingly reversing itself.

"What...sorcery is this?" Elisa demanded.

**Over Manhattan**

Caroline glided as quickly as she could to the apartment building in which Lawrence and his family lived. There were no police cars parked there, this time, and silently, Caroline sighed to herself. As she landed on the roof of the building, she noticed the familiar figure of someone who hadn't bothered to notice her in her life. It was her father pacing in front of the building. Upon seeing him, she heard a distinct snarl escape her lips. She still wasn't quite used to this, but she was no longer freaked out by it and she no longer stopped herself suddenly when she heard herself making those noises.

"You won't victimize him again," Caroline growled to herself and leaped from the side of the building and began to descend on the sidewalk.

Caroline landed with a distinct thud, and she felt her toe talons immediately dig into the concrete of the sidewalk. He father turned and nearly fell over backwards when he saw her.

"What do you want?" her father demanded, "I haven't committed a crime."

Caroline lifted the man by his color and slipped into an alley. He soon began screaming, as Caroline, eyes glowing in anger, scaled the wall of the building. Once she made it to the roof, she flung her father to the ground.

"What do you want?" the man asked, now in a voice that was filled with fear.

"Leave Lawrence Urbis and his family ALONE!" Caroline roared.

"Caroline?" the man gasped.

"Oh, you know your daughter's name?" Caroline growled, "I'm shocked. Really. I half expected having to tell you my name."

"What has that punk done?" her father demanded trying to sound brave.

"SHUT UP!" Caroline yelled at him, "My boyfriend is none of your concern. He never kidnaped me. I was turned into this by some witch who wanted to be a gargoyle herself. And from what I understand, Lawrence tried to get you to file the missing persons report and that you and mom couldn't be bothered."

"We're your parents and family," her father countered, dragging himself backward along the rough surface.

"Fine family, ignoring me all my life," Caroline growled, "I have a new family now. They pay more attention to me in a day that you and mom did in a year."

Her father avoided looking at her.

"And when you have paid attention to me, it's been when it fit you and mom's little social climbing exploits," Caroline continued, "Who is it you've invited this time? Uh? Fred, the guy who can't say anything without including an expletive. Janice, the girl who never talks about anything but the boyfriend she can't keep? Please! I knew HIGH SCHOOL GIRLS more mature than some of the people you find so important. Who is it you've invited this time?"

"I didn't invite anyone," her father gulped, "Mr. Lock called me a few days ago that he'd be stopping by to eat with the family a few days ago."

"Well you can tell him that I won't be there," Caroline growled, bringing her glowing eyes close to his face and baring her fangs, "And that I don't want to see or hear from you ever again."

With that Caroline leapt into the air, allowing her large bat-like wings to catch her and began to return to the Eyrie Building.

**Castle Wyvern**

Several members of the clan had crowded around Eleanor Reed's sleeping human form. Owen in the form of Puck floated slightly above her.

"Well, why did she change back?" Elisa asked, "The girl that transformed her was human."

"True..." Puck agreed, "But from what you've told me of you encounter with her and from the magical residue I'm getting from Ms. Reed here, I will say that one the sorceress is inexperienced and two, you Miss Maza broke up her concentration long enough for the spell to be cast wrong."

"But what about Caroline, Candy, Trixie, and me?" Amy asked from the sidelines, "Demona never intended to turn us into gargoyles."

"Maybe," Puck smiled, "But Demona was perfectly focused on what she was doing. You were transformed when her spell was rejected by the spell that the Mage cast on her. In addition, Demona is an experienced sorceress."

The clan continued to watch the elf.

"All human magic requires intense concentration," Puck continued, "That girl probably wasn't didn't have perfect concentration when she was trying to speed up her spell to get out of Elisa's way. On top of this, I doubt the girl had much practice with magic."

"Regardless," Goliath growled, "This complicates matters. This is a new tactic for Thailog and if he is willing to rob humans of their humanity to help him fight us, than we must be prepared. Both us here..." Goliath paused and then turned to Maggie, "...and you and Talon will need to be on alert in he Labyrinth as well."

Maggie nodded and turned to Puck who was already lowering himself to the ground to return to the form of Owen, and said, "What about my mother?"

"She should be fine," Owen answered as he replaced Puck, "But she will be extremely tired for the next few days. You will need to keep her comfortable until then."

**Thailog's Headquarters**

"I'm telling you, the spell didn't work," Holly repeated to the large black gargoyle.

"You said the words correctly," Thailog pointed out.

"But that tan freak broke my concentration," Holly retorted, "Whoever was hit by my spell will be human again soon."

"But it will work for a little while?" Thailog asked.

"Yes, but I have no idea how long," Holly answered.

Thailog smiled, "Well, now we know that we don't undertake our buildup of power in areas where your concentration can be broken."

"Right now I just want get even with that gargoyle," Holly muttered.

"She is the mate of the gargoyle that believes that the weak should be protected," Thailog said off hand.

Holly glanced back at the large black gargoyle. The degenerate girl liked the idea of gaining power. Of course she we would need more practice with the type of magic that Thailog had offered her, but she knew that she would have almost unimaginable power by the time she had learned everything.

"I intend to get even with her," Holly muttered as she snatched the large leather book from a nearby shelf.

"What are you doing?" Fang asked from a corner, while Thailog remained still.

"He wants a gargoyle clan to fight his foes," Holly answered, "And I want to kick that tan gargoyle's ass! I don't see much of an alternative. Do you?"

Fang didn't answer as Holly opened the book and began chanting.

**Castle Wyvern**

"I will thank you for finally telling me what is going on," Petros said quietly as a moved toward the elevator.

"Are you sure you're not staying?" Xanatos asked.

"It was an interesting visit," Petros commented, "But I only came to straighten things out and I have business of my own to attend to."

"What sort of business?" Xanatos asked curiously.

"I sell some of the fish I catch to some people who don't have the time to go fishing," Petros answered as he left, "It's not much, but it helps pay the taxes."

"You sure you can't stay?" Xanatos asked.

Petros nodded and replied, "Just be a good father and a good man, and you won't have to try so hard to prove that you've changed."

**Central Park**

Matt sat quietly on a park bench waiting for Hacker to arrive. The red haired detective was nervous about the entire meeting. Hacker had tried to kill him and only his suspicions about the Illuminati saved him. Since then the organization seemed to continue keeping tabs on him.

"Good evening," Hacker announced as he came up behind him, making Matt jump.

Once he settled back down he turned the Illuminati agent, "Okay, now what do you want?"

"The clan you've allied yourself with is of great importance to the Council," Hacker said, "For the time being their survival is of the greatest importance."

"What do you want?" Matt growled.

"To warn you of a threat to the clan," Hacker answered.

"The clan already has plenty of enemies," Matt answered, "The precinct is already dealing with one of those threats and the clan is monitoring what the other threats are up to."

"This threat is new," Hacker replied, "An ally of the Council's is making decisions that seem to be against the Council's policy."

"Too bad," Matt answered, "Maybe they'll succeed in fully exposing you people."

"The Council fears their success will do more than merely expose the Organization," Hacker said back, "We believe that they have plans that could prove disastrous for the Manhattan clan and its allies."

"Could you tell me what this threat is?" Matt asked.

"One of great power," Hacker answered cryptically, "The Council doesn't wish anything more exposed."

"You know," Matt sighed as he stood up, "I don't really believe you. You tried to kill me on orders from your Council and now you're using me as some sort of tool."

"No member of the Illuminati ever truly leaves," Hacker smiled, "Officially, you won't receive any of the benefits of a member, but since you earned membership for a time, you are still important. Just tell your friends that they will need to keep on their toes for awhile."

Matt turned and sighed, "Fine, just don't..."

Matt turned to see that Hacker had already left.

"Great," Matt cursed to himself, "Secret agents delivering cryptic messages. Sounds like some spy novel."

**The End**

**Epilogue, Nexus Home, Two Days later**

Mrs. Nexus quietly set down a plate of casserole in the middle of a table that she had spent the day setting.

"I'm sorry that our daughter couldn't be here," Mr. Nexus said quietly, as he ushered his employer into the room and offered him his chair.

Mr. Lock sat down quietly and looked at the rather large meal that was prepared.

"Well, many high schools have basketball games scheduled during the night," Mr. Lock said politely, "And maybe it is better that she isn't here."

Mr. Nexus politely gave his wife a kiss and then sat down himself and began to pass rolls to Mr. Lock and his wife.

"Come again?" Mr. Nexus asked.

"Well, I'm not sure if there is a good way to say this," Mr. Lock said, "But the company has really suffered since Nightstone went out of business. We really depended on some help from the top of their organization, and I'm afraid that we just can't compete anymore."

"What are you saying?" Mrs. Nexus asked nervously.

"I'm afraid, Mrs. Nexus that we've had to cut several people," Mr. Lock answered and then paused for a few moments to look for the nearest exit, "And I'm afraid that your husband is one of them. Justin Nexus, you're fired."


	5. Demona Returns

All characters appearing in Gargoyles and Gargoyles: The Goliath Chronicles are copyrighted to Buena Vista Television/The Walt Disney Company. I've taken the idea for the Unseelie Court from the TGS. No infringement of these copyrights is intended, and is not authorized by the copyright holder. All original characters are the property of SN.

Note: I'm disregarding the events of the "Goliath Chronicles", with the exception of "The Journey" because I do not wish to use the rest of the "Goliath Chronicles" as canon to my story. This story takes place two days after "Family Matters".

Demona Returns

By SN/TVfan

Email: **Sam_Nary **

**Maddox Technologies Board Room**

The "man" known as Maddox sat quietly at the end of a long oak wood table, his assistant, Mavis O'Connor sat to his immediate right. Several other disguised Unseelie Court members sat at the table as well.

"We must remember that our objective in our endeavor is Avalon," Maddox said in a calm, yet commanding, voice, "Despite our new immunity to Iron, no member is go out to terrorize the people for the time being."

"May I ask why not?" a white haired man in a black leather jacket asked from half way down the table.

"Because, if we draw attention to ourselves here," Maddox answered, "The Usurper will bring Avalon's wrath on us here. Remember, Loki, that we were very badly mauled in the first war. Surprise is to be our greatest asset. Widespread raids against our future subjects will cost us the surprise we need."

Loki slumped back into the chair, "No fun, got it."

Maddox grumbled to himself and turned to Mavis, "Maeve, you've been my eyes and ears on this island and you have secretly observed the clan's activities. What is your report?"

Maeve sat erect in her chair and waved her arm creating an image of four gargoyles. One was a large lavender skinned male. Two were females, one was the same lavender shade as the male and the other was tan. The fourth gargoyle was a large blue skinned beast-like creature.

"Members of the Unseelie Court, may I present to you the main objectives of our New York campaign," Maeve announced, "The three "true" gargoyles are Goliath, Angela, and Bronx. The fourth gargoyle is really the clan's long time human friend, Elisa Maza. Our ally, the Mage, transformed her in some service the Quarrymen."

Maeve paused while the others looked at the four images before continuing.

"It is these four we need to capture," Maeve continued, "Goliath, Elisa, and Bronx, were collected by someone named "Tom" to journey to Avalon, and Angela hatched on the island."

"Humans and gargoyles on Avalon?" one grizzled looking man grumbled aloud from the other side, "Our servants should not even be allowed there."

"I agree, but since we have not had control of the island, we are in no position to do anything about that know," Maeve countered, "The fact that they were able to journey to and from Avalon means that we can return, or have you forgotten Oberon's spell."

"I have not," the man answered.

"Good," Maeve said triumphantly back.

**The Past…**

Madoc and his followers, chained in Iron lay at the feet of Oberon and his wife, Titania.

"You have done a great wrong, brother," Oberon said in a low tone, "Your rebellion has killed many of the Third Race…"

"And several of many more of the lower races," Jupiter added from the sidelines.

"Yes," Oberon nodded, "I should kill you for your rebellion, but I have been advised that that action would be dishonorable. Therefore, you and your followers shall be banished for all time."

Madoc only watched in defiance as Oberon lifted his hands above his head and began his spell…

"_Unseelies, rude and vile,_

_I no longer wish your presence on my isle,_

_doomed to never return in the future,_

_may you never return of your own nature."_

**Present**

"Since three gargoyles and a human, who is now a gargoyle, have in some point in their lives journeyed to Avalon and have returned here," Maeve said calmly, "It is quite obvious that there is a means for our return to our home."

Maddox nodded, "Therefore we must capture those four gargoyles, what is the nature of our likely resistance?"

Maeve waved her hand again and the image changed from Goliath, Angela, Elisa, and Bronx to that of the Eyrie Building and Castle Wyvern.

"The four gargoyles we must target are not alone," Maeve answered, "Their clan is currently living in this castle, known as Wyvern, atop the Eyrie Building. It is well defended by lasers, robots, and as it appears creatures that look like flying dogs."

"Flying dogs?" Loki asked with a laugh, "What's next? Giant birds?"

"The 'dogs' appear to be scientifically created by a process that was developed by Doctor Anton Sevarius," Maeve replied, "They resemble gargoyles in many ways but also have the ability to fire electricity from their fingertips."

"None of which are a threat to us," Maddox said coldly.

Maeve nodded, "Our only real worry is from they Eyrie's shield and one particular member of the Xanatos Enterprises staff."

"Shield?" the grizzled man asked.

"Staff?" Maddox added.

"Xanatos possess a powerful shield that I have been unable to analyze," Maeve sighed, "It was capable of resisting Oberon for a fair amount of time, and it has been strengthened since. It even held multiple attacks by the Mage for a period of time."

"Yes, I know of our ally's attack on the Eyrie Building," Maddox nodded, "It was his attack that resulted in Oberon's destruction and therefore my rightful claim to Avalon's throne. What about this member of Xanatos's staff?"

"The 'man's' name is Owen Burnett," Maeve answered, "We would better know him as Puck."

"The Puck didn't join in the Gathering?" Maddox asking bringing his hand up to his chin, "Perhaps he has changed his mind?" Maddox then chuckled, "He does that so often."

Maeve looked at him questioningly.

"We will concern ourselves with Puck and the others later," Maddox said, "We will need to draw our targets out of their fortress and into the city where they may be easily attacked."

The assembled Unseelie members nodded.

**Castle Wyvern**

Owen found Xanatos quietly typing something on a computer in one of the castle's rooms that weren't open to the public.

"You wished to see me, sir?" Owen announced.

Xanatos paused from what he was typing and turned to face him and nodded, "I'd like to know what the mind reading device has gotten off of Sevarius?"

Owen sighed; he was already preparing to report the news when Xanatos called for him over the intercom. What troubled Owen more was that the news was not particularly good.

"I'm afraid, Mr. Xanatos, that the results are good," Owen began, "From what the device has read, it appears that Sevarius, himself, doesn't know if there is a cure."

"What!?" Xanatos growled, getting up from the chair and nearly smashing the computer.

"He never had any intention of allowing any of his mutates to be cured when you commissioned him to create them," Owen explained, "So while he created the formula, he tested it on 'Fang' with little more than a theory of what it should do. Once Sevarius was pleased that his formula was a success, he moved on to 'Claw', Margaret Reed, and you added Derek Maza, now Talon, to the list of mutates."

"So he tested the formula with no definite knowledge of what it would do besides what he thought it would do?" Xanatos asked.

Owen slowly nodded and then said, "I've begun procedures to find a geneticist who might be capable of finding a cure."

"Let me know when you find someone," Xanatos answered before beginning to walk across the room, forgetting about what he was working on.

As the sun set slowly in the west, the clan above them came to life. Slowly at first, but then in a flash as each gargoyle shook the last bits of stone off of it with roaring yawns. Goliath glanced around the courtyard as the last bits of stone fell from his wings and noticed that the Guatemalans were absent. This meant that they had left on their own patrol. It was difficult for the two clans to operate at the same time, so Zafiro had offered for that his clan would patrol during the day while Goliath's patrolled at night when they were awake.

"What's the plan, Goliath?" Brooklyn called up from his level.

"We'll wait for the Guatemalans to return before we will run our patrols," Goliath answered.

"Come on," Broadway called, "Let's get some breakfast first."

The group nodded and leaped from the tower and made the short glide that carried them to the courtyard below them.

**JFK International Airport**

Doctor Wedrington nervously left the airplane and into the large open waiting room.

"Expecting anyone?" a voice asked behind him.

Wedrington turned around to see the blue skinned gargoyle known as Demona walk casually behind him.

"No, I'm just…" Dr. Wedrington began, "Aren't you nervous about someone seeing you?"

Demona shook her head, "No, I've cast an illusion spell. Only those who already know of my true form can see me as I am. So keep it down."

**Somewhere Under Manhattan**

Holly paced angrily in circles in one of the small storage rooms that she had converted into a bedroom for herself. The old book that she had received from Thailog lay page open to the spell he wanted mastered. She glanced at it and growled in an aggravated tone and threw her arms out. At the same time she released some of her powers and it hit a small cot she had set up. The entire set fell apart causing her further aggravation.

"Troubles?" came Thailog's voice.

"Now," Holly growled, half to herself, "It's just that I can't get that damn spell to work! And I've been practicing it on myself for the past two days."

"You're getting farther and farther every time you try," Thailog smiled, "Just keep practicing. My need for you is not desperate."

Thailog then turned and left as Holly returned her attention to the book. She knew that Thailog needed her, but she had come to see a great deal of patience in his demeanor. But, she also expected that she would be in dire straights of she didn't produce something successful soon.

Thailog found Fang pacing outside.

"I don't know why you've kept her around," Fang grumbled, "She hasn't produced any positive results."

"Come now," Thailog chuckled, "You spend four years or so alone and without human contact and all of a sudden here comes a teenage human who isn't afraid of you, and all you can do is demand she leave?"

"Are you trying to set me up?" Fang growled.

Thailog shook his head, "No, I'm not. What I am trying to do is tell you to be patient. As they say, 'Rome wasn't built in a day'. It will take her some time to master the spell. Once she does, we can set to work."

**Elsewhere**

Once away from the airport, Demona found a safe place from which to launch herself into the air and took Dr. Wedrington with her.

"It feels good to be home again," Demona commented as she glided over the illuminated rooftops.

"You may have to show me around," Dr. Wedrington said nervously as he dangled below her, her hands gripping each arm very firmly.

Demona glanced at him, "I can do that if you stop acting like you're going to fall. I will not drop you."

"It's just that I've never been up this high without something being under my feet," Wedrington commented.

Demona sighed and set the archeologist down on a nearby rooftop and then caped her wings as she landed.

"Is that better?" Demona asked.

Dr. Wedrington glanced down the building's side and then gazed over the city's skyline.

"Yes," Wedrington sighed, "I'm sorry, I'm just not used to flying without an airplane or helicopter."

"If you wish to remain as my daylight guardian, you will need to get used to it," Demona responded somewhat coldly, "I can not stroll down any street, for obvious reasons."

Dr. Wedrington was about to say more when he noticed four winged creatures flying toward a tall building with a castle at the top.

"Say are those gargoyles there?" Wedrington asked, pointing at them.

Demona focused her eyes as best she could, and nodded, "Those are gargoyles, but none of them are of my clan."

"How can you tell from this far away?" Wedrington asked.

"They aren't dressed they way my clan dresses and they look more like snakes or lizards than biblical demons," Demona pointed out, "All Scottish Gargoyles resemble biblical demons."

"Fascinating," Dr. Wedrington answered, "So where do you suppose they're from?"

Demona shrugged, "I don't know. I've never ventured outside of Europe or North America before, so I have idea where they came from."

Demona glanced at the man standing beside her before uncaping her wings and grabbing each of Dr. Wedrington's arms, "But they are not our primary concern at the moment. I have house that has not had an occupant for some time now."

Demona then took off in direction of Destine Mansion, letting the four gargoyles that Dr. Wedrington had spotted, the Guatemalans, continue on their own.

The Guatemalans meanwhile continued on their way to the Eyrie Building and up to the medieval castle perched above it.

"You know," Jade commented off hand, "I may get to like it here. Yes there are few trees, and fewer humans that appreciate gargoyles, but here we at least have friends that we can associate with and a cause to fight for. In the Green we had no friends until Goliath and Elisa came."

"Come," Zafiro sighed, "We must report to Goliath and his clan how our patrols went."

**Castle Wyvern**

The clan stood assembled around Goliath as the Guatemalans landed in the center of the courtyard.

"Good evening, Goliath," Zafiro greeted as his group landed, "Nothing major occurred during the day."

"Very well," Goliath nodded, and then turned to his clan, "We will continue to try and maintain groups of four. Brother, Sister, you will be with Elisa and I. Brooklyn, I want you, Amy, Caroline, and Hudson to head up the east side. Angela, Broadway, Candy, and Lexington, I want you four to check the west side."

Goliath was about to continue when he was interrupted by the two beasts. He looked down to notice that apparently neither Bronx nor the new gargoyle beast, Trixie, wished to remain in the castle. He motioned to the others to get going and turned toward the beasts.

"Where are we going, Brother?" Desdemona asked.

"We will patrol up the center of the island," Goliath answered as he lifted up Bronx and Elisa lifted up Trixie.

Othello and Desdemona lead the way up to the battlements, since both Goliath and Elisa were slightly slowed by carrying the two beasts.

**Manhattan Alley**

Matt hated this part of his job trying to bring down the Quarrymen. He couldn't meet in public with his undercover agent because it could expose him. He could have brought to the station, even under the guise of questioning, or else Jon Canmore would get suspicious. He breathed a slight sigh of relief as he saw his undercover agent come up.

"Hey there, Gus," Matt called quietly, "What's our madman up to today?"

Gus came close to Matt and muttered, "Man, I'd love to get those yahoos off the street. Ya know, one of them gargoyles that they claim is evil saved my kid's life a few days back."

"Huh?" Matt asked, getting slightly sidetracked.

"Yeah, mugger comes out to rob my kid blind fer going to the movies," Gus explained, "And two gargoyles came out of the sky and knocked him out. Kid said the female looked like Big Bird."

"Ah-ha," Matt nodded, "What are the Quarrymen up to?"

"Nothing outlandish," Gus answered, "Mostly they're being ordered around to spread pamphlets. The cripple was right about Canmore being back in charge. The pamphlets read the same way Castaway's old speeches sounded."

"So they're not doing anything illegal?" Matt asked.

"Not that I've found out yet," Gus sighed, "I don't think they fully trust me yet."

"That'll change eventually," Matt said as he turned back to walk toward his car, "And one more thing, don't refer to Jason Canmore as 'the cripple'. It's rude and need I remind you that Jon Canmore is the reason he's in that wheelchair."

"Sorry sir," Gus saluted.

Matt then quietly walked toward his car. As he did so he glanced up to see if the clan was on patrol. What he saw sent a slight shiver of surprise and more serious shiver of fear down his spine. What he saw was Demona gliding through the air with a man held in her arms.

"Oh great, between Thailog, The Quarrymen, The Pack, and this 'mysterious new foe', SHE comes back," Matt muttered to himself.

**Under Manhattan**

Holly stood in still silence facing the book. She stared at it with an intensity that she had never managed before. Again she recited the spell, word for word. Slowly the book's magic moved up from the book to her medallion and then to her hand, which she pointed at herself.

"Please work," Holly growled to herself.

Shortly thereafter, the magic shot from her hand and hit her directly in the face. As the pain of the transformation began, Holly screamed.

Thailog and Fang walked slowly back into their underground base. Both were carrying sacks of money.

"Well I think that was successful," Thailog commented, "Local gangs are still willing to buy anything, even if what's selling isn't exactly human."

"We coulda killed them easily," Fang grumbled.

Thailog nodded, "True, but we may need them sooner or later as troops if our friend is unable to master that spell."

"That, my dear Thailog should not be a problem," came Holly's voice from inside the headquarters, sounding much more confident than before.

As the rounded a corner they came face to face with a very different Holly than the one they left. She was covered entirely in blood red skin. Two large bat-like wings had grown up from behind her and had torn through the back of her clothing. A long tail with a tassel of black fur at the end protruded through her black leather pants. Her pants themselves were stretched at the knees where Thailog guessed her knee spurs had grown. The pant's zipper remained zipped up, but the button was undone. The sleeves of the white tee-shirt she wore under her black leather vest were torn off and Holly now also sported sharper and longer elbow spurs than Thailog had ever seen, including the memories that were programmed into him from both the first Thailog. Her head was nothing extravagant. Two large devil-like horns grew from her temples, pushing back her hair and a strong browridge covered the top part of her eyes.

"How do you like me now?" Holly smiled.

"Very good," Thailog smiled while Fang gasped behind him.

"I need intense concentration for the spell to work, so if you want me to 'make' you some lackeys, they will need to be brought here and restrained so I can focus," Holly said calmly.

"That can easily be arranged," Thailog smiled, "I noticed something while Fang and I were out. Someone for you to practice on."

**Over Manhattan**

Goliath's group hadn't found much. There were two attempted muggings that they had foiled and both Bronx and Trixie seemed to enjoy chasing the two crooks up light poles.

"Somehow, I don't these guys are the one's that have been causing the real trouble," Elisa commented as she patted Trixie's head.

The tan gargoyle turned her glance from the two dangling muggers to the others.

"Correct, Elisa," Goliath rumbled as his communicator activated.

Goliath pulled it from a pouch on his belt and brought it to his ear, "Yes?"

"Hey Goliath, it's Matt," came Matt's voice from the other side, "I know you prefer this line to be kept open for your clan's use only, but this is big."

"What is it?" Goliath asked, "Are you in any danger?"

"No," Matt answered quickly, "I just had a meeting with my undercover guy and you'll never guess who I saw glide over afterward."

Goliath didn't even get a chance to answer before Matt continued.

"It was Demona and she had some guy in her hands," Matt said quickly, "I don't know what she wants with him, but I can tell you she was gliding in the Destine Mansion's general direction."

Goliath hung up and placed his communicator back in the pouch, growling in a frustrated tone as he did so.

"What is it, Brother?" Othello asked.

"It appears that Demona has returned to New York," Goliath began, "And has taken herself a hostage."

Goliath then watched as Elisa growled and Desdemona and Othello gave a frustrated sigh. Goliath then quickly lifted Bronx and began leaping between the walls of two nearby buildings to gain height, and he easily heard the sounds of Elisa and the others following suit.

**Destine Mansion**

Demona landed on one of her mansion's balconies and cast a spell that easily unlocked one of the doors.

"You lived here?" Dr. Wedrington asked as he walked through the opened French doors.

"I had to live somewhere when I used 'Dominique Destine' as an alias when I was in human form," Demona answered, "And since most humans are two curious for their own good, I needed some place that was isolated so no one would hear my roars and come to investigate."

"What about your clan?" Doctor Wedrington asked.

"You know of my past from what the Weird Sisters showed you," Demona answered, "I'm not on the best of terms with my clan. I can not live with them."

"Maybe you ought to patch fences with them first," Dr. Wedrington suggested, "You can't continue on your own."

"I've been on my own for centuries," Demona answered defensively.

"We all need someone at some time," Dr. Wedrington answered, "You want to help your kind, and I'm willing to help you, so long as no genocidal or 'take over the world' plans are involved. But, neither of us can do everything. Saving something, regardless of what it is, is a fine goal, but in many cases, we need help to reach those goals."

"We can discuss this later," Demona said, "I need to inspect the house to make sure everything is still here and you will need a room to sleep in."

"Demona…" Dr. Wedrington began.

"Unless you'd prefer a couch?" Demona questioned.

"A room is good," Dr. Wedrington nodded.

**Elsewhere**

Angela, Broadway, Candy, and Lexington slowly made their way up the west side. Like many of the other groups they had not spotting anything much more serious than the run of the mill muggers.

"I wonder where everyone went," Broadway commented off hand.

"We should head back to the castle," Angela sighed, "We've gone over our sector twice now, other than the usual, no one seems to be endangering the city."

Suddenly the sound of a gunshot reached their ears.

"Spoke too soon," Lex scolded with a teasing tone in his voice.

The four gargoyles then dove to investigate what was going on. What they found was a group of gangsters converging on a merchant who was closing down his shop for the night. The poor victim had already been shot through the shoulder.

"Oh no!" Candy cried pointing at the merchant, "They shot him!"

Broadway took a quick glance at the wounded merchant and then at the gangsters surrounding him. He growled slightly when he saw the guns in their hands.

"Lex, Candy, do you two think you can get that guy back into his shop?" Broadway asked.

The two web-winged gargoyles nodded as the group then leaped to get between the crooks and the merchant. Broadway and Angela immediately moved to block the oncoming gangsters while Lex and Candy began moving the wounded man back into his shop.

"You aren't going to rob me now, are you?" the scared shopkeeper said meekly.

"Of course not," Candy answered, "We're going to get you inside, beat up the bad guys, and get an ambulance here to deal with your wound."

Broadway and Angela found themselves with a full time job as Candy and Lex began moving the injured shopkeeper into building. There were five gangsters, and all of them were armed with some sort of laser weapon. One of the group quickly fired at Broadway. As the large gargoyle ducked he heard what sounded like a traditional gun, but what he saw out of the corner of his eye was not the traditional flash of smoke that was produced by a traditional gun. What he saw was a short red pulse come flying out of the gun and hitting the side of the building behind him. Broadway was knocked to the ground by some of the flying stonework.

"COME ON!" the crook yelled, "They can be hurt like anything else!"

The moved to fire again, but Angela, luckily for Broadway, leaped on to him and knocked him to the ground. The lavender female then batted the man upside the head with her tail. She hit him hard enough to knock him out, but not hard enough to do serious damage to his skull. The other four gangsters, taken slightly off guard to see their leader get taken out so easily, followed by the sight of Angela's glowing red eyes backed off for a moment before firing again.

Broadway dodged the first series of shots and moved toward an ally to grab a garbage can, while Angela leaped back to the building and used part of the stone wall to launch herself into the air. Candy and Lex emerged from the shop's front door only to feel the shock of one of the non-projectile weapon's blasts hit the door jam. The explosion knocked the two to the ground.

"Sheesh, it's like a war zone out here," Candy commented as she began pulling herself up, "Lex, you okay?"

"I'm fine," Lex groaned rubbing his head.

Lex then surveyed the scene. Two crooks were pulling themselves up from under a garbage can that Broadway had thrown at them, while the other two were firing skyward as Angela tried to maneuver her way toward them.

"We gotta rush the two shooting at Angela!" Lex said quickly, "Come on!"

Lex charged ahead and Candy nervously followed behind. The two gunmen continued firing at the lavender female that was trying to glide toward them until they heard two roars coming from beside them. Lex tackled one around the waist, while Candy managed to throw her entire body into the other man's chest. The pink gargoyle rolled of the man as they landed on the asphalt. As the man moved to get his gun, Angela landed behind him and grabbed him by the collar and crushing his gun with one of her taloned feet.

Lex found himself with a different situation. The man he tackled lost his weapon the instant both of them hit the ground, but the man was again taller than Lex was, and before the gargoyle could restrain him, the man lifted Lex up.

"Aren't you a bit young to be out this late?" the man snickered before turning to the others, "All right you, listen up! You're to release all my buds. You're to let us rob that nice old shopkeeper there. You're to let us go on our way. Or your friend here is in for a nasty end!"

Candy growled and began to approach him, "Let him go!"

"Not until we get what we want?" the man answered.

"Aside from Caroline and Amy, Lex has been my best friend since I joined the clan," Candy thought as she glared at the man, "He's nice. He's smart. I think he's good looking. And this guy thinks I'm going to let Lex come to any harm?!"

"LET HIM GO!" Candy practically yelled at him.

"Once we get what we want, your little lover boy here will go free," the man smiled cruelly, "Not before."

"You're not going anywhere," Lex growled before the others could react and kicked his legs backward into the crook's stomach.

The man fell to the ground, gasping for breath, and Candy immediately moved to hug Lex as he brushed himself off. Angela and Broadway quickly moved to tie up the five gangsters at a street corner for the police, while Candy and Lex stood facing each other with slightly embarrassed looks on their faces.

"You acted as if he could have actually killed me," Lex commented.

"I don't want you hurt," Candy answered, "We make a good team together."

Lex stared at her for a moment before she continued.

"Besides, we are going out," Candy smiled, "We need to care about each other."

"I'm glad you care," Lex smiled and kissed her on the cheek.

Broadway and Angela meanwhile began moving to interrogate the five gangsters.

"Where did you get the guns?" Broadway growled, "And who gave them to you?"

"We got 'em on the south side," the leader of the group said, "Andy why are ya doing this to us. The gargoyle who sold us the guns said your kind helps people."

"Gargoyle?" Angela asked, getting suspicious.

"Yeah, he was big and black," another of the gangsters chimed in, "Had red eyes too."

Angela and Broadway traded looks and muttered, "Thailog."

The shopkeeper then emerged from his damaged shop and looked at the four gargoyles.

"Excuse me," the shopkeeper called, clutching his wounded shoulder, "I've called the cops and reported the robbery. You folks better get moving. Oh, and thanks for saving my store."

Above them, standing atop the shop's roof, and hidden from sight, a mousey haired man glared down on the four gargoyles climbing up a nearby building's wall to glide off. One of the four was one of the gargoyles that he was sent to find. This however was not what interested him. What interested him was the name that his 'target' and the aquamarine gargoyle mentioned.

"Thailog, eh?" the mousey haired man mused, "Maeve didn't mention anything about him."

**Elsewhere**

Wolf exited a deli that he had robbed with several pounds of wrapped sandwich meat in a backpack. The mutate werewolf was also wearing a large trench coat and hat to disguise his appearance. He grumbled to himself as he moved into an alley and quickly began running back toward the Pack's hideout. Wolf hated the fact that despite his mutation, he could pass off the easiest as human, since Jackal and Hyena's cybernetic parts would be distinguishable under any clothing.

Wolf was also bored with the lack of action. After springing Castaway from prison, Jackal had largely kept the Pack undercover. Jackal and Hyena did have rob a few hardware and computer software stores to repair some of the minor damage that the prison's security systems inflicted on their cybernetic parts, and Wolf of course was sent out on these food runs, but otherwise there was nothing to do.

Brooklyn and his group were on their way back to Eyrie Building when they spotted something running at high speeds through back alleys. As they got closer, Brooklyn saw that it was a human-like figure wearing a large trench coat and a large tan backpack.

"What's his hurry?" Amy commented from beside him, "Is he late for dinner or something? He smells like sliced ham."

Brooklyn sniffed the air and soon nodded, "Maybe, but if he was just late for dinner, would he be running through alley's?"

"Ham is the only thing that that guys smells like, lads," Hudson said carefully from behind them, "That guy smells like he's part animal."

"Part animal?" Caroline asked.

"Wolf," Brooklyn growled, "But what's he doing without Jackal and Hyena?"

"Only one way to find out," Hudson muttered as the group dove down on the running figure.

Wolf heard the sound of wings coming down behind him as he neared a wall that blocked the end of one alley. The wall was nothing he couldn't hurdle, but it wouldn't stop a flying gargoyle either. Wolf stopped and pivoted on one foot, delivering a powerful punch straight into the side of the head of a diving Brooklyn. The brick red gargoyle was knocked out of the air and flew into a stack of discarded boxes.

Wolf's blow wasn't enough to help him out much though. A yellow beaked female gargoyle and a blue female gargoyle were close behind and the old gargoyle was behind them.

Amy landed a blow on him first as she landed and them moved to help Brooklyn up. Caroline hit him next as Wolf staggered back from Amy's blow. The furred member of the Pack soon found himself sitting against the brick wall at the back of the alley.

"What ye be plannin' now, Wolf?" Hudson demanded as the elder gargoyle approached with his sword drawn.

"Dinner actually," Wolf growled as he balanced himself on one hand and swung his legs out to trip Hudson, "Gargoyle a la mode sounds tasty actually."

Caroline kicked him in the side and he then tripped into a double punch thrown by Brooklyn and Amy.

"You aren't eating anybody," Caroline said slowly.

Wolf leaped up onto the top of the wall and quickly grabbed the end of the fire escape and ripped it from the wall of the building.

"And the Pack isn't about to be defeated," Wolf answered as he threw the Iron structure at the four gargoyles.

Brooklyn, Amy, and Caroline easily managed to catch the falling fire escape and toss it to the side, so that it didn't injure Hudson, but by the time they did so, Wolf was gone.

"We should go after him!" Amy exclaimed.

Caroline climbed up the wall of the alley and looked down the other side, "But where did he go? I don't see him down this alley, and there are no side alleys that join it for several hundred yards."

"Wolf is best on the ground," Hudson commented, "With our numbers we had him beaten, so he retreated, but since we had to land to fight him…"

"He used his strengths to get away," Brooklyn finished.

"You guys okay?" Amy asked to Brooklyn and Hudson, "He got you both pretty good."

"I'll be fine, lass," Hudson answered rubbing his back, "Old age has done worse to me than anything he'll ever do."

Brooklyn rubbed the location where Wolf's fist hit him. A small bruise was already forming there, but it was nothing serious.

"It's just a flesh wound," Brooklyn chuckled.

Amy chuckled at the line, "Come on, we'd better get back to the castle then. Remember Brooklyn, my folks called while we were eating our 'breakfast'. They'll be there shortly to make sure you haven't made an honest woman out of me."

"But we haven't done that…" Brooklyn began.

"Don't worry," Caroline said from the sidelines, "Amy's dad may look fearsome, but he's just a big teddy bear. He probably wouldn't get made even if you two had made an honest 'woman' of her."

Above them a white haired man in a black leather jacket stood atop one of the city's roofs. Like the mousey haired man who became interested in some of the events that were essentially on his 'employer's' sideline in terms of importance.

"The Pack, eh?" the white haired man muttered under his breath, "If the rest of the group can do anything like what that one did, then things might be interesting around here after all."

**Destine Mansion**

Dr. Wedrington was passively looking around Demona's large mansion. He had looked from room to room and somehow, he couldn't really get enough of it. While many would have been attracted to the mansion's recreational abilities, Dr. Wedrington was more interested in many of the artifacts that Demona had lying around.

"Some of these things have been sought after for centuries," Dr. Wedrington mused to himself, "Or would help solve many old mysteries about the past. I wonder why Demona keeps them."

Demona meanwhile, had made it to one of the mansion's lower floors. Returning to her mansion had only given her some questions that needed answering. In more than one room, Demona found several books tossed aside into disorganized piles on the floor. Nothing so far seemed to be missing, but those discarded books were not on the floor when she left to restore her gargoyle form. As she came to the final room she found another stack of discarded books lying on the floor.

"Apparently my security was not as tight as I thought it was," Demona grumbled as she picked up one of the books.

The immortal gargoyle set to putting the books back on the shelf. Her face had changed from one of confusion and frustration to one near rage and slight fear. One book was missing, and on top of it all, it was copy of Grimorum that she had created through her magic. She had no chance to react, however, when the room's window was suddenly shattered by a large object flying through it.

Demona turned to see a black skinned gargoyle beast growling at her from its position. Demona slowly backed way from the beast when she heard a lower growl coming from behind her. She turned again to find Bronx blocking the doorway. The gargoyle sorceress looked beyond the growling beast to see that her front door had been knocked in.

"Where is your hostage, Demona?" came Goliath's voice from the hallway outside the door.

Demona quietly watched Goliath appear in the doorway and she expected that Elisa would enter from the other side of the door.

"I have no…" Demona began, but stopped when she saw the gargoyle that was with Goliath.

It was Coldstone, or at least what Coldstone looked like before the massacre. Demona turned around again to see Elisa and her sister standing just inside the window.

"Brother! Sister! You're alive!" Demona exclaimed, half in shock and surprise, half in excitement.

"No thanks to you," Othello growled.

"What?" Demona asked, not expecting to be accused of anything, her mind was even wondering why they were here.

"You betrayed us to the Vikings," Desdemona accused, "You had us slaughtered while we slept! And then you carried a revenge plot for a thousand years!"

"You ripped our souls from the afterlife to animate Coldstone," Othello growled, "Confining us to live inside unfeeling, unaging, and unnatural robotic bodies. YOU BETRAYED US!"

"I see you told them your half of the story, Goliath," Demona muttered.

"Our business here is not to deal with your past," Goliath growled, ignoring Elisa and Desdemona's glowing eyes, "It is to free the human you hold prisoner."

"As I said before, I have no prisoner," Demona replied.

"Matt saw you carrying off a human, Demona," Elisa said, "Don't lie to us."

"I haven't lied," Demona retorted, "I have no prisoner. The man, Detective, that I was seen with is here of his own accord."

"I don't trust you, Demona," Goliath rumbled, "Release him, and we will leave."

"You should trust me," Demona growled, beginning to loose patience, "I'm not lying. I have no hostage."

Goliath and the others turned when they heard a new voice come from behind them.

"Hey, what's going on?" Dr. Wedrington asked as he came down the stairs and turned toward the hallway.

The archeologist stopped when he saw the four other gargoyles and two beast-like creatures standing around Demona. Two seemed noticeably angry, while the other two seemed to be merely frustrated. All of them seemed to be looking at him.

"Uhhh…hi?" Dr. Wedrington said in somewhat nervous tone.

"He's not tied up," Elisa commented in a tone that sounded more like she was suspicious as to whether this was really Demona.

"That's because Dr. Wedrington was never my prisoner, hostage, what have you," Demona said walking toward the startled doctor, "He is here of his own accord."

Goliath looked to others, who looked just as puzzled as he did and then said, "It would appear that we've made a mistake. This is… is a guest?"

"He is," Demona answered, "Dr. Wedrington, allow me to introduce you to Goliath, Elisa, Bronx, and I believe the female beast's name is Trixie."

"Who are the other two?" Dr. Wedrington asked pointing to Othello and Desdemona.

"I am Othello, and this is my mate Desdemona," Othello answered.

"Very Shakespearian," Dr. Wedrington commented.

Goliath looked like he was about to say something when the sun rose and the gargoyles all turned to stone for the day, leaving Dr. Wedrington in a very quit house.

**Castle Wyvern**

Xanatos landed quietly from his own patrol to find Fox waiting for him. The billionaire mutate sighed as he walked toward his wife.

"Goliath and his group didn't return," Fox announced.

"I hope they're somewhere safe, Xanatos answered, "I didn't find any trace of Demona."

Fox glanced at the clan members at their places only to sigh nervously before she added, "I hope she isn't up to anything serious. Everyone here was pretty nervous when they found out."

"I can imagine," Xanatos commented, "I think they hated Demona more than they hated me when the feud was still on." Xanatos paused when he noticed two gargoyles other than the six that where in Goliath's group where missing. "Say where's Brooklyn and Amy?"

"They are inside the clan's wing of the castle today," Fox answered as the two mutates began walking into the castle, "Amy's parents came to meet with her and Brooklyn, and they talked till dawn."

"Are Mr. and Mrs. Axel still here?" Xanatos asked.

"No, Mr. Axel had work to get to, and Mrs. Axel had a PIT meeting to organize," Fox replied, "I told her she is free to organize a meeting here if she wanted to."

"You read me like a book," Xanatos commented.

**Maddox Technologies**

Mavis O'Conner found Maddox sighting behind his desk in his office reading the morning's newspaper.

"It is amazing what these mortals find to be traumatic," Maddox commented off hand.

"What is it, my lord?" Mavis asked as she came closer.

"These natural disasters that humans seem so afraid of," Maddox chuckled, "We shall conquer them easily. What do you have?"

"Garlon and Loki have made their reports," Mavis answered, "They think you'll find it interesting."

"What might that be?" Maddox questioned.

"Both have reported that the clan has other enemies including a group called 'the Pack' and a single being called 'Thailog'," Mavis answered calmly."

"That is interesting," Maddox smiled as he set the paper down, "We may not have to do anything. I want these characters found and observed. I want to know everything about them. That way, we'll figure out how effective they will be to our mission."

**Destine Mansion**

Dr. Wedrington calmly sat watching the stone gargoyles stand in place. To him, this was merely part of guarding Demona during the day, and from what he'd overheard, these gargoyles were part of her clan. He couldn't let her clan go unguarded when he'd already promised to guard her. But the day went slowly, and Dr. Wedrington soon found himself in the mansion's kitchen trying to pour himself a cup of coffee. He would have preferred tea, but apparently, Demona either didn't keep any tea or was out. He'd have to ask her. He was about to take his first sip when he heard a knock at the back door.

"Strange," Dr. Wedrington thought, "Wouldn't someone come to the front door to visit someone?"

The English archeologist carefully made his way to the sound of the now desperate knocking, and peaked through a small window on the upper half of the door. He was perplexed by what he saw. Standing outside was a creature that looked somewhat like a gargoyle, but it didn't have a tail and it certainly wasn't encased in stone.

"Who are you?" Dr. Wedrington asked as he opened the door.

"Your kidnapper!" Fang smiled as he grabbed the man by the throat.

Fang carried the man to the nearest entrance to the sewers and shoved him into it. The cougar-like mutate followed close behind and pulled the manhole cover back over them.

"What do you want with me?" the man asked in a very nervous voice.

"I don't care about you," Fang answered with a laugh, "My boss and your blue girlfriend have a bit of a history. When they last met, she dropped a roller coaster on him. Now, he's getting revenge."

Doctor Wedrington only gasped as Fang grabbed him and began walking toward his and Thailog's base.

**Abandoned Warehouse**

Jackal sat quietly as Wolf continued to rant over being attack by the gargoyles.

"I nearly lost that ham you're eating because of them!" Wolf yelled, "If you and your insane sister are so concerned about maintaining you money, maybe you ought to do more of the work to get it! Instead of using me as tool!"

"Easy, fido," Jackal teased, "They you told it, it appears that you won the fight. Besides, Hyena and I were out trying to study what those flying lizards were doing."

"But you didn't find any of them," Wolf growled.

Jackal was about to answer Wolf's comment when the far door of the warehouse to reveal a mousey haired man.

"Good day to you," the man said, "You may address me as David."

Wolf glanced at Jackal with a raised eyebrow. Jackal returned his skeptical glance and pulled his pointer finger along his neck, directly under his chin and made a sucking noise that generally meant 'dead'. Wolf then smiled and walked toward the man who introduced himself as 'David'.

"You got a lot of guts coming here," Wolf smiled as he grabbed and lifted David above his head, "No brains, but a lot of guts."

At that time Hyena returned to the warehouse tossing someone's wallet in the air and then catching it as if it were a baseball. She nearly broke out laughing when she saw Wolf holding up the man.

"Hungry, fido?" Hyena laughed.

"Hardly," Wolf growled as he tightened his grip.

"You don't want to do that," David choked.

"And why not?" Wolf smiled, "I will be hungry later, and if the fur didn't give it away, I'll tell you that I'm not exactly human."

David looked Wolf and the two cyborgs over and quickly nodded, "Point taken, but then you're all stuck here because no cops would ever think that you would hide here, and when you do go out it's not to do anything more than petty crime."

"How did you know that?" Jackal demanded getting to his feet.

"My employers and I have our means," David answered, "We have goals to accomplish in this city. Goals you could help us with."

"Another CEO out to conquer the world," Jackal chuckled, "I'm beginning to think that that sort of thing would simply be déjà vu."

"We are willing to pay you in any fashion available," David answered, "Helping you. Money. Women. Men. Whatever."

"How much money?" Jackal asked, getting curious.

"Enough to make the fortunes of every great King, Queen, Emperor, and Warlord jealous of you," David choked through Wolf's tightening grip.

"Let the man speak," Jackal instructed Wolf, "If he doesn't give us a proper offer, we can kill him then."

Wolf dropped the man. David took his time to regain his composure before facing the three Pack members.

"Now, are all your members here?" David asked.

"David Xanatos holds two of our group somewhere," Jackal answered, "And we also normally have a robot to help us with really BIG firefights, but that robot is no more. This is all there is."

David looked at the three members and then said, "Interesting you mentioned Xanatos."

**Destine Mansion, Dusk**

The gargoyles in Demona's mansion quickly broke free of their stoneshells to find the room empty. As the red glow faded from her eyes, Elisa turned toward Demona and began to advance on the immortal gargoyle. Demona turned to see the four gargoyles and two gargoyle beasts watching her closely. They didn't seem angry, but intent.

"I suppose you want to know what I've been up to," Demona sighed in a frustrated tone, knowing that returning to Manhattan would mean dealing with the clan and her past.

Demona then began carefully explaining her adventures that she had taken after leaving New York. Othello and Desdemona looked relatively nervous throughout the tale and Goliath and Elisa nearly became enraged during the part where Demona explained her confrontation with Fara, Tea, and Anansi. They did however become slightly curious at the mention of a gargoyle clan living peacefully with humans in China.

"…In conclusion, Goliath, you could say that my journey to restore my TRUE form has taught me some valuable lessons," Demona finished.

"I doubt you've decided to spare ALL humanity because a few monks in China live peacefully with gargoyles and this Dr. Wedrington has agreed to guard you during the day," Goliath rumbled.

Demona was taken back by his comment. She had thought that Goliath would let their feud die now that she changed her position toward humans, slightly.

"I have no intention of wiping out humanity, if that's what you're suggesting," Demona answered.

Goliath sighed and looked back toward Elisa, Othello, and Desdemona. They all shrugged, showing some confusion toward the situation.

"I will say again that it appears that we misjudged you in this situation, Demona," Goliath said carefully, "We will apologize to your friend and then we will leave."

Demona nodded, her facial expression remained cold.

"Where is Doctor Wedrington, anyway?" Elisa asked looking around the room, and noticing that the man was not there.

All of them then glanced around to see if the archeologist was around, and after a few seconds, Demona paused to reach out with her magic, knowing that she could locate him much easier that way.

After a second or two, Demona's eyes snapped open and she said, "He's not here. Someone came to my back door and abducted him!"

Demona kept her locator spell working and began to move slowly to where her spell first located him.

"Whoever has done this will PAY!" Demona roared as she approached her back door.

"Should we follow her, brother?" Othello asked.

"Only to make sure she doesn't do something foolish," Goliath sighed as he began walking after Demona.

**Castle Wyvern**

The rest of the clan awoke nervously as day ended.

"What do we do?" Caroline asked nervously.

"We have to wait for Brooklyn and Amy to get back," Lexington answered, "Brooklyn's the second in command we gotta see what he thinks."

"I wouldn't worry too much though," Angela said as she and Broadway approached Caroline and the others from their side of the tower, "Goliath and the others can take care of themselves easily."

"What if she tries to turn them into humans or something?" Candy asked from her spot next to Lexington, "If it works, it would probably be good for Elisa and Trixie, but what about the others?"

"I don't think she'd try that," Brooklyn said in a low voice as he and Amy came out from inside the castle, "Our past encounters with Demona have shown that she will mainly try to persuade us to join her, rather than try and kill us."

"So what do we do, lad?" Hudson asked turning his gaze from the western horizon to Brooklyn periodically.

"I think, for tonight, we should just remain here," Brooklyn sighed, "If Goliath and the others are okay, they'll probably return as soon as they can. If they're not back by tomorrow, we can start looking."

**Thailog's Base**

Dr. Wedrington was awakened by the sound of two animal-like roars coming from another room. He knew that the sun had just set and that the two gargoyles that Fang had dragged him past had now awakened. The English archeologist sat huddled in a corner of the room and tipped a cot over in front of him to use as a shield.

"I don't get your plan in this," Fang grumbled, "He'll only turn against us."

"I agree with Fang," Holly answered as she ran a talon along the tip of her wings, "And even if he would serve you, he seems to be kinda timid. You know, a coward."

"I intend for this blow to be psychological," Thailog smiled cruelly, "I saw Demona gliding with this man while Fang and I were selling some of the excess weapons from this old smuggling base. Now I know my 'Angel of the Night' and I know her well. The will never have a positive opinion about humans. She may like or befriend a few individuals who either suit her needs or have something she wants, but she will never look for human friends out of kindness."

"I still don't get it," Fang grumbled.

"Fine then," Thailog answered in an annoyed voice, "We transform him. He 'escapes' and Demona finds him. He tells Demona what we did. Demona either: A) tries to attack us out of pure rage or B) attacks the clan out of rage for not stopping me in the first place. Either way it will remove us of an enemy."

"How?" Holly asked, "You said Demona was immortal."

"True, but that book has other spells, and I'm sure you've looked at them out of curiosity," Thailog answered.

"Of course but I was trying to focus on a way to master the other spell," Holly replied.

"But by mastering one, you know what you need to do with others," Thailog replied, "Besides; the electric wires that we have set up would electrocute the entire population of the city before the circuit overloads. Demona can not attack us here."

Holly then shrugged and followed Thailog into the room while Fang muttered something under his breath. They found the man cowering behind a cot.

"Told you he was a coward," Holly snickered.

"What are you going to do to me?" Dr. Wedrington squeaked.

"Relax, good sir," Thailog smiled as he walked up and flipped the cot over his shoulder for Fang to catch, "We have no intentions of killing you."

Dr. Wedrington didn't know whether to be relieved that he wasn't going to be killed or scared because he was still a prisoner. He looked at the large black gargoyle talking to him. It looked identical to the gargoyle that Demona had referred to as Goliath, except this one was wearing armor and had red eyes, white hair, and black skin. Behind him stood a red female gargoyle that looked even more demon-like to him than the other gargoyles he had seen. He began to back away when the female approached him carrying a large leather bound book.

"You may want to brace yourself," Holly instructed as her eyes began glow, "This WILL hurt."

**Elsewhere**

Demona growled to herself angrily as she tromped through the sewers. Dr. Wedrington's kidnapper had taken him down a sewer. She ignored the footfalls of the other gargoyles walking behind her. Her thoughts dwelled upon her situation at hand.

"It amazes me, Detective, how you can be so concerned with my activities than with the activities of your own brother," Demona growled in frustration.

"What?" Elisa demanded from behind her, "Derek would never do anything like this."

"He lives in the sewers," Demona retorted.

"That doesn't mean it was Talon," Goliath answered, "You are responding in anger and accusing someone when you have no evidence to prove that anyone did it."

"If we find…" Demona began to growl out.

"If it turns out that Elisa's brother has done this, he will meet justice," Desdemona answered, "Until then, don't accuse him of anything."

"Yes, America has phrase in these sort of situations that we learned of while we were still trapped in the robotic shells that we had to live in," Othello added, "I believe it fits. It is 'innocent until proven guilty'."

Demona growled again and returned her attention to following the locating spell she had cast. Wherever he was, he wasn't moving.

"He better be alive," Demona muttered as she walked on.

**Thailog's Base**

Dr. Wedrington screamed with pain as he felt changes occurred in his body. It didn't seem to be as serious as when Sekhmet had attacked him, but the pain was still quite serious. He had watched his skin change from a tone that was common among all white-Caucasian humans to a pure white color. His pinky and ring finger merged together on both hands while the other fingers seemed to be growing larger and changing shape. As time passed, the changes happening to him began to accelerate. His shoulders broadened, and he felt new layers of muscle growing. He gripped his head as another wave of pain went through him and he felt two things grow out of his back. He cautiously opened his eyes to see two white feathered wings lying limp along the floor, but they were definitely attached to him. He also noticed a long white tail lying across his legs, which had changed into something far different that what he was born with. At the tip of the tail was tuft of tan fur that made the appendage look like a lion's tail. His hair was beginning to wrap around his head and the pain he felt increased as he felt a lion-like muzzle grow. Slowly, he felt his screams of pain change into a challenging roar.

Elsewhere in the maze of tunnels that made up Manhattan's sewer system, Demona stopped suddenly at the sound of a pain filled roar that echoed off the sewer walls.

"What was that?" Desdemona asked in a slightly shocked and surprised tone, "We don't even roar like that when we awaken from stonesleep."

Elisa glanced at Demona, who had turned directly toward where the sound of the roar came from, and sighed, "It could be someone who has just gone through the pain of transforming into something else."

Demona nodded ahead of them, not really paying attention.

Doctor Wedrington slowly pulled himself up feeling entirely strange and freaked out. He glanced at the red gargoyle as she shut the book with a devilish smile on her face. He then cursed to himself inwardly. They were all enjoying this. He then also noticed something. The large black gargoyle and the tailless cougar-like gargoyle weren't blocking the door. Only the red female gargoyle was. Dr. Wedrington knew he had to get out of there if he was going to escape without further mutation.

The transformed archeologist struggled to his feet and shoved the female gargoyle out of his way and stumbled toward the open door. Holly meanwhile backpedaled into Thailog and didn't really relax until he helped steady her.

"You've mastered the spell," Thailog chuckled, "Now you need to master your feet."

"We should at least chase him," Fang answered, "Even if we're only letting him go."

"Don't worry," Thailog smiled, "In time, Demona will come to us. We don't need to chase after him."

Demona stopped quite suddenly as the locating spell she had cast began to rely to her new information. Her anger and at Dr. Wedrington's kidnapping was only increased when the rest of the group behind failed to stop in time behind her.

Demona only growled to show her anger at both them and the situation.

"You could give us a warning before you stop," Elisa growled back, "Or is common courtesy beyond you?"

"Dr. Wedrington is moving," Demona answered.

"Can your spell determine if he is alone?" Desdemona asked.

Demona shook her head, "It can only tell his location. Now, if you want to help me save him, that's fine, but I'M in charge of this operation."

Elisa turned to Goliath, who sighed and merely started following Demona again.

Doctor Wedrington ran as fast as he could, but struggled as he continually tripped over his feet, tail, and various obstacles that were already in his way.

"Demona and the others will be awake by now," Wedrington thought, "They can help me. They can turn me back."

Wedrington stumbled further into the maze of tunnels, amazed that he could see despite the almost complete lack of light.

"Now where is Demona's house?" he then asked aloud.

Demona continued to follow Wedrington through her locating spell. She was feeling somewhat hopeful. He was still moving, but his movements were erratic, confused. It was if he didn't know where he was going. That generally meant that he had escaped his captors. Suddenly, after what seemed like a millennium, Demona found herself looking up a ladder.

"I hope that's an alley up there and not an intersection," Elisa commented as she looked up to see the open sewer hatch.

"I'll go," Demona sighed as she began to climb up the ladder.

It turned out to be the former of what Elisa had mentioned. I narrow alley that forced them all to stand side-by-side.

"Are you sure this is a human we're following, Demona?" Othello questioned while pointing to several deep scratch marks in the brick of a nearby building.

Demona looked at them. The closely resembled many of the scratch marks she remembered on the stone of Castle Wyvern from her days there. These, however, looked as though whoever climbed the wall was either attacked from behind and was dragged down or slipped.

"He was human when we went to sleep," was all Demona could answer.

A few buildings ahead of them, Wedrington stood shakily on the edge of one building's roof. The next roof was barely eight feet away. He had no clear idea where he was going, but he at least felt relieved that his new legs could allow him to jump the chasm between each building. Carefully, Wedrington calculated what he would need to do to make the jump, reached back with his arms and threw himself into the air.

Going through the air was an interesting experience for the transformed Englishman. He could feel his tail stick out behind him in reflex to balance himself, but that wasn't what made the experience feel weird to him. It was the two wings growing out of his back. They seemed to catch a lot of the air that flowed beneath them, and while they seemed to help his jumps, they also slowed him down. Despite this, Wedrington thought he was making good time by leaping from building to building.

"This can not be," Demona said in utter shock as she saw a white skinned lion-like English gargoyle leap from the roof of one building to another, "Wedrington is human."

"Not anymore, apparently," Goliath rumbled from behind her.

"Thailog's little sorceress must have finally mastered the spell," Elisa added.

"Thailog?" Demona growled turning to the others, "Thailog is DEAD! I should know. I killed him."

"You killed the original Thailog," Goliath corrected, "This is another clone. Sevarius made him shortly before we defeated him."

"I trust Xanatos promptly destroyed my company," Demona sighed.

"Xanatos and a man named Renard each bought half of Nightstone," Othello answered.

"I figured," Demona growled, "Now what of this 'sorceress'?"

"Thailog has some girl sorceress helping him," Elisa answered, "Other than that we don't know. It was probably her that transformed him."

"And why didn't you do anything about it?" Demona yelled while at the same time sending a magical shockwave that knocked the others to the ground, "Fine protectors you are."

Demona then leaped off the building and caught an updraft to begin gliding after Wedrington. Goliath and the others watched after her.

"I think I've seen enough," Goliath commented, "We need to head back to the castle."

"What about Demona?" Othello asked.

"I doubt that she will be a direct threat to the clan for some time," Goliath sighed, "And since Dr. Wedrington used to be human himself, I doubt he would listen or go along with any plans to destroy humanity."

The group sighed as Othello and Desdemona headed directly for the Eyrie Building while Goliath and Elisa stopped to lift Bronx and Trixie.

Dr. Wedrington was about ready to leap to the next building when heard Demona come up behind him.

"Wedrington!" the immortal gargoyle called to get him stop.

"Demona?" Dr. Wedrington asked as he whirled himself around and nearly falling face first into the roof of the building.

Once the transformed archeologist could regain his footing, he glanced toward the sky blue gargoyle that stood in front of him. He was slightly shocked to find that he was now a few inches taller than her.

"Some black gargoyle…" Dr. Wedrington began to blurt out of fear.

"I know of Thailog's treachery," Demona growled her eyes flashing red, "Mostly I am relieved that you escaped. Even though it appears that you have not escaped unscathed."

"Huh?" Wedrington asked.

"Whoever Thailog's sorceress puppet is, she has used a transformation spell that is permanent," Demona sighed looking down, "There is no magic that I, or anyone that I know, possess that could reverse the spell she cast on you. In theory, you could use a series of spells like the ones I used to restore my gargoyle form to restore your humanity, but you would need to be a practicing sorcerer."

"Do you mean I'm going to be like this forever?" Dr. Wedrington gasped.

"I'm afraid so," Demona answered.

Dr. Wedrington looked down for a moment and then noticed something, "Where did your friends go?"

"Who?"

"Those other gargoyles that were at your house," Wedrington clarified.

Demona sighed, "They were members of my clan. That is all. They have probably returned to their home, as we should return to ours."

Demona noticed that the former human was looking at her with a confused look.

"Dr. Wedrington, you know my past from what the Weird Sisters showed you," Demona said weakly, "I have made an outstanding series of bad choices. I will not apologize for them and I will not question my motives for why I made them, but I will admit that I've screwed up in the past. Because of this, I can no longer be with my clan."

"There are ways to get around that," Dr. Wedrington offered, "It will take time, possibly longer than anyone would ever image, but you can get around it if you work at it."

Demona stepped up onto the ledge of the building, "Right now that isn't my concern. I must get you back home. Dawn isn't too far off and I must think of what I must to Thailog to avenge the wickedness that he's performed."

"He's expecting you do something like that," Dr. Wedrington said weakly.

"What?" Demona growled turning her head back.

"I overheard him talking about something before they transformed me," Dr. Wedrington replied, "The very intent of kidnapping me and doing this was to get you angry so that you would either attack your clan or come looking for Thailog."

"I can find a way to deal with anything he throws at me," Demona turned her head back to horizon, "But for now, getting you home is the most important."

With that Demona leaped into the night sky to begin teaching Wedrington the finer points of gliding.

**Castle Wyvern**

"She wasn't holding the human hostage?" Angela asked curiously as Goliath explained their run in with Demona.

"It would appear so," Goliath answered, "It is somewhat strange to think about, but I believe that her journey may have had a good influence on her."

"Do you think she's still an enemy?" Brooklyn asked.

"I'm not quite sure," Goliath answered looking out over the city, "Perhaps not an enemy that is a threat to us, but an enemy that must be monitored. Time will tell how much she reformed, if at all."

**To Be Continued…**


	6. A Dying Organization

All characters appearing in Gargoyles and Gargoyles: The Goliath Chronicles are copyrighted to Buena Vista Television/The Walt Disney Company. I've taken the idea for the Unseelie Court from the TGS. No infringement of these copyrights is intended, and is not authorized by the copyright holder. All original characters are the property of SN.

Note: I'm disregarding the events of the "Goliath Chronicles", with the exception of "The Journey" because I do not wish to use the rest of the "Goliath Chronicles" as canon to my story. This story takes place one day after "Demona Returns".

A Dying Organization

By SN/TVfan

Email: **Sam_Nary **

**Quarrymen Headquarters**

"What?!" Jon Canmore yelled at the top of his lungs.

"Just as I said, the demon was spotted by one of our patrol teams last night," Jonah answered.

"How can she be alive?" Canmore roared, "The first thing we did when we had power in this city was to kill her!"

"Maybe what that sorcerer you found was telling the truth about her immortality," Jonah commented.

"That can't be possible," Canmore answered, "That can't be possible."

Canmore continued muttering those words over and over again while Jonah watched him.

"Do you want me to something about her, sir?" Jonah asked.

"Not just yet," Canmore replied, "The ever wise police are still watching us instead of the gargoyle demons. We can't do anything that is outside their laws."

"Yes sir," Jonah saluted, "I'll go assign the patrol teams then."

**23****rd**** Precinct**

Jason Canmore rolled his wheelchair into the precinct headquarters break room to grab a cup of coffee before returning to his paperwork.

"How's it coming?" came Matt's voice from behind him.

Jason turned to face the red headed detective, "From all the reports your team has gathered from observation and from what the undercover guy has been saying, I think my brother is on to us. He won't do anything that's downright illegal until we decide to give up."

"In other words as soon as the mayor's temper cools down," Matt chuckled, "Great."

"Detective Flariaty and I will be heading out to meet with Gus soon," Matt told him.

"Okay," Jason nodded weakly, "I'll try to get this mountain of paperwork organized. Just put his report down wherever there's space when you get back."

Matt nodded and turned toward the building's exit.

**Castle Wyvern**

The clan gathered around in a great circle in the center of Wyvern's courtyard while they began discussing matters relating to what had recently happened.

"Why can't we?" Angela insisted, "If the man she was carrying wasn't her prisoner that she has to changed somehow."

"I can agree that she has changed," Goliath answered, "But I can not risk the safety of my clan to her betrayal again."

"We never know how much someone has changed until we open ourselves up to them," Angela replied.

Goliath sighed. He knew that Angela had always hoped, and still hopes that Demona could be there to be more of a mother figure for her, but to some extent, his thoughts on parenting and his knowledge of Demona's past persuaded him to keep the immortal gargoyle as far away as possible.

"You wouldn't know how helpful, even friendly, that Xanatos could be until we moved back to the castle," Angela pointed out, "and he was involved in more direct attacks on the clan."

"If I may speak in my defense," Xanatos said as he stepped forward, "I never tried to kill all of you in one stroke. Yes my past endeavors were not exactly… legal or just, but I never really intended for you to be wiped out."

Goliath glared at the black furred mutate and then turned his attention back to Angela, "I can not in good conscience welcome Demona back into this clan. Demona may have given up her intentions to wipe out humanity, but it was plain to me that she hasn't changed much since she left."

"What are your plans to deal with the situation, lad?" Hudson asked, hoping to change the subject.

"We now know that Thailog is predominantly operating in the southern sections of Manhattan and has a base underground," Goliath rumbled, "Considering what he did to Demona's ally, we must be watching that area especially closely since he may try to use that spell again."

"What about the rest of the island?" Othello asked.

"We can patrol that sparingly," Goliath answered, "Our focus needs to be on Thailog and to make sure that he doesn't harm anyone."

"What if we're too late and he's…" Caroline began, "…done something like what happened to us?"

"They will be welcomed into the clan and we will try to help them adjust."

**Thailog's Base**

Thailog chuckled to himself as his electronic defense field overloaded the circuits in the third and final robot that had attacked his base. Apparently his plan to get Demona into an uncontrollable rage worked, but she somehow remained level headed enough to send robots instead of charging in herself. What puzzled the black skinned clone so much was how could have Demona gotten her hands on these robots. As far as he knew, she wasn't strong enough in magic to simply create them, and since Nightstone was gone, she had no industrial means of producing them. He wondered if she had renewed her alliance with Xanatos, but then that also meant allying with the clan and he was certain she wouldn't do that.

As the electrical field shut down, Holly took a few steps out toward the discarded pieces of the robot's bodies. In a very angry motion she kicked one of the metal fragments.

"We can use those," Thailog commented.

"How?" Holly asked, kicking the fragment again, "They're just junk."

"The electricity overloaded their circuits, but the sub-systems themselves should still be operational," Thailog said calmly, "We can add their lasers to our current defenses. I'll get Fang on it shortly."

"So what we doing?" Holly asked in an inquisitive nature.

**Destine Mansion**

"Blast!" Demona growled as she watched the view screen that showed her what her Steal Demonas were seeing change to a grey static.

"Blowing him up won't turn me back," came Wedrington's voice from behind her.

Demona turned to see the transformed human stagger down the stairs into the little control room she had set up for her Steel Demonas. He wore a midnight blue loincloth, which Demona had cut out of an old bed sheet, and a loose shirt made from the same bed sheet. The shirt had no sleeves and the back of the shirt went down far enough to accommodate his feathered wings.

"What Thailog and his cronies did to you was unforgivable and wrong on so many levels," Demona growled, "Don't you want revenge?"

"I don't want him to harm anyone else," Wedrington answered, "I wouldn't gain anything from revenge."

Demona looked at him for a moment.

"And even if I did, I don't even know how to fight," Wedrington said weakly, trying to avoid contact with Demona's eyes, "He'd have me beaten before the fight even started."

Demona sighed and then looked down. The Doctor's transformation had aroused new feelings in her mind. Part of her was infuriated that another human was now given the gift of being a gargoyle. Part of her was excited that there was now an unmated male gargoyle who decided that she was at least a friend. Part of her was outraged at Thailog that he would do something that took away Wedrington's former life.

"I can easily train you," Demona said confidently, "Fighting anyone will be of no problem to you."

Wedrington looked as if he were about to say something, but Demona interrupted him.

"But first," Demona said as she began to climb the stairs again, "I must teach you to glide."

**Castle Wyvern**

Lexington walked quietly through the castle's hallways. Most of the patrol teams had returned to the castle, although Goliath and his group, and the Guatemalans were still out. Lex heard about a movie that was just out in theaters that had good special effects in it. He thought his rookery brothers might want to see it also. Unfortunately what he heard in the library indicated that Broadway was too busy.

"You really like those detective novels, don't you?" Angela chuckled.

"Yeah, they're great…" Broadway answered, "Do you like them?"

"They're not my favorites, but their okay," Angela replied.

Lex only sighed and turned away as Broadway began reading aloud from the book again. His hopes rose a little when he found Brooklyn temporarily standing alone in the courtyard.

"Hey Brooklyn!" Lex called, "There's a new movie out. Do you want to go see it?"

Brooklyn looked back and sighed weakly, "Uh… Amy and I were going to peak in on the PIT meeting tonight. Her folks said there was going to be a pretty good band playing there."

"Oh," Lex said, looking defeated.

"Oh there you are," came Amy's voice as she hurried out into the courtyard.

The yellow-skinned female gave Brooklyn a quick kiss and announced, "I'm ready."

Amy then turned to Lex, who was already beginning to go back inside, "Oh Lex! Candy was looking for you. Apparently I'm not the only one with a date tonight."

Lex smiled at the mention of the pink female's name, but to a certain extent it wasn't a date he wanted. He wanted to simply hang with his friends. Friends he grew up with.

Lex turned to say 'good-bye' but only a view of Brooklyn and Amy climbing up the wall and disappearing into the night. He then proceeded to sulk back inside. He then accidentally bumped into Caroline.

"I'm sorry," Lex apologized quickly, moving out of the blue gargoyle's way.

"Why are you looking so down, Lex?" Caroline asked, "I'm the only one who's been depressed around here."

Lex almost chuckled at the joke before he remembered how long it really took for Caroline to fully accept what had happened to her.

"There's this movie out that I wanted to see with Broadway and Brooklyn, but Broadway's reading to Angela and Brooklyn and Amy just took off to listen to the band that's going to play at the PIT meeting tonight," Lex answered.

"Take Candy," Caroline suggested, "I think she's looking for you."

Lex groaned.

"What was that for?" Caroline asked.

"What was 'what' for?" Lex asked back.

"That groan," Caroline answered, "Don't you like Candy? You two have been dating for awhile now right?"

"Yeah, and I really do like her," Lex answered, "But I don't know. Broadway, Brooklyn, and I were always a trio. We did everything together. But then Angela came and she chose Broadway and now you guys are here and well… Our trio is dying."

"Some would say you're growing up," Caroline commented.

"Maybe, but aren't there times when you miss just hanging with Candy and Amy?" Lex asked, "I mean they were your friends long before you guys joined us."

"At times yeah," Caroline shrugged, "But I've actually focused a lot on Lawrence mostly. Candy, Amy, and I have still do stuff, but that was already being cut back dramatically before we became gargoyles. Now go find Candy and see that movie."

With that, Caroline booted Lex down the hall in the last direction that she knew Candy was headed.

Elisa finished securing a few crooks to a street light and quickly climbed back onto the top of a nearby building to rejoin Goliath.

"You'd think an evil gargoyle would be easier to discover," Elisa commented.

"It would be easier if we knew where his base was," Goliath rumbled back, "All we have is a clue as to where his general field of operations has been."

"That Wedrington guy might know," Elisa offered.

Goliath growled slightly before nodding and answering, "We'll talk to him tomorrow night. I am not in the mood for dealing with Demona right now."

Meanwhile, Demona was leading Wedrington over a different part of Manhattan. The transformed human was getting some of the very basic techniques of gliding, but he wasn't catching them all.

"You need to relax," Demona instructed, "You are trying to control every updraft or downdraft that comes your way. Just relax once you've got yourself level. Once your wings are at the proper angle, normal updrafts and downdrafts won't bother you as much."

"Relax, that's easy for you to say," Wedrington commented from behind her, "You said you've been a gargoyle all your life. You were born with those wings and probably have been using them far longer than I was even alive."

"Yes, my life as a gargoyle has given me a great amount of experience," Demona admitted, "But that doesn't mean you can't learn."

The two continued gliding for a few moments. Wedrington continued to struggle to remain level and couldn't maintain the pace that Demona had set, and the immortal gargoyle found herself having to circle him. After a while they glided over a sight that Demona thought would never be seen again.

"Quarrymen!" Demona growled, "They're supposed to be gone! Castaway was sent to prison for life, along with most of his men!"

"That doesn't mean all of his men quit hating gargoyles," Wedrington commented as he struggled to catch up, "Hatred is one of those things where you have to strike at the body and not brain in order to kill it."

Demona's eyes illuminated with a brutal red glow, and she announced as she dove down toward the Quarrymen below her, "And kill it I shall!"

"No!" Wedrington shouted after her, "That's not what I meant!"

Demona landed amongst three Quarrymen handing out pamphlets to people that passed them. Wedrington followed close behind, but still not used to his new form crashed to the pavement.

"You will pay for hunting my kind!" Demona yelled at the startled Quarrymen as a few pedestrians scattered away.

"The Demon!" one of the Quarrymen said in a scared tone.

"That's impossible!" another said, "She's dead. Castaway killed her himself."

"I can't die!" Demona snarled with a smile as she grabbed the third Quarrymen before he could flee and flung him into the air.

Wedrington watched in shock and horror as the man landed on top of a taxi in the middle of an intersection. The taxi driver, already in a hurry to get to his destination and to get out of the intersection before the light changed hit the gas and left the wounded man in the street.

"Jerry!" the first Quarryman called out to the unmoving man.

Cars were beginning to stop now. Wedrington meanwhile rushed to check on the man that Demona had flung. There was no pulse.

"You killed him!" Wedrington accused.

"The Quarrymen are a hate group that wants to destroy all gargoyles," Demona growled back as she advanced on the other two, "Their founder was an insane individual who was a member of a family that hunted gargoyles for centuries."

"Most of the members that joined this group were probably only afraid," Wedrington argued, "Killing them will only install more fear and more of these people."

"And what do you suggest we do then, Doctor," Demona growled, "Let them kill us? Kill YOU while you sleep?"

"No," Wedrington stuttered.

Demona growled silently to herself as the other two Quarrymen ran off, "Getting rid of the Quarrymen will help protect our race. It will remove those humans who wish to harm gargoyles when in reality, they know nothing about them."

Wedrington walked over to her and calmly asserted, "And if they see something as a threat to them, they won't care how much they know. They'll know gargoyles are dangerous and need to be taken out before they cause them any more harm."

"And what if the humans decide to leave the Quarrymen alone?" Demona demanded.

"Then we'll just have to do our best to prove we're better then they are," Wedrington answered, "Show the world that we're not monsters that are going to dive out of the sky and kill someone."

Demona cocked her head to listen to the sound of approaching sirens.

"The police are coming," Demona said, "We need to leave."

It was half an hour later when Detective Bluestone and Detective Flariaty arrived on the scene. Several uniformed officers had already placed a chalk line around the spot where the man was laying when they got there. Matt only rubbed his fingers against his temple to help try and figure this out.

"What happened?" Matt asked, "And please tell it slowly this time."

"According to the witness, two gargoyles come out of the sky, one is white and the other one was a sky blue color," the uniformed officer said, "The white one kinda landed funny but that wasn't the important part. The important part is that the blue one threw the guy into the street. He landed on a taxi and broke his neck. Now here is where it gets weird, the white one then begins to argue with the blue one about something."

"Demona," Matt muttered under his breath.

"What was that?" the uniformed man asked.

"Nothing," Matt answered, "Go on ahead."

Matt then turned to Detective Flariaty, "We need to make a short trip."

**PIT meeting**

Brooklyn and Amy stretched as the band played its last song of the night. While neither could remember the name, the music that was played mirrored the era of the Beatles, and both gargoyles found it hard not to tap their tails in time with the music.

"So, Brooklyn," Amy began to ask, "What movie do you think Lex wanted you to go see?"

"Lex normally likes science fiction and horror movies," Brooklyn answered, "Not always because he likes science fiction and horror movies but because those movies usually have the best special effects."

"I'm glad you came with me," Amy smiled, "But Lex looked a little down."

Brooklyn shrugged as he turned to open one of the roof windows as the band below them began to put away their equipment.

"I don't know," Brooklyn replied, "I'm sure though that if he met up with Candy, I'm sure he's feeling better."

"Wow," Candy commented as she stuffed another handful of popcorn into her mouth, "This place is neat. And you said no one comes up here?"

Lex shook his head as the coming attractions finished, "Not that we've ever seen."

"Then how come Elisa told us that we couldn't go to the theater?" Candy asked.

"We can't go in the front door," Lex corrected, "This movie theater we found by accident. Brooklyn, Broadway, and I were out gliding to explore the city, and we landed on the roof. I sat on the air vent we entered through just now, and it gave way and I fell through. I landed amongst the popcorn here as the movie began. We watched it all the way through."

"What movie was it?" Candy asked, scooting a little closer to him.

"I think it was a western, "Showdown", I think," Lex answered.

"I hated that movie," Candy commented, "They haven't made a decent western since John Wayne. So do Elisa and Goliath know about this place?"

Lex nodded, "They do, but Goliath enjoys reading more than movies and if he watches any, he prefers to wait until Xanatos or Fox bought them on video. Elisa, being a former cop, won't come here because she'd feel like she was stealing."

"Technically, we are," Candy smiled, "But I don't mind."

Lex smiled back as she took his hand in hers.

**Castle Wyvern**

Goliath and Elisa carefully set down in the courtyard to find Matt and an unknown woman waiting for them.

"Wow," was all Detective Flariaty could muster as the two gargoyles began to approach them and cape their wings over their shoulders.

"Is this your date, Matt?" Elisa asked in teasing voice.

Matt shook his head, "I'm afraid not. We're here on business."

"What is happening?" Goliath rumbled.

"You guys know that Demona is back in town, correct?" Matt asked.

Goliath and Elisa slowly nodded. It was Detective Flariaty who looked a little confused.

"The guys on the street said it was a blue skinned gargoyle, who do you know the gargoyle's name was Demona?" she asked.

Matt sighed, "Because the clan has had multiple encounters with her before. And since I've tried to help them as much as I can, I've heard some of the stories about their encounters."

"What is going on?" Goliath demanded.

"Demona and a 'white skinned gargoyle' were seen earlier this evening," Matt explained, "Demona killed a Quarryman by throwing him into traffic and left soon after."

"Did they attack her?" Goliath questioned.

"According to reports, it was Demona who did all the attacking," Matt replied, "The Quarrymen were merely handing out pamphlets and according to a witness the white gargoyle began arguing with Demona when he found out that the guy was dead."

Goliath and Elisa didn't say anything.

"I know you guys are probably overworked with protecting the city and all," Matt continued, "But I'm going to need you guys to watch Demona carefully if you can. I don't know what this incident will do to the Quarrymen investigation, but I'm pretty sure that any more incidents like this will tempt the Mayor to change his mind."

"We will try our best," Goliath rumbled.

"Thanks," Matt answered and then turned to leave and then added, "You two have a good night."

Once Matt and Detective Flariaty reached the elevator, Flariaty began to question him.

"You asked them to help us?" Detective Flariaty asked.

"We're trying to bust the Quarrymen up," Matt answered, "The Quarrymen and the clan have been enemies ever since the clan was discovered. I've asked them to stay away from the Quarrymen while we're running our investigation. These guys are the only ones who can handle Demona."

"She killed a human being!" Flariaty protested, "We need to arrest her!"

"We can't," Matt answered, "Demona is immortal and a sorceress. Arresting her would be useless. She'd either escape or after sitting in prison for centuries, she'd be released because on one has a clue as to why she's even in the prison."

"This doesn't sound like it's on the up an up," Flariaty responded, "I can understand protecting them, but when it begins to get in the way of making sure justice is served then we have a problem."

"Trust me, when these guys are involved, justice is served," Matt answered.

"I hope you're right," Flariaty answered, "Because your captain is about to let a murder go unpunished."

Back in the courtyard, Goliath had begun pacing.

"Well at least it wasn't all humanity," Elisa encouraged with a weak voice.

"You of all of us should know it was still wrong," Goliath growled back.

"I do," Elisa answered in a stern voice, the red glow of her eyes answering the white glow of her mate's, "But there isn't anything we could have done. We can deal with Demona, Goliath."

Goliath turned back to her and sighed, "I know we can. I am concerned for her friend though. She claims to have changed, and yet she does this."

"We will deal with her," Elisa said firmly, "We will deal with her."

**Destine Mansion**

"I must protect my race," Demona said in a very frustrated tone, "Why did you let those Quarrymen get away?"

"One because I probably couldn't if I tried," Wedrington answered, "And two because it will only solve nothing. How many people do you think will now join the Quarrymen because you killed one of their members in cold blood out in the open?"

Demona didn't answer.

"When someone has something he's afraid of, he will do anything to get rid of it," Wedrington continued, "And that will mean either going where his fears can't catch him or destroying the cause of that fear."

"All the more reason to destroy the Quarrymen," Demona insisted.

"Maybe," Wedrington shrugged, "But doing it in public and killing them as a method is not the way to do it."

"So how should we do it then?" Demona answered, "If you're so knowledgeable."

"Maybe wait till they've done something wrong, and only restrain them so the police can arrest them," Wedrington replied, "Outright murder is only going to make people think you're a monster. You don't want that do you?"

"No," Demona answered, "I want my race to be protected."

"Then let's avoid murdering people," Wedrington encouraged.

**Maddox Technologies, Maddox's Office**

The sun had just risen as Maddox sat down at his desk and began to shuffle some of the paperwork that would be needed. He was about to reach for his coffee when a mousey haired man stuck his head in.

"Yes, Garlon," Maddox answered.

"The Pack is here for their, interview," Garlon answered with a wicked smile, "They're waiting in the lounge."

"Very good," Maddox smiled, "Has Loki reported anything on this 'Thailog' character?"

"No sir," Garlon answered, "But considering the Pack's private skills we may not need 'Thailog'."

"Maybe," Maddox replied as he strode to the door, "But if we're to play all the clan's enemies against the clan at once, Thailog will be a crucial component."

"That being said sir, do you wish us to make contact with the Quarrymen or any of the organized crime syndicates?" Garlon asked.

"No," Maddox replied, "Sekhmet reported that the Quarrymen are under investigation by the police and from what Maeve has told me, the crime lords in this particular part of the world will not tolerate anyone being more powerful then they are."

"Very well, sir," Garlon bowed as Maddox walked past.

The three members lounged in the rather expensive lounge that Maddox had set up. Two security guards standing near a door that the Pack didn't enter through watched the three former TV stars wait in an impatient manner.

"Hey! You!" Wolf called to guards, "Whatcha got behind that door?"

The guard didn't answer.

"Aww…" Hyena mused, "Looks like he's mad that you're shedding all over this guy's leather."

"He can…" Wolf began to growl back.

"The man who designed this building for some reason put all of the building's safe deposit boxes behind that door," came an aristocratic voice from the other end of the hallway.

The Pack turned to watch Maddox enter the room. He stood along, but there was something about the man that prompted even Wolf to be patient.

"So you're Maddox?" Jackal asked.

"I am," Maddox replied, "I assume you can guess at why you're here."

"You want to rule the world?" Wolf asked.

"You want someone dead?" Hyena added.

"You want something done that isn't quite legal, and definitely not nice," Jackal finished.

"I see," Maddox replied as he sat down in the only chair that one of the Pack wasn't sitting in, "I'm sure you're aware of the gargoyle clan that claims residence here?"

"Yeah, we've been trying to get rid of them for quite awhile," Hyena said in an icy tone.

"Those lizards are harder to kill than it would be to kill an elephant with a squirt gun," Jackal added.

"You are their enemy?" Maddox questioned, faking surprise.

"Yeah," Jackal answered, "The problem is, we've run short of members and money and a means to upgrade ourselves since Nightstone collapsed."

"I see," Maddox nodded, "And I suppose if your numbers were to be replenished and your abilities upgraded you would be able to defeat them?"

"It would even the odds," Jackal chuckled.

"You do not want us to attack all them gargoyles at once are you?" Wolf asked.

"My organization is about to embark on activities that the gargoyle clan will most assuredly find offensive," Maddox answered in a stern voice, "Unfortunately, in order to get such information we need to capture four gargoyles. A large lavender male. A lavender female. A tan female and a blue beast. These four must be captured alive."

"There's no way in hell I'm leaving Goliath alive," Wolf growled.

"I ain't leavin' any of 'em alive," Hyena added.

"Once we've obtained the information we need from them, you may do what you wish from them," Maddox comforted them, "You may do with the others as you wish immediately."

"That still leaves one crucial short coming," Jackal said, focusing his real and cybernetic eye on the man, "Their clan has us outnumbered. We could take any gargoyle one on one, but as I said before those lizards are tough."

"I have ample means to create new Pack members," Maddox answered.

"You don't need to create any new members," Wolf growled, "Xanatos has two of our members locked up somewhere."

"I was not informed of others," Maddox said back skeptically.

"Wolf is referring to two mutate clones, Canis and Vulpine," Jackal answered, "They were captured by Xanatos's Steel Clan and they're his prisoners."

"I will see to it that they're released," Maddox answered, "Where are they being held?"

"Probably the dungeon of Castle Wyvern, atop the Eyrie Building," Jackal replied.

"What?!" Maddox exclaimed, "If I was willing to send my servants to the Eyrie Building, I'd send them to recover their stone statues during the day."

"Guess you should have thought of that before you agreed to free them as part of their payment," Jackal smiled back confidently, "If not, we'll leave. We won't stop you. But we won't help either."

Maddox sat down and began to regain his composure, "I suppose that perhaps your method would be best, if surprise is to be maintained."

The Pack traded looks with each other before Maddox asked his final question.

"Are you asking for any other form of payment that I'll need to inform my board of directors about before I accept or decline to hire you?"

Jackal smiled.

**Quarrymen Headquarters**

"Dead?" Jon Canmore stammered in shock.

"Yes, the Demon came down with an accomplice and killed him," Jonah responded.

"More proof that those demons are out to get us!" Canmore snarled, "We've got to get rid of her, since our wise government has decided to ally itself with those freaks."

"According to the mayor, the government doesn't really care what the gargoyles do so long as they don't commit a crime," Jonah responded, "There is hope though. Last time I checked, murder was illegal."

"They mayor would probably let those demons off with a warning!" Canmore fumed, "Assemble all the nightly teams. Tell them to monitor the skies for any sign of the Demon and follow her to her nesting ground. Once it's found I want them to come back here and report it to me. I want the pleasure making sure she'd dead myself!"

"Yes sir," Jonah saluted.

**Mayor's Office**

"This gargoyle just KILLED a man, sir?" the mayor asked, half in shock.

"Yes sir," the man sitting in the chair opposite his desk replied, "A member of the Quarrymen as it appears. The family is preparing to press charges against the city for investigating the Quarrymen and not funding them to kill the gargoyle clan."

"Who's in charge of the Quarrymen investigation?" the mayor snarled.

"A detective from the 23rd," the man answered, "A Matthew Bluestone, I believe. And as far as we know, the Quarrymen haven't done much besides hand out pamphlets and yell 'gargoyles are evil'."

The mayor grumbled something inaudible.

"Sir? Do you think you might have over reacted to some of the reports that the Quarrymen were simply fanatics?" the man asked, "Our lawyers say that while they can prove that we aren't at fault for the man's death, they can't prove that we were being entirely competent by investigating the Quarrymen. They also can't prove that the gargoyle was member of the clan that has taken residence here or is something new, therefore it will be assumed that it was a member of the Eyrie Building's clan."

"How much are we going to have to pay the family?" the mayor grumbled.

"If the case goes right, nothing," the man answered, "But it could sway the next election against you if the gargoyle/Quarrymen issue comes up."

"Try to see if we can settle this OUT of court," the mayor answered, "And I want to see Mr. Bluestone before the day is out!"

**Castle Wyvern**

Fox sat in a comfortable recliner watching Puck go over the next magic lesson with Alex.

"He's getting better and better," Fox smiled as Puck finished the lesson.

"Of course he is," Puck laughed, "Look's who's been teaching him! He'll be ready for basic transforming spells soon. Whatcha think Alex? Teddy bear becomes a rabbit?"

"Wabbit!" Alex answered.

"Close enough," Fox answered as Puck returned to Owen's form.

Fox slowly eased herself up and out of the chair and turned to the blond haired man, "What do you think this incident with Demona will do to the clan?"

"I can not be certain, Mrs. Xanatos," Owen answered, handing Alex to her, "I am sure however that human/gargoyle relations will suffer as a result."

Fox sighed nervously and let Owen go about his job. If he was right, both he and David would have a lot of work to do to protect the clan.

**Maddox Technologies, Board Room**

Maddox had once again gathered many of the Unseelie leaders for a new meeting to discuss the strategy.

"I have met with the Pack, and it appears that they can be of great use to us," Maddox began, "Provided we meet conditions that they want."

Maddox heard a series of inaudible grumbles. Once they died down he continued.

"In addition to nearly half a million dollars," Maddox said, "The Pack requires physical upgrades to increase their abilities."

"Sounds to me that they're a bunch of weaklings," a gruff looking man commented from one end of the desk.

Many of the gathered Unseelie nodded in agreement.

"They also want us to liberate two of their members from Castle Wyvern's dungeon," Maddox finished.

If any of the Unseelie members assembled had been drinking anything they would have done a spit take.

"We wouldn't need the Pack if we were going to do that," Maeve pointed out.

"Why kidnap the four gargoyles and forget the Pack then," Loki added to the argument, "It's not like we're going to let the Pack live once we have the world."

"I agree with Loki," Garlon stated, "If these guys have been the clan's enemies for awhile, they are in no position to make demands of us."

"Even the man playing make-believe in London has more sense these clowns," Morrigan added to the conversation with a strong tone of disgust.

"Maybe so, but it could be possible that they could help us in later endeavors," Maddox offered, "The clan will not be a real enemy until after we've defeated the Seelie usurpers."

"You're not actually considering their demands?" Maeve asked.

"It is theoretically possible to attack during the day, take the four gargoyles and liberate the two captured Pack members," Maddox pointed out, "And the Puck will surely join us once we arrive since he apparently didn't attend the gathering."

The assembled members didn't answer, until Loki spoke up.

"I'm not normally one for caution, my Lord," Loki said, "But to do such a thing would require the entire court's assets. While we would win the battle, wouldn't we lose surprise by launching such an attack? Titania is not one to miss something."

"Afraid of battle," Maddox said to the white haired Unseelie.

"No," Loki grumbled, "Afraid of receiving a punishment worse than the last one. And you have no idea how LUCKY I was to be able to get out."

"Very well," Maddox sighed, "All in favor?"

No one responded.

"All opposed?" Maddox asked.

Every one of them raised their hands.

"It's not that we don't want the Pack," Maeve said, "It's that they are in NO position to make demands of us."

"Quite true," Maddox smiled, "Garlon, please negotiate a more favorable term of service with the Pack."

Garlon's eye's flashed green.

The Pack was still sitting in the lounge when Garlon entered.

"So," Jackal smiled, "When are you going to pay?"

Garlon smiled back and used magic to create a series of flying bear traps.

"Never," Garlon smiled, "The Unseelie Court is not about to played like a puppet by weak and stupid actors!"

Jackal and Hyena ducked quickly as Garlon flung the flying bear traps at them. Wolf on the other hand was not so fortunate. Jackal tensed when he heard the mutate's scream of pain and looked to see that there was at least one bear trap on each of Wolf's limbs. The long jagged teeth biting all the way to the bone.

"Why you…" Hyena growled as she lunged at him, extending her fingertips into long metal claws.

Garlon, using his magic easily caught the female cyborg and physically ripped her arms off. Jackal then watched in shock as the mousey haired fey beat his sister with her own arms.

"And do you have a stupid idea of an attack?" Garlon snorted at Jackal.

"Hey… uh, I ain't intending to do anything," Jackal stuttered.

"Good, get out," Garlon growled.

"Hey come on, let's cut a deal," Jackal offered nervously, "You broke all of Wolf's limbs and ripped my sis's arms off."

"After your earlier attempt to play us as puppets, I'd think not," Garlon replied, "The only deal Madoc will listen to from you now would be, 'please let me live. I know I don't deserve to, but please let me live. I'll do anything you say for free and I might even be willing to pay you for my services.'"

"Fine, fine," Jackal said, "But Hyena will need repairs and Wolf will need a day or two to heal. You don't expect us to fight anyone with one who can't move his limbs and one who has no limbs besides her legs."

It was then when Maddox's voice was heard in the room, "I am more than willing to pay you the money you requested, but the Unseelie Court is not willing to jeopardize its success by launching an assault against one of our secondary targets to free two of your companions."

Garlon gave a quick bow to Maddox and released Hyena from the choke hold he had her in with one hand.

"We will provide you three with the upgrades you require and we will give you the money you asked for," Maddox continued, "In exchange you will do as we tell you to do. If numbers are truly a concern to you, we will provide replacements that protect our secrecy. Is that understood?"

Jackal nodded, "You're clear as crystal."

"Good," Maddox nodded and then turned to Garlon, "Take the furred one down to the medical labs. They'll need to set his bones. The cyborgs are to be sent to our robotics division. They will figure out how to upgrade them for our uses."

"Yes, my lord," Garlon bowed.

**Mayor's Office**

"A man died because of a gargoyle, detective," the mayor snapped at Bluestone, "Now how am I to explain to the voters, who have by now forgotten completely the crimes the Quarrymen have committed, that the investigation you're heading is focusing on the right 'bad guy'?"

Matt didn't answer immediately.

"My question wasn't rhetorical," the mayor growled.

"Remind them that Jon Canmore the Quarrymen's founder killed a woman so he could keep playing Hitler," Matt suggested, "And remind them that several Quarrymen invaded a woman's home, and if it hadn't been for two gargoyles passing by, that woman would be dead."

"The public won't listen to that," the mayor answered, "The public wants fast, efficient, clean, and forgettable action."

"When fighting crime, those words do not go together," Matt pointed out nervously.

"You know that, I know that, but the people out there," the mayor said and as he gestured to the windows behind him, "don't know that."

"We are making progress," Matt said.

"Just get the job done quickly," the Mayor said, "I want hard evidence that the Quarrymen are no more than thugs."

"Yes sir," Matt answered.

Detective Flariaty was waiting for him as he came out of the mayor's office.

"So, how did it go?" she asked.

"About as good as I expected," Matt sighed, "The press is giving the Mayor hell, so he's giving us hell to prove he's right to do what he's done."

Flariaty smiled, "Well the chain of command always goes down. The people elect and boss around the mayor. And the mayor bosses us around."

"I guess," Matt shrugged, "We got some calls to make. We're going to have to pull double shifts if we're to get anything done quickly for the mayor."

**Castle Wyvern, Dusk**

Goliath found Xanatos waiting at the top of the tower as he and Elisa awakened for the night.

"What has happened, Xanatos?" Goliath questioned as he helped Elisa down from her pedestal.

"Nothing good," the billionaire responded, "Demona's actions since her return have not been very good. From what Owen was able to obtain, the family of the murdered Quarryman are suing the city over the issue, and the mayor has forced Detective Bluestone to step up his investigation and to get it done quickly."

Goliath growled slightly, and Elisa, while looking somewhat nervous, remained silent.

"I'm afraid that if Jon Canmore is smart, he'll just bide his time before he does anything," Xanatos concluded, "And the way this is going, I'm afraid Castle Wyvern won't be safe for either of us if this gets any worse."

"We can not leave our home," Goliath insisted, "Elisa and I will deal with Demona tonight. Due to the problems relating to recent events, the rest of the clan will remain here until things calm down."

"What if they don't?" Xanatos questioned, "Owen has informed me that if the mayor settles out of court, or if a judge sides with the Quarrymen's family, they could come back to as strong as they were after the clock tower blew up."

"That is why we must deal with Demona quickly," Goliath finished before leading Elisa to the tower's edge.

Below them the others watched Goliath and Elisa take off into the night.

"So what do we do tonight?" Broadway asked.

"Goliath said there were no patrols tonight and he advised us to stay here," Brooklyn told the others to remind them of what their leader had said before dawn, "I guess we should just treat it as if we had the night off."

The group nodded. Hudson headed for the TV room with Bronx following close behind, Trixie bounding between the two. Zafiro and his clan nodded, and moved out to set in the castle courtyard. Othello and Desdemona politely excused themselves and headed toward the library. Caroline hopped of in search of a phone to call Lawrence. Brooklyn, quickly followed by Amy headed for some destination inside the castle. Broadway and Angela turned to head for the kitchen. Lexington and Candy soon found themselves alone on the tower.

"I had a good time last night," Candy said quietly, "Not the movie I would have picked to watch, but I had a good time."

"I'm glad you had fun," Lex smiled briefly before returning to glaring out over the city.

"Something wrong?" Candy asked.

"No, not really," Lex answered as he looked out over the courtyard.

Candy placed a hand on his shoulder and asked again, "Are you sure?"

Lex smiled politely back at her, "Yeah, I'm okay."

"Come on Lex, I think I got enough information compiled right now to begin writing it all down," Candy said in an excited voice, "But I'll need your help with the computer."

"Write what down?" Lex asked ignorantly.

"All the gargoyle biology stuff," Candy smiled back, "I'm going to compile it all into a book so people can learn everything about gargoyles."

Lex hopped down from his perch to follow her and answered, "I guess I can help. It's not like we can do anything else tonight."

**Destine Manor**

"Where are you going?" Wedrington asked as Demona made her way toward the back balcony.

"I'm going to protect my race," Demona answered simply, "The Quarrymen are a threat to all gargoyles. I am surprised and angered that Goliath didn't deal with them already."

"You're not going to KILL any of them are you?" Wedrington asked firmly.

Demona looked back at the transformed human. If it had been Goliath or any member of the clan standing there she would have started a fight, not caring whether or not she killed someone. But there was something about the lion-like gargoyle that made her determination waiver.

"I promise that I won't kill anyone," Demona answered, "I'll leave them for the police to arrest."

Wedrington nodded with an approving look. Demona quickly turned and leaped out of the balcony.

Wedrington watched her for a few moments and then walked back into the mansion, having already told her that he wished to remain indoors for the night. He had just prepared to make a quick phone call when he heard a tapping at the balcony. He immediately went there, curious as to whom it would be. Demona wouldn't knock to get into her own house. He was careful as he approached the balcony, hoping that no one like that Fang character that kidnapped him was there. He saw the large purple gargoyle and his tan skinned mate standing patiently outside the large windowed doors to the balcony.

"Um, hello, you're Goliath and Elisa, correct?" Wedrington said weakly.

"Good evening, Dr. Wedrington," Goliath answered politely, "You are correct."

"I'd like to add that we're sorry that this happened to you," Elisa added.

"I'll be fine," Wedrington replied, "What brings you two around here? From what I saw when you were here last, you guys don't seem to like Demona very much and you don't know me at all."

"It is not that we 'don't like' Demona," Goliath answered, "It's that we have no reason to trust her. Demona was once a member of my clan, but she betrayed us to the Vikings that were attacking the castle at the time. She may have had 'good' intentions when she did so, but she made her decisions with no care as to what happened to the humans that we protected. And we have come to learn that she has not changed from that way of thinking."

"You're here to see Demona then I see?" Wedrington asked.

"Yes," Elisa answered, "It's concerning the man she killed."

"I didn't want her to do that," Wedrington commented.

"From what we heard, it is not you that we are concerned with," Goliath assured him, "It is Demona."

Wedrington looked down for a moment. He had been afraid that Demona's rashness would cause something like this.

"I'm afraid she's not here," Wedrington answered, "She's gone out for the night."

Goliath glanced over to Elisa and sighed heavily, "We will wait here. What we have to tell her is very important."

**Castle Wyvern**

Lex watched patiently as Candy typed away at the computer. She hadn't typed too much down, and she had asked for help even less. The olive green gargoyle was beginning to wonder why Candy needed him there.

"Here you two are!" came Candy's mother's voice from the entranceway, "What are you two working on."

Candy looked up from the computer screen to look back at her mother and smiled, "Hi mom! You have tonight off?"

"Actually I called in sick," Ms. Wexmand answered, "Between you sleeping all day and me working practically all night, we don't get to see much of each other."

"I'm glad you're here," Candy said back, "I'm working on that book I told you about the other night, remember, on gargoyle biology?"

Ms. Wexmand nodded.

"Anyway, that's what I'm working on, and I've got Lex here to keep me company," Candy finished.

"You two make a cute couple," Ms. Wexmand commented, "I was about ready to start my own dinner, and wondered if you would join me."

"Sure, just let me finish this one sentence," Candy replied before making a few more swift key strokes.

Elsewhere in the castle, Brooklyn and Amy had settled down in a living room watching each other intently as Amy pushed a small plastic object the resembled one of Castle Wyvern's towers.

"Check," Amy announced.

Brooklyn looked down at the chess board and analyzed quickly, "You oughta play Lex at this sometime. I've lost a knight, three pawns, and a bishop in about half the time that it takes Lex to get the same number. Oh, I usually managed to get more than two pawns when I play him."

"You're saying I'm good?" Amy asked, smiling.

"Better than me," Brooklyn answered, "Lex might be a bigger challenge for you though."

Amy looked at Brooklyn curiously for a moment, and then asked, "How come you're mentioning Lex?"

"He's part of the clan, and my rookery brother," Brooklyn shrugged, "He's my best friend along with Broadway. We did everything together. Played games, watched movies. I just thought it'd be fun see everyone have a little fun together. I mean that things have changed a lot since when we were hatchlings. Broadway's found the kitchen and mated Angela, while Lex and I have been courting you and Candy."

"Courting?"

"Medieval term for dating," Brooklyn answered, "Either way, none of us has really had the time to a lot stuff together recently."

"Ah-ha," Amy answered back, "You still need to move."

**Elsewhere**

"I'm telling you officer," the Quarryman protested, "We were just handing out pamphlets and spreading our message and it came done out of nowhere and attacked us."

"Yeah, that may be true," Morgan answered as he took the third of six Quarrymen and placed him in handcuffs, "But you people have given a lot of people some serious headaches with the racist language you throw around."

We ain't racists," the Quarryman protested as Morgan handed him off to his partner to be read his rights and placed in the back of his car.

Morgan looked at the rest and sighed. They would need another car to get these guys back to the station. Of course they could probably only hold them over night, but Morgan tended to agree with the mayor on this point. The Quarrymen had quickly become a problem, although Morgan thought they were a problem even before he tried to take over the city. The African American officer turned to see another car parked behind his own, and Detective Bluestone talking with his partner.

"What's up, Detective?" Morgan asked as he came forward, leaving the other three still chained to a fire escape.

"We've got a lot of Quarrymen being rounded up and left to be arrested around various sections of the city," Matt said with a touch of anger, "And as much as I'd like to see that, it's interfering with the official investigation trying to bring the organization as a whole, down. And since we have no concrete evidence against them, these people will be free by morning and they'll probably be pretty mad that we're arresting them and not the gargoyles."

"Well, no one said we live in dull times," Morgan commented and quietly pulled the red haired detective aside for a moment, "So, how's Elisa doing? She okay?"

"She's fine as far as I know," Matt answered carefully, "I'll let her know you said hi."

Morgan thanked him and quickly returned to his work while Matt returned to his car.

"Another set of Quarrymen?" Flariaty asked as Matt got back in.

"Yeah, we'll hold in lock up for the night, but there isn't much more we can do," Matt replied, "It's the same 'blue-skinned gargoyle' by the description."

"So it's 'Demona' that's doing this," Flariaty surmised.

Matt nodded, "I don't know why she's doing this exactly, other than revenge or some other plot, but I'm pretty sure she doesn't know about our investigation."

"From the description you've given me, it sounds that with this 'Demona', it wouldn't matter if she knows or not," Flariaty answered.

Matt sighed and started his car up again, "Well, we still gotta meet with Gus. Maybe Castaway's planning something tonight."

**Quarrymen Headquarters**

"The Demon is attacking the pamphlet teams?!" Jon Canmore fumed at Jonah.

Jonah nodded, "The team we have tailing her has noted that she has attacked various pamphlet distribution teams where she found them, and since they've been stripped of any weapons, they can't do anything."

"Can the monitoring team do anything?" Jon questioned.

"Not directly," Jonah sighed, "To avoid getting them arrested, and in accordance to your orders, they have no weapons. The Demon would have to do something pretty stupid for them to do anything."

Canmore growled something and beat his fists into his desk.

"The good news is that the monitoring team will discover the Demon's hideout," Jonah pointed out.

Canmore didn't look like he was helped by the comment.

"Just be prepared to move when it's found," Canmore grumbled.

**Over Manhattan**

Demona began heading back toward Destine Mansion. She had covered most of the island and took out every Quarryman team she had come across, and she kept her promise to Wedrington that they would be left for the police to arrest, alive. She however had not found any more recently and was beginning to become tired.

**Destine Mansion**

"She really worked to get you changed back after what this 'Sekhmet' did to you?" Elisa asked, "That doesn't sound like the Demona we know."

Wedrington nodded, "She did, and I'll tell you, being Sekhmet's slave was no fun and very painful."

"It may be a sign that Demona is trying to change," Goliath answered, "But she has not shown trust to humanity in general. She's shown guilt for wronging one human. Her actions since her return to New York prove that. I can not trust her in my clan, especially since my clan is trying to achieve a balance with humanity."

"It will be extremely difficult for her to gain your trust if you don't give her the chance to," Wedrington pointed out, "Even if she's wronged you, unless you're truly willing to imprison her for the crimes she's committed against you."

"To some degree, we do," Elisa answered, "The problem is that the prisons we seem to put her in never seem to hold. The first Thailog broke her out of the first one and Fox had to release her from the second one when the Pack attacked Castle Wyvern."

"So you're left with no choice but to hope that she changes for the better," Wedrington mused.

"That is correct," Goliath rumbled, "And so far, it doesn't appear that she has changed much."

"Just don't try to verbally attack her," Wedrington urged, "From what the Weird Sisters showed me of Demona's past on her journey was that she'd make a mistake, get harshly reprimanded for it and then she'd react against the reprimand and not against her action and do something worse than what she did before."

"I can not simply act as if it didn't happen," Goliath retorted, "She MUST be reprimanded."

"Just don't put all the blame on her," Wedrington said, "There are many things in her life, just like everyone's life, that were somewhat beyond her control."

Goliath glanced at the white skinned lion-like gargoyle that had formerly been a man. Wedrington seemed to defend Demona for her reasons, while admitting that her actions were wrong. It was something that he didn't expect. He expected that Demona had tried to corrupt him. This didn't sound like he was corrupted. He was about to say something when he heard footsteps enter the house from one of its balconies.

"I'm back!" came Demona's voice.

"That almost sounded cheerful," Elisa commented off hand.

Demona was not entirely pleased about the first thing she saw as she descended the steps to the level below her. She found Goliath looking as stern as ever with Elisa standing nearby. She didn't even see Wedrington until she had gotten closer to them. He was sitting in a chair reading a book.

"What are you doing here?" Demona growled.

"We've come to talk to you about what you did yesterday," Goliath rumbled slowly.

"Concerning the man you killed," Elisa added.

"Wedrington has already given me the lecture that not all the Quarrymen are evil like Canmore but merely misguided, thank you," Demona answered, "Now leave my home."

"It is more complicated than that, Demona," Goliath began.

"Complicated?" Demona roared her eyes immediately glowing red, "If you had gotten rid of the few Quarrymen that remained after Canmore was sent to prison, we wouldn't have this problem! I'm protecting our race, Goliath, before your inaction causes our extinction!"

"We haven't been the only ones dealing with the Quarrymen," Goliath countered, "Detective Bluestone is conducting an investigation to bring the organization down for good."

"A fine job he's doing!" Demona interrupted, "I found at least a dozen of their teams out there tonight!"

"You didn't…?" Elisa questioned.

"No, I left them for your friends to arrest," Demona answered, "If they're even capable of doing that."

Elisa simply unleashed a powerful punch to Demona's face. The immortal gargoyle had challenged her mate and had no insulted her former profession and her former partner. That was something Elisa would not stand for.

"Matt's investigation depends on us staying away from the Quarrymen!" Elisa growled, "If we fight them, they'll gain the political support to protect their organization. So long as we avoid them, the people will think of them as criminals. The man you killed had a family and that family is suing the city for doing the wrong thing in prosecuting the gargoyles. Now Demona, what's going to happen to us if the Quarrymen regain control of the city government? They'll revoke the sentence on Canmore. They'll restart the hunt and they'll kill us while we sleep along with Xanatos and his family for protecting us. They'll kill your friend Wedrington and they'll 'kill' you. Tying up these others will probably add more fuel to the pro-Quarrymen sentiment."

"If your partner moved quicker," Demona began to counter.

"He can't, an investigation of this magnitude requires a lot of hard evidence," Elisa interrupted, "Evidence that takes time to get."

"We are not here to lecture or fight you, Demona," Goliath rumbled as he moved to separate the two females, "I'm merely asking you to avoid the Quarrymen for the time being and to let Detective Bluestone do his job."

"That's all you ask?" Demona questioned as she rubbed the spot on her check where Elisa's fist hit her.

The two gargoyles nodded.

Demona sighed in a defeated tone, "Fine. I'll give the Detective's friend some time to bring them in. He had better make sure they get a stiff sentence. Nothing short of life imprisonment."

Demona turned to walk away but found Wedrington standing before her.

"Just interrupting for a minute," Wedrington began, "But according to the papers it should be dawn soon and…"

Wedrington didn't get much more off as the sun rose and the four gargoyles solidified into stone statues.

Outside Demona's mansion a lone figure stood on the roof a nearby building. Its feline eyes focused intently on the mansion.

"So you've come here?" Sekhmet growled to herself, "You'll only give Madoc trouble and I have a score to settle with you."

Lion-headed woman of the Unseelie court turned and began running at top speed toward the Maddox Technologies building. Madoc would need to know that a sorceress of considerable power had taken residence in New York and that the sorceress wouldn't ally with him. Sekhmet would also need Madoc's personal permission to settle her score with the blue skinned gargoyle.

Near Destine Mansion's back wall, a small squad of uniformed Quarrymen slowly stepped out of their hiding places. They had followed the Demona here, and she didn't leave before dawn. She was here. This mansion was her hideout.

"We return to base now," the lead Quarrymen said to the others.

"But we can smash her now," one protested.

"Yeah, just a quick push off of a balcony or off the roof and she's dead, no more Demon," another added.

"Didn't you forget Jonah's orders?" the lead Quarryman demanded, "Mr. Canmore wants the pleasure of killing the Demon himself."

**Quarrymen Headquarters, Half an hour later**

"I might have known," Castaway smiled, "Get every man ready in the main hall. We're going to have a little hunt."

"Yes sir," Jonah answered ecstatically, saluting as he did so.

Jonah then made his way through a practical labyrinth of hallways that made up the Quarrymen Headquarters. It took roughly an hour to get all the Quarrymen that were still in the building assembled, and it was nearly ten in the morning when the Quarrymen that Demona had left for the police were able to return. It took Jonah longer to contact and gather the Quarrymen who were not assigned any missions the night before and were still at home. Once they were assembled, Jonah disappeared into the building's back offices, but soon returned with Jon Canmore at his side.

"My friends," Canmore spoke clearly once he was in a position to speak to all of them, "As you all know by know, the Demon somehow survived our earlier victory. I don't know how, but she has and continues to vex us and this city and its citizens! We now know the location of the Demon's hideout! She is vulnerable during the day. I want everyone to prepare to go to Destine Manor and I will destroy the Demon once and for all!"

Meanwhile, in the crowd, Gus, the NYPD undercover man in the Quarrymen, listened nervously to Canmore's speech.

"Destine Manor?" Gus mused silently, "He's talking about downright murder. Even when the city had the Gargoyles Task Force scanning the skies for anything with wings, their orders were never to kill them. The Detectives gotta know this."

Gus checked the small tape recorder he had in his pocket and carefully slipped out of the room.

It took Gus nearly an hour to make to the 23rd Precinct's headquarters without being noticed by either members of the Quarrymen in the warehouse or people that might be sympathetic to them in the nearby area.

"Attack Destine Mansion?" Matt asked half in shock.

"That's what he said, he intends to kill the Demon," Gus answered, "I got the tape right here."

"It figures," Jason Canmore said from the other end of the table, "She killed a Quarryman and now Jon is going to try to kill her. If he does and gets away with it, I think the people will rally to him as a hero."

"We can't let that happen," Detective Flariaty announced.

"I know, but the worst crime we could accuse the organization of is vandalism and breaking an entering," Matt sighed, "Not very serious."

"Nothing series?" Gus blurted, "He's talking about murder."

"As far as the government is concerned, killing a gargoyle is no worse than killing a fly," Matt sighed, "The courts will not accept a murder charge or even attempted murder charge for a an attack on a gargoyle."

"It is our only real lead," Jason commented, "I wouldn't weep over Demona's death, but this isn't about her. It's about Goliath's clan."

Matt turned to Detective Flariaty, "I want a few SWAT teams ready to bust their headquarters. We have concrete evidence that they're planning to break into a private home and kill its inhabitant. We'll try to keep the fact that it's a gargoyle out of the limelight. Maybe we find more evidence to bring them in for stronger stuff once we've taken them down."

"I'm right on it," Flariaty answered as she hurried out.

**Maddox Technologies**

"According to all our reports the Pack is missing three members that have been gone for quite awhile," Garlon reported to Maddox, "The original two have reformed somewhat. Fox is married to Xanatos and is among our top list of mortal enemies here in Manhattan and Dingo is in Australia and is a possible enemy. Their later replacements, Canis and Vulpine are the ones that Xanatos has locked up. The third member, who has never been replaced, is a large robot that had been dubbed Coyote."

"An interesting name choice," Maddox mused, "Hopefully the robot is not like the REAL thing."

"I don't believe Xanatos named the robot after him, sir," Garlon pointed out, "But it isn't likely that there is a comparison between them. The real Coyote favors speed and maneuverability in battle, preferring to strike quickly and retreat before the foe can recover. The robot was generally built to be a massive set of weapons on wheels in a sense, bringing intense firepower upon targets that can not react."

"And how does our company fair?" Maddox asked.

"Without magical manipulation, Maddox Technologies is doing very well sir," Garlon answered, "For every dollar that Xanatos makes we are making four. In addition to that, our magical manipulation has added a further three hundred thousand dollars a day."

"Very well," Maddox replied, "Begin construction of two robots to aid Jackal and the Pack. We can cover it. Your mention of our cousin on Avalon gives me an idea."

"You want them named 'Coyote', my Lord?" Garlon asked.

"Good heavens no," Maddox replied, "One robot is to fast and swift while the other using massive firepower."

"Yes, my Lord," Garlon bowed.

Maddox looked up to see Maeve enter as Garlon left.

"I see you've made your decision on the replacements that Jackal wanted," Maeve commented.

"Yes," was all Maddox gave in response.

"Do you think it's wise to give that 'man' what he wants?" Maeve questioned, "Jackal seems to be motivated mostly by money. Wolf has a personal vendetta against Goliath. Hyena is simply happy to kill someone or something."

"The replacements will be under our control," Maddox answered, "Have no fear. Besides we will need them to make a diversion here while we attack Avalon."

"Very well," Maeve admitted, "But I will be keeping a close watch on them anyway."

**Destine Mansion**

Several navy blue painted SUVs and vans crashed loudly through the heavy iron gates of Demona's private mansion, sending them crashing to the ground. With the falling of the gates, the mansions automated defenses activated as several laser cannons placed in the lawn, the roof of the mansion, the walls activated and began firing on the attacking vehicles. Their power settings were extremely low since there was no one directing them from the mansion's command center to give them their basic commands. A few of the shots struck the sides of the vehicles, but because of their low power setting, did little more then dent the metal.

Castaway's vehicle lead the charge as the driver drove the SUV through the double doors that made up the mansion's front door, although he also lost his outside rear view mirrors in the process. The other vehicles stopped close to the shattered door in a coral like formation to let the Quarrymen out and into house without taking hits from Demona's automated canons.

Once inside, Jon Canmore, previously using Jon Castaway as an alias, turned to one of the nearest Quarrymen near him, "Go find her command center and turn those damned things off before we attract any more attention then we have to."

"Yes sir!" the man saluted and ran off.

"Fan out!" Canmore ordered to rest, "Find the Demon! Don't kill her! I want the pleasure of doing that myself."

The men spread out quickly.

Meanwhile, several SWAT team members kicked open the door to the Quarrymen Headquarters building. Outside the building at a reasonable distance, Matt, Detective Flariaty stood watching the scene unfold. Jason Canmore had also decided to join the party.

"Hopefully this will end this madness," Jason commented.

The others nodded in agreement. Their faces became more aggravated when they saw a man come to the front door and wave to them.

"What is it?" Matt asked as he and Detective Flariaty ran up.

"There's no one here!" the man said.

"We're too late!" Flariaty exclaimed.

"Canmore, take the investigation team and begin looking through this place," Matt yelled quickly and then turned to the SWAT teams leader, "Get your teams back together. 'Castaway' has already made his move. We need to trap him in Destine Mansion before he can escape."

Outside the mansion two regular patrol cars had already taken up positions outside Destine Mansion's font gates. The laser cannons had long been shut off and the police were completely unaware of their presence. The uniformed officers had already taken positions behind their cars to use as shields should whoever had just stormed into the elegant mansion decided to have a fight.

One officer had pulled the communicator part of his radio out through the rolled down window on his side and began to call for back up.

Jon Canmore quickly noticed the police men's presence outside the gates. He checked his watch, and dusk was still hours away.

"Mister Canmore, sir!" a uniformed Quarrymen yelled from the top of a nearby stairwell, "You have to see this."

Canmore ran up the stairs and turned to see four gargoyles frozen in stone. One was an unknown English gargoyle, whose bloodline Canmore thought was dead since before the Hunter was created, but the other three were familiar. The hulking figure of the Wyvern Clan's leader, Goliath, his transformed human mate, Elisa Maza, and the Demon herself.

"Get the chains from the lead vehicle," Canmore instructed, "Also get all the teams into defensive positions inside the house. We have some policemen protecting the city outside."

"Yes sir," the Quarryman saluted.

"You're going to watch each other die!" Canmore smiled evilly.

**Castle Wyvern**

Fox sat quietly watching a local television station with a bag of potato chips sitting next to her. David had already gone to bed and Owen was busy working. Alex was sitting a few feet away on the floor playing with toys when the program was suddenly interrupted by a news broadcast. Fox's yellow eyes widened as she watched the broadcast.

"We're here to you live outside Destine Mansion as what appears to be the most bizarre hostage situations develops," the reporter announced, "The militant anti-gargoyle hate group known as the Quarrymen have seized control of the house. As you can see behind various units of the NYPD have already surrounded the building's walls and are preparing to take action."

"Oh no," Fox whispered.

"The Quarrymen have delivered a short list of demands to the officers on hand and claim to have four gargoyle hostages," the reporter continued.

Fox rushed to her feet and Alex looked at the screen intently.

"Auntie 'Lisa and Uncle Goliath!" Alex exclaimed.

"DAVID!" Fox screamed as she ran toward their bedroom leaving Alex where he was.

"The situation seems strange from the fact that the owner of Destine Mansion, a Ms. Dominique Destine, has been officially missing and presumed dead as the result of previous actions taken by the Quarrymen several months ago," the reporter finished to the now nearly empty room.

Inside Destine Mansion, Jon Canmore was beginning to feel the strain of his position. More police units were beginning to arrive. He could already make out Detective Bluestone standing near the gate behind some of the officer's patrol cars.

"Sir, let's just smash the four gargoyles and be done with it!" one Quarrymen urged, "We can then make a break for it."

"NO!" Canmore growled, "The Demon somehow survived our first attempt to kill her. I will not give her the pleasure of a painless death in her sleep. She will die slowly and she will watch the other three die! I will watch the life drain from her!"

"If we smash the statues she's dead," the Quarryman urged, "And I have no doubt that the cops will eventually storm the place."

"Have a team active Ms. Destine's automated defenses if the do that," Canmore commanded.

"We can't," the Quarryman answered nervously, "Her codes were too complex. Eventually Jonah simply blasted the control panel to shut it off."

Canmore growled quite audibly, and then said clearly, "We will wait for sunset. I will have my revenge on the Demon. And she will feel every bit of it!"

Outside the elegant Mansion, Matt wasn't in a much better mood. He was already upset that he had been too late to stop them from getting this far, and now it seemed that the Quarrymen had four gargoyle hostages in there. Matt paused and corrected himself, four gargoyles waiting to be murdered. Matt was certain that Jon Canmore wouldn't let them live.

"So what do we do?" Flariaty asked walking up to him, "He can't have killed the four gargoyles yet, otherwise he'd be trying to get out."

"He may only be buying time," Matt said in an aggravated voice, "More than anything, I think he wants to do something truly barbaric when he kills them."

"And that is something that can not be allowed," came a dull monotone voice that Matt recognized, but one that Flariaty was slightly startled by.

Matt slowly turned to see Owen Burnett standing a few feet away.

"What is it Owen?" Matt groaned, "As if this couldn't get any worse."

Before Owen could answer, Flariaty recognized who the man was, "You? You work for David Xanatos. You shouldn't be here. Hello! Officers! How did this guy get past the barricade?"

"I have my means," Owen commented with a slight twist of humor in his voice, "And I'm afraid it could get worse, Detective, when you know which gargoyles are in there at the present time."

Matt's eyes began to widen in shock.

"Who's in there?" Matt demanded, beginning to sound nervous.

Flariaty watched in shock as the conversation continued.

"Aside from Demona, herself, there is also another gargoyle that has taken residence with her, and Goliath and Elisa," Owen answered blandly.

"Goliath and…?" Matt asked nervously.

Owen slowly nodded.

"How do you know this?" Flariaty demanded of Owen, "How do you know their names? How do you know they're in there? We don't even know if the report of their 'hostages' real or not."

"It should be obvious by now that the Manhattan Gargoyle Clan commonly roosts for the day on the towers of Castle Wyvern, which is not only atop the Eyrie Building, the headquarters for Xanatos Enterprises, but also the personal residence of Mr. Xanatos and his family," Owen answered, "Therefore, Mr. Xanatos views the safety of the gargoyles directly connected to the safety of his family."

"So what were two of your gargoyles doing in that mansion? Who is Demona? And what are she and this other gargoyle doing in there?" Flariaty questioned further, deciding that if this man wasn't going to abide by the law and stay away from the scene, he was going to answer questions.

The blonde man's answer totally set her back, "Demona is female gargoyle; she and the other gargoyle are there because Destine Mansion is her place of residence. When Jon Canmore claimed he was getting rid of an evil gargoyle when he hijacked Dominique Destine from her office, he was telling the truth. Dominique Destine and Demona are the same being. The two of 'our' gargoyles came here last night to try and talk Demona into staying out of your investigation. Now are you done?"

Detective Flariaty stood there in shock and said nothing.

"What does Mr. X. have planned?" Matt asked.

"You need to bring down the Quarrymen," Owen answered, "Mr. Xanatos requires the protection of the gargoyles. Concerning Jon Canmore's personal ideology it is unlikely that both are possible should 'normal' procedures are followed. Mr. Xanatos has a special operative in place to help get the gargoyles out, or at least protect them long enough so that they will live to escape. That will leave the Quarrymen to you."

"You do realize mister that if an officer sees your 'agent', he or she will be licensed to arrest it, and we should arrest you for even coming up with the idea?" Flariaty said in cold tone before Matt could answer.

"Trust me, he's very light on feet and will not be seen," Owen answered, "And as for my involvement you realize of course that Xanatos Enterprises has numerous manufacturing contracts with various military and law enforcement agencies? This is nothing more than a 'field test'."

Owen quietly then withdrew toward a parked limousine a block away while Matt watched him.

"How can you let him do that?" Flariaty demanded to Matt, "It's not right. It's our job to handle this. Now we got a Xanatos Enterprises mercenary involved. Someone that shouldn't even be here."

"Things have gotten extremely strange in past four or five years," Matt replied, glancing up to see a black shadow move above them toward the mansion, "Xanatos Enterprises and the gargoyles seem to be the only ones that truly understand it all. I'd gladly welcome any help they can offer if it means trying to get things back to normal."

Xanatos quietly landed on the roof of Destine Mansion. Owen's presence at the police line was nothing more than to really provide a distraction for him to get in, since the sun had not set yet. While Bluestone probably did need to know, the black furred wolf-like mutate couldn't get into the building unnoticed without Owen talking to the detective in person, and thus drawing most of the attention away from the house.

"I ought to set a curfew for these guys," Xanatos commented as he tucked his wings close to him, but didn't completely cloak them and slipped into one of the air vents.

When Xanatos dropped through the air vent, he had the misfortune to land behind two Quarrymen.

"Who the…?" the first Quarryman began.

The man didn't finish his sentence as Xanatos clubbed his head into the head of the other Quarryman, knocking both of them out.

"I gotta do this quietly," Xanatos mused to himself.

**Sunset**

Elisa broke free of her stone shell to find herself chained to the floor.

"What the?" Goliath rumbled as he found himself in the same predicament.

"It's about time you beasts woke up," came Canmore's voice.

"Canmore!?" Demona roared.

"Aye," Jon Camore smiled, as he approached the four chained gargoyles, "And I intend to have my revenge on ye."

Goliath and Elisa began to struggle in earnest as the insane Hunter pulled a laser rifle out from behind his back. Wedrington began to cower toward a nearby wall, while Demona looked ready to kill something.

"Accursed human!" Demona yelled in anger, "This only proves that humanity is nothing but a plague that needs wiping out!"

Elisa looked back at her angrily, "I was human once you know. You're supposed to be a powerful sorceress anyway. Just zap us out of here."

Demona smiled at Elisa's suggestion and silently whispered something in Latin. Jon Canmore looked on in shock as the Demon disappeared from her chains, along with the white male gargoyle.

"I was referring to all of us!" Elisa yelled in frustration.

"To bad for you," Canmore smiled, "I may have to wait to kill the Demon, but humanity's greatest traitor and the Demon's former mate are just a good a prize."

Goliath vainly struggled to pull free and put himself in front of Elisa as Canmore raised the weapon toward her.

"I hope you had a pleasant honey-moon," Canmore smiled, "Because the marriage is going to end in tragedy!"

"I'm afraid not," came a new voice from behind Canmore.

Canmore turned to see a large black furry fist fly at full speed into his face. The deranged leader of the Quarrymen fell quickly to the ground and Xanatos grabbed his laser rifle.

"I had to sneak in and Bluestone's got the place surrounded," Xanatos said quickly as he began shooting through the chains, "We need to get out of here and quickly."

"Matt's here?" Elisa asked.

"Yes," Xanatos nodded, "He's just outside. He's got the whole place surrounded. No Quarryman can get in or out."

"Hopefully they struck with their entire force then," came Demona's voice as the immortal gargoyle came in through a side door. Wedrington was close behind her.

Goliath turned toward the immortal gargoyle and growled, "You left us to die."

"And you obviously didn't," Demona countered, "Leaving this place is most certainly out of the question."

Demona looked down at the unconscious Canmore and her eyes glowed an angry shade of red, "Canmore has every one here on high alert for when the police storm the place. Combine that with the fact that Fuzzy has already snuck into my home, they will shot anything they see that moves, and four gargoyles and a mutate will be impossible to hide."

"So what do we do then?" Wedrington asked from behind her, hoping the get the conversation focused on present events and their immediate feature rather than dropping into an argument over the past.

"We let the Detective run his little sting operation," Demona answered as she turned to the others and said something in Latin.

A brief flash of light erupted from Demona's fingertips and engulfed all five of them. When the light faded, Xanatos blinked twice. Everyone, including himself, looked human, but yet he still felt the weight of his wings on his back.

"What's happened?" Xanatos managed to say in a surprised voice.

"It's an illusion spell," the 'human' Demona answered, we appear to the eye as if we are human when it is obvious that we are not."

"What is your plan, Demona?" Goliath asked sternly.

"The Detective's friends will not have sufficient evidence against the Quarrymen if they find nothing," Demona answered with a smile, "And I doubt they would receive more than a slap on the wrist for four gargoyles and a mutate. But five humans on the other hand would be a much different story."

"You plan on deceiving the police?" Wedrington asked nervously.

"It would put the Quarrymen out of commission without having to kill them, and it would allow us to escape without drawing attention to ourselves," Demona replied, "Now hurry, we must find someplace safe before Canmore wakes up."

**Outside**

"You honestly trust that man to protect your friends?" Flariaty asked, "You're putting a lot of faith in someone who doesn't wear a badge or work with the FBI."

"Sometimes all we have is faith," Matt answered, "Besides, we have to go in and get them, and Jon Canmore is not one to let anyone out alive if he's decided they're his enemies."

Flariaty silently nodded. A member of one of the SWAT teams came up and saluted the two detectives.

"We're ready to launch the tear gas and smoke grenades," the SWAT member said.

"Go ahead," Matt instructed.

The SWAT member saluted and began to return to his post to relay his orders.

In the Quarrymen defense positions inside the house, things had gone from bad to worse. A few members were found out cold and that there was someone new in the house. On top of that, all of the gargoyles were now found to have escaped and Jon Canmore was found unconscious. Jonah had now taken full charge of the Quarrymen to face a new problem. As he moved toward the lower floors to inform the guards that the prisoners were lose, and that a possible escape attempt may be launched soon, a series of explosions rattled his hears. When Jonah looked up he didn't see the damage he thought he'd see but thick smoke. Soon after, as the smoke drifted into the house, they felt the affects of the tear gas.

Two SWAT teams took the front entrance while another two took the back. The first thing each team found was about twelve Quarrymen in the entrance halls and the nearby rooms coughing and wiping their eyes vigorously. Quickly taking charge of the situation, the SWAT team members forced them to ground and disarmed them, while follow up teams began to make their way into the house.

"What happened?" Jon Canmore muttered as he felt someone shake him awake.

"Someone knocked you out, sir," the Quarryman answered, "We gotta get you out, sir. The gargoyles are gone, and the police are starting to take the mansion. They fired tear gas and smoke grenades about three minutes ago."

"No!" Canmore argued, "We must get the gargoyles!"

"They're gone, Mister Castaway," the Quarryman said, "If we stay here, we'll get arrested."

Canmore looked at the man as if he had gone insane. He was about to say something when the sound of gunfire erupted somewhere in the mansion, and its load echoes made their way to his ears.

"That's only one floor down," the Quarryman insisted, "We gotta leave."

"Curse you Demona," Canmore growled to himself, before saying out loud, "Lead on. I'll follow you."

The two Quarrymen began running as hard as they could to find a safe escape. They made it down a long hall and into a small room that lead to a flight of stairs before being met by several uniformed SWAT team members. One of the officers aimed a rifle at the Quarryman leading Canmore.

"Drop your weapons!" the man yelled, "Hands up!"

Canmore turned and ran back through the door, while the SWAT team members began to go through the procedures of arresting the Quarryman.

"After him!" Canmore heard one of them shout.

Canmore didn't get very far, as he found another squad of SWAT members approaching from the opposite direction. The former Hunter in desperation to escape and continue the hunt glanced at the nearby windows.

"You're on the fourth floor," one of the SWAT members said quickly as Canmore looked at the window, "You try and jump, you're either dead or crippled. Surrender."

Canmore decided he should have jumped through the window to risk it, but his pause had given the SWAT men behind him time to catch up, and two men grabbed him by the arms before he could do anything.

"This is a great day," one uniformed officer commented as Matt and Detective Flariaty made their way into Demona's mansion.

Matt nodded in agreement, "Of course. It's not every day that you take down an entire hate group. But then the Quarrymen always assumed that everyone in the world agreed with them."

A SWAT member came running up to them, "Detectives! We found the hostages!"

Matt gaped in shock and nearly horror.

"But that isn't the big news," the man added, "He said he had gargoyles and that he only had four. All five hostages are human."

"Five?" Flariaty asked.

"Human?" Matt added.

The SWAT man nodded enthusiastically.

Matt was completely shocked by what he found sitting around a small coffee table. From right to left he saw one man he didn't recognize dressed in a white cotton button up shirt and brown khaki pants. To his right sat Dominique Destine in a woman's red business suit. To her right sat a human looking Xanatos in a pair of black jeans and a sweater. Next there was what Matt presumed could only be Goliath. A relatively large man built along the lines of Superman wearing a dark blue jacket over a white tee-shirt, and blue jeans. Next to him was Elisa in the traditional outfit he used to see her wear, red jacket, black shirt, and blue jeans.

"These are the hostages?" Matt questioned.

"Yes," the nearest SWAT man nodded, "We found 'em in a bedroom tied together."

Matt turned to the five 'humans' and began the questioning process with them.

"Could I get your names and how the Quarrymen captured you?" Matt asked.

Dominique spoke first.

"As you should know, I am Dominique Destine," Demona said icily, "Canmore and his mongrels have held me prisoner in my own mansion since their take over of the city."

"I am Wedrington," the man Matt didn't recognize said, "I thought I heard something going on in this mansion, and when I stopped to investigate, these guys in blue tights grabbed me."

"I'm sure you know me, Detective," Xanatos smiled weakly, "I had just left the Eyrie Building to run a brief errand, and they grabbed me off the street. Owen hadn't even brought the car around."

Goliath looked somewhat nervous as he began speaking, "I'm Goliath Wyvern and this is my ma… wife, Elisa."

"We were walking in the park when they came and grabbed us spouting something about betraying our race," Elisa added.

"Are you all okay?" Matt asked, "Do you need medical attention?"

They all shook their heads.

"Can you give us a written statement?" Flariaty asked from behind him, "Since I'm going to guess that you do not wish to appear in court to testify."

Each eventually nodded.

**Castle Wyvern**

Both the Wyvern and Guatemalan clans paced the battlements overlooking the direction in which Destine Manor lay. Fox stood along with them. All of them looked exceedingly nervous.

"I hope they're alright," Caroline commented off hand.

"They have to be alright," Broadway insisted, "Goliath's our leader."

"Elisa helped us get used to this new world when we first awakened," Lexington added.

"Demona is my mother and Goliath is my father," Angela said, "I don't wish to see either harmed."

"Ye all must be brave," Hudson interrupted, "They will surely survive."

"If not?" Broadway asked nervously.

"Goliath named Brooklyn his second," Hudson said, "If Goliath has fallen, it is Brooklyn's turn to lead."

"I'm not sure if I'm ready," Brooklyn replied glumly, "Maybe Zafiro could take over. He's been leading the Guatemalans okay."

"We are of two different clans and two different cultures," the snake-like gargoyle answered, "I can not lead your clan the way you would like any more than you could lead ours the way we would like."

"We are amigos," Obsidiana added, "You can always trust us to help you."

"You all shouldn't be so glum about everything," Ms. Wexmand said firmly, "From what you've all told me, you guys have survived worse. I will also say that Castaway… er… Canmore was never one to do the smart thing. He'll probably have the Quarrymen try to fight to the last man and he'll wait to try and kill them after the sun had sun had already set. My best bet is that they escaped before he even had a chance to pull the trigger."

At that moment three winged figures appeared on the horizon heading toward the Eyrie Building.

"Look!" Desdemona exclaimed as she pointed in their direction.

Goliath, Elisa, and Xanatos all returned to enthusiastic greetings of relief at their survival. Each returned the greeting with equal enthusiasm.

"So everything went according to plan?" Fox asked.

"You had doubts?" Xanatos smiled back.

"Let's go inside, and we will tell all," Goliath said.

**Later**

Brooklyn, Broadway, and Lexington found themselves temporarily alone for a moment on the battlements as everything from the previous few nights began to die down.

"I hope everything settles down for awhile," Brooklyn commented, "Things were getting pretty tense with all that stuff involving the Quarrymen."

Broadway nodded in agreement and then smirked at his two rookery brothers, "And perhaps you two could be given the free time to woo the females you've chosen."

"Can it you," Brooklyn teased, "Or I'll lock you out of the kitchen."

"Well," Lex began, "He could be right. We don't really do much together any more. If we're not busy patrolling, Broadway, you're either reading with Angela or showing her how all the stuff in the kitchen works; Brooklyn you're usually doing something with Amy; and I've been kinda doing stuff with Candy. We gotta face the facts that our trio is dead."

"We're not dead," Broadway protested, "We're still friends."

"But we don't do everything together the way we used to," Lex argued, "Candy, Caroline, and Amy are in the same situation we're in. Caroline told me that they weren't seeing as much as they used to when she started seeing Lawrence. We're still friends but we're growing apart."

"Maybe it's for the best," Brooklyn offered, "Sort of like a growing up process. The good thing is that we will always be friends. Amy, Candy, and Caroline aren't going far away as we know."

"You two could have a double mating ceremony," Broadway chuckled, "If you can talk Lawrence into it, make it a triple."

The other two laughed.

"I don't think that Candy would go for that," Lex chuckled.

"Amy either," Brooklyn pointed out.

Broadway stood up and put his hand forward between himself and both his rookery brothers.

"Friends?" Broadway offered, "If not a trio?"

Brooklyn and Lex traded looks and nodded and placed their hands on top of Broadway's.

"Friends," the three gargoyles said clearly as if they were the three musketeers.

From below them Caroline, Candy, and Amy looked up on the three males with happy smiles.

"Looks like they've settled things out," Caroline commented before turning to Candy and Amy, "What's with you?"

"Nothing, they were just talking about us being mates," Amy answered starry eyed.

"Just don't rush anything," Caroline cautioned, "Don't do anything stupid."

"When have any of us done that?" Candy laughed realizing that Caroline had caught them.

Caroline smiled back, "I'm just making sure we all have our own happy endings."

**The End**


	7. Celebrations and Warnings

All characters appearing in Gargoyles and Gargoyles: The Goliath Chronicles are copyrighted to Buena Vista Television/The Walt Disney Company. I've taken the idea for the Unseelie Court from the TGS. No infringement of these copyrights is intended, and is not authorized by the copyright holder. All original characters are the property of SN.

Note: I'm disregarding the events of the "Goliath Chronicles", with the exception of "The Journey" because I do not wish to use the rest of the "Goliath Chronicles" as canon to my story. This story takes place two days after "A Dying Organization".

Celebrations and Warnings

By SN/TVfan

Email: **Sam_Nary **

**Castle Wyvern**

"I'd like to thank you Mr. Xanatos for letting us hold the party here," Mrs. Axel said to the black furred mutate.

Xanatos only shrugged as he gazed up at the sleeping clan above them, "If you celebrate the downfall of the Quarrymen as a victory for humans and gargoyles, that's fine with me."

"We'd be honored if you'd join the party," Mr. Axel offered coming up next to his wife.

Xanatos quickly shook his head.

"I'm afraid not," Xanatos said calmly, "The fact that Fox and I have been mutated is something that I'd like to keep private. We will head out to Xandu just after dark before your party starts. We haven't had much time to ourselves anyway."

"PIT members won't be afraid of you," Mrs. Axel protested, "We're trying to get people to be friends with the gargoyles after all."

"True," Xanatos admitted, "But I'm supposed to be a man running a multinational cooperation. It's one thing to want to protect a race who's only reason for existence is to protect people, but many people will not like the idea of a 'freak' running a company. My employees may not even want to work for me if this gets out."

"It's your building, and partially your party," Mr. Axel pointed out.

"Owen will be here for the party," Xanatos smiled, "Don't worry. Besides, your party is to help prove that the gargoyles aren't monsters. Revealing mutates to the world will bring about a lot of questions that can't be answered."

Before either of the Axels could protest any further, Xanatos made his way back into the castle leaving them to help Owen set up for the night.

"Well, at least he's letting us have the party here," Mr. Axel told his wife, "Hopefully we can finally prove to New York that these guys aren't out to kill everyone."

"Hopefully," Mrs. Axel agreed, "If not, we can at least celebrate the end of the Quarrymen."

**Maddox Technologies**

Maddox sat quietly behind his desk. He had requested not to be disturbed as he focused on matters relating to both his duties as Mr. Maddox, head and CEO of Maddox Technologies, and Lord Madoc, King of the Unseelie Court of the Third Race. Suddenly he felt the room chill slightly as an astral image of a man in red robes walked straight through his door. He cursed inwardly since he had wished to be left alone.

"What do you want?" Maddox questioned without looking up.

"I'm just checking in on you," replied the Mage's ghost, "I wonder what you're up to in New York? You were more interested in Europe before."

"I have met my goals for Europe and elsewhere," Maddox answered, "The last piece to our puzzle is here in New York. Once I have it I will kill the Seelie Court for you."

The Mage's ghost smiled, Maddox still hadn't figured out that he truly wished to destroy all the fey, the Unseelies included.

"And I trust you will then remain on Avalon?" the Mage's ghost questioned.

Maddox gave his best fake smile, "Of course. That was the deal of our alliance. You've provided yours by killing Oberon. Now it's our turn."

The ghost nodded and then vanished with the parting words of, "So long as we have an understanding…"

The Mage's ghost reappeared in the hidden headquarters of the Illuminati. Five was there to great him.

"And how was your mission, sir?" Five questioned.

"I want all of the Illuminati's projects speed up," the Mage's ghost ordered, "Including the supermen. I believe Mr. Maddox is about to betray our 'alliance'."

"Yes sir," Five bowed.

**Robyn Canmore's Apartment**

"So where are you off to in such a rush?" Robyn asked from the kitchen while Jason hurried to put on his coat, "You have the night off."

"I'm headed out to the Eyrie Building," Jason answered, "PIT is having a big celebration there to celebrate the end of the Quarrymen."

"You know she's picked someone else," Robyn pointed out.

Jason's sulked a little about the knowledge that Elisa had chosen Goliath over him, but put it behind him.

"There are lots of fish in the sea," Jason said confidently, "I'm going as a friend, or at least as what I hope to be a friend. I'm also going to apologize. You should come too."

"I'd prefer to stay away from there," Robyn replied, "We may not be there enemies anymore, but they still make me nervous and I'm sure we do the same to them."

"Suit yourself," Jason answered as he rolled his wheelchair out the door, and then added to himself silently, "I'm going to try and make it up to them."

**Castle Wyvern**

The clan broke free of their stone shells, as they did every night, with roars and quick stretches to throw each bit of stone off them. Goliath glanced to Elisa and then down at the courtyard below them. Mr. and Mrs. Axel along with Candy's mother, Ms. Wexmand were moving about the courtyard setting up tables and other things.

"What's going on?" Goliath asked, slightly confused.

It was Amy who called up to them from her level next to Brooklyn.

"PIT is holding a special celebration to commemorate the end of the Quarrymen," Amy answered, "Don't you remember? You told my folks it was okay."

Goliath glanced back to Elisa who had cloaked her wings and was watching the activities in the courtyard with a bit of curiosity.

"I thought it would be only a small gathering?" Goliath commented.

"It all depends on how you define 'small'," Elisa chuckled back before turning to go down the stairs, "Come on, we'd better get some breakfast before things get out of hand."

Mr. and Mrs. Axel watched from below as the clan woke up. The gargoyles seemed to pause in their places for a moment before breaking up. Amy, closely followed by Brooklyn, glided down from the tower toward them.

"Hi, Mom, Dad," Amy greeted while Brooklyn remained quiet.

"Hey there," her father answered, "And how are the two love-gargs tonight?"

He chuckled slightly as Amy blushed and Brooklyn seemed to almost back away.

"We're fine, Dad," Amy answered, as she struggled out of his bear hug, "How's everything going?"

"Great actually, we should be ready in a few minutes actually," Mrs. Axel said.

"Is there anything we could help you with, sir?" Brooklyn offered, "Anything?"

"Call me 'Brian' or 'Dad'," Mr. Axel answered, "Even Mr. Axel would be fine, on formal occasions. Never call me 'sir'."

"I'm just being respectful," Brooklyn replied weakly.

"And we respect that," Mrs. Axel interjected after giving her daughter a good evening hug, "But you don't need to be afraid of us because you're dating our little Amy."

"Besides," Mr. Axel cut in, giving Brooklyn a playful punch on the shoulder, "You look like you could take us anyway."

"Okay… Mr. Axel," Brooklyn sighed, "Is there anything we can help you with?"

"No, we've got pretty much everything under control," Mr. Axel smiled, "But, please tell us what you two have been up to."

"Times seem to be going good now, don't they?" Hudson commented from the window of the TV room.

"It appears so," Othello responded from beside him, "Desdemona and I have noted that humans are very… different compared to what they were like in our time."

"When is this 'party' of theirs going to start anyway?" Desdemona asked as she came in and placed her arm around Othello's.

"In a little while," Hudson answered as he glanced at a clock, "The PIT people would like us to be present."

"That makes me nervous," Othello commented, "Even if these humans like us."

"Just be polite when the party starts, my love," Desdemona instructed to her mate, "Miss Amy's parents have apparently done a lot of work to get this celebration ready."

**Macbeth's New York Mansion**

A sleek jet slowly hovered down to a position on top of the roof of the mansion that was owned by Professor Lennox MacDuff. Shortly after the wheels set down a door behind the cockpit opened and several figures walked out.

"Boy you seem to really like big places a middle aged woman with one arm and shoulder in a cast commented.

"You should see the place we're going to," came a gruff voice from behind her, "It's bigger than this and when it was essentially remade, it cost far more to do so."

**23****rd**** Precinct**

"What's the big rush, Bluestone?" Flariaty questioned as the redheaded detective finished organizing his desk and headed for the exit, "You've earned the night off."

"I'm going to visit some friends," Matt answered back.

"The gargoyles?" Flariaty asked seriously.

"Is there a problem with that?" Matt asked back.

"No," Flariaty shook her head, "I was actually wondering if you'd allow me to join you."

"I don't mind," Matt answered skeptically, "PIT is holding a party to commemorate the end of the Quarrymen and the hopefully positive relations between gargoyles and humans."

"Ah-ha," Flariaty answered grabbing her own coat.

**Castle Wyvern**

Zafiro and his clan members found Goliath and few other members of their clan eating breakfast in the kitchen.

"You're not patrolling tonight?" Zafiro asked as he sat down next to Goliath.

"Amy's mother is holding a special PIT celebration here, tonight, and has requested the clan attend," Goliath answered, "Since they have a pro-gargoyle stance and because the clan needs rest considering all the trouble concerning Thailog, the Quarrymen, and Demona, I decided to agree."

"It would also be good for those of us who used to be human," Elisa added, placing her talons over Goliath's, "Other than the Xanatoses, my family, and occasionally Matt, I haven't had the ability to interact with humans on any real level other than beating up bad guys. Amy, Candy, and Caroline are in the same situation. It would be good to talk with someone besides just those few humans and the clan."

"Missing the old life, amigo?" Obsidiana asked.

"Only certain aspects," Elisa sighed, "But there are times when I feel glad that I'm a gargoyle now."

It was at that moment that Owen stuck his head in.

"Excuse me," Owen announced in his standard voice, "But the PIT celebration is about to begin. Mr. and Mrs. Axel are welcoming the guests in the Great Hall. If you would gather with the rest of the clan in the pre-planned location in the courtyard, we will be ready."

"And the security measures in case there are those among them that would betray us?" Jade asked before Goliath or any of the other Manhattan gargoyles could respond.

"Steel Clan units have been placed in various defense compartments," Owen stated, "If anyone tries anything, they will find themselves not only by the people and gargoyles they've betrayed but robots armed with lasers as well."

"That is all, Owen," Goliath answered as he stood up.

**Destine Mansion**

Demona glared angrily at the lights atop the Eyrie Building. They were celebrating their victory over the Quarrymen, yet she did more than any of them. If she hadn't used her magic to make it look like the Quarrymen's hostages were human instead of four gargoyles and mutate, Canmore and his league of haters would have got away. Yet the party was not in her honor but the NYPD's. She silently fumed over this.

"Look on the bright side, Demona," Wedrington said to her from the chair he was sitting in, "The Quarrymen are gone and you helped. You can count that as a victory."

"I'm not getting the credit," Demona growled, "Those wretched humans are, and they only wanted to stop the Quarrymen because the Quarrymen were disrupting their sense of order! None of them care about gargoyles!"

"Of course, not after only the first step," Wedrington answered.

"What?" Demona asked him, "What do you mean?"

"You said the Quarrymen were a hate group," Wedrington replied, "Such groups can only exist where there is either intense fear or hatred. Just because the hate group is gone doesn't mean the fear or hatred is."

"We must make them understand," Demona interrupted in a growling tone, her fists clenched.

"And how would you do that?" Wedrington questioned back, "Demona, one can never force anyone to do anything. Hitler tried to force Fascism on all of Europe and he got into a war with the world. On top of this the countries that he conquered never truly gave up the fight. Ever hear of the French Resistance fighters?"

Demona nodded, while she had largely avoided the battlefields of Europe to fulfill her own… plans, she did learn of many events going on in the war.

"You need to avoid creating groups like that that are anti-gargoyle by giving humans a reason to form such groups," Wedrington explained, "If you're wanting to protect gargoyles, now you must work to prove that the hate and fear people have of gargoyles is unfounded."

Demona looked at the white-skinned lion-like gargoyle as if he had suddenly become the wisest man on earth.

"This will be the hardest task you or anyone could undertake," Wedrington finished.

**Castle Wyvern**

Diane and Peter Maza pushed their way to the front of the crowd of people that had gathered in Castle Wyvern's Great Hall. Mr. and Mrs. Axel were standing in front of the crowd and were preparing to essentially begin the ceremonies. Both the Maza parents knew that part of the initial ceremonies would also include 'meeting' the clan, but any interaction with their children was always more important than procedure.

"Welcome everyone," Mr. Axel began, "Welcome to Castle Wyvern home of David Xanatos and sanctuary for the creatures we know as gargoyles."

"Over the past years, we, as members of PIT, have tried to open the doors for peaceful interaction between gargoyles and humans," Mrs. Axel added, "But hate groups like the Quarrymen and general indifference to the gargoyles by the government have left us trying to bring our mission to the people."

"That is however changing," Mr. Axel continued, "The Quarrymen have been removed from the city as an existing organization. The first steps toward peace have been taken."

Ms. Wexmand standing in the corner of the room smiled when she heard the words 'Quarrymen' and 'removed'. She was sure that Candy would be safe now.

"We are now here to reach out to the gargoyles," Mrs. Axel spoke clearly, "To show them that they are not alone in this world. That they have people who believe they can be friends and not monsters."

Several PIT members cheered. Mr. and Mrs. Axel then began leading the group toward the courtyard where the clan should be waiting for them.

In the courtyard, both the Wyvern and Guatemalan clans waited patiently for the PIT members to arrive. Although Bronx and Trixie looked ready to break free from Hudson and Candy and begin eating from the food trays that were put out.

"I hope your folks speed this up," Brooklyn whispered to Amy, "I don't think Candy can hold on to her much longer and once Trixie runs, Bronx will be close behind."

"Then you'll have to help them get the beasts under control," Amy giggled back.

At that moment one of the doors opened to reveal Mr. And Mrs. Wexmand leading the PIT members out into the courtyard.

"And this is the Manhattan Clan," Mrs. Axel said, "The clan that has survived practically everything, despite the worst humanity could through at them. Now, we must show them the best."

Several PIT members clapped in response.

"Now I will turn things over to the gargoyles to introduce themselves," Mrs. Axel finished.

Goliath took his cue and stepped forward to introduce himself, noticing Ms. Wexmand and Elisa's parents in the crowd.

"There are probably some among you who already know who we are," Goliath began, "But for those who don't, I am called Goliath. I am the leader of the Manhattan clan."

Elisa then stepped forward, placing her hand on Goliath's arm, "I am Elisa, Goliath's mate."

Brooklyn released the arm he had over Amy's cloaked wings and shoulders to step forward, "I'm Brooklyn, Goliath's second in Command."

"I'm Amy," Amy introduced herself stepping next to Brooklyn.

Angela stepped forward next, "I am Angela, and Goliath's daughter."

"I'm Broadway," Broadway said quickly as he stepped next to Angela, "Angela's mate."

"I am Hudson," Hudson stepped forward, "I led this clan before Goliath took over, but I handed it over to him. The lump next to me here is Bronx."

Othello stepped forward and spoke clearly, "My name is Othello."

Desdemona came next to Othello, "I am Othello's mate, Desdemona."

Lexington moved forward and said, "My name is Lexington."

"I'm Candy," Candy introduced as she draped one arm over Lex's shoulders and pointed to the black gargoyle beast standing underneath her, "And this is my pet, Trixie."

Caroline then stepped forward, and noticed that Lawrence wasn't with the other among the PIT members, although she had seen to inviting him herself, "My name is Caroline, and there is also a human member in our clan, but he seems to be absent tonight. His name is Lawrence."

Zafiro then stepped forward to introduce himself and his clan, "My clan and I are actually from Guatemala, but we aid Goliath and his clan wherever we clan out of friendship. My name is Zafiro."

"I am Obsidiana, Zafiro's mate," Obsidiana said politely standing next to red snake-like gargoyle.

"My name is Jade," Jade introduced.

Turquesa stepped next to Jade and placed a hand on his shoulder, "I am Jade's mate, Turquesa."

In the air above Manhattan several winged shapes moved swiftly toward Castle Wyvern.

"It looks like there's a big party going on," Chloe commented from Merlin's arms.

"Must be a social gathering of Xanatos's," Macbeth muttered, and then turned his attention to Octavia, who was carrying him, "Try to stay out of the human's sight. Chloe, Arthur, and I will try to make contact with Xanatos. I doubt that the clan will be here."

"Okay," Octavia nodded, "But this will be tricky. Some people are in the castle's courtyard."

**Manhattan's Streets**

Matt and Detective Flariaty were only a block away from the Eyrie Building, when a man that was all too familiar to Matt came around a corner to stand in front of them.

"Good evening, Matthew," Hacker smiled, "Ah, and you have a date, I see."

"I'm not his date," Flariaty answered seriously.

"What do you want, Hacker?" Matt demanded.

"You haven't warned your friends," Hacker announced cryptically.

"Of what?" Matt demanded, "I can't warn them to be on the alert for something they can't identify."

Flariaty frowned and turned to Matt, "Who is this guy?"

"Detective Flariaty, meet Hacker," Matt said coldly, "He and I used to work in the FBI together."

"How do they know of the gargoyles?" Flariaty asked, confused.

"We spend much of our time watching the news," Hacker answered, "And unlike most city organizations, we value the gargoyle presence in New York. If there were greater support in Congress, we'd even make them honorary members."

Matt silently growled to himself. Hacker was talking more from the Illuminati's point of view, not the FBI's. Matt also suspected that neither organization was very interested in protecting or aiding the gargoyles.

"Anyway, you've got to warn your friends," Hacker warned, "A very powerful criminal element is about to descend on New York."

"It's our job to handle criminals," Flariaty pointed out before Matt could say anything.

"You could not handle these criminals," Hacker smiled, "Only the gargoyles could, and we need their help to defeat them."

"Just tell us who they are," Matt growled.

Hacker glanced around for a few moments, "Not here. Too many people, and I don't want to start a panic. If you would come with me, Matthew." Hacker then turned to Detective Flariaty, "You may continue on your way. Matthew will meet with you later."

"Go on, I have a feeling this about something you're not going to like," Matt encouraged.

Flariaty scowled as Hacker lead Matt towards a nearby car, but quietly continued on her way.

"Now what is this enemy you keep wanting me to warn them about?" Matt demanded as he got into the car.

"Many years ago, the Mage made an alliance with someone to help him get at Oberon," Hacker explained, "Now that the Mage is 'dead', the former ally is now moving to betray that alliance."

"Do you know what his name is? What he looks like?" Matt growled, "You've told me this before. That's only the back story. That's like saying there's a mob out there wanting to kill gargoyles and but you fail to mention where they are, what they look like, and what they're armed with. Telling them this will only make them nervous when they already have enough to deal with."

"What is coming is bigger than anything you've experienced before," Hacker answered, "They should focus on them instead of their other troubles."

"What IS 'this'?" Matt said angrily.

Hacker sighed. Bluestone was behaving as he personally predicted. The red headed detective was smart and wasn't about to simply cry wolf or fall for the Council's schemes. Hacker knew that the Illuminati's links to the Unseelie Court needed to be kept secret, but Bluestone was smart enough to force him. Hacker then decided that if Bluestone would defeat him on this level, he would have to change tactics.

"Fine, Matthew," Hacker answered, "I'll tell you about what's coming, but you must agree to do something for us."

Matt groaned, "And what is that?"

"You must undergo the tests to rejoin the Illuminati and serve it loyally," Hacker smiled, "That means you do what the Council tells you to do in literal terms. You don't use 'trick plays' to get the job done, but not betray your friends."

"In other words, I need to become the Council's slave?" Matt questioned, "This isn't important if you're trying that. I'm not betraying anybody. You want to warn the clan with half truths. Warn them yourself."

Hacker cursed as Matt then left the vehicle. He then cursed again when his cellphone rang.

"Hacker here."

"Has Bluestone agreed to warn the clan?" Three asked over the phone.

"I'm afraid that he will not unless we tell him exactly who it is," Hacker responds, "He probably believes that we are launching some sort of conspiracy."

"We generally are," Three chuckled over the phone, "Very well. I'll inform the Mage that our most recent attempts to control the Unseelie's planned uprising."

"What are your orders, sir?" Hacker asked.

"Begin arming our members in New York with Iron weapons," Three instructed, "I have a feeling that some of our other methods will not be ready in time."

**Maddox Technologies**

"My Lord?" Garlon announced as he poked his head into Maddox's office.

Maddox looked up from something he was studying to see him, "Yes, what do you have to report?"

"The upgrades on the Pack have been completed as you have commanded, my Lord," Garlon announced, "The robotic replacements will be ready tomorrow."

"Excellent," Maddox smiled eagerly, "Then it is time to begin preparations for our return to Avalon. Once the Pack obtains what we need, there isn't much that can stop us."

"Yes, my Lord," Garlon bowed.

**Castle Wyvern**

Once all the introductions were over, the party quickly moved inside where most of the humans felt more comfortable. Many of the people were curious about the gargoyles many of the PIT members seemed to move from gargoyle to gargoyle, trying to socialize with each one.

"I'm glad you guys came," Elisa commented to her parents while they had a quiet moment.

"You and Goliath ought to visit us more often," Diane encouraged.

"We try, but we've been busy and many times when we do have some spare time, you two have gone to bed," Elisa sighed, "One of the downsides of my being a gargoyle, I guess. I can't really do anything but sleep during the day."

"It's nothing big," Peter said calmly, "You guys have been busy. Once things calm down a bit, you'll all have more time."

Elisa nodded, "So have you guys heard anything from Beth?"

"She's doing good," Diane answered and then added weakly, "Still seeing Coyote."

Elisa giggled slightly, "I can't wait to see all our children together. Goliath and I will have one as hard as a rock. Talon and Maggie will have one that could electrocute you if it wanted. And Beth's would probably turn you into a frog when you won't let it go out with the first guy she comes across."

"Don't even joke," Diane sighed, putting her face her hands.

"Things seem to be going good, Hudson," Goliath commented to his old mentor.

"Yes, lad," Hudson nodded, "These humans seem ta be quite friendly."

"And curious," Goliath smiled, "A few have asked me why we're all different colors."

Hudson laughed, "Shows we're making progress."

Zafiro and his clan had just moved toward a small table with assorted snacks laying on it when a door opened behind them. Zafiro turned to see something he didn't expect. One man looked to be middle aged with a well trimmed silver beard and seemed to be wearing modernized battle armor. A middle aged woman stood beside him with one arm in a cast. Behind them was a man who looked like he was in his late to mid forties with brown hair and beard.

"Maybe the others could have come along with us," the girl commented after taking one glance at the Guatemalans.

"Are we in you're way?" Zafiro asked curiously.

"We're here to talk with Goliath and Mr. Xanatos," the middle aged man in armor said, "Apparently, we've picked the wrong time."

"So you aren't part of PIT?" Obsidiana asked.

"I've never heard of it, madam," the brown haired man.

"Apparently they're a human organization that is seeking tolerance between humans and gargoyles," Jade said slowly, "They're right now holding a bit of a party to celebrate the end of the Quarrymen."

The middle aged man smiled slightly at Jade's words, "Forgive me if I sound rude, but who are you? You do not look like members of Goliath's clan."

"We're from Guatemala," Zafiro nodded, "But we are allies of Goliath's clan."

"And you are?" Turquesa questioned.

"I am called Macbeth," the middle aged man answered and then glanced at the crowd, "But I usually use the alias MacDuff around this many people."

Macbeth then gestured to his companions, "This is Chloe and Arthur Pendragon."

"We are not prepared to interact under such circumstances," Macbeth then continued, "If you could collect Goliath and his clan and get them, and them alone out into the courtyard, we would appreciate it very much."

"We'll try," Zafiro answered.

Jason Canmore had just gotten his wheelchair up to the doors of the Eyrie Building as he bumped into Matt and Detective Flariaty.

"What are you up to?" Flariaty blurted.

Jason glanced up at the castle above them, "Meet with some friends, and make some apologies. Nothing special."

"You know they've forgiven you," Matt said.

"That doesn't take the guilt away," Jason answered as he opened the door.

Macbeth was startled to see Owen Burnett come out to the courtyard, especially because none of the gargoyles were with him.

"I'm afraid the responsibilities that Goliath's clan to the PIT organization for this party are very important and can not be ignored," Owen announced, "Partially since Detective Maza's parents as in attendance."

Owen was about to continue when he noticed the other people gathered around Macbeth.

"What we have to tell them is much more important than this party," Macbeth answered, ignoring Owen's glances at the others.

"I understand," Owen said stoically, "Perhaps you could inform me. Mr. Xanatos has taken leave to Xandu for the night and tomorrow, but he will certainly need to know of the situation."

Macbeth turned to glance at Arthur, who simply shrugged.

"It wouldn't be polite to impose on them," Arthur answered, "And I don't think our situation is critical, yet."

"Very well," Owen nodded, "Follow me into the clan's TV room. We shouldn't be disturbed there."

"I'm glad you made it," Caroline commented hugging Lawrence to her with her arms and wings.

"You thought I wouldn't come?" Lawrence joked.

"No," Caroline smiled back, "I knew you would come eventually. I'm just happy to have you here."

Lawrence hugged her back and answered, "Thanks."

"Your party's going awfully good, mom," Amy commented to her mother.

"Thanks," Mrs. Axel answered, "We've worked very hard to get this ready. Especially considering how short an amount of time we had to get things ready."

"You guys did a good job," Amy replied with a smile.

Mrs. Axel nodded and then glanced toward the entrance to the Great Hall. A red headed man in a dull brown trench coat, a black haired man in a wheelchair, and a woman wearing jeans and a sky-blue jacket stood looking around.

"Looks like we have some late arrivals," Mrs. Axel commented.

"They're Elisa's friends," Amy answered.

"Yes, I recognize Detective Bluestone," her mother said back to Amy quietly, "Who are the other two?"

"I don't know who the woman is, but I think the guy in wheelchair is named Jason," Amy whispered.

"Well, it looks like these guys have a lot of friends," Flariaty commented as she looked around the room.

"Actually, these guys are from PIT," said a yellow beaked female gargoyle answered her, "They're more like the fan club. I'm Amy."

The gargoyle stuck out her hand to shake Flariaty's. Flariaty very carefully and nervously took it.

"So are you guys here to join the party or are we in trouble?" Amy asked.

"No one's in trouble," Matt answered, "We're just to relax a little bit."

With that Matt went off in search of Goliath. Jason simply began to roll his wheelchair into the room.

"Say I don't suppose you know where… Elisa is? Do you?" Flariaty slowly asked the gargoyle before her.

Amy glanced around trying to spot the tan female amongst the crowd of people.

"I think she's somewhere in that direction," Amy answered.

"Thank you," Flariaty answered politely.

Angela looked over the crowd of people in Hall. She smiled knowing that these people were there to try to be friends.

"Seeing these people here being so… friendly, makes me think we're really making a difference," Angela commented out load.

"We've always made a difference," Broadway corrected as he came up behind her, wrapping one wing around his mate, "This just lets us know that they're noticing us for what we are."

"It's good, either way," Angela smiled back.

Elisa had just finished a brief conversation with one of the PIT members when she felt someone tap the back of one of her cloaked wings. She turned to see the woman who was standing with Matt when he informed the clan of Demona's murdering of a Quarrymen member.

"Hello," Elisa greeted politely offering the woman her hand.

"Your name is 'Elisa', am I right?" Flariaty questioned, not taking the hand.

"Yes," Elisa answered, raising a brow ridge in suspicion.

"'Elisa Maza'?" Flariaty asked.

Elisa looked down, "Did Matt tell you?"

"I figured it out on my own when Matt came to tell you about the gargoyle murdering a Quarrymen member," Flariaty answered, "Your face looks almost identical to what I remember Maza's looking like."

"We've met before?" Elisa asked.

"No," Flariaty answered, "I was a 'rookie' and was assigned to the 23rd when I first came into the force. I saw you from time to time as I went about my work."

"Ah ha," Elisa nodded, "What did you want to talk to me about?"

"Why did you hide the fact that you were a gargoyle from everyone?" Flariaty asked, "Why did you even join the force if you were a gargoyle."

Diane and Peter Maza turned suddenly when they heard someone speaking somewhat aggressively toward Elisa.

"I think you've missed something, miss," Elisa said stepping back, "I was turned into a gargoyle. I was never a gargoyle disguised as a human."

Flariaty looked at her suspiciously. Elisa sighed heavily. Much of the events that surrounded her transformation from human to gargoyle were things that Elisa preferred to keep secret, and she was nervous about revealing them.

"Working with Matt has probably already taught you that there is more to the world than there appears to be," Elisa began, "In addition to gargoyles, there are also things like magic and sorcerers and elves, etcetera. An evil sorcerer turned me into a gargoyle, on orders from the Quarrymen, to get the Quarrymen into power. That's why I'm a gargoyle."

Flariaty sighed again, "I have nothing personal against you guys, whether you were born human, gargoyle, or whatever. But what I can't stand is that you seem to be the focus of everything that goes on in this city. There's a robbery somewhere, call the Eyrie Building and the gargoyles, not the cops, like you're supposed to."

"We don't do that," Elisa protested.

"But you're still doing vigilante work," Flariaty protested, "Matt holds your clan's opinion more than he holds mine, and I'm a cop and you're… you're… gargoyles!"

"Most of the stuff that Matt's been assigned to relates to us in some way other than our involvement," Elisa answered calmly, "The Quarrymen wanted to kill us all. If it weren't for Mr. Xanatos, the clan would have been killed three years ago and I'd be in danger of being murdered myself. I'm sure there will be other cases that Matt won't need us for."

"Why does he need you at all?" Flariaty protested, "You're just a bunch of resting spots for pigeons! Such association goes beyond the rules."

"Until the government recognizes gargoyles as citizens and demands their protection," Peter Maza interrupted coming up behind Flariaty, "There aren't any real rules as to how to interact with the gargoyles."

"Who…?" Flariaty began to ask.

"My parents, Peter and Diane," Elisa explained, "Miss…?"

"Flariaty."

"If we were fully accepted by human society," Elisa began to speak again, "We would have no need to do what we've been doing, but right now there are too many people out there like the Quarrymen who hate us or too many that simply don't care."

"And generally, people who don't care would usually prefer not to see whatever is 'causing' the problem, because then they wouldn't have to hear about it," Diane added, "Every minority has seen it."

"I'd still feel better if you followed the rules," Flariaty commented, sounding defeated, "And even if you do go outside the law, you could at least see that everyone obeys the law. Have you brought in the gargoyle that killed the Quarryman?"

"Demona?" Elisa nodded, "No we haven't."

"That's the problem," Flariaty interrupted, "She killed someone and she's gotten away with it."

"She also has a brittle psyche," Elisa argued, "If anyone tries to capture her, she will hate the entire world for it, blame everyone but herself, and then attack. She's a sorceress. If she really wanted to, she could kill us with a wink of her eye. If someone tried to stop her, that someone would probably meet a brutal and deliberate end."

Flariaty was silent for a moment and then finally said, "I can't take this," and stormed out.

"What was that all about?" Diane asked.

"I don't know," Elisa answered, "But I think Matt's new partner has some issues."

The PIT celebration ended around eleven thirty, and many of the guests had actually left even earlier.

"Thanks for coming, Mom, Dad," Elisa smiled as she hugged each goodbye before they left the castle.

"We were glad to come," Diane answered back, "You should visit us more."

"Goliath and I will try to, Mom," Elisa nodded.

With that, Peter and Diane Maza departed for one of the elevators. Elisa watched them leave, smiling. She turned to see most of the clan helping with the clean up. She noticed that Matt was still present as well, talking to Goliath about something.

"You all really don't need to do this," Mrs. Axel protested, "You really don't."

"Yes we do," Desdemona protested as the golden female stuffed a hand full of used decorations into a garbage bag, "You did all this work to welcome us, while we slept. The least we can do is help you clean up."

"Yes," Othello agreed, "You've done much to help and support us. We can't just ignore your effort. You are very different from the humans we are used to."

"If you read our history books you'll see that there were many wars fought throughout history on in the issue of equal rights," Mr. Axel pointed out as he and Broadway came back for another load of dirty dishes to take to the kitchen, "Not all of them were wars in the sense that you'd think, but there was still intense conflict. And in many cases the conflict isn't really over. But I think nights like tonight prove that we're making progress in the right direction. There were about twenty people here who weren't involved with PIT before or related to members of your clan."

Candy and Lexington had come out into the courtyard to gather some of the equipment that the PIT members had set up there to find Jason sitting quietly in his wheelchair, staring up at the gargoyle's tower.

"What are you doing out here, Mr. Canmore?" Candy asked curiously, "The party's mostly been inside."

"I don't know," Jason sighed, "I was mostly here to apologize to you guys, but you were all pretty busy conversing with the PIT people."

"Apologize for what?" Lex asked coming up closer, "You've already apologized for the whole Hunter's Moon incident."

"It's all my fault," Jason grumbled.

"You've admitted that," Candy said, "Elisa and Goliath forgave you."

"And you?" Jason asked immediately.

"I never really knew you, or was affected by the incident surrounding the Hunter's Moon," Candy answered, "I was just starting to pay attention to what was going on in the world, outside of the one I already lived in, when all that happened."

Once Lex realized that Jason had turned his glance toward the green gargoyle, he shrugged, "I don't really know. You saved Elisa from dying on the dam. You've come here to apologize for all that and you helped put away the Quarrymen for good. To some degree, I think you've been forgiven by everybody in the clan for that alone."

"It won't take the guilt away," Jason answered, looking slightly depressed.

"You can't change the past, Mr. Canmore," Candy replied, "If we all could, I'd probably still human."

"I'd have hair!" Lexington joked.

Candy elbowed him, "You're perfect just the way you are."

Jason smiled at the young couple and then sighed in a defeated tone and muttered, "Everyone has someone."

Lex briefly turned away to see Jason rolling his wheelchair off toward an entrance to the castle.

"I'm going to see if I can find Elisa," Jason commented without looking back.

Jason found the Great Hall to busy with both the Axels and much of the clan at work cleaning up as well. Bronx and Trixie had trotted off somewhere and Hudson was sitting down in a chair relaxing, but everyone else was busy with something. He quietly rolled his wheelchair toward Elisa as the tan female worked to tie several twist ties around the plastic garbage bags.

Elisa turned as he got close and smiled to him, "Hi, Jason, have you been here long?"

"I was here for most of the party," Jason answered, "Although that's not really why I came… Do you need help with that?"

Elisa handed him the twist tie and held the bag between the two, "Thanks. My fingers aren't really equipped to handle those things."

Jason tied the twist tie down and let Elisa take the bag.

"So how have you and Goliath been?" Jason asked, "You okay?"

"We're doing good," Elisa answered, "We've had to deal with a lot of old enemies recently, and we haven't defeated all of them yet, but we've survived. How are you doing? You enjoying my old spot in the precinct?"

"I'm doing okay," Jason answered, "I just can't help but feel however, that all this stuff that's gone on with the Quarrymen is my fault."

"It wasn't your fault," Elisa insisted, "You didn't force your brother to do what he did…"

"But I did!" Jason interrupted, "I let myself become enraged and vengeful when Demona killed our father. I wanted nothing more than to kill her, and in my stupidity I decided that if there were any other living gargoyles I'd have to kill them too, to prevent another 'Demona' from surfacing. Robyn and Jon never really cared about the Hunt. They simply wanted their father back. I forced them to take up the Hunter's mask. It was all my fault."

"It's not your fault that Jon decided to continue when you gave up," Elisa answered, "You've got to get over this Jason. You made mistakes, but you learned from them. There isn't much more that we can do. You can't change the past."

Jason looked down, "That doesn't mean that our past will cease to haunt us."

"Be strong then," Elisa asserted, "You've helped the clan greatly by helping Matt get rid of the Quarrymen."

"I only wish there was something I could have done for my brother," Jason sighed, "I can't be fully redeemed until I've fixed everything. I've helped you and your clan. But I've done nothing to help my family."

"I'm sure you can get visitation rights," Elisa offered, "Your brother must pay for his crimes, but perhaps you can change his mindset. Get him to accept what he's done. Help him."

Jason smiled, "That might actually help. Thanks."

"Bet you never knew gargoyles were expert therapists," Elisa joked.

"Never occurred to me," Jason laughed.

"Thanks for coming, mom," Amy called, "You too, dad."

"You're welcome, honey," Mrs. Axel answered.

"Take care of my little girl, Brooklyn," Mr. Axel added, "She's my only kid."

"I will, sir," Brooklyn answered nervously.

The Axels then entered the elevator and left for their own apartment. Brooklyn then turned to hear Lex teasing him.

"Yes sir, I will, sir," Lex laughed, "You ought to be dating her father! HA HA HA!"

"Shouldn't you be pestering someone else?" Brooklyn asked.

"I don't pester anyone," Lex smirked back, "Besides, Candy's helping her mom with something and I gotta do something till she gets back."

"So you're teasing me?" Brooklyn growled.

"Why not?" Lex asked as he sprinted off with Brooklyn close behind.

"And you're dating him because…" Caroline asked Amy.

"Apparently I'm lacking some humor in my life," Amy commented as she watched Brooklyn chase Lex.

Owen appeared in the doorway opposite them and looked at them with his usual stern face.

"I don't even what to know," Owen muttered, and then made a coughing sound to get everyone's attention. Once he was sure he did, he continued.

"I'm sorry to trouble your… activities," Owen announced, "But we have guests waiting for you in the television room. They are quite insistent that they speak to you."

"Who is it?" Goliath asked stepping forward.

"Macbeth among others," Owen answered, "He and a few others arrived during the party and have been waiting there for you ever since."

"Why didn't you come get us when they arrived?" Othello asked.

"They actually contacted Zafiro and his clan first," Owen answered, "They were about to tell Goliath but I persuaded them to let me talk to them first."

"Why?" Angela asked.

"It was likely that most of the PIT members would have followed you if you had gone to talk to them," Owen answered, "And between Mr. Xanatos's instructions to keep much of the castle off limits to the PIT members, including your sector of the castle, and the need to keep master Alexander safe, I could not allow that to happen."

"Very well," Goliath rumbled, "We'd best see what they want."

**The Gargoyles Television Room**

Macbeth was getting tired of waiting. Chloe had already drifted off to sleep in a large easy chair in front of the television. Arthur was conversing with Merlin and Griff about something. Leo and Una stood by themselves near the rack where the clan's collection of movies, tapes, and other assorted entertainment equipment was stored, while Octavia and Julia stood by each other looking out a window conversing about the view.

Suddenly the door to the room opened and several gargoyles, including the ones he had met with earlier who identified themselves to be from Guatemala, entered the room. Two humans also entered the room, but Macbeth paid them little notice. What did surprise him was the fact that there were three more female gargoyles than he remembered, plus a new gargoyle beast.

Griff, Arthur, and rest of the London clan looked totally flabbergasted by the sight of the tan female that stood near Goliath.

"Lady Elisa?" Arthur gasped, "Is that you? Macbeth had told us about… about what happened and all but…"

"Yes, it's me," Elisa slowly nodded, "No need to stare."

"We're sorry that this has happened to you," Griff commented, still looking shocked.

Elisa shrugged, "I've grown used to it. Could we not spend the entire evening discussing my transformation, please?"

"Yes," Macbeth coughed, "It would be awkward to continue, but if I may ask, who are these three?" Macbeth then gestured to the new trio of female gargoyles.

"Well," Caroline answered, stepping forward to answer the man's question, "We're sort of like Elisa."

"You were human once?" Una asked, sounding somewhere between shocked and frightened.

Caroline, Candy, and Amy slowly nodded.

"Demona transformed them," Goliath rumbled.

"Oh dear," Una gasped then looking down, "You've had a lot more trouble than the teley had told us about."

"Aye," Hudson answered, "What might bring ye here?"

"Where should we begin?" Arthur mused out loud.

"Perhaps at the beginning?" Goliath offered.

Macbeth then stepped forward, "It'd be best to begin with introductions of those the clan doesn't know."

The immortal Scotsman gestured toward Chloe, "That is Chloe."

Julia then stepped forward, "I am Julia, and this is Octavia. We are the last of the Roman Gargoyle Order."

"Order?" Hudson asked, "Gargoyles live in clans."

"Ancient Rome collected all of the gargoyles that lived around the city and brought them to their Forum," Julia explained, "It was just as their republic was beginning and they needed something to help protect them. Because we resemble eagles, the Romans decided we were gifts from the gods to help them install order over their city, and eventually their empire. We have never used the word 'clan' in reference to ourselves or other gargoyles because of the word's reference to barbarians. We have used the word 'order' because it is a reference to what we do and to Roman society."

"Anyway," Arthur continued, "Macbeth and Chloe had just arrived during my quest to find Merlin. We were successful in that, and then turned to find the Holy Grail."

Arthur then pulled a large heavy box from behind him and set it on a nearby table.

"We have recovered the Grail," Macbeth answered, "But not without making some powerful enemies."

"It turns out there is another group of Fey besides those that serve Oberon," Una explained as she came up beside Macbeth and Arthur, "They were trying to use the Grail for their plans, but we recovered the Grail before they could do so."

"The real problem was that these Fey also have human followers," a blue griffon like gargoyle spoke up, "Those followers, on orders from their masters attacked us and serious wounded Chloe. I'm sorry to add extra… 'weirdness' to the situation, but Chloe is supposed to be a gargoyle, but the wound she received was fatal if she didn't receive medical attention. So she and I switched forms. I took on her gargoyle nature, while she took my human nature."

"Then you're…?" Amy began to ask in disbelief.

"I am Merlin, yes," the blue gargoyle answered.

"Once Chloe is healed, Merlin and Chloe will switch their forms back," Macbeth said calmly, "The real problem is that these Fey, the Unseelie Court, will eventually discover that their plans have been defeated and we can not protect the Grail on our own and fight them at the same time."

"You intend to go after an entire group of the Third Race?" Othello asked in disbelief, "They could kill you."

"That's why we've come here," Merlin answered, "The Unseelie Court has an agenda that could result in the destruction of this world as we know it. Now the Earth won't blow up or anything like that, but once they take over, we won't like the world they will create. They somehow need the Grail to accomplish this. Since we can't protect the Grail, we need to trust you to keep it safe."

"Us?" Candy asked, "Some of us are still learning how to take on regular crooks. What can we do against this 'Unseelie Court'?"

"More than you would expect," Macbeth answered, "If they attack you, they can be defeated with iron, like any member of the Third Race. We need to stop them, but it's clear to us thatLondon is not their target. We need to be free and mobile to find them, but we can't do that with the Grail."

"All we ask is that you guard the Grail for us until we can make certain that the Unseelie Court is beaten," Griff finished.

"We could help you," Goliath offered.

Neither Macbeth nor Arthur answered. A dark haired man in a wheelchair slowly made his way to the front of the group.

"Have you made any plans as to finding these characters?" the man asked, "If you won't let them help you fight, at least let them help you plan."

"Who are you?" Macbeth demanded.

"I'm someone who's made some terrible mistakes," Jason answered, "But I'm trying to rectify them. My name is Jason Canmore."

"So you no longer claim the Hunter's legacy?" Macbeth asked, intrigued by the wheelchair bound man's use of the word 'rectify'.

"That was my mistake," Jason answered looking down, "I want to do something worthwhile while I'm still able to do something."

"The clan has forgiven you, you don't need to let this guilt burden you," Desdemona told him.

"This isn't about guilt," Jason said firmly, "This is doing what's right."

"He is right though," Goliath commented, "Do you have any plans as to locate these 'Unseelies'?"

"Right now the best we have is to attract attention," Arthur commented, "Partially because we only know that we couldn't protect the Grail in London."

"Mr. Burnett has already offered any aide he can give us," Macbeth added.

"That's good," Goliath nodded, "You will remain here until a proper plan can be devised."

"We'll even help you defend your city until a plan is devised," Octavia answered raising a clenched fist to her chest.

Julia mimicked the motion.

"Thank you," Goliath answered.

**Wyvern's Courtyard, Shortly after sunrise**

Matt stood near Macbeth and Chloe in gazing up at the sleeping gargoyles. The Wyvern Clan were on their traditional pedestals while London clan moved to perch along the battlements. The Guatemalans had also decided to get some rest that day and were in stone sleep along the castle's outer wall.

"I've never seen so many gargoyles all in one place," Chloe commented.

"Gives one hope for their future doesn't it?" Matt replied.

"Their future will not last long of the Unseelie Court wins," Macbeth said coldly.

Those two words echoed in Matt's head. Macbeth and his allies had been repeating that the Unseelies were both powerful and evil. This reminded him of Hacker's cryptic messages of a great evil coming to attack the clan.

"Oh man," Matt said out loud as the realization hit him.

"What is it?" Macbeth asked.

"I don't think we need to plan very long as to where the Unseelie's will attack," Matt commented.

**After Dusk**

"What are you saying, Matt?" Elisa asked.

"I'm saying that finding these 'Unseelies' unfortunately for us might be easier than we thought," Matt answered, "Hacker has been bothering me recently about trying to get me to warn you about some powerful new enemy. He's been awfully cryptic about it, so we'd have no idea who the 'bad guy' was so I've told him to buzz off. However, Macbeth showing up here talking about this 'Unseelie Court' as a powerful force of evil, I'm beginning to wonder if Hacker was talking about them."

"Are you saying we trust the people that blew up your apartment?" Othello asked.

"No," Matt shook his head, "But I am saying that the Unseelies could be what he wants me to warn you of."

"Then I guess the question we need to ask then is 'why'?" Arthur offered from the sidelines, "If the Illuminati are as evil as Detective Bluestone says they are, why are they warning us of another evil?"

"The Illuminati aren't necessarily evil," Matt corrected, "But they are scheming and secretive. Which can be just as bad."

"Either way," Macbeth interrupted, "It does offer us an opportunity. If the warning is correct and Unseelie are moving here, than we must prepare to fight them."

Goliath let out a frustrated growl, "In addition to the foes we already have to deal with."

"Do not worry yourselves with hunting them down," Owen commented dryly as he came into the courtyard, "I believe they will come here."

"What makes you think that?" Griff asked.

"My other self," Owen answered before disappearing in a flash and reappearing as Puck, "My cousins are a very bad sort, and conquering Avalon has always been their goal, but big daddy Oberon was always too powerful for them. But, now that Oberon is dead, it's likely that they sense a weakness."

"That doesn't answer why they would attack us?" Angela pointed out.

"You, your big strapping father, your mother-in-law, and your blue pet are the reasons they will attack here," Puck answered, "Oberon made sure they can't return to Avalon the normal Fey way, so they'll need to use the human method."

"And Elisa, Bronx, Father, and I are the only ones here that went to Avalon," Angela gasped, "That way."

"You weren't the only ones," Merlin interrupted, "Arthur's knights and I used the same method to take Arthur there for his enchanted sleep. Our advantage, however, is that they may not know that I am here."

"But they will know I am," Puck countered, "They will be prepared both human and fey magic."

"Enough of this," Goliath growled, "Can they be beaten?"

"Well…" Puck began, with a slight grin, "Macbeth and his buddies here said they got the Holy Grail before they could use it for whatever spell they needed it for, and I'm pretty sure I know what that spell was, so yes, I believe you can win. Not just because of Macbeth and Arthur's earlier success, but because of the warning they've given, which I'd say is quite timely."

"So what do we do, Goliath?" Broadway asked.

"We wait," Goliath said slowly, "I have a bad feeling that we in trouble no matter what we do."

**The End…?**


	8. Ghosts of the Past

All characters appearing in Gargoyles and Gargoyles: The Goliath Chronicles are copyrighted to Buena Vista Television/The Walt Disney Company. I've taken the idea for the Unseelie Court from the TGS. No infringement of these copyrights is intended, and is not authorized by the copyright holder. All original characters are the property of SN.

Note: I'm disregarding the events of the "Goliath Chronicles", with the exception of "The Journey" because I do not wish to use the rest of the "Goliath Chronicles" as canon to my story. This story takes place one day after "Celebrations and Warnings".

Ghosts of the Past

By SN/TVfan

Email: Sam_Nary 

**Maddox Technologies**

A rather gruff looking man slowly made his way across the roof of the Maddox Technologies Building. His face looked both like it had suffered through every war ever fought, but also that he had enjoyed every war ever fought.

"Lord Madoc is acting far to slow to effectively capture the gargoyles we require," the gruff man grumbled to himself, "He spends money on the Pack, and they're more than ready now, but yet he does nothing. True, he wants to hide our presence from Avalon, but that can be achieved by other means."

The gruff man then spread his hands out wide and chanted…

"_Ghosts of the medieval age,_

_come fill this world with your rage,_

_come to me and take center stage!"_

Soon after, from the space between his arms a large portal, resembling a mirror appeared before him. From behind it came a several tanned faces of warriors from a place that few New Yorkers would know about.

"So, Huitzilopochtli, what manner of chaos is your Lord Madoc spreading today?" the leader of the warriors asked.

"This has nothing to do with Lord Madoc," the gruff man, identified as Huitzilopochtli answered, "This is a chore I want you to do for me."

"Remember we are ghosts and not members of either fey court," the lead ghost answered, "Do not expect us to help you attack Avalon."

"Nothing that extreme I assure you," Huitzilopochtli replied, "But your general brand of chaos is greatly needed in this city."

"What do you want?" the ghost asked again.

"Four gargoyles," Huitzilopochtli said coldly, "But I can capture them myself. I need you to draw them out."

"So you call us from the steppes of Mongolia to this twinkling metropolis to have a little fun?" the ghost asked, "And we don't have to do anything other than that?"

Huitzilopochtli nodded in agreement.

"Sounds like fun," the ghost smiled.

**Somewhere in New York City**

A man dressed in casual attire quietly made his way through the busy streets of New York City. Under his right arm was a copy of a local newspaper rolled up like scroll. The man casually unrolled the newspaper as he walked and looked at the front page.

"Gargoyles and PIT celebrate end of destructive 'hate group'" was the main headline, closely followed by "Jon Canmore recaptured".

"Glad to see these people are beginning to turn it around," the man mused as he turned into a local deli.

"Maxim!" a blonde woman called from behind the counter, "What are you doing here?"

"I wondered if you would due me the honor of allowing me to walk you back to your apartment?" the man, identified as Maxim asked.

"It would be my pleasure," the woman smiled, "But I don't get off for a few more minutes." The woman then tossed a rather sly smile, "How about you buy some sandwiches and we can eat on the way."

"Why not," Maxim smiled.

Five minutes later, Maxim and the blonde haired woman made their way down the streets again. Maxim and placed his newspaper in a recycling bin and was quietly eating his sandwich.

"I'm always going to wonder why you pay for everything with coins," the woman chuckled.

"I'll tell you why, Diane," Maxim smiled back, "I've taken the phrase 'exact change only' to heart."

Diane laughed and then responded, "No seriously. How come you never use paper money?"

"That is one of my own little secrets," Maxim smiled back.

"Come on, you have too many secrets," Diane protested.

"I thought you said that that was something that you found attractive," Maxim teased.

"Not if I can't figure them out," Diane argued, "Being mysterious can be attractive, but half the attraction is solving the mystery."

"Even if you don't like the results?" Maxim questioned, "Suppose I was an axe murderer?"

"Quit teasing, you," Diane said back, "Come on, you know what I mean. You pay for everything with coins and you never explain why. I've never even been to your apartment. And we've been 'dating' for over a year."

Maxim didn't answer as they crossed a street into Central Park.

"Do you even LOVE me?" Diane asked.

"Of…" Maxim began to speak, but was cut of as a wild man leaped from the bushes waving a sword.

The wild man looked between Diane and Maxim for a few moments before smiling.

"Well, Legionnaire, our business here didn't involve you in name," the wild man began, "But I suppose little surprises are to be expected every now and then."

The man then began swinging his sword wildly at the young couple, as Maxim scooped Diane into his arms and ran from him. Once he got her behind a screen of trees, Maxim set her down.

"Legionnaire?" Diane asked, "What's going on? Maxim, what's that man talking about?"

"That's no man," Maxim answered as he listened to the wild man's footsteps as he approached.

"WHAT!?" Diane asked in a shocked voice.

Diane got no answer as the wild man suddenly came into view and attacked Maxim. Diane watched as the wild man took three steps toward her escort and then watched as bright flames engulfed Maxim.

"MAXIM!" Diane cried out in shock and horror, thinking he was injured.

When the flames died away to reveal a man in Roman style battle armor, Diane stopped in shock. Maxim then counter charged the wild man, bringing his own sword, a gladius, to block the wild man's attack. The wild man was strong and determined, but not a swordsman. Maxim quite easily blocked and countered the wild man's moves and then finished him off by stabbing him in the chest. The wild man fell to the ground and then disappeared in a flash of light. Maxim then turned his attention to see that Diane had fainted. He slowly sheathed his sword and returned to her side.

Taking her into his arms, Maxim said quietly, "Well, you did wish to see my home."

**Castle Wyvern**

Xanatos was sitting quietly in a small office he had set up inside the private sectors of Castle Wyvern reviewing the day's business news and the reports that Owen had given him. The clans were still asleep above him, and the human guests from London were relaxing elsewhere in the castle. He was about to call for Owen to go over some of the reports when Fox stuck her head into his new office.

"David, I think there's something on the news you should see," Fox said plainly.

"What is it?" Xanatos asked.

"I think you just ought to see for yourself," Fox answered, "I don't think I can explain it."

Xanatos got up from his chair and followed Fox into one of the family rooms where Macbeth, Chloe, and Arthur were already fixed on a television screen showing an emergency news broadcast. Macbeth and Arthur hardly glanced as Fox returned to the room and Xanatos arrived, but Chloe seemed fixated by the two mutates. Macbeth himself was somewhat surprised to learn and see that someone as powerful as David Xanatos could be transformed into the closest thing to a gargoyle that science could make.

"What's going on?" Xanatos asked as he entered.

"I think Detective Bluestone's theory is right," Arthur commented, "Something strange is going on in the city below."

"What's 'something'?" Xanatos demanded.

"See for yourself," Macbeth commented looking at the television screen.

Xanatos focused on the news program. A reporter stood at a street corner near the intersection of Broadway and another street. There were strange sounds coming from the general area, and Xanatos could make out figures moving in the background.

"The past few hours have brought about some rather strange occurrences as strange men in costumes have begun terrorizing the city at random," the reporter announced.

The cameraman changed his focus from the reporter to the figures in the background.

"They look like Mongols," Macbeth commented off hand.

"Who?" Fox asked.

"Soldiers who fought for Genghis Khan," Macbeth answered.

"And who was he?" Arthur asked, "I've never heard of him. Merlin explained to me of Attila the Hun once but…"

"Genghis Khan and Attila the Hun both came from the same general area," Macbeth answered calmly, "Genghis and his 'Golden Horde' came several years after Attila."

"Try centuries," Xanatos corrected.

"These men have caused great chaos throughout the city, but fortunately have so far ban unable to do anyone serious harm," the reporter continued.

"We have to do something," Fox said firmly.

"Not until dark, we can't," Macbeth sighed, "Arthur and I would be too easily recognized and you would cause more panic."

Fox looked down, letting her wings fall limp as well.

"Even if that weren't the case," Xanatos added, "You would be remaining in the castle. I don't want you getting hurt. Especially in your… condition."

"I can still fight," Fox insisted.

"You can see the television as plainly as I can, my Dear," Xanatos pleaded, "They're armed. What happens of someone stabs you?"

"I could lose the baby," Fox sighed, "Or pup, whatever you want to call it."

"That's why I want you to remain here," Xanatos explained.

**Elysium**

Diane awoke in place she hadn't expected. She found herself lying on a large bed with silk sheets. She glanced around the rather spacious room she found herself in to see that the structure of the room resembled might be the villa of wealthy Roman nobleman while the furnishings were far more modern. She slowly and nervously made her way to the door to find herself looking into a small courtyard surrounded by a colonnade. There was a small pool in its center and green grass grew around it. Several flat stones were placed in the ground as stepping stones.

"This place is beautiful," Diane thought to herself, "But this can't be Maxim's. He doesn't make this much money, and nothing outside this place sounds like New York."

Diane turned to head down one of the hallways that bordered the colonnade surrounded courtyard when she bumped in a man dressed in relatively casual attire.

"I'm sorry, I didn't see you there," Diane stammered in surprise.

"There was no harm done," the man answered, "Do you need anything?"

Diane thought for a moment, "Actually, I wouldn't mind knowing who owns this house. Maxim and I were in Central Park in New York City when this wild man came and attacked us. I'd presume the man that owns this place is our rescuer. I need to meet to thank him for saving my life and I need to figure out where Maxim is."

"The Legionnaire is in the library, madam," the man replied, "If you will follow me."

The man turned and Diane hesitantly followed.

"You mean you don't own this place?" Diane asked.

"No, the Legionnaire does," the man answered, "I am merely a good friend of his."

"Who is this 'Legionnaire'?" Diane asked curiously.

"You'll see very shortly," the man replied as he opened a set of large oak doors.

Diane ignored him for a moment and stepped through the doors only to gasp at what she saw.

"Hey, so what do you think of my 'apartment'?" Maxim asked from behind a desk at the opposite end of the room.

**Maddox Technologies**

Huitzilopochtli stood in front of Maddox looking rather nervous as Maddox turned off a nearby television screen.

"I did not authorize the summoning of ghosts," Maddox said coldly.

"You're taking too much time my lord," Huitzilopochtli answered, "I do not seek to betray you my lord, but we must act quickly. Your plan with the Pack is taking too long, and Titania will learn of our plans."

"I have no doubt they will learn of our plans, thanks to you," Maddox growled, "The Pack are human, well… partially human and have been employed by humans in this city before. If Titania notices them attacking the Wyvern Clan, it will fall under Oberon's Law, which she and her court follow. These ghosts you've summoned however, while they have connection to ourselves will arise suspicion on Avalon that we are trying to unite. Trying to do something big. And the fact of the matter is we are! If Titania were to strike at us, outside of Avalon, we would stand a chance of loosing because we lack the advantage of surprise."

"I do not understand sir," Huitzilopochtli said slowly.

"And I'm surprised at that, being that you are a 'god' of war," Maddox said coldly, "Only a sorcerer could summon those ghosts. How many living sorcerers aside from us are in this area?"

"Sekhmet reported the presence of Demona here, my lord," Huitzilopochtli answered.

"Yes, Demona, the immortal gargoyle the Mage loves to haunt," Maddox grumbled, "Remember that she hates humanity. Tell me why she would summon human ghosts to simply run wild? She is far more likely to create an illusion of gargoyle ghosts haunting the human population and blaming them for all the world's suffering."

"I still feel the current 'plan' was moving to slowly," Huitzilopochtli replied, "We must move quickly my Lord. The gargoyles will react to this. I am sure of it. We can easily round up the ones we require in their distraction."

Maddox didn't answer. After a few moments he simply made a backhanding motion and Huitzilopochtli suddenly felt a lot of magical energy his right check and the Unseelie lord was quickly knocked to the ground.

"Regardless of what you thought," Maddox growled, "The Court's plans were already in place. If you wished to change them by using these ghosts instead, you should have brought before the Court itself and submitted your idea as a proposal. Not going ahead with the summoning anyway. We are now at risk of being detected by Avalon."

Huitzilopochtli lay on the floor as Maddox turned around, "Although, I'm afraid we don't have much choice now. Continue with your plan. If you do not capture the gargoyles, you will be punished and possibly have your status as one of my subordinate lords revoked. Is that clear?"

"Yes, Lord Madoc," Huitzilopochtli answered as he got up and bowed, "Very clear."

**Elysium**

"Maxim!" Diane stammered, "What are you doing here?! What are you doing in that chair?! Some guy led me here and told me I'd meet 'the Legionnaire' here."

"And here I am," Maxim smiled back.

"You can't be serious," Diane said, "There's no way on Earth that you'd have the money to live in a place like this."

Maxim looked down for a moment. Diane had either forgotten about the incident in Central Park or was denying that it happened. Either way, she didn't believe him.

"Diane, I AM the Legionnaire, this is my home," Maxim answered.

"I don't believe you," Diane answered flatly.

Maxim sighed, "Do you remember the wild man that attacked us in the park?"

Diane's eyes widened as she timidly answered, "Yes."

"What did he say?" Maxim questioned, trying to get her to realize the truth for herself.

"I don't know what he said," Diane answered, "I think he did mention 'the Legionnaire' though."

"Aside from me, was there anyone else around?" Maxim asked.

"No," Diane answered and then gasped, "You… you… you can't be."

"I am," Maxim answered, "I must admit to you that there is more to me than you supposed."

"I can imagine," Diane answered, "Would you mind explaining?"

"Frankly, I would mind, but I'm in a position where I have to explain a lot of very complicated things to you," Maxim answered, "You might want to sit down and make yourself comfortable. This could take a while."

**Castle Wyvern, Dusk**

The clan awoke that night to find things going on in their city that they did not expect. The sounds of yelling and commotion echoed up to them from the city below, and it was not the type of yelling and commotion to be excited about.

"What's going on down there?" Griff commented as he tried to get a better glance at the city below them.

"Several people dressed as Genghis Khan's warriors have decided to terrorize the city," Macbeth commented as he and Arthur came out onto the battlements in their armor, with Xanatos fairly close behind.

"Genghis Khan?" Goliath asked as he and Elisa jumped from their position on the tower.

"A late medieval conqueror from what is now Mongolia," Macbeth answered, "They've been going at it all day. No one's been able to keep them under control, and it's been a miracle that someone hasn't been killed."

"We've gotta stop them, Goliath," Broadway insisted, "We seem to be safe up here, but I doubt the people below us are."

"I agree," Goliath nodded, and then turning to those who were awake during the day, "And these attacks are occurring all over the city?"

Macbeth nodded.

"Very well," Goliath replied in a low voice, "My clan will divide into their normal patrol groups and go along their regular routes."

"My clan and I will take Central Park," Zafiro announced.

"Arthur, the London Clan, and I will deal with the west side of Manhattan," Macbeth said, "If these creatures are bothering this island now, it will only be a matter of time before they decide to expand their operations."

**Elysium**

"First off," Maxim began, "I need to say that there is much more to the world than you know already. I know you know of gargoyles, but they are only the 'tip of the iceberg' if you will. There are dark beings of great evil, like demons and so forth, while at the same time there are also good beings that oppose them, like the gargoyles for instance."

"There are things other than gargoyles?" Diane asked quietly.

"Yes," Maxim answered, "The beings that try to do evil have forever tried to conquer, torment, or destroy the world, and sadly, many times the evil force was human. Over time, God decided that the world needed a champion," Maxim continued, "Someone who could stand for honor and justice, but unlike simple humans or even gargoyles and other good races, this warrior needs to be able to truly stand the tests of time. So he commissioned one of his angels, Mars to be specific, to choose a mortal human to serve as that champion."

"God, you mean he's really real?" Diane asked, "And Mars is a planet. Not an angel."

"Yes God is real," Maxim answered, "But he's not the only god. The universe is not dominated by the God of Jews, Christians, and Muslims. There are others. And technically, Mars isn't an angel. He's actually a member of a race of beings that naturally posses very powerful magic. Mars is his Latin name, Ares is his Greek name. Basically the old Greco-Roman pantheon."

"So you're saying that God is real and some magical creature named Mars works for him?" Diane asked.

"Basically," Maxim nodded, "But remember there are other gods out there as well."

"So where do you fit into all of this?" Diane asked.

"Well," Maxim began, "My REAL name is Maximus Victus Romus. I was a Roman soldier at the beginning of the time of the Republic. At the same time, Mars was sent to create his champion for the forces of good."

"Roman?" Diane interrupted, "As in ancient? There's no way. You'd be over a thousand years old."

"I'm over two thousand years old actually," Maximus chuckled, "But that's getting off point. Apparently I was chosen to serve as the 'divine champion' Mars was sent to create. As a result, I've become the Legionnaire, and one of the powers that I was given as the Legionnaire, was immortality. I have been fighting those that commit acts of evil for many years."

"How come you've never been mentioned in any history books then?" Diane asked.

"That is another aspect of my powers," Maximus answered, "Unless you were one of the 'dark forces' or mystically enhanced, or a member of one of the world's mythical species, like gargoyles, you would automatically forget me as so as you leave my immediate proximity."

Diane's eyes widened. This entire revelation concerning good and evil and Ancient Rome was completely beyond her, but she still liked Maxim, no matter how crazy she thought he was. Part of her even believed that she loved him.

"You mean I will forget you as soon as I leave this room?" Diane asked.

"You will forget that I am the Legionnaire, and all that I've just told you," Maximus answered, "As far as you'd be concerned, I was simply Maxim Roman."

"So why are you telling me this?" Diane asked, "You could have made something up and protected this secret of yours."

"The attack in the park showed me something," Maximus sighed, "I have lived a long time, but in that time I have had little time to form real relationships with people, romantic or otherwise. You are the first woman I've had the time to date in a very long while, and I nearly lost you. I can not stand for that. We are currently in a realm which in mythology is referred to as Elysium, it's a realm in between heaven and Earth. I live here because I have lived and will live far longer than any mortal could imagine, but because I have not yet died, I can not enter heaven either. Elysium and Earth are the only two realms I can go to. I and there is something else I must tell you."

"There's more?" Diane gasped.

"I love you," Maximus answered and then looked slightly more cheerful, "There. I said it. After years of having to serve my duties as the Legionnaire and having those that I care for die or move on while I'm away, I've finally been able to say it. I love you Diane Heartsdayle."

**New York**

Several of the ghosts that descended on New York City furiously chased after a young couple through the winding paths of Central Park. They swung their swords and fired arrows at their victims, but the attacks seemed more intent on causing panic than to do harm, since the sword slashes obviously missed them by a foot or more, and the arrow shots went well over their heads. The couple quickly ducked behind a park bench and cowered there for a moment.

"Just leave us alone!" the man said, "We'll give you anything you want. Just leave us alone!"

"All we want is your fear," one of the three ghosts responded, "So you'll have to keep running!"

"That is no way to treat anyone," came a voice from behind the ghosts.

The ghosts turned to see four lizard-like creatures standing in the grass behind them.

"Well, well, well," one ghost quipped if it isn't New York's famous gargoyles."

"We're from Guatemala actually," Zafiro answered, "But we do know the New York clan. I demand you stop terrorizing these humans."

The five ghosts immediately turned their attention to the gargoyles.

"Fine," the lead ghost answered, "We were summoned here to find gargoyles anyway."

"Summoned?" Zafiro asked as the lead ghost charged with the others behind him.

The lead ghost thrust his sword out in an attempt to stab the red gargoyle, and Zafiro was just barely able to avoid being wounded. Zafiro then swung his fist out and was surprised to see it pass straight through the ghost. At the same time the rest of his clan discovered the same thing.

"We're ghosts," the ghost finally answered with a laugh, "And we're also from Mongolia. Getting here on our own would be a rather extensive operation. We had to be summoned here by a spell caster."

Zafiro tried to punch the ghost again. Again his fist passed straight through it. Two ghosts meanwhile charged Jade. The green gargoyle leaped over the thrusting swords he thrust his fists downwards to punch the ghosts as they charged. To his surprise, they made contact and both ghosts fell to the ground unconscious. The rest of the Guatemalan clan noticed immediately.

"They must have to be tangible in order to attack," Turquesa noted.

"That will be difficult," Obsidiana retorted, "If we must induce them to attack before we can deal a blow."

"We'd better warn the others," Zafiro muttered as he leaped away from the attacking ghosts and his clan to pull a small radio from a hidden pouch that was on his belt, "This is Zafiro to all the patrol groups. In case anyone hasn't figured this out yet, these guys are ghosts! You have to wait till they begin to attack you before you can actually hit them!"

**Elysium**

"You love me?" Diane asked, surprised by the fact that this was his startling revelation he had to say not the fact that he loved her.

"Yes, I wouldn't have told you about this if I didn't," Maximus answered, "But that also leaves a problem. I can't keep repeating to you my story. It would become degrading to both of us if I have to keep reminding you of who I am. You might even begin to believe that you were accidentally forgetting something over time, not realizing that it's a spell that is deliberately making you forget."

"But you said the only 'things' that can remember who you truly are those that are 'mystically enchanted' or 'mythical'," Diane answered, "How do you propose to solve that problem then?"

"He doesn't," came a feminine, but very authoritative voice from above them, "But I do."

**New York**

Elisa screamed with pain as an arrow flew through one of her wings. She and Goliath had quickly found out, like the rest of the clan, that these attackers were ghosts and not living things. She had managed to knock out one and Goliath was also successful in defeating another, but then to their shock, more of these ghosts appeared on the rooftops above them. Worse than that, they were all archers.

Goliath glanced backward to see Elisa pull an arrow out of her wing, and he silently snarled to himself.

"Elisa, we must get to cover!" Goliath called to her, "We can't attack them from the ground."

Elisa nodded and followed Goliath into an alley, where the two gargoyles began to climb up the wall of a nearby building.

Meanwhile on the roof above them, a gruff looking man suddenly teleported next to one of the ghosts.

"Huitzilopochtli, glad of you to join us," one ghost snickered, "Like the chaos?"

Huitzilopochtli looked over the city and then back at the ghosts around him, "The chaos is fine. The two gargoyles you just chased off are two of the gargoyles that my Court needs. I would strongly urge you not to kill them."

"We didn't," another ghost answered, "Gargoyles are tough to kill. They have tough skin, and they have very fast reflexes. We only hit one and we only hit it in the wing."

"Good," Huitzilopochtli answered, "You may return to your merriment. I must deal with those gargoyles."

"We must be facing an entire army!" Elisa exclaimed as she and Goliath maneuvered to try and get the drop on the ghosts that had earlier ambushed them.

Goliath nodded, "They are beatable my love. We will stop them."

"I hope so, because…" Elisa's comment was cut off as a brilliant green light came out of no where, and knocked them both out.

Both gargoyles landed roughly on a roof top below them. Once the dust had settled, Huitzilopochtli materialized out of the darkness and smiled.

"Two down and two to go," Huitzilopochtli commented.

**Elysium**

Diane looked up to see a being bathed in bright lights, but she vaguely make out a feminine form inside the light. She was dressed in white robes and had helmet on her head. In her right hand was a long speed.

"Who are you?" Diane asked.

"According to the Romans, I am Minerva, while according to the Greeks, I am Athena," the figure answered, "I am member of the Third Race and the Olympian Court in service of the Judeo-Christian-Islamic God."

"What do you want with me?" Diane asked, fear edging her voice.

"I have no intentions of harming you," Minerva answered, "In fact; I am here to help you and the Legionnaire's little problem."

"How do you…?" Diane began.

"I know," Minerva replied, "I know you love him and I know he loves you. The only way for you to remember the Legionnaire's true nature is give you the ability to remember him."

"But he said someone had to be 'mystically enchanted' or 'mythical' to remember him," Diane protested, still somewhat in disbelief.

"And if that wish is granted, you will have to serve your own purpose," Minerva said firmly.

"What?" Diane asked.

"You must aide the Legionnaire in his endeavors to protect that which is just," Minerva said, "From now till infinity."

Diane gasped, "You mean you're going to turn me into another 'Legionnaire'?"

"You will be similar, yet different," Minerva answered, "As different as I am from Mars. Do you accept the offer? It is the only way for you to remember who Maximus truly is, if that is what you wish."

Diane looked back and forth between Minerva and Maximus. She found that Maximus actually looked pained, as he didn't really want this.

"What about my family?" Diane asked.

"You can still see them," Minerva answered, "They will simply not know who you truly are."

"I can not leave Maxim," Diane answered firmly.

"Then you accept?"

Diane was silent for a moment and then answered, "Yes."

"Very well," Minerva answered and then began to chant…

"_Champion of the Legionnaire's heart,_

_you have chosen to make a new start,_

_change to your new self,_

_leave the old on a shelf."_

Diane then suddenly found herself wrapped in a blinding light. She felt something powerful enter her, as if it was being directly absorbed by her skin. That power didn't leave, and she soon felt herself growing stronger. In the midst of all of this she heard Minerva's voice once again.

"From this day on, you are Diane Brittney Heartsdayle no longer," Minerva said, "You are now Diana Britannia Heartsis."

As the lights faded, Diane, now Diana found herself standing up, and with her own eyes glowing with a bright light from Minerva's spell answered, "I am Diana."

**New York**

Broadway flung a garbage can lid at one of the ghosts that was nearing on Angela and he smiled when the metallic lid successfully hit the ghost in the head. It slumped to the ground and was soon out cold, along with one that he had earlier knocked out. Broadway however, didn't look in the best of shape. He had been slashed a few times by the ghosts swords, and his the skin on his fists were cut in a few places from punching through a ghost when it was intangible and making contact with the brick of a wall. He glanced at Angela, who didn't look much better.

"I hope the others are doing better than we are," Broadway muttered.

"Me too," Angela commented, "At the rate we're going, it'll be noon two days from no before these things are under control."

A gruff, yet laughing voice soon answered them from above, "Don't worry. You won't be around to see it!"

Angela looked up to see a man dressed similarly to the Guatemalans drop from the sky and land between her and Broadway.

"Who are you?" the aquamarine male gargoyle demanded.

"No one of any importance," the man snickered and then threw a left cross at Broadway.

Angela gasped when she saw that the punch knocked her mate out cold. She tried to get herself between the man and Broadway when the man turned to face her.

"You need not concern yourself with him," the man smiled, "It's YOU I want."

"Who are you?" Angela growled.

The man raised one hand and suddenly Angela found herself trapped by three 'electrified' walls. One on both sides of her and the third above her. The man flexed his hand again and a glowing orb of fire flew from it, knocking Angela out.

"Huitzilopochtli," the man answered coldly.

Xanatos ducked hastily under another ghost's attack. He had managed to get them away from a group of children coming out of an arcade, and was even more thankful when they ran back into the arcade. The ghosts however, couldn't seem to pay less attention to that or anything else. They simply came at him with swords or spears. Generally these engagements would be entirely in the mutate's favor, but since the ghosts were only tangible right before they would strike, his electric blasts would do far more harm then good.

"Give up freak," one ghost snarled, "It'll only hurt for a millennium."

"Who's the freak?" Xanatos shot back, "At least I'm tangible."

The black furred wolf-like mutate dodged one sword thrust grabbed the ghost by the wrist. To Xanatos's utter shock, he managed to get the sword out of the ghost's hand before it went intangible.

"Thief!" the ghost yelled, "Give that back!"

The three armed ghosts then lunged at the mutated billionaire. Xanatos blocked one sword slash with the sword he had commandeered. While at the same time he dodged out of the way of an attack launched by a spearman and another by another swordsman. Xanatos then slashed back at the unarmed ghost, who had actually got close enough to punch the metal 'Pack' symbol on his chest. The punch did little to Xanatos and the ghost seemed to be acting the way an average human felt after punching a solid steel object.

"Punching armor hurts, doesn't it?" Xanatos laughed lightly as he slashed the sword across the ghost's chest.

When Xanatos turned around again, he expected to see the ghost lying on the ground, but saw nothing but the other three.

"He killed him," one ghost said to another.

"Not intentionally," the other ghost answered, "He ain't allied with the 'good' guys. He may be a hero in this situation, but he is out of his league with us."

Xanatos looked at the three ghosts with a puzzled look on his face. Xanatos actually felt quite confident. The ghosts hadn't managed to hit him with any weaponry, yet, and he had now apparently killed one of them. He had to ignore that however, as the ghosts charged him with their weapons raised.

**Elysium**

Minerva left as quietly as she entered leaving Diana and Maximus alone. Diana took the time to examine herself briefly. First of all she noticed her clothing had changed. It was far more conservative than anything that she had seen in New York, expect maybe formal dresses.

"It's a Stola and Palla," Maximus explained, "Very common for Roman women of the upper classes."

"I thought the Romans wore togas," Diana commented in a confused voice.

"Men wore togas," Maximus corrected, "The only women who wore togas were prostitutes."

"Gross," Diana answered.

"We'll just leave it at that," Maximus finished.

Diane was about to say more when suddenly the man who lead her to the library came into the room. He glanced at Diana briefly before speeking.

"Sir, Madam, there is a disturbance in New York," the man said, "The ghosts of the Golden Horde. The gargoyles and their allies are being overpowered."

Maximus sighed and then turned to Diana, "I must deal with this. I would ask you to remain here."

"But she said I had to help you," Diana answered, referring to Minerva.

"True," Maximus answered, "But you don't know what you can do, yet. I don't want you to accidentally kill an innocent because you're testing your powers in a combat situation. I don't think you would either."

"I'd be careful," Diana insisted, "I don't want to see you hurt."

"I'm well protected, do not worry," Maximus answered gesturing to a glass case that contained his armor, "Besides, I know first hand about this. I nearly killed a fellow soldier when I first became the Legionnaire by accident because I didn't know what powers I had and what they were capable of."

"Was he okay in the end?" Diana asked, forgetting for the moment that if the man survived he would probably be thousands of year's dead.

"He survived, yes," Maximus answered, "Don't worry. You'll be fully trained in no time."

Maximus left his seat and walked toward Diana and kissed her on the forehead. He then quickly turned toward a set of doors behind the desk and in a flash of fiery light, his clothes changed to the Roman style battle armor of the Legionnaire. Diana stood in the emptied library with a partial mix of confusion, disbelief, and fear in her eyes.

**New York**

Arthur Pendragon and his group were struggling against these ghosts as well as any of the other groups. They had heard over the radio that the other groups were struggling.

"This is getting far too difficult," Arthur commented sourly, "There's just too many of them, and we can't stop them from using every avenue."

"True," Macbeth answered, firing his electricity blasters at a ghost preparing to attack Griff, "But if they are ignored, many people will be seriously hurt."

Merlin, meanwhile, was the only one having a rather easy time dealing with these ghosts. It appeared that despite all their power, they were still vulnerable to magic and his spells were successful in killing them at long range.

"However tough they are," Merlin began as he threw another magically created fireball at a ghost several blocks away, which died in a flash of light after it was hit, "We still need to find the real answer to why they're here."

"That's simple," Julia answered, while she dodged a ghost's attack, "They are here to cause trouble."

"That may be what they're doing," Merlin countered, "But that's not WHY they're here. Ghosts are generally tied to a specific area. They can exist anywhere, but they remain in a location that they're familiar with. These ghosts, being ghosts of Genghis Khan's Golden Horde generally remain in Mongolia. Someone or something had to have brought them here for some purpose."

"I smell the Unseelie," Leo muttered as he threw one ghost, while it was temporarily tangible over his shoulder.

Elsewhere, Broadway awoke with a headache that was so terrible he thought the Empire State Building landed on him. He looked around, and saw that he was still injured from his battles with the ghosts and his left eye felt like it was swollen shut. But what really worried him was the fact that Angela and the strange man that attacked them were no where to be seen.

"Angela?" Broadway called into the night, hoping for an answer, "Are you there?"

Broadway heard no answer as he pulled himself up, and he had begun to get worried.

"Maybe that guy drove her away and she's gone to get help," Broadway thought hopefully, "Maybe she's back at the castle calling for reinforcements to rescue me."

The aquamarine gargoyle climbed up the wall of the alley, wincing as he went and glided off into the night. When he arrived at the castle, he found much more frantic commotion then he expected. Lex, Candy, Caroline, and Hudson had returned. One of Caroline's horns had been broken and a makeshift cast was now holding it in place until daybreak. Lex and Candy didn't look as bad. The worst injury that Broadway saw looked like a spear went through one of their wing membranes. Hudson, he found unfortunately to be in the worst shape. He had been stabbed in several places and one of his wings looked like it had been slashed. Needless to say, no one looked particularly happy or comfortable. Owen had just finished stitching him up.

"I never picked you for a doc, Owen," Broadway commented, trying to lighten the mood.

"In working for Mr. Xanatos, I have learned it pays to specialize in everything," Owen answered back seriously, "I see you have faired as well as the others."

"Only got a few ghosts," Broadway answered, "But that's only the bad news. The worse news is that some weirdo came and kidnapped Angela."

"What?" Candy and Lex gasped, leaping from where they were seated.

Caroline slowly and carefully turned around, hoping not to upset the cast.

"Someone kidnapped Angela?" Owen asked.

"Yes," Broadway slowly nodded, "We just took out a pair of those ghosts when he dropped out of nowhere. I knocked me out with one punch, and I have no idea what happened to Angela."

Broadway paused for a moment and then asked hopefully, "Is she here?"

Owen shook his head, "All you see before are those who have returned."

"No…" Broadway moaned his wings, tail, and ears drooping.

Maximus emerged from the gate to the mortal realm he had opened from Elysium to find Manhattan enthralled in chaos. The ancient soldier of Ancient Rome scowled at the figures that ran wild through the streets. Occasionally he spotted a police unit trying to hold their own, but knowing little about ghosts and the supernatural, they did little more than excite the ghosts further into a frenzy.

"For the glory of that which is honorable," Maximus said quietly to himself, and advanced.

The Ghosts of the Golden Horde were too enthralled in their rampage to notice the Legionnaire's advance on them. One had cornered a black policeman between his cruiser and an apartment building's front steps as Maximus approached. The officer of the law raised his arm as if to block the ghost's sword, when suddenly, the ghost exploded in flash of light. When the man looked up, he saw a man in battle armor with a red cape.

"Who are you?" the man asked.

"A hero," Maximus answered and walked on with the parting words, "These beings are out of your league, Guardian of the Law and Order. This is my job."

The cop watched Maximus slowly walk off and then round a corner. Once the man was out of sight the cop blinked a few times and then asked, "What was that?"

"Geez Brook, what happened to you?" Broadway asked as Brooklyn and Amy landed in the courtyard.

Amy looked down, and with an embarrassed voice said, "Well the bones in his beak are broken."

"How did that happen?" Lex asked limping over.

Amy looked even more embarrassed and then answered, "Well there was this ghost between us, and I tried to get him before he hit Brooklyn, but he turned and saw me coming and went intangible and I ended up punching him squarely in beak."

Lex looked at his brick skinned rookery brother for a moment and then looked at Amy, who looked like she was ready to cry, and said, "He should heal at sunrise. We all haven't faired much better."

"Just goes to show we need to call the Ghostbusters in situations like this," Candy commented.

A very weak chuckle was all that escaped their lungs.

"You two haven't seen Angela or some Guatemalan looking human?" Broadway asked.

"'Guatemalan looking human'?" came a voice from above them.

The looked up to see the Guatemalans land amongst them. None were seriously harmed, but all of them had various scratches and cuts on them.

"You saw a human from Guatemala?" Zafiro asked.

"He was dressed an awful lot like the way you guys dress," Broadway answered, "He knocked me out cold and I think he took Angela."

Zafiro raised a talon to his chin and tried to think.

"He was wearing attire similar to ours?" Turquesa asked.

"Very similar," Broadway answered, "I'd say identical, but I'm not really sure."

"That can not be possible," Jade interrupted, "We dress as the Mayas did. The humans of Guatemala are not the Mayans. That civilization died centuries ago."

"I'm more curious as to how he could knock you out and kidnap Angela," Obsidiana said clearly, "Was he armed?"

"Strangely no, and from what I saw, it didn't look like he had super powers either," Broadway answered, "But I only saw him briefly."

"Perhaps a fey then?" Owen asked coming back out to check on Hudson then noticing Brooklyn.

"Unseelie?" Zafiro asked.

"That is what I would imagine," Owen answered, "And I believe that it is likely that they are the ones who summoned the ghosts here."

"Then they have Angela," Broadway gasped.

Maximus soon found that the ghosts had spread throughout Manhattan, almost as if to merely present a distraction. The Legionnaire was beginning to become tired with dealing with these attacks at random. But New York was too tightly populated a city for him to use his powers to a greater degree than to hack and slash away at ghosts one at a time. Finally he spotted one that might be able to give him some answers. The ghost of Genghis Khan himself. Creating a pilum, a Roman throwing spear, Maximus lifted the spear and heaved it at the mounted ghost. The ghost moved in time to avoid being hit, but not far enough to protect his horse. The spear went through its flesh and the horse soon disappeared.

The ghost tried to get up, but found itself under the Legionnaire's armored boot.

"So what brings you to New York?" Maximus demanded.

"Having fun, Legionnaire," the ghost answered back, "But then you don't understand that do you?"

"Probably not, but then I doubt you understand the term 'order'," Maximus smiled back, "Who summoned you here?"

"I don't know what you're talking about," the ghost protested.

"I doubt that," Maximus answered, "You'd much rather stay in Mongolia and Siberia where you can bother small villages and attract very little attention. Now I will ask you again, who summoned you here?"

Maximus pointed the tip of his sword toward the ghost's neck to emphasize his point.

"A fey," the ghost said quickly, "Called himself Huitzilopochtli."

Maximus's eyes narrowed at the mention of the Unseelie's name.

"You're going to let me go now right?" the ghost asked, "Being the good guy and all?"

"And let you harm more innocents here or who come across your path on the way back to Mongolia?" Maximus asked, "I think not. A wise soldier makes sure there is no one left to fight when he leaves a battlefield."

With that, Maximus shoved his gladius through the ghost's neck. The ghost screamed as it died, but Maximus had already ignored him. These ghosts were only a small part in what was probably to be an epic campaign between good and evil. Maximus also knew that he would have to begin training Diana as soon as possible.

Othello and Desdemona were the last of the Manhattan gargoyles to return to the castle. The armor that Othello wore on his chest protected him from the worst of wounds, but both he and Desdemona did have some cuts on them from sword slashes. Both were surprised to see the injuries that the rest of the clan received and were even more shocked to find that Angela had been kidnapped.

"It is nearing dawn," Othello muttered, "The ghosts are still rampaging, and Goliath, Elisa, and the London clan have not yet returned. I'm beginning to get worried about this."

"I hope they make it back in time and safely, my Love," Desdemona answered, "None of us are in any condition to bring them back now."

Othello only answered with a growling sigh.

Macbeth and his group were still trapped around the western edge of Manhattan. Merlin had made his way toward the interior using his magic to take out a ghost at a time, but the rest found themselves running or gliding up and down along the western edge to the island.

"This is getting tiring," Arthur commented, "We never even rode the horses this hard during the wars with the Saxons."

"It is also nearing dawn," Griff added from above them, "Those of us with wings should be getting back to the castle."

Arthur nodded and told his knight to take the gargoyles back the castle.

"We will need to get back to the castle ourselves," Macbeth muttered, "New York police would quickly arrest us for vigilantism if they could recognize us."

Macbeth dodged a ghost's attack and was about to deliver a punch to the ghost's ribs when a ball of fire flew through the air and killed the ghost.

"Merlin?" Macbeth and Arthur asked.

"I'm actually a little older than he is," came a voice from the street near them as Maximus strode into view.

"Legionnaire?" the two medieval kings asked, "What are you doing here?"

"I have traveled the entire world to protect that which is honorable from that which isn't," Maximus answered, "Right now, I'm dealing with a horde of ghosts from Mongolia."

"You've know about these things?" Macbeth asked.

"And I've been dealing with them," Maximus answered throwing five fireballs at a group of ghosts several yards away, "You return to wherever you're taking shelter for the time being. These ghosts are within my jurisdiction and you will need time to prepare yourselves. These ghosts were summoned by the Unseelie."

"We guessed that already," Arthur answered.

"Good," Maximus smiled, "Shows me that Merlin's teachings have been good Pendragon."

The sun began to peak over the skyline and Macbeth glanced eastward for a moment.

"We should go, Arthur," Macbeth said, "The Legionnaire is protected by that 'forget me' spell. We aren't."

Arthur and Macbeth then began to make their way toward a small hovercraft that Macbeth had hidden nearby.

"I will correspond and aid you as necessary," Maximus called after them before he moved on.

The battle for Maximus went much quicker after that. It appeared that he Legionnaire's presence in Manhattan was enough to send the ghosts into a panic. Maximus easily caught and dealt with several ghosts, while other escaped the island. By nearly eight o'clock, when Maximus could no longer sense the ghost's presence in New York. With an almost defeated sigh, knowing that he didn't act quick enough and that the remaining ghosts would be heard from again, Maximus returned to Elysium.

He found Diana waiting in the atrium. She was examining the small prayer sector of the room that Maximus had set up, only stopping reexamine her attire.

"You're back," Diana smiled as Maximus walked up to her, "I was getting worried."

"You needn't have," Maximus answered as she rushed to hug him, "The ghosts were quite easy to deal with."

"Ah-ha," Diane then yawned, "Oh, what time is it?"

"I'm not sure," Maximus answered, "Well after sunup on Earth."

"Oh my! I've got work!" Diana exclaimed, "I'm probably late as it is! Oh my, oh no!"

"I think you're on time," Maximus answered, "Have you slept at all? The transition from mortal human to immortal guardian is taxing, and I will need to start training you."

"Training?" Diana asked.

"Yes," Maximus sighed, "Help you figure out what your powers are and teach you how to control them. And we will need to begin as soon as possible."

Diana looked at him nervously as Maximus walked back toward his library.

"A great evil is getting ready to strike," Maximus said calmly, "I believe I will need your help if we are to succeed."

**To Be Continued…**


	9. Dreams or Nightmares

All characters appearing in Gargoyles and Gargoyles: The Goliath Chronicles are copyrighted to Buena Vista Television/The Walt Disney Company. I've taken the idea for the Unseelie Court from the TGS. No infringement of these copyrights is intended, and is not authorized by the copyright holder. All original characters are the property of SN.

Note: I'm disregarding the events of the "Goliath Chronicles", with the exception of "The Journey" because I do not wish to use the rest of the "Goliath Chronicles" as canon to my story. This story takes place immediately after "Ghosts of the Past".

Dreams or Nightmares?

By SN/TVfan

Email: Sam_Nary 

**Maddox Technologies**

"This ain't fair!" Jackal yelled at Garlon as he gestured at something behind a thick glass wall, "Your boss hired us to do a job! Now we get upgrades to do the job and what do you guys do? You go and capture the guys you wanted us to capture and you won't let us kill them!"

Garlon merely shoved his arms out and knocked Jackal back. Hyena and Wolf moved up to catch him.

"Huitzilopochtli acted rashly, yes," Garlon answered calmly, "And Lord Madoc has dealt with him. Although, in the end, Huitzilopochtli's actions proved successful."

"I don't understand why you won't let us kill them?" Wolf muttered.

"Lord Madoc and Lady Maeve have their own goals to achieve with the gargoyles," Garlon answered as he walked away, "Once they are done, you may do with them as you wish. Also remember that Huitzilopochtli did fail to capture the fourth gargoyle."

"How does a DOG fit into your plans?" Hyena growled.

Garlon smiled, "Although gargoyle beasts are far more animalistic than other gargoyles, they are still highly intelligent and can remember what has happened to them. We need all four gargoyles to make sure that the spell that one of them heard is correct."

On the other side of the glass wall that Jackal had earlier motioned to, Maddox and Maeve stood before three gargoyle statues.

"You're sure the spell was sufficient?" Maddox asked his subordinate.

"Yes," Maeve nodded, "They will remain in stonesleep until their dreams reveal the spell to us."

"And what of when they awaken?" Maddox asked, "They are not chained. Can this room contain them?"

"Most easily," Maeve assured the Unseelie leader, "Although, considering the Pack's intentions, I don't believe we have to worry about the gargoyles escaping."

Maddox only chuckled at what Maeve had just said.

**Castle Wyvern**

Macbeth stood with a worried glance at Wyvern's tallest tower. The bandaged gargoyles, except for Hudson and the Guatemalans were at their perches. Hudson was lying on a specially made bed in the gargoyle's wing of the castle, and the Guatemalans decided to remain awake. He was somewhat surprised to see that their pendant's healed their wounds as if they were in stonesleep, but he wasn't focusing on that. What the immortal Scotsman was looking at was the empty perches that Goliath, Elisa, and Angela rested on.

"I have a very bad feeling about this," Macbeth muttered.

"Hopefully Goliath and Elisa are someplace safe," came Chloe's voice from behind him.

"You should be resting," Macbeth commented.

"I wasn't sleepy and some of the beds here aren't exactly comfortable," Chloe answered.

Macbeth only sighed.

"Did you guys get rid of all those ghost thingies?" Chloe asked.

"We got rid of some," Macbeth answered truthfully, "The Legionnaire defeated the rest, but we've still suffered."

Chloe looked at Macbeth and then at the tower and said, "I'm sure everything will be fine in the end."

"I hope so," Macbeth muttered as he began to walk in, "I hope so."

Meanwhile in Xanatos's makeshift office in the Castle, Xanatos and Owen were involved their own strategic plans.

"But you have, or should I say, the Puck has his full powers back," Xanatos said, "Can't you track him somehow?"

"I could," Owen answered in his monotone voice, "But I would have to get there shortly after the Unseelie left and the Unseelie had to leave by way of flight and not teleportation."

"What's the difference?" Xanatos asked.

"If the Unseelie teleported away, I could tell that he teleported by sensing the magic, but because he teleported away, he didn't leave a trail to follow," Owen responded, "But those matters are moot now, since I was dealing with the clan's injuries from their battle with the ghosts. Even if Broadway could lead us to the exact spot where he and Angela were attacked, the trail will be cold by now."

Xanatos looked down and his wings drooped a little, "Do what you need to do to try and find them. We must save them. Otherwise…"

"I understand your personal debt to the clan," Owen answered, "I will do whatever I can do."

**Maddox Technologies Prison**

The three captured gargoyle statues lay silent inside the secluded room they had been placed in. The Unseelie henchman known a Garlon stood dutifully outside the window watching them. The spell that was cast on them would keep them locked in stonesleep until the information that Lord Madoc wanted was revealed. Garlon snickered to himself as he watched through the glass with his eyes, and using powers that no mortal had, observed the dreams that Lord Madoc had them trapped in.

**Angela's Dream**

Angela awoke with a roar from her stone sleep as she normally did as the sun set, but to her surprise what she saw was no the maze of iron and glass towers of Manhattan, but the beautiful natural landscape of Avalon.

"Avalon?" Angela gasped in surprise, "How… how did I get here?"

"Princess Katherine brought us here before we hatched, my love," came a strong voice from beside her, "Don't you remember?"

"Broadway…?" Angela began to ask but found herself looking not at her mate but at Gabriel, "Gabriel!?"

"Yes?" Gabriel replied looking slightly confused, "Are you alright? That bump on the head that the Archmage gave you must have done more damage than we thought."

That took Angela back slightly. The Archmage had been defeated years ago, and she never remembered taking a 'bump on the head'. Goliath, Bronx, and Elisa had come to the island to help them.

"What are you talking about?" Angela asked, "The Archmage was defeated years ago."

Gabriel looked at her with a great deal of worry in his face, "You must have taken a hard hit. You'd better see the Magus and Princess Katherine. They might know what to do."

Gabriel slowly helped Angela down from her perch and began to escort her inside the palace. As they walked the past Ophelia as she hopped down from her perch.

"Good evening, Gabriel, Angela," Ophelia greeted, "Feeling well."

"I am fine," Gabriel nodded, "I'm afraid the Archmage's attack has done more damage to Angela than we would fear. I'm taking her to see the Magus and Princess Katherine right now to see if there's anything they can do."

**Goliath's Dream**

Goliath awoke in an abandoned alley not far from the labyrinth entrance. He was very nervous as he pulled himself to his feet. One reason was that Elisa wasn't with him and the other was that the streets looked like they were deserted.

"I don't like this," Goliath though, "Where is everyone?"

The lavender gargoyle slowly made his way up the side of the building to catch an updraft and return to Castle Wyvern. He and Elisa must have gotten separated and she merely returned thinking he was there. He however could only gasp in shock as he reached the top of the roof.

Mutates filled the sky and were gliding about on their business toward the various buildings of New York.

"There you are!" came a voice from across the roof, "We've been waiting for you."

Goliath looked across the roof to see two mutates standing on the other end of the roof. One was male and one that Goliath easily recognized as Talon. The other was a female white tiger wearing a black and sky blue leotard. However, when the female began to speak, Goliath found himself shocked beyond belief.

"So, big-guy, exercising your biceps tonight?" the mutate teased, "You normally glide here."

"Elisa?" Goliath stammered, "What happened to you?"

**Elisa's Dream**

Elisa opened her eyes slowly as she heard the sound of two sets of footsteps running on a stone floor. Capeing her wings over her shoulders, Elisa sat up from the couch she was resting on as two you gargoyles ran up to her. One was a lavender male that had many of her facial features, but Goliath's wings who looked roughly like a ten or eleven year old. The other was a smaller tan female who had Goliath's small horns, but Elisa's weak browridge. The female looked like she was between two or three.

"MOM!" the male shouted, "Anna won't let us watch the TV."

"Huh?" Elisa asked getting to her feet.

"Anna won't let us watch TV!" the male repeated.

"Wacky Wanders!" the female cheered.

"That's 'Wonders', Diane," the male corrected, "But Anna won't let us watch."

"Those ghosts must have hit me harder than I thought," Elisa muttered under her breath as the two youngsters began to pull her toward a different spot in the castle, "I could have sworn it was only the year two thousand. I shouldn't even be laying my first egg for about eight years or so."

"What was that, Mom?" the male asked.

"Nothing," Elisa answered, "Forgive me if this sounds weird to you, but why do you keep calling me 'mom'?"

"Are you okay, mommy?" the female asked.

"You're our mom," the male replied, "That's why. Are you sure you're feeling well?"

"I'm fine," Elisa answered.

"You sure?" the male answered, "You weren't like this last night."

Elisa looked at the young gargoyle with a slight look of confusion. The hatchling was acting as if it truly was her child, but if he truly was, why couldn't she remember laying the egg?

"I guess my mind is a little off tonight," Elisa sighed as she tried to work things out in her mind.

**Castle Wyvern**

Fox sat quietly eating her lunch while Alex munched on a sandwich next to her. Her pointed ears pivoted as she heard approaching footsteps coming from behind her. She turned to see Xanatos making his way to his chair with some microwaved leftovers.

"David…?" Fox asked.

"Business wise were doing great," Xanatos chuckled, "The problem is finding the fey that kidnapped Angela. I've also called the Mazas and the Labyrinth. Goliath and Elisa didn't decide to sleep in either location. I'm beginning to think they might have been kidnapped too."

"Has Owen had any luck?" Fox asked.

"He can sense a few magical traces through Manhattan, but he isn't certain whether they're human or fey or related to those ghosts," Xanatos replied.

Fox only sighed in response.

**Angela's Dream**

"She looks fine to me, Gabriel," the Magus commented as he looked Angela over, "There seems to be no swelling or anything to indicate that the Archmage had harmed her in any way that stonesleep wouldn't heal."

Angela just stood in shock as Gabriel stood behind her with his hands protectively on her shoulders. The Magus was alive. But yet, Angela knew that couldn't be possible. He died shortly after the Archmage was defeated. And that was years ago. On top of this, Gabriel's actions were making her feel slightly uncomfortable. He was hovering over her like she would if Broadway had been acting strangely, and that's what made her uncomfortable. As far as she knew, Gabriel and Ophelia were engaged to be mated. On top of this, Angela loved Broadway. Part of her wanted to slap Gabriel for cheating on Ophelia with her and another part wanted to slap him for pursuing a mated female. Yet a still third part of her was too confused to tell. The way he acted when they had woken up not only suggested that they were mates, but that she had never left Avalon in the first place.

"I think the damage is in her mind, Magus," Gabriel answered, "She seems to believe the Archmage was defeated years ago."

The Magus paused and stared directly into Angela's eyes, as if he was trying to sense something.

"The Archmage may have cast some sort of time-lapse/memory loss spell," the Magus guessed, "Her brain looks to me as if it were under a spell."

"I haven't lost my memory," Angela protested, "The Archmage was defeated years ago. And you, Magus… you died shortly after the Archmage did. This can't be real."

"And a powerful spell he cast too," the Magus added with a chuckle, "My dear Angela, I am not dead, nor have I ever been dead. The Archmage had cast a spell on you and it's apparently wiped your memory clean."

"I think it'd be best if she rest tonight, Gabriel," Princess Katherine said from her chair, "Until the Magus can find a cure, it'd be wise to make sure she doesn't strain herself."

"Of course, Princess," Gabriel nodded, "Come, my Love. We can go to the library for tonight."

"This is all wrong," Angela murmured as she reluctantly turned to follow Gabriel out.

"Can you help her, Magus?" Katherine asked once the gargoyles were gone.

"The Archmage was a tricky fellow," the Magus answered, "And since he's dead, I'm afraid it's going to take all of my skill to simply see if there is a possible solution."

**Goliath's Dream**

"Elisa, is that you?" Goliath asked.

The white tigress mutate gave a quick glance to Talon before turning back to Goliath, "Yes, it's me. Are you okay, Big Guy?"

"How… how did this happen?" Goliath stammered weakly.

The mutate Elisa looked nervous as she answered, "Do you remember the events of the Hunter's Moon?"

"The only thing that I remember happening to you was that you nearly died falling off a waterfall," Goliath answered.

Elisa move forward quickly and placed her hands on Goliath's shoulders and asked in a fearful voice, "You mean you don't remember what happened at the cathedral?"

"Demona tried to unleash a virus on the world to destroy humanity," Goliath answered, "But from what I remember we stopped her. And I do not remember New York being populated by mutates."

"You don't remember, do you?" Elisa retorted, looked shocked and hurt.

Goliath raised a browridge to her comment before Elisa began to explain.

"We didn't get there in time," Elisa said weakly, "Demona broke the vile just as you dove to stop her. However, it turns out that it wasn't a virus to kill all humanity but a very complex mutagenic formula disguised as a virus. You were already upset that I had nearly died and when you saw me collapse to the ground from the transformation, you blamed Demona and literally tore her limb from limb."

"I would never do that," Goliath answered, sounding confused, "Even Demona doesn't deserve such a fate."

"You were very angry, Big Guy," Elisa whimpered, "And later you mourned what you did for weeks."

"I do not remember any of this," Goliath said flatly.

Elisa grasped Goliath tightly into a hug and said softly, "Oh no. Who could have done this to you? Someone's taken your memories?"

Elisa was then quiet and simply gripped Goliath tightly. Talon meanwhile looked as though he was thinking about something.

"You know, I saw something 'fly' out of that alley before we landed, Elisa," Talon commented, "I assume he was just another mutate finishing some business in one of the buildings below. But now that Goliath has come crawling out of the same alley and saying he can't remember that. I bet that guy attacked him."

"I didn't see anyone," Elisa replied.

"He was only there for a second or to, and I didn't get a good look at him," Talon commented.

"Which means we have no idea what he looks like," Elisa sighed, "We'd better get him back to the Labyrinth."

"Why the Labyrinth?" Goliath asked.

"The Quarrymen," Talon growled, "They showed up shortly after the world got mutated. They blame the entire thing on gargoyles."

"Somehow, gargoyle hatred is not new to me," Goliath mumbled.

"It gets worse, my love," Elisa said weakly, "The government took up the issue as the result of both Quarrymen activity and public outrage over their loss of their humanity. Gargoyles are an officially hunted species and the Quarrymen are the leaders of a national institution to at least capture them."

"What?!" Goliath growled.

"It's true, Goliath," Talon added, "And any mutate that associates with gargoyles or tries to defend them is at best shunned. Some are arrested. We've been luck so far however that most Quarrymen can't tell a mutate from a gargoyle."

"They don't sound very smart," Goliath commented.

"They were smarter when Castaway was leading them," Elisa growled in a hate filled voice, "But when that asshole got elected to the Senate he had publicly renounce leadership of the organization. I'd like to zap him myself if it weren't for the army of Quarrymen and secret service guards he has around with him."

Goliath glanced from Elisa to Talon with a confused look before Talon finally answered.

"Once Castaway became Senator he took over the Senate's 'Gargoyle Apprehension Committee'," Talon explained, "The first thing he did there was to get a bill passed that demanded all mutate law enforcement officials swear to join the Quarrymen in the hunt. Elisa and Matt got fired when they refused to take the oath."

**Elisa's Dream**

The two hatchlings lead Elisa into the clan's TV room. Sitting in an easy chair in front of the television was a black furred female wolf-like mutate. She looked like she was in her mid or late twenties. She was watching what Elisa could only assume was a reality show. The mutate turned her head to look at Elisa, letting her see the blue furred fox-mark around the mutate's left eye.

"Hi Aunt Elisa," the mutate said politely, "Is it time for my training lessons already?"

"Is this 'Anna'?" Elisa thought to herself, "Could this be the mutate child Fox is pregnant with?"

"I thought we'd skip that tonight," Elisa finally spoke, "But I would like to talk to you. How about you let the hatchlings watch their show."

The mutate glared at the two hatchlings before answering, "Sure, Aunt Elisa."

Elisa watched for a moment as the mutate got from her chair and walked calmly toward her. The two hatchlings cheered and jumped onto the chair. The male taking his sister in his lap.

"Those two and 'Wacky Wonders'," the mutate chuckled, "With you and Uncle Goliath giving one gliding lessons I'm surprised they're interested in that show. It only shows the strange things that normal humans do."

Elisa glanced back as the television screen changed to show an image of a man in a clown suit riding a unicycle upside down and peddling with his hands.

"See what I mean?" the mutate laughed.

"As long as they don't watch anything that they're not supposed to, I'm not going to demand what shows they can or can not watch," Elisa answered.

The mutate nodded, "So, Aunt Elisa, what did you wish to talk to me about?"

Elisa rubbed her head for a moment muttered, "Where do I start?"

The mutate merely watched curiously.

"Your name wouldn't happen to be 'Anna' would it?" Elisa then asked.

"Yes," the mutate answered, "Short for Anastasia Renard Xanatos. You should know this Aunt Elisa. You helped deliver me. Are you okay?"

"I'm not sure," Elisa answered, "It's strange. I just woke up a little while ago and I suddenly have two hatchlings."

"You've had Carlos for more twenty years, Aunt Elisa, and Diane hatched a few years ago," Anna replied.

"I don't remember laying even a single egg," Elisa responded, "The last thing I remember was a patrolling with Goliath to hunt down some ghosts that were attacking the city, and Fox as still pregnant with… with you apparently."

"Ouch," Anna commented, "Sounds like someone's taken away your memories or something. Question is who and exactly when. You weren't like this when you first awoke from your stonesleep, Aunt Elisa. But then you still felt tired…"

"Are you saying something has happened to me?" Elisa asked.

"I can't be sure," Anna answered, "We'd best check with Owen and Alex. If they don't have any answers, I'll check with my dad tomorrow. It isn't that far out to Xandu."

"Xanatos is at Xandu?" Elisa asked.

"Yeah," Anna nodded, "Once he retired he decided that Xandu would be a better retirement home for him and my mom. You know, away from Wyvern and all the assorted superhero work that goes along with it."

**Streets of Manhattan**

Macbeth and Arthur slowly made there way through as many back streets and alleys as they could.

"Is there any purpose to this?" Arthur asked.

"Goliath and Elisa are missing and Angela has been kidnapped," Macbeth answered, "Owen is searching the way he knows and neither the gargoyles nor Xanatos can search on their own till night fall. We meanwhile will search during the day. Perhaps we'll get lucky and at least find Goliath and Elisa's sleeping forms in one piece."

"You'd think with all our previous encounters with the Unseelie we'd be able to predict what they would do," Arthur muttered.

"Remember that they came to us and we had to fight on their terms," Macbeth answered, "Finding them and forcing them to fight on ours is something far different."

**Maddox Technologies**

"The plan continues to go smoothly, my Lord," Maeve congratulated Maddox as he sat his desk.

Maddox looked up to see Maeve standing at the door to his office.

"Has one of the gargoyle's dreams revealed the spell yet?" Maddox demanded.

"No, but all goes according to plan," Maeve answered, "We should be getting answers soon."

Maddox smiled, "I love it when plans come together."

"What shall we do with the gargoyles when the world is ours?" Maeve asked, "We can not let the Pack kill them all. There would be no sport for us."

Maddox raised his head as if in deep thought for a moment then said in evil voice, "There was one aspect of Roman culture that I enjoyed. Despite all their honor, politics, and intellectual study of the Greeks, the Romans did have a good idea about what sports were. The gargoyles and any who fight against us will be our slaves, and what better to do with them than to have them fight each other… to the death!"

Maeve laughed.

**Angela's Dream**

Gabriel led Angela quietly into the library and sat down on an Ancient Roman style couch.

"Is there any specific book you wish to read or do you wish to simply rest, my Love?" Gabriel asked.

"I just want to know what's going on," Angela answered, "I want to know why I'm here. I want to know how the Magus came back to life. Everything."

Gabriel looked at Angela with a very worried look, "Angela, you need to rest. The Archmage has done you serious harm. We are here because Princess Katherine brought us here. The Magus is alive because he never died."

"But he did," Angela argued, "Don't you remember? He died while talking to Goliath and Princess Katherine."

"Goliath?" Gabriel asked.

"My father," Elisa replied, "Don't you remember? You've met him."

"The only gargoyles I've met are our brothers and sisters," Gabriel answered, "Princess Katherine, Guardian Tom, and the Magus have mentioned a gargoyle called Goliath. But he is still cursed to sleep in Castle Wyvern."

"No!" Angela protested, "He was awakened six years ago. He, Bronx, and Elisa came here to help us fight the Archmage. This whole place here is wrong."

Angela then sat down on the couch, tears forming in her eyes.

"Angela, Goliath and his clan still sleep," Gabriel insisted, "And I don't even recognize the other two names you mentioned."

"But they are awake and you do know them," Angela said, "If you'd only come to New York with me you'll see."

"New York?" Gabriel asked.

Angela only screamed and stormed out. Gabriel quickly got up to follow her, not knowing what was going on.

**Goliath's Dream**

The group made it to the Labyrinth without incident. Inside the underground tunnels Goliath found both his clan and the clones on alert. Elisa and Talon had explained to him that the clan and her family had been fighting a sort of outlaw war against Castaway and his Quarrymen. The whole thing confused him. Goliath remembered none of this, and in fact his memories told him a totally different story. The Quarrymen were created but they never gained the power that Elisa and Talon described, yet his eyes showed a different story.

Hudson had been blinded and one hand was missing. Broadway was missing a small section of his tail, and there were visible scars on his skin. Brooklyn, Lexington, and Angela were in much the same condition. Bronx was also suffering from multiple battle wounds and walked with a pronounced limp.

"I can't believe this!" Goliath exclaimed, shocked that his clan would be in such condition.

"Neither can I," came a new voice as Demona walked out of the shadows.

"Demona?!" Goliath growled half in shock and half in suspicion.

"Is that the way to speak to your former second and the only member of your clan who can move about above ground during the day?" Demona chuckled evilly.

"What?" Goliath asked in a confused voice.

"Someone took his memory while he was scouting," Elisa explained, "We don't know who or how."

"What is going on?" Goliath asked turning to Elisa.

"Around the same time that Castaway became Senator, Demona realized that she couldn't continue on her own," Elisa explained, "She began searching for someone to help her. She found Angela first."

"I was quite shocked to find that you and the clan had finally come to your senses," Demona smiled, "Humans are nothing but trouble."

"Mutates," Elisa growled, her eyes glowing white.

"Mutates," Demona chuckled, "As I was saying, when I learned that you, your clan, and your mutate allies and mate were fighting a secret war with the Quarrymen and the government, I decided you were my best and only hope."

"Demona agreed to rejoin the clan and to stop her genocidal campaign to rid the world of humans," Talon added, "But that due to the fact that nearly everyone is our enemy and everyone has the ability to fight a gargoyle if they come across one, the situation is sort of a 'kill or be killed' situation."

Goliath sighed heavily, "I need to rest somewhere."

"Of course, my love," Elisa whispered, "Demona, we'll need to go over some sort of strategy to find the guy that took Goliath's memory."

"Right, detective," Demona nodded.

**Elisa's Dream**

"I can see that some sort of magic is affecting her memory," Owen commented.

"Is there anything you can do?" Elisa asked, "If something has taken my memories, I'd like them back as soon as possible."

"I'm sorry Aunt Elisa, but due to my mutate genetic make-up, my fey powers won't seem to activate," Anna sighed, "Puck and Alex have tried, even Grandma has tried, but nothing has seemed to work."

"Owen and I can't do much without knowing whether it was fey or human magic that cast the spell,"

"Is there anyway this could be done sooner?" Elisa asked, "Any way that we could get my memories back easier? I doubt there's any evidence of anyone tampering on my mind."

"Only on Avalon," Owen said flatly.

**Castle Wyvern**

The clan broke free of their stoneshells as they always did when the sun set. Broadway leaped from his pedestal ahead of the others and moved quickly toward the Great Hall's outer doors. Once he arrived there he found Xanatos and Fox standing by a large table, as if they were waiting for him.

"Did you find her?" Broadway asked in a nervous voice as the rest of the clan fell in behind him.

Xanatos looked down, "I'm afraid not. Arthur and Macbeth physically searched the area, but they couldn't find anything. Owen even tried to see if he could trace the magical energy signature of the fey that kidnapped them. But there are simply too many magical signatures in New York, both fey and human, that he couldn't trace them."

Broadway looked both frightened by this and soon turned to the clan as if to leave.

"Where are you going?" Brooklyn asked.

"I'm going to look for Angela," Broadway insisted, "That's what we ought to do."

Brooklyn looked from Broadway to Xanatos and then back to his rookery brother.

"And how do we do that?" Brooklyn questioned, "Macbeth and Arthur couldn't find anything. He also said that Owen couldn't find an exact answer. Elisa, Goliath, and Angela may have even been taken off the island."

"All the more reason to look," Broadway insisted, "She's my mate, why are you trying to stop me."

"I'm not trying to stop you," Brooklyn shook his head, "I'm trying to keep you from getting kidnapped."

"If Amy were missing you'd go off searching for her," Broadway growled.

"I'd be stupid if I did," Brooklyn shot back, "Just gliding around won't find them, Broadway. We need a plan."

"What are ye thinking, lad?" Hudson asked.

"The world is too big for us to simply go around looking. We need to narrow the area that we're searching." Brooklyn explained and then turned to Xanatos and Fox, "Now, you said that Owen could detect the sites where magic had been used but he couldn't trace them?"

"Yes," Xanatos nodded, "Most are too old to really trace, and he told me that many of them were YEARS old."

"Could you get a map with those locations marked on it?" Brooklyn asked.

"Of course," Xanatos nodded and turned toward a far door to summon Owen.

"What are ye planning?" Hudson asked, sounding a bit more insistent.

"Searching the locations where Owen detected magic will give us places to look," Brooklyn answered, "That way we're not going on a wild goose chase around the entire city."

"And what if they're not there?" Broadway asked.

"They will have to be," came Owen's voice from the side as he and Xanatos returned, "If the Unseelie Court has captured them, they will stay close by them. This means that our missing comrades will be near a 'magical location'."

Xanatos then handed out several sheets of paper to the waiting gargoyles.

"We got the maps made," Xanatos announced.

Brooklyn nodded as he looked at the paper. Owen had apparently gone to the length of dividing the city into different sectors.

"Okay, Broadway, Amy, you'll come with me and we'll search sector one," Brooklyn said somewhat nervously, "Hudson, Lexington, and Candy, you three take sector two. Othello, Desdemona, and Caroline, you take sector three."

Brooklyn paused before turning to the London and Guatemalan clans.

"My clan and I will take the fourth sector," Zafiro volunteered.

"We'll take the fifth sector," Leo added stepping forward.

"Thanks," Brooklyn smiled, "Your help will be most appreciated."

**Angela's Dream**

"Angela, you've got to come out of there," Gabriel pleaded to the closed door.

"NO!" Angela yelled back, "This is wrong."

"What's going on?" Ophelia asked Gabriel as she came up.

Gabriel then made several frustrated gestures at the close door and nearly yelled, "Angela has looked herself inside and won't let anyone in. She keeps saying 'this is wrong' and won't explain why."

"Should I get Princess Katherine and the Magus?" Ophelia asked.

"I think you should," Gabriel sighed, "I don't know what else to do."

Angela meanwhile sat inside the room crying. Not only had she been pulled away somehow from her father and her clan and her mate, nothing on Avalon was as it should be. The Magus shouldn't be alive. As much as Angela wanted him to be alive, she knew he was dead. On top of this, they had no memories of Goliath, Elisa, and Bronx ever coming to Avalon. If only she could show them New York and that the clan was awake there, maybe they'd believe her, but the way things were going, she didn't expect it.

Suddenly the door unlocked and seemed to open on its own, revealing the Magus standing in the doorway.

"Angela?" the Magus asked, "Are you alright?"

"NO!" Angela screamed back, "This is all wrong! You're dead! I know I was there! Goliath, Bronx, and Elisa where there! It's you who can't remember!"

The Magus glanced back to Katherine, Gabriel, and Ophelia, who only shrugged.

"Angela, it's the spell that's doing this," the Magus insisted, "You have to fight it. Goliath and his clan are asleep at Castle Wyvern in Scotland. I haven't died, and I have no idea who 'Bronx' or 'Elisa' are."

"NO!" Angela yelled, "They're awake and alive in New York! Princess Katherine! Gabriel! Ophelia! You went there, why don't you believe me?"

"We've never left Avalon," Gabriel answered before anyone could speak.

"If only you'd come to New York with me, maybe then you'd believe me," Angela moaned.

"New York?" Princess Katherine asked.

"I think it's a human city or something outside of Avalon," Gabriel answered, "She's been saying those two words together a lot."

"Angela, only the guardian leaves Avalon," the Magus answered, "He's the only one young enough and experienced enough to survive there. Life is much more dangerous in the outside world than it is here. And considering the time difference between Avalon and the rest of the world, I'd assume the danger there has grown greater."

"I've been there," Angela answered, "I know how 'dangerous' it is. If you don't think you can survive, at least let me go alone."

"I won't let you go alone," Gabriel insisted.

"Gabriel?" Princess Katherine gasped.

"Your majesty, if my mate will not believe what you say, the only thing to do is show her that what we've said is true," Gabriel insisted, "I will journey with Angela to 'New York' and prove to her that the clan isn't there. Then we will go to the Scotland and I'll show here where the clan sleeps."

"Magus, tell them they cannae do this," Katherine protested, "They could be hurt!"

"I don't think we have an option, Princess," the Magus answered, "I have no spell that can fix Angela and even if I did, I would need the Grimorum to do it."

"And the Grimorum was destroyed with the Archmage," Ophelia added.

"Very well," Princess Katherine sighed, "Ye may go to 'New York' and then Scotland, Angela. But ye will take Gabriel, Ophelia, and the Guardian with you. Ye'll be safer that way."

"They're awake and alive in New York," Angela insisted, "I just know it."

**Goliath's Dream**

Goliath sat uncomfortably on a large rope supported bed on an itchy wool blanket. He was told the bed was Elisa's and to his surprise, a large stone block that resembled his pedestal at Castle Wyvern sat a few feet away from the bed. He let his thoughts wander. Wherever he was things were vastly different from the world he remembered. The clan had failed to stop Demona from unleashing her 'virus' only to find it was a complex mutagenic formula. Elisa and every other human had been turned into mutates as a result. He had become enraged and 'killed' Demona. Castaway and the Quarrymen were still founded, and gained enough power to be a federal institution and Castaway was now New York's representative in the United States Senate. Elisa had been fired from her job and was aiding the clan in a quasi war against the world to protect the clan and probably the rights of gargoyles everywhere. On top of this, Demona had rejoined the clan and seemed to get along with Elisa and the others.

This conflicted with what Goliath knew, because he remembered that Demona was stopped. The Quarrymen were created, but never became powerful enough to be considered a threat or a help to the Federal government, and Elisa had been turned into a gargoyle by the Mage. But yet his eyes told him something different.

"This can't be real," Goliath thought out loud.

"I'd quite agree," Demona muttered as she entered the room, "From what your mate has explained, they believe someone attacked you and robbed you of your memories. I find it doubtful that someone could do that so easily. Even I had trouble trying to myself of you."

"What do you want?" Goliath asked.

"Your mate has asked me to scan you mind magically," Demona explained, "To see if your memory loss is permanent, and whether we need to find the guy that did this to you or not."

Goliath didn't answer.

"I promise it will be painless," Demona said politely.

"Very well," Goliath sighed, "Maybe we will figure out what is wrong."

Demona nodded and raised her hands to the sides of Goliath's head. The immortal gargoyle chanted briefly before a chain of emerald energy began to flow between her head and Goliath's. After a few moments Demona removed her hands with a slightly shocked look on her face.

"What is it?" Goliath asked somewhat nervously.

"Whoever cast the spell that took your memory was a very powerful magic user," Demona sighed in frustrated voice, "I can't even identify whether it was a human… err… mutate or fey."

"Is there anything you can do?" Elisa's voice echoed in the room as the tigress mutate entered.

"I don't think so," Demona sighed, "The only ones who could even analyze this spell live on Avalon."

**Elisa's Dream**

"Avalon?" Elisa asked, "You're saying you can't do anything?"

"We can not do anything that wouldn't require an extensive amount of time," Owen answered, "On Avalon however, it is more likely that you could find a better solution."

Elisa looked down, "That might be our best shot. I've apparently got two hatchlings that I don't remember having. I have no idea how I've lost my memory, but I know I can't wait very long to restore it. I don't want to have to continually explain to them that I can't remember."

Owen and Alex nodded.

"So recite the words to take us to Avalon," Owen commanded.

"Can't you just transport us there?" Elisa asked, "You have your full powers back."

It was Alex who answered, "Uncle Owen's banishment still stands, even though he has his full powers. Also because of some troubles with some other Fey, Grandma has made it impossible for any Fey on Avalon to leave or any Fey outside of Avalon to enter by 'Fey' means."

"So the only way to get to Avalon is by 'human' means?" Elisa asked.

Alex and Owen nodded.

"I'm not a sorceress you know," Elisa pointed out.

"We can provide all the magical encouragement you need," Owen answered.

Elisa sighed, "Very well. I'd like to wait until Goliath returns."

"As you wish," Owen nodded.

**Manhattan**

"Why am I not surprised this place is on the map?" Brooklyn muttered as he thrust the map Owen made back into his pocket.

"What place?" Amy asked.

"Destine Mansion," Brooklyn replied coldly.

"Demona can't use Fey magic," Broadway pointed out, "It was a Fey that took Angela and probably Goliath and Elisa as well."

"True," Brooklyn nodded, "But that doesn't cross her off my list of suspects. She could have enlisted a member of the Third Race to help her in some sort of scheme. Remember when she had Titania's Mirror?"

"I don't think she'd kidnap her own daughter, Brooklyn," Broadway answered, "I'd agree that she's not one we should associate with, but even Demona has to have a limit somewhere."

"And as the good guys, we're going to find it," Brooklyn answered as he banked toward Demona's mansion.

Amy and Broadway followed along behind. They quietly landed on one of the mansion's balconies. Brooklyn was about to knock one of the doors in when Broadway stopped him.

"We should just knock," Broadway said, "She'll only fight us if we knock the door down. And then we'll never find Angela."

"Don't give up hope," Amy encouraged, "We'll find all of them eventually."

Broadway nodded while Brooklyn knocked rather loudly on the door. The three gargoyles watched threw the glass windows of the door to see a white lion-like gargoyle come and open the door.

"More of Demona's clan?" Wedrington asked as he opened door.

"Former clan," Brooklyn corrected, "Is Demona here? We have some questions to ask her."

"She's busy with something in some sort of lab of hers, but I guess it'd be okay," Wedrington replied and waved them in, "She hasn't done something evil has she?"

"That's what we're trying to find out," Brooklyn replied.

**Angela's Dream**

The mist slowly cleared as Angela, Gabriel, and Guardian Tom approached New York on their skiff. Angela was quietly thankful that it didn't send them all over the world this time.

"Here we are," Angela announced, "Now all we need to do is find the Eyrie Building. Xanatos has Castle Wyvern atop the building and the clan is there."

Angela moved quickly to find a place from which to get airborne. Gabriel allowed Tom to climb up on his back before moving after her.

"Who is 'Xanatos'?" Tom asked.

"It must be someone that the Archmage implanted in her mind when he cast the spell on her," Gabriel replied, "That's the only answer I can give."

When they finally found Angela again, she was standing on the roof of a building, staring off at the Eyrie Building. An Eyrie Building she was surprised to see had no castle at the top.

"I don't understand," Angela said, at the verge of tears, "I know he had the castle there."

"The castle is still in Scotland," Guardian Tom said trying to sound helpful, "Goliath and his clan are still there."

"They can't be there," Angela almost whimpered, "They have to be alive."

"They are alive," Tom said, "Just sleeping. Come on, we'll show you where they are and put this whole mess to bed."

The three returned to the skiff and set of into the mist.

**Goliath's Dream**

"Avalon?" Goliath asked.

"Yes," Demona answered, "I'm your only shot at analyzing the spell here, and I can't analyze it."

"Couldn't we just get the guy who cast the spell?" Elisa asked.

Demona turned to Goliath, "Can you remember being attacked?"

"I do not remember anything about 'this' world," Goliath responded.

"See," Demona pointed out, "If he can't remember who attacked him, it will take forever for us to find the wizard that did this. Also, Avalon is protected. Angela's clan is there. You'll be safe."

Goliath said nothing.

"You must do this, Goliath," Demona insisted, "If not for yourself then for Angela. If you and your mutate love manage to have a child it will probably be born alive. But Angela and Broadway will have an egg which will take ten years to hatch. Even I can not guard an egg from millions of mutates bent on gargoyle destruction."

A single tear went down Goliath's check. This world he found himself in reminded him entirely of the massacre. The only difference was that the humans of the massacre's time didn't want total destruction of all gargoyles. He looked at the mutate Elisa. While he still found her beautiful, he couldn't deny that somehow how her life here had been rough. Goliath was sure that this wasn't his world, but he had no idea how he got here. It could be his world and he's just forgotten, as the others have insisted. And if it wasn't, he needed to find away to get back to his world and from what he'd heard so far, Demona didn't know the answer.

"We will discuss this with the clan," Goliath stated, "If they wish to stay, we stay. If they wish to go, we go. A clan lives and dies together."

**Elisa's Dream**

"You can not remember, my love?" Goliath rumbled in a concerned voice, "You were fine when we awake this evening."

"I felt tired," Elisa replied, "But I can't remember anything of the hatchlings, almost as if we hadn't actually got to that yet."

"And Owen told you that Avalon is the only place where your memories can be restored," Goliath continued.

Elisa nodded, "But again, I don't know if this is an illusion or if I've really lost my memory."

"It can not be an illusion," Goliath answered, "Not here. Not against us."

Elisa looked down.

"Come," Goliath motioned, placing a hand on Elisa's shoulder, "Let us tell Owen. We can trust him. I will even go with you."

"Thanks, Big Guy," Elisa answered nervously as she turned to follow him.

**Destine Mansion**

"As much as I enjoy being annoyed by you people," Demona growled, "I have no time for it tonight."

"We're not here to 'annoy' you," Brooklyn began.

"I don't want you here at all!" Demona growled.

"You could at least listen to what we have to say," Amy said slowly in defense of Brooklyn, "Or are you that heartless?"

"Especially when it concerns your daughter?" Broadway added.

That got Demona's attention, although it was not the sort of attention they wanted. The immortal gargoyle pushed Amy aside and lifted Broadway and Brooklyn into the air.

"What have YOU done to her?" Demona growled.

Brooklyn and Broadway were too busy trying to get free.

"We've done nothing!" Amy yelled, not realizing that her eyes were glowing because of Demona's attack on Brooklyn, "It was some fey thing."

Demona glanced at Amy and noticed the enraged look on her face. If it weren't for the fact that Angela was in danger somewhere, she might have been amused by what she saw. The immortal gargoyle dropped Brooklyn and Broadway roughly to the ground.

"What?" Demona asked.

"It was some member of the third race," Broadway gasped as he tried to regain his breath, "He attacked me and Angela while we were fighting these ghosts. I was knocked out, while the guy made off with Angela, and we've been looking for her ever since. We think he took Goliath and Elisa also."

"And you think I kidnapped them," Demona interjected.

"No," Brooklyn growled, "We're trying to find them by checking any and every place that contains a magical signature. Your mansion is one of them. If you didn't have Angela, it was our idea that you could at least help us find her."

Brooklyn produced the map from his pouch and presented it to Demona. Demona took it and looked at it for less than a minute.

"You do know that most of these sites are likely to be sights of human magic, and unrelated to the fey," Demona commented.

"It's better than knocking on doors," Brooklyn commented.

"Will you… can you… help us?" Broadway asked.

"As big a fool as Goliath is for guarding humans," Demona answered, "I will not allow anyone to harm my daughter."

"Thank you," Broadway said quickly.

"Come, I have a spell that can locate a gargoyle within a hundred square miles," Demona said as she walked further into her study.

"But Owen couldn't find them that way," Amy blurted.

"Owen is a fey, himself," Demona interjected, "Fey magic can be blocked by Iron. If a fey kidnapped them, they likely do not want Titania to figure out what they're up to. So they will hide their prisoners behind Iron. Mortal magic is not limited in that regard."

Brooklyn turned to Wedrington as he stood watching everything. The white lion-like gargoyle looked completely surprised by what he saw.

"You'd think she'd welcome us with open arms?" Brooklyn asked.

"No," Wedrington stammered, "But I didn't think she'd just up and attack you."

**Elsewhere in Manhattan**

Caroline landed on the roof of one building and pulled her map out of one of the pockets in her denim cutoffs that she was wearing. She looked at it intently as Othello and Desdemona landed behind her.

"Is this the right spot, clan sis… Caroline?" Desdemona asked.

"According to the map it is," Caroline nodded as she cloaked her wings over her shoulders.

The two older gargoyles then looked into the alley below them while Caroline moved to scan the roof.

"I see nothing," Othello commented, "There is nothing here."

Desdemona noticed the frustration that had built up in her mate's face.

"We will find them, my love," Desdemona whispered to the grey male.

"I hope so," Othello answered, "I hope so."

In the alley below them, a dark head peaked out from behind the dumpster it was using as a hiding spot.

"Why did we hide from them," challenged a voice from behind.

The head turned to see a cougar-like mutate and a blood red female gargoyle.

"They're searching for something," Thailog commented, "But it doesn't appear to be us."

"There were only three of them," Fang argued, "We coulda taken them."

"Goliath's siblings and the former human are no concern at this moment," Thailog responded, "And why aren't you two training my new clan?"

"I have them working on our base defenses," Holly answered, "Those ghosts ran amok everywhere. And since they killed two of our followers, they've been nervous that they'll come back."

"Swords and armor would work better against those ghosts than laser rifles," Thailog commented.

Fang and Holly watched the large clone move out into the alley and then listened to a slight growl escape his lips.

"Goliath and Elisa are not among these patrols," Thailog muttered, "We must return to our base, for now."

"We coulda taken those three!" Fang yelled.

"True, but there'd be no fun in defeating Goliath's clan without Goliath there to watch," Thailog replied, "Besides, thanks to miss Holly, we are gaining new recruits to fight Goliath's clan of weaklings."

**Destine Mansion**

Demona, using her magic, hovered over a map of Manhattan made of sand, with strange compass-like device in her hand. Brooklyn, Amy, Broadway, and Wedrington watched in awe as she chanted over and over in Latin. Demona released the compass as the map she made began to glow with a bright light. The compass floated around aimlessly for a few moments before finally settling over a single building.

"They're in that building!" Demona announced confidently.

"Let's go!" Broadway yelled before anyone could say anything else.

**Angela's Dream**

The mist cleared again as Angela and the others arrived at the cliffs in Scotland where she thought Castle Wyvern once rested. To her utter shock and horror, the damaged castle still stood there. Moss covered its towers, making the once grand fortress of the medieval period look old and decaying.

"This can't be real," Angela muttered as she scrambled on foot up the hill toward the castle gates.

She found them open and she rushed in as Gabriel and Tom rushed after her. By the time they were inside the castle's former courtyard, Angela was nearing the top of the tallest tower. The lavender female soon crouched near the stone figure of the gargoyle she knew as Broadway.

"This can't be real," Angela repeated, "Wake up Broadway!"

The stone gargoyle didn't answer.

"Wake up!" Angela screamed.

"He can't," Tom said glumly as he walked out from the stairs onto the same level, "The castle has not risen above the clouds, so the clan sleeps."

"This can't be real," Angela moaned dropping to Broadway's feet.

"But it is real, my love," Gabriel said calmly as he arrived.

"DON'T CALL ME THAT!" Angela yelled in frustration, "This can't be real!"

"We must return to Avalon," Tom said, "Perhaps the Magus has found a way to cure you."

"No!" Angela insisted, "We must help them!"

Tom looked at the stone figures that Angela was pointing to, and sighed, "We can't. The Magus isn't strong enough in magic to raise the castle above the clouds. Not without the Grimorum anyway. And without the counterspell, the Magus can not undo the spell he cast. We must return to Avalon, before we're caught."

Angela looked down, defeated and with tears flowing from her eyes.

"Okay," she whimpered finally.

The three returned slowly and sadly to the boat, and Angela seemed the most depressed of all of them.

"It will be okay," Gabriel encouraged, "Someday, someone will manage to awaken them. Hopefully while we're still alive."

Angela could barely nod as she spared the empty castle a final glance. Tom had meanwhile moved to the head of bow of the small while Gabriel at the stern pushed the boat off into the water. Both gargoyles soon watched Tom raise his hands to begin the chant that would take them back to Avalon. Nothing happened.

"Shouldn't we be back in Avalon by now, Guardian?" Gabriel asked after a few moments.

Tom seemed to be just as surprised by the fact as the others were.

"I… I… I can't remember the words to get back to Avalon," Tom stammered in shock.

"WHAT!?" Gabriel yelled, "But you've left Avalon and returned numerous times. How can you not remember?"

"I don't know," Tom said defensively, "Maybe the Archmage's spell affected more than just Angela."

Tom then turned to Angela and said calmly, "You must help us, Angela. Your mind has been telling you you've left Avalon. Maybe you can remember the words."

"I remember going with Goliath, Elisa, and Bronx around the world," Angela said, "When we 'returned' to Avalon, it was because we were needed to deal with Oberon's return. We never said anything before."

"And in actuality," Gabriel pointed out, "This is the first time any of us have left the island."

Tom's face seemed to betray and anger that wasn't normally his as he pulled his head back and screamed, "NO!"

Elsewhere, the stone figure of a gargoyle suddenly cracked as the gargoyle inside began to wake up. Angela flexed her wings and roared as she finally woke up.

"Broadway?" Angela asked as she shook the last bits of stone off of her skin.

This time she found herself in a large metal room with a very thick glass window that made up one of the room's walls. The glass was so thick that she could only see two figures standing outside it.

"The spell didn't succeed with that one," a male voice commented from the other side of the glass wall.

"She doesn't know the words," a female voice countered, "The spell released her because of that. But do not worry. The other two are still under the spell's influence."

Angela gasped at the words 'other two' and looked around. She gasped in horror to see both Goliath and Elisa locked in stonesleep with a strange green glow around their stone forms.

"Please let this be a dream," Angela moaned as she moved toward the two statues.

**Goliath's Dream**

Goliath and his group stood in a circle in the main Labyrinth chambers. Demona, Talon, Maggie, and Claw were also there.

"Ye're sayin' we go to Avalon?" Hudson asked.

"I apparently need to go to solve the problems of my 'lost' and 'altered' memories," Goliath answered, "Demona has suggested that the clan take refuge there from the prejudice that dominates this world."

The clan members glanced at each other.

"Maggie, Claw, and I can't leave," Talon announced finally, "The labyrinth dwellers still need our help, and no matter what you do, you need someone to speak for you here."

"I also can't leave," Demona added, "I have promised that I won't try to 'wipe out' humanity, but the current war that is going on is mine to fight. Besides, my immortality gives me the upper hand."

"I would say the clan should go," Hudson said a few moments later, "I'm too old ta be continuin' all this. I would like ta end my days in peace."

"I think there still could be some good we could do here," Brooklyn began, "But the way things are going? Should we do good here? Everything we do is hated and degraded. We save someone's life and we're electrocuted for it. If the mutates want to kill themselves over all this, I say let them do it."

"I agree with Brooklyn," Lexington added, "I'm tired of helping people only to be treated like a venomous snake."

"Father, I have missed my brothers and sisters," Angela said weakly, "When I left to join you, I wanted to see the world, but other than Elisa, her family, and Matt, it is a world I do not want to be involved with."

"I don't want to have my hatchlings come into a world that hates them, Goliath," Broadway said weakly, "We had to deal with it in the middle ages and we have to deal with it now. I don't want my kids to deal with it in the future."

"I simply wish to remain at your side, my love," Elisa finished.

Goliath looked down. This world had truly treated his clan horribly. The clan he remembered was upbeat and relatively safe. But now he was confused over whether or not those memories were even real. Only Oberon or Titania could cure him or at least determine what was exactly wrong.

"Very well," Goliath said, "We'll leave as soon as a boat can be prepared."

It was about an hour later when the battered and weakened clan pushed a large wooden boat out into the East River. Goliath stood weakly at the bow of the vessel and carefully remembered what Guardian Tom had said to take them to Avalon before he, Elisa, and Bronx went to Avalon to fight the Archmage.

Goliath raised his hands and announced, "Vocante venti fortunate ex rege Oberonis et hic navis flugem regate ad orae Avalonis."

**Elisa's Dream**

Elisa and Goliath stood on a small wooden raft by the east side docks as an adult looking Brooklyn and Amy waved them off.

"We will try to be back as soon as possible," Goliath said, "Brooklyn, you're in charge until we return."

"I won't let you down, Goliath," Brooklyn replied.

"And we'll make sure to look after your hatchlings," Amy added.

Elisa and Goliath nodded and turned to look into the mist.

"You remember the words I told you?" Goliath asked.

Elisa slowly nodded and raised her hands, and remembered the words Tom used to years ago and said, "Vocante venti fortunate ex rege Oberonis et hic navis flugem rate ad orae Avalonis."

**Maddox Technologies**

Angela stumbled back as Goliath and Elisa broke free from their stoneshells. The two stumbled for a moment as if they were stiff.

"Man, how long were we out?" Elisa asked out loud.

"I don't know," Goliath answered, "But if feels like we slept through sunset."

The two other gargoyles then noticed Angela.

"That guy got you too!" was all Angela could mutter.

"What 'guy'?" Goliath asked.

"Some guy attacked me and Broadway while we were hunting those ghosts," Angela explained, "If anything's happened to him…"

"I'm sure he's fine," came a new voice from behind the glass.

The three gargoyles turned to see several figures outside the glass wall. One large figure lifted its arm and brought it down on the glass wall and it shattered into millions pieces. The prisoners then gasped at what they saw. Two of the faces were new and entirely robotic. One was somewhat familiar, but definitely altered from when they last saw him. The other two and minutely different bodies, but their faces were still the same.

"The Pack!" Goliath growled.

**Outside the Maddox Building**

It took awhile for the entire clan to gather on the roof the Maddox Technologies building. Most were surprised that Demona, herself had joined the rescue party, while Demona, after seeing Leo, was thankful that Wedrington was told to remain at her mansion. The last thing she wanted was two lion-like gargoyles getting into a discussion, and possibly a fight, considering how confused and curious that Wedrington seemed to be about everything.

"Are you sure this is the right spot?" Candy asked.

"This is the location my spell indicated," Demona answered confidently, "And even Owen's map indicates that he detected magical energy coming from this building."

"So this is their base here," Griff commented, "Bit out in the open, wouldn't you say?"

"I don't care how open it is," Broadway growled as he tossed a large air conditioning vent aside, "I want to get in, get Angela and the others, and get out."

"And that's all it should be," Brooklyn cut in, "We all need to stick together. Especially because Demona and Merlin are the only ones that can trade blows with any fey we come across."

Demona then pushed Broadway aside and leaped in first. The aquamarine male shrugged it off and quickly followed. The rest of the clans followed along behind them.

"So where are the Unseelie holding them?" Octavia asked.

"I'd say the basement," Macbeth responded as he took an electric blaster in each hand, "normal workers are less likely to see something that Madoc will want to keep a secret, if his secrets are kept in places where his 'normal' employees don't work."

Elsewhere in the building Maddox stood before the generals of his court. Garlon pressed himself to the front to report to his lord.

"My lord," Garlon said, "The Pack has engaged Goliath and the other prisoners below to 'have their fun'."

"As I expected," Maddox replied with a wave of his hand.

"The Manhattan Clan and their allies and Demona have invaded the building," Garlon added.

"Demona?!" Sekhmet roared, "She has come to challenge us?"

"No," Maddox shook his head, "I believe she is here to help the others find their friends. Why, I am unsure, but it is of no concern. We have accomplished our mission here. Avalon is our only goal now."

"I want revenge for my humiliation," Sekhmet growled.

"All in due time," Maddox answered, "We are to leave here for Antarctica and the entire Unseelie Court is to be gathered there."

There was a flash of emerald light, and the room was empty.

It was the Pack that had them cornered in this room. Wolf had become more animal-like, growing a strong muzzle that was filled with foam, making the mutate look rabid, and he had also grown a fuzzy wolf's tail that swayed slowly behind him. Jackal and Hyena hadn't changed all that much, but Goliath could make out closed compartments in their mechanical parts that indicated new weaponry or abilities. The most frightening part of the Pack were the two new members.

One was a large hulking humanoid figure painted red and black while standing on legs configured exactly like those of the gargoyles and Wolf. It had no distinguishable head, only a large dome that was fused to the top of its body. The robot had two sets of arms. The top two arms ended in hands with three claw-like fingers. On the fore arms was a compartment for a heavy laser cannon that was probably strong enough to blow up an M1 Abrams tank. On the upper arm were two smaller compartments that housed smaller laser weapons that could fire with less power, but far more quickly. The second set of arms were much smaller and ended not in hands but in a charged and loaded Gatling gun. On each of its shoulders where two mounted weapons platforms. One platform held a smaller Gatling gun while the other platform held a rocket launcher.

The other robot was also humanoid in appearance, but unlike its massive counterpart it was about the same physical size as Jackal. It had a fox-like head with two yellow optics. Its right arm ended in a human-like hand with five fingers. On that forearm was a raised sort of sheath for a sword that the robot could use while keeping its hand free. Its left arm ended in a hand that had five claw-like fingers and had a light laser cannon mounted on that forearm.

Both robots had the Pack symbol built into their chests.

"Yep," Jackal smiled, "We're the Pack. Like the new look?"

Goliath growled angrily while Elisa and Angela stepped back slightly.

"I don't like this, Goliath," Elisa said, "We have no room for possible escape and we're outnumbered."

"And it's too small for us to out maneuver the larger robot," Angela added, "He can merely keep us trapped in here."

Goliath didn't have any time to answer. Wolf, foaming at the mouth and growling like a wild animal leaped forward at the large male gargoyle.

"He didn't even let you yell charge," Hyena joked to Jackal.

Jackal only growled back, and found that it sounded far more mechanical than he thought it would, "Dreadnought, remain here to keep the gargoyles in the room. Shadow, you're with us."

The large robot slowly nodded and a green light appeared inside its large dome. The smaller robot also nodded and activated a pair of jet boosters on its back. Jackal smiled and then charged forward with Hyena and the robot he called 'Shadow' close behind.

Wolf slammed into Goliath as hard he could, and the lavender gargoyle had all he could do to stop the Pack member's charge. Clearly, whatever Wolf had done to him had made him stronger. The only thing that Goliath was thankful for was that while Wolf was stronger, nearly as strong as Goliath himself was, Wolf had lost almost all forms of sentient behavior. The wolf-like Pack member only made growling noises. He didn't talk, and because of his more animal-like behavior, Goliath found it easier to block his moves.

Elisa was talked by both Shadow and Jackal. Neither the cyborg nor the robot fired any of their laser cannons, strangely, but they still proved dangerous. Elisa kicked Jackal off of her to find that Shadow as just as strong, if not stronger than she was. The robot, however, only seemed to be barely smarter than Xanatos's current Steel Clan and Elisa easily managed to out grapple the robot and lift it into the air. Jackal had only just pulled himself when the tan gargoyle threw Shadow into him.

Hyena extended the claws on her hand before leaping at Angela. Angela jumped back and shielded herself with her wings. It prevented Hyena from taking a real 'chunk' out of her, but Angela still flinched as Hyena's metallic talons left long thin red lines across the back of Angela's wings. Growling, Angela turned and punched the Pack's only female in the face. The blow sent Hyena back a few steps, but didn't phase the cyborg.

"I'm going to have fun killing you," Hyena snickered as she opened the compartments on her left and right forearms.

The right forearm compartments produced sharp blades that pointed forward and surrounded Hyena's right fist. The left forearm compartments opened to produce what looked like high powered cattle prods. Angela's eyes widened as an electric charge ran through each 'prod' and then created a ring of electricity.

"Lots of fun," Hyena snickered again.

Demona took the lead with her small compass in front of her. She had cast a different spell on it after they left so that the device would glow the closer it got to Angela and the others. The group was running down a long flight of stairs and the compass seemed to glow brighter with every flight they descended. The group remained strangely quiet as went further down the stairwell.

Wolf growled and snapped at Goliath's arm as the gargoyle clubbed the side of his head. Goliath then reached around with his tail and yanked Wolf's feet out from under him, bringing him to the ground.

"Dreadnought!" came Jackal's voice, "Take out Goliath."

A green light blinked inside the large robot's dome and the robot launched several rockets in Goliath's direction. Goliath dove to the ground and barely avoided being hit by the rockets. The flying projectiles flew harmlessly into the wall. The resulting explosion however, did cause problems. A large section of the wall was weakened and began to collapse and fall over. Wolf rolled over from his position on the ground only to see that portion of the wall fall on him and knock him out.

Dreadnought didn't stop, however. The large robot switched weapons and began firing all its Gatling guns. Goliath scrambled to his right to avoid being hit by the flying bullets. His path however took him in front of Shadow, who along with Jackal was still battling Elisa.

Elisa meanwhile struggled to keep Jackal and Shadow at 'arm's length' as Jackal electrified his fists and Shadow extended his sword on his forearm. Elisa ducked under Shadow's thrust just as Jackal prepared to fire his lasers at the tan gargoyle. The sword point however was long enough to pierce Jackal's shoulder.

"YOU IDIOT!" Jackal screamed at the robot.

Elisa meanwhile ducked down as Dreadnought's Gatling gun bullets hit Shadow and Jackal simultaneously. Jackal was thrown into the next room, and while Shadow was undamaged, the smaller robot fell offline.

Dreadnought continued firing at Goliath. While her original two opponents were unconscious, Elisa grabbed a piece of the wall that lay over Wolf's unconscious body and threw it at the large robot. The robot however, shot the wall fragment to pieces with the smaller laser cannons in the compartments on its upper arm and continued to fire on Goliath.

Angela's fight with Hyena meanwhile was interrupted while the two watched Goliath narrowly dodge Dreadnought's fire.

"Your daddy's gonna die!" Hyena laughed triumphantly, "Dreadnought will eventually hit him and we'll get pick up all the little pieces."

Angela growled, "NO!" and before Hyena could react, grabbed the cyborg by her arms and flung her toward the larger robot.

Again, Dreadnought fired on the 'object' that was endangering its proximity without taking its Gatling guns off of Goliath. Hyena however, didn't simply fall to pieces, and in fact, most of Dreadnought's laser bolts merely bounced off of Hyena and hit the larger robot itself. Hyena collided with Dreadnought and knocked the robot over. The robot continued firing, but since it was on its back and could no longer target Goliath it fired into the roof. After five rounds from each barrel of the Gatling gun, a large section of the roof collapsed on both Hyena and Dreadnought and then all was quiet.

"I can't believe it," Angela muttered, "We won!"

Goliath moved to check Elisa, who was bruised in several places, and muttered, "Barely. We need to get home."

Just as the three exited their former prison a door down the hall exploded off of its hinges and Demona and the others burst through. Brooklyn noticed the unconscious Pack members at Goliath, Elisa, and Angela's feet and chuckled.

"Well, uh, Goliath, we're here to save you," Brooklyn chuckled weakly.

"A fine effort, if a little late," Goliath answered back, "Come let us return home. We will try to answer what happened along the way."

**Castle Wyvern, Near Dawn**

"So the Pack has found new employment," Fox mused.

"Under the Unseelie Court," Goliath nodded, "And they've replaced Canis and Vulpine with two robots."

"And strangely, only one of them had anything remotely canine about its structure," Angela added, "The other just looked like a robot."

"That would suit the Unseelies," Owen interjected, "Madoc is not one to buy into any idea of a theme. These two robots are likely to be ordered to kill the other Pack members when their usefulness to him is done."

"Sounds like we're in for the 'big one'," Brooklyn commented.

"I would fear so," Owen said ominously.

**Antarctica**

A small fleet of small ships gathered in the icy waters around the southern most continent. Most resembled the small gunboats used during the Vietnam War, while others resembled the boat that Goliath, Elisa, Angela, and Bronx traveled on during their world tour. Standing on the frozen ground, feeling none of the effects of the cold were the Unseelie Court and its subservient creatures. Madoc stood before them all.

"Our victory is at hand!" Madoc exclaimed, "We have gained what we need to protect ourselves from that wretched iron! And now we have gained the knowledge to return to our home! To our rightful kingdom. One that Oberon usurped from me, but now with his death… it shall be mine and ours once more!"

Madoc smiled at the horde of smiling and evil faces in front of him and then commanded, "To the boats and speak the words of our return as you go!"

The Unseelie members rushed onto the boats, following their respective leaders and cheered as the boats began to power forward. The Unseelie Leaders then moved to the bow of the boats and said in Latin, "Vocante venti fortunate ex rege Oberonis et hic navis flugem rate ad orae Avalonis."

Madoc smiled as the boats began to move into the mist and whispered, "So war is inaugurated at last. Now it is MY turn to rule!"

**To be Continued…**


	10. A Perfect Hell on Earth

All characters appearing in Gargoyles and Gargoyles: The Goliath Chronicles are copyrighted to Buena Vista Television/The Walt Disney Company. I've taken the idea for the Unseelie Court from the TGS. No infringement of these copyrights is intended, and is not authorized by the copyright holder. All original characters are the property of SN.

Note: I'm disregarding the events of the "Goliath Chronicles", with the exception of "The Journey" because I do not wish to use the rest of the "Goliath Chronicles" as canon to my story. This story takes place immediately after "Dreams or Nightmares?".

A Perfect Hell on Earth

By SN/TVfan

Email: Sam_Nary 

**Castle Wyvern**

Owen looked up at the tallest tower of Castle Wyvern with a face that betrayed far more fear than one would expect from Owen Burnett. Goliath and Elisa crouched on their level while Angela leaned on Broadway, relaxing in their stonesleep.

"Troubles, Owen?" came Xanatos's voice from beside him.

"There is the possibility of that, yes, Mr. Xanatos," Owen answered simply.

"What do you mean by possibility?" Xanatos asked as the black furred wolf mutate came up next to his assistant, "We got Goliath, Elisa, and Angela back, didn't we?"

Owen looked down for a moment, "But the Unseelie still held them prisoner. We do not yet know what the Unseelies might have learned from them."

"I doubt Goliath and the others would be ones to talk," Xanatos commented.

"If the Unseelie could be trusted to use conventional methods of interrogation, then I would be more likely to believe you," Owen answered.

"What do you mean?" Xanatos questioned, not liking where the discussion was going.

"Members of the Third Race typically use dreams and trickery to interrogate any prisoners they might take," Owen said slowly, "While Goliath, Elisa, Bronx, and Angela were on their 'Avalon Tour', I, as Puck, used such a method to try and obtain the Phoenix Gate from Goliath. My deception was incomplete, and I was detected. I doubt that Madoc had the same problem. He is more powerful and more strategic."

"You're saying he's smarter than you?" Xanatos joked.

"Not necessarily smarter, sir, but more strategic," Owen answered, "And now is not the time for jokes. Oberon and his court have faced great perils over many millennia. The Mage and theUnseelie Court are chief among them. The fact that Goliath, Elisa, and Bronx journeyed to Avalon, means that Madoc could use them to get to Avalon himself."

"Should we warn Titania, then?" Xanatos asked, "Between your other half and Macbeth and Arthur's encounters, these guys don't sound very pleasant."

"We will have to," Owen replied with his voice growing weaker as he did so.

**Avalon**

Princess Katherine was walking calmly through one of the island's outdoor gardens, and greatly enjoyed seeing the various flowers in bloom all year round. Unfortunately the sight of a glowing emerald ring was not what she anticipated in seeing. What came through it was equally surprising. The first Katherine recognized fairly easily as the trickster Puck. The other was a winged wolf-like creature that stood as tall as Goliath. It wore a blue and red jumpsuit that left its furry arms and legs exposed to the air and had a large golden wolf's head on its chest.

"Puck, am I right?" Katherine asked, "What are you doin' here? And who… what is this?"

"I," the creature answered weakly, "am David Xanatos."

Katherine gasped. She remembered meeting Xanatos when she journeyed to Manhattan to help stop the Mage. But the Xanatos she remembered was human.

"This cannae be," Katherine protested.

"I'm afraid much has happened in our world since you were last there," Puck interjected as he zipped between Katherine and the mutate, "We need to speak with Queen Titania. It's urgent."

Queen Titania's emerald face quickly frowned at the sight of Puck and the mutate Xanatos entering her throne room.

"I granted you your full power, Puck," Titania warned, "I did not allow you to return to Avalon."

"And I don't really want to be here," Puck answered, "But we have bigger worries."

"Worries that require you and your boss to come here?" Titania questioned.

"Possibly," Puck nodded, "We've recently had some problems with your brother-in-law."

"Madoc?" Titania questioned, looking more interested, "That villain was vile even while Oberon was alive. What has he done?"

"We believe he might have found a way to come here," Xanatos mentioned, "One of his servants summoned several ghosts to Manhattan and kidnapped Goliath, Elisa, and Bronx."

"We must save them then," Titania said standing up, "I will not have that villain holding members of the Honor Guard."

"They were rescued," Puck said quickly, "But they didn't contest the rescue effort, and we believe they might have gained the mortal spell to come to Avalon."

"But fey can not perform human spells, can they?" Katherine asked nervously from the sidelines.

"Any fey can perform magic of any kind on its own," Titania sighed, "Most fey however don't do mortal magic because they don't wish to use the mortal's language and method way of casting the spell."

There was a silence for awhile, before Titania spoke again, "But if Madoc has learned the mortal spell to come here, the Honor Guard must be evacuated and the rest of us must prepare."

"Evacuate the eggs?" Katherine asked nervously.

"It is daytime right now," Titania pointed out, "And I'd expect Madoc to arrive very soon."

Katherine looked at the fey Queen and then at Xanatos and Puck, "But we cannae possibly evacuate all the gargoyles in time if they're already on their way."

"You aren't," Puck interrupted, "Davy here is only part of the party. I'm willing to help Titania prepare for the attack, while Davy boy and his robots safely transfer the Avalon Clan to Castle Wyvern. You and Tom should go along with them."

"Don't call me 'Davy'," Xanatos whispered to Puck.

"We cannae just leave," Katherine protested.

"But neither can you fight," Titania replied firmly, "Madoc will attack with the full forces available to him, and even WITH the warning Xanatos and Puck have provided, his attack will surprise us. Members of the Unseelie Court are not mindless drones like the things created by the Mage or any other 'mortal' sorcerer. And the Guardian's armor, while strong, is not made of pure iron. It would eventually weaken and fail. If the situation was better I would prefer that Xanatos stay out of the matters of my race, if the Honor Guard is to be saved, he must be here to evacuate them."

Katherine looked down miserably, "Very well. I'll tell Tom."

**Castle Wyvern**

Chloe sat quietly eating her breakfast around the large dinning table in the castle. She only stopped to occasionally scratch her shoulder and arm, which itched terribly under her cast.

"I can't wait to get this cast off," Chloe commented aloud, "And not only because it will allow me to be a gargoyle again."

Macbeth and the other people in the room remained silent. It was then when Xanatos stepped through the doors behind them. He quietly coughed to get everyone's attention.

"Titania's getting ready to deal with Madoc and his horde," Xanatos quietly announced, "All we need to do is get the Avalon clan here. I'll be using the Steel Clan to do so, but I'll need Macbeth and Arthur to provide some cover for us."

"What about me?" Fox asked, as she stood up.

"While you're still pregnant, I'd prefer that you'd stay out of trouble," Xanatos answered before motioning to Macbeth and Arthur, "Come on. We don't have much time."

**Unseelie Invasion Force**

Madoc stood calmly on his boat as it traveled through the mists toward Avalon. He felt confident. While he didn't get the chance to recruit the Puck to join his court, he felt certain that the trickster would join him soon after Avalon's fall.

"You are calm, my Lord," Maeve said from the wheel of the small boat, which resembled small speed boats used by mortals on lakes, "Visions of easy victory?"

"Defeating the usurper will be anything but easy," Madoc answered, "But it will be inevitable."

Madoc couldn't help but smile as the spires of Avalon's castle became visible in the distance. They were getting closer.

**Avalon**

Arthur and Macbeth sat quietly on stone benches along Castle Avalon's battlements as Xanatos directed his Steel Clan to carry the Avalon gargoyles through Puck's portal to Manhattan. Arthur had Excalibur drawn from its sheath and the great King of all Britain spun the enchanted sword with its point digging into the stone of the Castle's battlements. Macbeth merely kept his arms crossed, but ready to grab one electric blaster and an iron short sword, which were both holstered to his hips.

"Seems sort of strange being the ones here to defend Avalon this time," Arthur commented.

"Not really," Macbeth answered, "You've been immortalized in the hearts and minds of the British Isles. Even I, as a Scotsman, couldn't grow up without hearing of King Arthur and his knights."

"You've gained a lot of fame too," Arthur replied.

"Infamy is more like it," Macbeth snorted, "Most people only know of me through Shakespeare, and he made me a villain and my wife a hag. He was completely inaccurate, and the uneducated people believed the play 'Macbeth' to be a presentation of what happened during my reign."

"You shouldn't let the words of a playwright get to you," Arthur answered, "You clearly aren't the same 'Macbeth' as the one in the play."

Macbeth only nodded.

Titania meanwhile had assembled most of her court in the throne room to try and plan for the inevitable.

"Madoc coming here?" the Weird Sisters asked in unison, "That is impossible. He and his lot were banned forever."

"Only from using their own abilities to return," Titania answered, "They have apparently gained the mortal spell."

"The will not win, my Queen," Odin stepped forward, "We beat them once. We beat them again."

"But Oberon was still alive then," Raven challenged, "And the Olympians were still part of our court. But now, Oberon is dead and the Olympians have left us. It'd be better to give Madoc what he wants."

"I agree," Banshee added, "Besides, Madoc would allow us have our fun with the mortals."

Titania sighed heavily. This is the last thing she needed. Raven and Banshee had been two of the court that had tried to leave Avalon to carry out their own plans. However, after the Sisters had allowed Anansi to return to Africa only to be killed by Demona, they had stopped their attempts. Now, Madoc's invasion threatened to put the entire court on its head.

"Any member of my Court the dares to consort with that maniac will be stripped of their power and left mortal," Titania said clearly, "And left for Madoc."

Raven and Banshee both gulped, knowing that if they couldn't prove their fay powers to Madoc, it was likely that they'd be killed.

"I want everyone to watch the outer walls," Titania continued, "Madoc's forces will arrive soon, and Xanatos has not evacuated all of the Honor Guard yet."

Outside the island was a different story. Madoc's small fleet of boats was now on Avalon's shores, and the small craft that resembled river boats used by the American army during the Vietnam War were armed and ready.

"Gunboats!" Madoc commanded to those on the Vietnam War era vessels, "Announce our arrival."

The gunboats were only armed with twenty millimeter guns and would only do damage to the stone walls of the castle and wouldn't harm the fay inside. But hopefully, they would cause enough chaos to give Madoc an easy victory.

Xanatos carefully handed another stone gargoyle to one of his Steel Clan robots as the various Goliath-look-alike robots flew in and out of Puck's portal carrying the sleeping gargoyles to Castle Wyvern. The black furred wolf-like mutate pointed ears twitched as the whirring sound of flying bullets struck the castle's outer walls. The castle walls, built in a design that was most effective at keeping people from climbing the wall did nothing to stop the flying twenty millimeter shells. One went straight throw the wall and shattered one of the Steel Clan robots that was returning from Manhattan.

"Arthur! Macbeth!" Xanatos yelled, "We've got company!"

Arthur and Macbeth ran towards the closest wall to where those shells came from as Xanatos franticly tried to hurry the Steel Clan in their efforts to evacuate the gargoyles. Once Macbeth and Arthur got to the wall they noticed a massive fleet of small ships. Some were gunboats from the Vietnam War, while most appeared to be small private speed or fishing boats.

"And the game is on," Macbeth muttered.

Madoc smiled as the shells began demolishing the walls of Oberon's castle. Avalon wouldn't need walls once it was the capital of his world wide Empire, and he knew that this would be his greatest victory. The only thing that brought him out of his distracted joy was Maeve tapping on his shoulder.

"Can you identify those figures on the battlements and in the courtyard?" Maeve asked as she pointed in that direction.

Madoc focused. The sight of a black furred wolf-like mutate with wings was new to him and while the presence of sleeping gargoyles was surprising they were things that didn't concern him much. What did concern him were several metallic creatures that looked vaguely similar to the gargoyle, Goliath, that he'd captured and the presence of Macbeth and Arthur on the battlements.

"I knew that idiotic Englishman failed me," Madoc growled, "Unseelie! Attack the castle! Draw the userper out and bring her to me! Destroy the winged wolf and the gargoyles. Subdue at least of the metallic creatures. Kill Arthur Pendragon and bring me Macbeth!"

The various Unseelie leapt from their respective boat and flew toward Castle Avalon. All Xanatos could think of as the host of evil fey charged was, "Damn!"

Garlon landed on the battlements of Avalon's castle not more than fifteen feet away from where Xanatos was standing.

"Surrender now, mortal, and I promise your death will be quick," Garlon smiled.

Xanatos fired an electric blast at the mousy haired elf hoping to knock it to his death. While Xanatos was successful in hitting Garlon with the electric blast, and while the electric blast did cause some pain, Garlon simply shrugged it off and floated above where Xanatos was standing.

"So, you've chosen the road most bloody," Garlon chuckled, "More fun for me then."

Garlon then created through magic several large sword-like objects, although Xanatos swore that some of them were machetes, and flung them at the mutate. Xanatos jumped backward off the wall and allowed the bat-like wings that were part of his mutation to catch a quick updraft to move out of the flying weapons path. Unfortunately, the swords flew through the air like guided missiles and seemed to home in on him.

"I don't want to end up in a butcher shop," Xanatos muttered as the weapons began to get closer.

Suddenly a green light coming from inside an opened door hit the swords and they dissipated into nothing. Puck came out from the door shortly thereafter. The white haired fay however, ignored the 'man' he served to face Garlon directly.

"Picking on doggies now are we?" Puck teased, "How can you be so cruel?"

"I'll give you cruel," Garlon growled as his eyes lit up with a green light.

"Ah… the Englishman and the Scot," the Morrigan smiled as she descended on Macbeth and Arthur, "Just the play things I was looking for."

Macbeth pulled out his electric blaster and fired on the female fey, hoping to injure it. Morrigan merely disappeared and reappeared behind Macbeth. Morrigan then blasted Macbeth directly in the back with her magic. The immortal Scottish king was thrown forward and found himself dangling from the battlement walls. Arthur swung Excalibur at Morrigan to try and get her away. The swing caught her off guard, but she managed to get far enough away so that the blade only nicked her arm.

Morrigan screamed with pain and looked to age slightly for a moment, before slowly starting to recover.

"Iron?" Morrigan muttered as Arthur pulled Macbeth back onto the battlements, "That can't be possible. Madoc chanted the spell to make us immune to iron! That shouldn't have even caused pain!"

Once Macbeth was able to stand on his feet he fired his electric blaster at Morrigan, knocking her back five feet.

"Too bad all the proper ingredients for the spell were not present!" Macbeth smiled.

Macbeth ran forward to finish off Morrigan when another Unseelie rammed him into the wall. Macbeth turned to look at the creature. It was covered in white fur and looked vaguely like what people had been calling an 'abominable snowman'. Solid black eyes stared at the Scottish king as the beast growled through teeth that were far bigger than those of any gargoyle or human.

"Yeti is quite fierce, isn't he?" Morrigan teased as she floated above Macbeth and Arthur, "Too bad he's never learned to truly speak. Then you might be in REAL trouble."

"Like I'm not in danger of being eaten now," Macbeth muttered to himself, while Arthur moved to keep Morrigan away from him.

Macbeth meanwhile desperately placed one hand on Yeti's throat to keep it from biting him, while he took his short sword out with the other hand and shoved the iron blade into the creature's chest. It screamed with pain, looked like it was aging and fell of the battlements to the courtyard below. Unfortunately for Macbeth, when the beast landed, Macbeth's sword was still in the creature's chest.

Madoc stood quietly on the bow of his boat as it slowly crept toward the shore. Once it was close enough, he and Maeve slowly stepped off onto the beach. The sounds of battle echoed down to the Unseelie leaders and pained screams of the mutate made Madoc smile.

"It has been awhile since we've been able to return here," Madoc commented.

"Aye," Maeve agreed, "But do you think Titania will truly fight? So far, I can only see Puck engaging our Court."

"Puck?" Madoc questioned, "He didn't join the Gathering. Why is he here? And why is he helping the Seelie?"

"He seems to be helping the mutate fight Garlon," Maeve answered.

Titania and the rest of the Seelie fay entered the courtyard from castle to find much of their walls destroyed and Unseelies attacking from every direction. Titania gasped in shock and horror to see three of Xanatos's robots lay destroyed in the courtyard, along with three shattered gargoyle statues.

"Drive them away from Honor Guard!" Titania commanded, "They must be saved at all costs!"

Grandmother and Anubis nodded and flew up toward the where the Avalon gargoyles were being evacuated. Huitzilopochtli had just finished destroying another Steel Clan robot that had returned from Manhattan when the jackal-like Egyptian fay charged into him.

"You will cause no more death here," Anubis said firmly, "It is not their time."

"You and that death stuff," Huitzilopochtli laughed, "I'll tell you this, Nile Boy, it may not be their time, but it is yours!"

Huitzilopochtli conjured up several stone tipped spears to throw at the two Seelie. Once they were ready, the Unseelie threw the magically created spears. Anubis was too close to do anything, but was lucky that Grandmother managed to erect a shield around the two Seelie fay. Anubis then rushed forward and tackled Huitzilopochtli.

Grandmother meanwhile was soon hit from behind with magic that carried both the cold of a Norwegian winter and a great amount of power. The elderly fay rolled over to see Loki clothed as a Viking berserker, clothed in bear skins and carrying a large green glowing axe.

"You were imprisoned!" Grandmother exclaimed.

"I was," Loki smiled as he raised the axe above his head, and then brought it down.

Loki didn't have long to celebrate his victory. A massive polar bear paw hit him in the chest and knocked him back ten feet. The large white bear then moved to check on Grandmother.

"Don't worry about me," Grandmother choked, "Defeat him."

Odin returned to his more humanoid form and turned to face Loki, who was already struggling back, with his axe in hand. Odin meanwhile, summoned his own weapon.

"Aw, still have Thor's hammer I see," Loki teased with an evil smile.

"You will die this time," Odin snarled.

"Like her?" Loki asked, pointing at the body of Grandmother.

Odin roared with anger and lifted Thor's great hammer into the air and swung it at Loki. Loki countered with his axe, and the two Norse fay were soon embroiled in a great battle.

"How could you have escaped?" Odin questioned, "Your prison was inescapable."

"It isn't when the key to the front door is thrown into the cell!" Loki smiled, pulling the Phoenix Gate out from under his furs…

**The Past**

"You, Loki, are possibly the vilest of the traitors," Oberon said coldly, "By your cruelty to the mortals that you used as hostages or in the barbarity with which you used to kill Thor. For that, simple banishment is unwise."

"He should be executed," Mars stated from the sidelines, "Such evil can not be ended by any other means."

"You are a strong warrior, Ares or Mars, whichever name you prefer," Oberon replied, "But you are not leader of the Seelie Court. The decision is mine."

"True, Lord Oberon," Jupiter stepped forward next to Mars, "But Mars has a point. Loki is far more evil than even Madoc who commanded him. I have my doubts as to whether any prison could hold him for long. Wouldn't it be wiser to simply execute him and have his evil wash away forever?"

"I will not simply kill a defeated foe," Oberon answered, "Especially since it was you, Jupiter and your court that argued for the war to be waged with honor."

Jupiter and Mars bowed and stepped backward away from Oberon. Oberon meanwhile pulled the Phoenix Gate out from a pouch on his belt.

"Loki is to be imprisoned inside the walls of time," Oberon announced, "There he can not escape and can not influence anything but himself."

Oberon then held the Phoenix Gate at arm's length, "Burn down the walls of space and time!"

The Phoenix Gate activated at the Fay King's command and a giant fiery portal opened before them.

"NO!" Loki screamed from the ground as Odin and Coyote grabbed the Norse trickster by his arms.

Loki was thrown into the portal without the Phoenix Gate, and once Loki was in, Oberon shut the portal, locking Loki away.

"The Phoenix Gate will now be turned over to the mortal's magic," Oberon announced as the Phoenix Gate vanished from his fingers, "The Unseelie may hunt for it, but will be unable to use it for they are not mortals."

There were great arguments over the Phoenix Gate and whether or not Oberon should have kept the talisman. Not, that Loki actually knew of it. He merely floated through the endless vortex that formed the portal that served as the Phoenix Gate's method of transportation. But, without the gate itself, Loki couldn't leave the vortex, nor could his magic affect anything but himself. He watched for years as magicians and other mortals use the Phoenix Gate to travel through time. He repeatedly tried to catch them, but by the time he had gotten to them, the person with the gate had long since vanished from the vortex. Then came a curious occurrence.

Loki saw the vortex open to reveal a lavender male gargoyle he had seen travel through time at least once before. He expected this time to be no different, when the gargoyle suddenly threw the Phoenix Gate into the time vortex. The gargoyle had thrown the object of his deliverance to him.

"What a stupid beast," Loki thought as he grabbed the object and left the time stream, and then heard the discussion going on well below him.

"Why did you do that?" a tan skinned woman in a red jacket asked the lavender male gargoyle.

"Without a mind to direct the Gate, it will be forever lost in time," a lavender female gargoyle added.

"No it won't," Loki snickered as he held the Phoenix Gate in his hands and vanished.

**Avalon, Present**

Odin watched in surprise as the Phoenix Gate activated and soon after, Loki had disappeared. Odin looked around for the Norse Unseelie, but saw him nowhere. Knowing that Loki would return, Odin turned his attention to the other attacking Unseelie. Odin swung his large hammer and caught another Unseelie that looked like it was half snake half man. Odin then returned to scanning the battlefield for a new opponent.

"I suppose you're proud of yourself?" a voice teased, "A big victory!"

Odin turned to see several Lokis standing in a half circle around him.

"That's impossible!" Odin gasped.

"Not impossible," the present Loki smiled, "All I had to do was go back through time and gather some of my past selves. Now of course I have to return them after I defeat you because no one can change the past, but you aren't the past, yet, are you?"

Odin gripped his hammer tightly and prepared to defend himself. Each Loki was dressed the same and he couldn't tell which ones were from the past and which one was the present. No one could change the past, but Loki was bending the rules. Odin knew that if a past version of Loki died, the present Loki would die also, but Odin also knew that if he killed a version of Loki that came before his imprisonment in time, there was no telling what would have happened to the Phoenix Gate, and many of the lives that the Gate had touched were in the end for the greater good.

One Loki raised his axe, soon followed by another Loki. Then all together, all the Lokis attacked at once. Odin blocked two of the axes with his hammer, but the other two axes hammered home. One cut off Odin's right arm while the other cut off his left arm. Odin screamed with pain and dropped to his knees. The axe blades weren't iron, but they were enchanted. The present Loki then stepped forward.

"It was a pleasure knowing you," the present Loki smiled as he once again lifted his axe.

"At least I die in battle," Odin said weakly before Loki brought the axe down on his head.

The Lokis then disappeared into the Phoenix Gate once more as the present Loki went to return the past Lokis to their specific point and time.

Puck dodged another attack launched at him by Garlon, and the white haired elf couldn't help but snicker when Garlon's attack had left him vulnerable to Xanatos's electric blasts from the ground.

"Bite of more than you can chew?" Puck teased.

Garlon only growled, "I think I'll deal with your mortal friend first."

Garlon then flew down toward Xanatos, intent on killing the mutate. Xanatos meanwhile had grabbed a small pixie-like Unseelie that had been bothering him. Its energy blasts were small and couldn't kill him easily, but they were still painful, and the black furred wolf mutate could feel several bruises forming under his fur. The small creature electrified itself and Xanatos howled with pain, throwing the small Unseelie at the charging Garlon.

"What the?" Garlon muttered, shortly before the thrown pixie hit him in the face.

The smaller Unseelie was still fully charged, and Garlon soon got a full exposure of the small creature's power. He swatted the small thing away and launched an off balance energy attack, sending a wave of pure energy into the castle walls near where Xanatos was standing. Xanatos quickly jumped into the air and glided up Puck's side.

"Man, I can't wait for this day to end," Xanatos muttered to his assistant, "We could use the gargoyles right about now. And since all the Avalon gargoyles are now safe in Manhattan, the Steel Clan has performed its function and won't return."

"The gargoyles wouldn't be of much help, sir," Puck answered, letting a small piece of Owen into his voice, "The only one of them that has any iron is Hudson."

"I guess it's time to buy out Andrew Carnegie then isn't it?" Xanatos joked.

"He's been long dead, sir," Puck answered back.

Madoc and Maeve calmly strode onto the battlefield that was raging at Avalon's once majestic castle. The gargoyles that stood on its towers were gone and the mortals still managed to live, but all was going well. Maeve clearly saw that Odin and Grandmother were dead and could make out other dead fay from both courts. What surprised Unseelie Queen the most was the dead body of Yeti, and Macbeth's sword lodged in its chest.

"Madoc!" Maeve exclaimed pointing at the fallen soldier, "That blade is not enchanted it is simply iron!"

Madoc stared at Yeti's body and examined it. The blade in its chest was iron.

"That's impossible," Madoc muttered, "I cast the spell myself. Iron should no longer be of any worry to us."

Suddenly emerald green bars wrapped around the two Unseelie leaders.

"Only if all the spell's ingredients were present," offered a voice from above them.

Madoc looked up to see the Weird Sisters hovering over them. It was Phoebe that had spoken.

"An admirable battle you've given," Selene added, "But you will fail in the end."

"Fail?" Maeve yelled, "Look around you. More Seelie are dead than Unseelie."

"And yet we hold you prisoner," Luna replied.

Madoc inwardly snarled. This was why he wanted to surprise the Seelie Court above all else. Even with Oberon dead, Titania was still powerful, far more powerful than even he was, and on top of that, Titania also had the Weird Sisters. While Selene, Phoebe, and Luna individually were no more powerful than Puck, their trio never divided, and together, the Weird Sisters could possibly be stronger than even Oberon or Jupiter.

Titania then appeared in front of them.

"Surrender your forces now, Madoc," Titania commanded, "While there are still those of us that are living."

"NO!" Madoc roared, "You must surrender to me! With Oberon dead, I am Avalon's rightful ruler! You will bow to me."

Titania gave the Unseelie leader a teasing smile, "I think not."

On another level of the castle walls, Raven and Banshee watched the battle unfold. The Unseelie had managed to kill more Seelie than Seelie had been able to kill Unseelie, but the Weird Sisters held Madoc and Maeve prisoner. Macbeth, Xanatos, and Arthur had all managed to survive so far, and with all the gargoyles safely removed from Avalon, the battle raged in its fullest possible frenzy.

"Not exactly the outcome you'd prefer?" Banshee asked.

"No," Raven replied, "Madoc is right. He has legal claim to the throne. Why should we fight him?"

"You just want to get even with that purple gargoyle that got the best of you," Banshee laughed.

"And you don't?" Raven challenged.

"I'm willing to accept that I only want revenge," Banshee answered.

"That only leaves one question," Raven replied.

"And that is?" Banshee asked.

"Do we follow Titania, or help the rightful ruler?" Raven asked.

Banshee smiled.

The Weird Sisters floated over Madoc and Maeve while Titania moved to try and force the two Unseelie leaders to surrender. However, without warning, three large stones flew from the castle's walls and struck each of the Weird Sisters in the back of the head. Unprepared for the attack, they soon fell unconscious. As they fell to the ground, the cage that they had erected around Madoc and Maeve fell.

"You see," Madoc smiled, "Even they can be defeated."

Titania only responded by launching a shockwave to get Madoc and Maeve far away from her and the fallen sisters.

"Summer!" Titania called out while Madoc and Maeve tried to pull themselves together.

A small female elf wearing a bright green dress appeared in front of Titania.

"Yes, my Queen?" Summer asked.

"Take the Sisters to Manhattan," Titania commanded, "We can not lose them."

The elf nodded, and using magically created winds, picked up the unconscious Weird Sisters and dashed off in search of a mirror inside the castle.

"The Sisters could not have been so easily defeated by an Unseelie," Titania mused silently to herself as she prepared herself for whatever Madoc and Maeve would do next, "They would be expecting that. Whoever did this had to have taken them by surprise. Someone that they wouldn't expect."

Two small flashes of light then appeared beside Madoc and Maeve. When Raven and Banshee appeared from them, Titania could only growl at them.

**Castle Wyvern**

"So, ye used to be a gargoyle?" Katherine asked.

"Yes," Chloe nodded, "But, as I said, a very evil individual threw a huge metal spear at Arthur. I dove to save him and took the wound myself. The wound was serious enough that I would have died before the sun rose, so Merlin and I switched forms. That way I could go to the hospital and get the treatment I needed."

"Why didn't he just turn ye into a human?" Katherine asked again.

"I think he said something about 'lessen the pain', I think," Chloe responded.

"Thank ye for talking with me," Katherine said politely, "We should be getting back to the Great Hall. Make sure all the gargoyles got here safely and if Macbeth and the others have come back."

Chloe nodded and followed the elder woman. When they arrived at the Great Hall they found I sight they did not want to see. While it looked like Xanatos's robots had managed to get all of the Avalon Clan to Manhattan, the portal was still open, and Fox stood visibly upset watching it. Tom stood nearby and didn't look much better. On top of that, between them and the portal, a small elf in a green dress was laying the unconscious bodies of the Sisters on the ground.

"What's going on?" Katherine asked stepping forward, "Are they?"

"They're alive," Summer answered, "But things aren't looking good. Loki's somehow escaped his prison and has the Phoenix Gate. He's killed Grandmother and Odin. And…"

"DON'T SAY IT!" Fox screamed.

"Your husband is still alive," Summer said quickly, "But things aren't going well."

"We should try to help," Tom said.

"No," Summer shook her head, "If we are having this much trouble, you won't be much better, at least not now."

"But Queen Titania?" Katherine asked, "Avalon itself?"

"The island itself isn't what Madoc wants," Summer answered, "It's the magic that goes with the island. If we can not keep the Unseelie off the island, Titania will absorb the island's magic and come here."

"She can do that?" Chloe inquired.

"Any ruler of Avalon could," Summer replied, "It's a spell as old as the Third Race. Avalon's magic is our only real protection from the rest of the world. We have great power in magic, but humanity has great power in technology. Avalon's magic allows us to slip in and out of the rest of the world without being discovered. Without it, the island would be easily found by any ship that sailed nearby or plane that flew over it."

"And humanity would then claim the island," Tom finished.

"Yes," Summer nodded, "But that isn't the point. Avalon's magic is powerful but it only serves to protect Avalon from the outside world and keep it in a different 'time zone' from the rest of the world. That's what Madoc wants from the island. If he alters the spell that controls Avalon's magic and then absorbs that magic, only a god could stop him."

Fox looked at the elf and then back at the portal, and thought nervously, "Please come home safe."

**Avalon**

Xanatos crashed through a large heavy wooden door that led to the interior of Avalon's castle after Garlon blasted him in the chest with a magical energy pulse. Xanatos looked at the large metal fox head that he used as a breastplate and saw clearly that it was no longer serviceable. There was a deep burnt out crater in the middle of it, and Xanatos could actually see the clothing that was underneath.

"Little mutate tired already?" Garlon smiled.

Xanatos growled at him, expecting Puck to come up behind him. He was disappointed when the elf didn't appear.

"Where's Puck?" Xanatos demanded.

"He'll be fine for a little while," Garlon snickered, "He's just fighting a different Unseelie right now."

Xanatos backed up, knowing that his electric blasts would only serve to make him madder, and without Puck or something made of Iron, he couldn't kill his attacker. Garlon advanced on him with a cruel smile, building up his power in his right hand. Xanatos continued to back away until he felt one of his wings brush against something cold and smooth, like glass. He glanced back to see a mirror sitting behind him.

"No where to run," Garlon laughed as he thrust his right hand forward, throwing his magic at Xanatos with as force as the Unseelie could muster.

Xanatos ducked at the last moment as the magical energy flew above him and was reflected off the mirror.

"Uh-oh," Garlon commented as his own magic came flying back at him.

The blast hit the mousy haired fay and knocked him senseless. Xanatos having no Iron, made sure the fay was unconscious before returning to the battle.

"You would betray your own court to serve that… that," Titania growled at Ravan and Banshee, "That TYRANT?!"

"With all due respect, Titania," Raven said as he assumed a form that resembled anthromorphic raven, with black feathered wings on it's back and dark feathered arms on its shoulders, "Madoc IS the rightful ruler as Oberon's brother."

Raven then swung the wings on his back forward launching several razor sharp black feathers at Titania.

"You are not," Raven growled.

Titania merely made herself intangible and let the feathers pass through her and embed themselves in the stone of the castle behind her.

"If that's what you believe," Titania responded angrily while raising her hands.

Soon after, thick vines grew straight through the stone floor of the courtyard and wrapped themselves around Raven and Banshee's limbs and lifting them into the air. Madoc and Maeve watched as the two fay were held helpless above them. The two Unseelie leaders then conjured up long swords and advanced on Titania.

Above them on another level of the castle's battlements, Arthur and Macbeth continued their battle with Morrigan, who had now been joined by Sekhmet and her werecheetahs.

"The immortal Scot and infamous Briton," Sekhmet laughed, "You will make a fine meal for my pets."

"We can't hold here," Macbeth whispered to Arthur, "My electric blaster can bring them down so you can use Excalibur on them, but it won't work when we have to fight two at a time."

Arthur had no time to answer. One werecheetah leaped forward, snarling as it went. Macbeth stepped in one direction, toward the edge of the battlements, while Arthur stepped toward the interior part of the castle. The werecheetah landed between them. Arthur turned and swung Excalibur in a huge ark, beheading the animal in the process. However, their movements left Sekhmet and Morrigan open to attack on their own. Morrigan fired an energy post and hit Macbeth in the back, knocking him off the battlements. Sekhmet fired her own blast and hit Arthur in the chest, bringing the Once and Future King to his knees.

Titania gasped as she saw Macbeth fall from the battlements and her eyes immediately closed as he bounced off the ground of the courtyard and lay motionless about five feet from her.

"Don't worry about him," Maeve laughed in delight, "It wasn't Demona who killed him, so I'm sure he'll be fine."

Maeve then lunged at Titania with her sword. Titania dodged the sword thrust and hit Maeve in the nose with the palm of her hand. Maeve fell to the ground, not expecting the blow that Titania delivered. Before Madoc could act to aide his chief helper, Titania wrapped Maeve up in thick vines just like the ones she had used on Raven and Banshee.

"You've still lost," Madoc warned, "Look around you. Macbeth is out cold for awhile. Arthur Pendragon has been driven into the castle itself, and is likely to die. The mutate is beginning to tire. Some of your better warriors already lie dead."

Titania sighed inwardly. The longer this battle went on, the worse it got in general for the Seelie Court. Loki had returned from returning his past selves to their proper places in time and was wreaking havoc. Huitzilopochtli was keeping Puck and Xanatos busy, while Anubis was busy trying to get wounded members of her court to a safer spot. Macbeth lay 'dead' less than five feet away and she could no longer see Arthur on the battlements. Titania knew that if Madoc wasn't quickly defeated, then she would have to do what she hoped she wouldn't have to.

Madoc lunged at her with his sword. Titania tried the same move she had against Maeve, but Madoc saw it coming and flipped her over his shoulder. That is what finally did it. She felt that her abilities were quickly tiring while those of Madoc hadn't seemed to diminish. Madoc turned toward her, chuckling.

"This isn't over," Titania said as she began to call on the last of her reserves.

Titania quickly teleported herself and all her living allies around Puck's portal to Manhattan. Macbeth was also transported to the same location.

"Into the portal, now," Titania commanded before anyone could say anything.

The others quickly began to file into the portal, while Titania moved in front and erected a large emerald dome around them.

"Break the dome!" Madoc roared at the attacking Unseelie, "They mustn't escape!"

"Titania?" Xanatos asked the emerald skinned fay, who looked thoroughly exhausted, "You okay?"

"I'll be fine," Titania answered, "Go through the portal."

Xanatos shrugged and turned back to the line of beings entering the portal. Once all the Seelie and their allies had been evacuated through the portal, Titania stepped right in front of the portal, raised her hands, and dropped the barrier that kept the Unseelie out.

"Get her now!" Madoc roared.

Titania began chanting before any of the attacking fay moved.

"_Magical Island hear my plea,_

_villains of great evil force us to flee,_

_release your magic to me,_

_so that the world's future will be free!"_

All of Avalon began to glow bright green as the magic that resided within and around the island began to release itself from it's bindings to the ground that was there. The energy quickly flowed toward Titania.

"NO!" Madoc roared as he rushed forward.

"I told you," Titania warned, glowing after she had absorbed all of the island's magic, "This isn't over."

With that Titania disappeared into the portal and it closed behind her. Madoc found himself occupying a deserted island in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean.

"NO!" Madoc screamed in rage.

**Castle Wyvern**

"Did they really destroy some of the statues?" Katherine asked nervously.

"Yes," Titania answered sadly, "Along with several members of my court."

Titania found herself back in the castle of her grandchild and again, under serious circumstances. When she returned she found Fox embracing her husband, while Katherine and Tom looked nervous over the reports to them from some of the lower Seelie Court members that some of the Avalon clan had been killed in their sleep. Upon hearing Titania's answer Katherine dissolved into weak sobbing, like that of a parent who had lost its child forever. Tom didn't look much better.

"Gabriel will be saddened to hear that he's lost some his brothers and sisters," Tom said weakly.

"And Angela as well," Titania pointed out, "This will be marked as the Seelie Court's greatest defeat."

"What I don't get, mother," Fox piped up, moving away from Xanatos, "Is after you absorbed Avalon's magic, why didn't you use it to defeat Madoc?

"I would have had to alter the spell that controls Avalon's magic before I absorbed it," Titania sighed, "And since it was at the last minute, the time taken in changing the spell would have given the Unseelies time to get to me and possibly throw Puck's portal. By the time everything was done, the battle would have come here, and more of the Honor Guard and my court would be dead. That is why this is the Seelie Court's greatest defeat."

"So where is Avalon's magic now?" Tom asked, "You obviously don't look like you have it within you right now."

Titania reached into a small satchel hanging on her waist and produced a small gold ring with a diamond on it.

"That's…" Fox gasped.

"This is the ring that Halcyon Renard gave to Anastasia Renard," Titania answered, "Contrary to your belief, my daughter, while Oberon was my greatest love, that doesn't mean that Halcyon meant nothing. I love both of them. That is why I still have his ring."

Fox looked as if she were about to say something, but Titania continued speaking.

"If you wish a 'family discussion' on the matter, Fox," Titania continued, "Then it will have to wait. We have bigger concerns. We may have Avalon's magic, the real reason why Madoc wanted Avalon, but we have taken serious losses and Madoc will not stop. Especially since he failed to gain Avalon's magic and since he failed to destroy the entire Seelie Court. The Second Unseelie War is only beginning."

**To be Continued…**


	11. Unlikely Allies

All characters appearing in Gargoyles and Gargoyles: The Goliath Chronicles are copyrighted to Buena Vista Television/The Walt Disney Company. I've taken the idea for the Unseelie Court from the TGS. No infringement of these copyrights is intended, and is not authorized by the copyright holder. All original characters are the property of SN.

Note: I'm disregarding the events of the "Goliath Chronicles", with the exception of "The Journey" because I do not wish to use the rest of the "Goliath Chronicles" as canon to my story. This story takes place immediately after "A Perfect Hell on Earth".

Unlikely Allies

By SN/TVfan

Email: Sam_Nary 

**Castle Wyvern, Dusk**

Gabriel and the Avalon gargoyles broke free of their stone shells to find not the open sky and fresh air of Avalon, but a large interior room of what had to be a large building. At first they thought they were inside Avalon's palace, but Gabriel and Ophelia quickly determined it wasn't when they heard the hum of an electric lighting system that would have been too quiet for human ears to hear. Soon nervous discussions of where they were and what had happened to the others erupted. Gabriel found himself unable to get everyone in line. The only thing that stopped the discussion and Gabriel and Ophelia's attempts to quiet it was the opening of a pair of mechanically opening doors behind the Avalon leaders. All of them turned to face the new arrivals.

"Princess Katherine! Gaurdian Tom!" one gargoyle called out, "We feared you were lost!"

Katherine looked down at the ground, depressed and feeling incredibly guilty that she would have to tell the eggs that some of them were lost.

"I'm not lost my children," Katherine finally replied weakly.

"What is it, Princess?" Ophelia asked, stepping forward from the group with Gabriel at her side.

"I assume we are not on Avalon," Gabriel added.

"Yes," Katherine answered weekly, "Ye're on the island of Manhattan, not the island of Avalon. Ye're in Xanatos's Castle Wyvern, believe it or not."

"Castle Wyvern?" Gabriel and Ophelia asked in unison over the hushed whispers of Angela.

"Yes," Katherine nodded on the verge of tears again, "There's more. Something has…"

Katherine broke down and couldn't say anymore, and sobbed into Tom's shoulder.

"Queen Titania and her Court have a powerful enemy," Tom continued, trying report to Gabriel what was going on and hide his own grief, "an enemy that attacked Avalon while you slept yesterday. Mr. Xanatos and his assistant tried to evacuate you all here to protect you from being killed."

Gabriel looked around, but didn't take the time to do a full head count of the Avalon clan, "We all appear to be here. He must have succeeded."

The Avalon clan then gasped in shock and surprise as a few tears fell from Tom's eyes.

"Unfortunately, he only succeeded in rescuing most of you," Tom said weakly, his voice getting steadily weaker as he continued, "Three members of your clan were killed… along with a good portion of Queen Titania's Court by this enemy. Xanatos and two humans that came with him to help barely escaped with their lives after they ferried all of you but the three who were killed here."

The entire room was silent.

"We're so sorry," Katherine spoke up.

"Dead?" Gabriel gasped.

"We're so very sorry, Gabriel," Katherine repeated.

"You didn't kill them," Ophelia said weakly.

"We should have done more to guard you," Tom sighed.

Gabriel looked down for a moment and then looked up with a determination in his face that reminded Katherine and Tom of Goliath.

"We will defeat the monsters that have attacked us," Gabriel said firmly, "The will NOT have died in vain."

"What of Goliath and his clan?" Ophelia asked.

"Xanatos is informing them of what has happened right now," Tom replied, "And, uh, listen; I know what's happened is going to be rough for us all…"

Tom was interrupted by some shouts from other members of the Avalon clan.

"…but there are some things that have happened here that you may not expect," Tom continued, "Ye will need ta be polite to Goliath and his clan and Mr. and Mrs. Xanatos."

"We need to be polite to them?" Gabriel questioned, "Three of my clan die in their sleep at the hands of evil fiends, and we need to be polite?!"

"There have been some both shocking and surprising changes in both the clan and the Xanatos family that they will take personally," Tom argued weakly, "Just as we will take what's happened to those that have died personally."

"Very well," Gabriel sighed as he moved his clan out meet with Goliath and his clan.

In the courtyard, Goliath and his clan didn't react to the news that Xanatos delivered them very well either. Goliath and the original members of his clan, except for Othello and Desdemona were taken back to memories of the Wyvern Massacre. Othello and Desdemona, having been victims of the massacre couldn't remember it personally, but they did remember some of the clan's earliest battles with the Vikings. Before they really knew how dangerous and how violent the Vikings were. The rest looked saddened at the mention of death.

Angela was the lone exception among the gargoyles that wasn't an original member of the Wyvern clan. She didn't know which gargoyles had died on Avalon, yet, but they were her brothers and sisters. They were the ones she grew up with. Broadway tried his best to comfort her, but found that even his best efforts didn't seem entirely to help.

"Is there anything you could have done?" Goliath demanded in a voice that seemed to be mixed with anger, fear, and sadness.

Xanatos slowly shook his head, "Goliath even Titania and her court barely escaped. Three Avalon gargoyles were killed. I lost five Steel Clan robots. Macbeth is 'dead' in our medical wing of the castle. Ten Seelie fey are dead, including Odin and Grandmother. And among those that survived half have been either seriously wounded or were unconscious when they were brought here."

"We should have done more," Goliath rumbled weakly.

"There's nothing we could have done, Goliath," Elisa said, "We were asleep too."

Goliath only gave a weak growl to vocalize his sadness at the news.

"Goliath, I know this will be tough," Xanatos said, "But Gabriel will be bringing his clan out to meet you, the Guatemalans, and the English clan. You will all need be strong for them."

"Be strong?" Goliath asked.

"I've always thought you guys to be the 'A' team among gargoyles," Xanatos sighed, "Aside from what you've told me of the Archmage's adventures on Avalon, I doubt that the Avalon clan has seen any battles at all…"

"Ahem," Angela growled from her spot, "I came here from Avalon."

"Yes, but you're part of the Manhattan clan when you battled with Goliath," Xanatos answered, "I mean no disrespect to anyone. But they have to look up to you guys, because except for Angela, Elisa, Candy, Amy, and Caroline, are the 'parents', if you will, of this clan. They'll expect you to help them be strong and face what's coming. At least that's what I think."

Xanatos turned and then slowly walked back into the castle, and most likely to the room he shared with Fox. Xanatos's departure left no room however for discussion, as the main doors that lead into the courtyard from the interior part of the castle opened to reveal Gabriel and the rest of the Avalon gargoyles.

**Destine Mansion**

"Demona?" Wedrington asked as he looked into a third room inside Demona's large mansion.

He didn't see her with him when he awoke that night so the blue skinned female had to be elsewhere, most likely in one of her labs working on something that he didn't entirely understand. But her labs were empty. He eventually found her laying face down in her own stone skin in the mansion's main kitchen.

"Demona?" Wedrington asked placing a hand on her shoulder.

The immortal gargoyle didn't answer. Wedrington feeling nervous placed one talon under her nose. He was shocked to find that she wasn't breathing.

"But you said you were immortal," Wedrington muttered in a puzzled voice.

Wedrington's thoughts were interrupted by the sound of glass breaking upstairs and soon followed by the sound of animalistic growls coming from the same location.

"Come my pets," Wedrington heard Sekhmet's voice command, "Demona will only be 'dead' for a while. We must capture her now, before she learns of our plans."

Wedrington gulped at hearing the Unseelie's voice and scooped Demona up into his arms. The white lion-like gargoyle kicked open the back door to the mansion and managed to launch himself with Demona in his arms into the night sky. Once he had glided past the walls to her mansion he heard the growls of Sekhmet's werecheetahs, but he didn't look back.

Sekhmet materialized inside the kicked open door after hearing her werecheetahs roar at something in the night. Her golden eyes narrowed and took on a green glow as she way the retreating form of a gargoyle in the night sky.

"Ah, my pet now sides with Demona," Sekhmet mused noticing the gargoyle's lion-like appearance, "Very amusing, but I WILL regain him, and Demona will die at my hands."

Sekhmet then vanished with her werecheetahs into nothing, but before she was gone, a small spark of flame flew away from the Unseelie and into Destine Mansion's electrical system. In a matter of seconds, the entire mansion was on fire.

**Maddox Technologies**

"I hate having to come back here," Loki complained as he leaned against a filing cabinet in Maddox's office.

Madoc, once again in the disguise of Maddox only sighed.

"We failed in our attempt to gain Avalon's magic," Maddox answered, "Titania knows we are fighting her. The war will continue. We need every advantage we can get. Especially since she has joined forces with Xanatos. Surprise may work on overcoming foes with more raw magical power, but Xanatos's technological know-how is different."

"Yes," Maeve in the disguise of Mavis O'Conner added from Maddox's side, "Xanatos has a technological force field that has repelled Oberon and the Mage. With that sort of technology combined with Titania's magic, the playing field is essentially leveled."

"The Pack is being seen to, my Lord," Garlon announced as he entered cutting Loki off.

"The Pack?" Loki roared, "What do we need them for?"

"Cannon fodder," Maddox answered coldly.

**Castle Wyvern**

The Avalon gargoyles were all surprised by what they saw. While Gabriel and Ophelia were quite used to the gargoyle Elisa Maza, the rest of the Avalon clan had only heard that Elisa was now different, and some of the other gargoyles that were with the Wyvern clan caught their attention.

"Perhaps introductions are in order?" Una commented, and the unicorn-like gargoyle then stepped forward, "Hello, Avalon gargoyles. I would first like to say how sorry I am to hear of your loss. I and my clan come from London and are allies of Goliath's clan."

Una then motioned to her clanmates, "This is my mate, Leo."

Leo said a polite hello while some members of the Avalon clan answered back.

"This is Griff," Una motioned to the griffon-like gargoyle.

Griff waved and moved almost instinctively toward Octavia.

Una then motioned to Octavia and Julia, "These are Julia and Octavia, they've actually joined us from Rome, but they are still members of the London clan."

Una then moved back to rejoin her clan as Zafiro moved forward. The red gargoyle carefully cleared his throat before speaking.

"I am called Zafiro," Zafiro announced, slightly shocked at seeing so many gargoyles again, "My clan and I come from Guatemala and like Una's clan, we are allied with Goliath."

"Why are you here?" a shout came from the crowd of Avalon gargoyles.

"We are here because a rogue member of Goliath's clan who was reanimated in a robotic body destroyed our home in Guatemala," Zafiro answered.

"We are here to aide Goliath against the Unseelie Court," Leo said from Una's side.

"Anyway," Zafiro continued, "My name Zafiro, and this is my mate Obsidiana."

Obsidiana made her greetings but remained where she was.

"And these are Jade and his made Turquesa," Zafiro finished.

Zafiro backed up as it was now Goliath's turn.

"It is a pleasure to see you all again," Goliath rumbled, "I'm sure you remember myself, Angela, and Bronx…"

"We remember Elisa too," came the voice of one of the Avalon gargoyles.

"Of course she looked different then," another quipped humorously.

Goliath knew that the gargoyle who spoke last was probably right. He was sure that Gabriel and Ophelia had told their clan about Elisa's transformation, but he doubted they would really know what do when they saw the new Elisa.

Elisa stepped forward and took Goliath's hand in her own.

"As I'm sure you probably know, Elisa was transformed by a wizard known as the Mage," Goliath continued and he then motioned to Caroline, Candy, and Amy, "and unfortunately, Elisa was not the only human to be touched by that spell."

Goliath heard a chorus of gasps, no doubt from the fact that the Avalon gargoyles probably couldn't believe that someone would turn a human or in the female trio's case, three humans, into gargoyles.

"They used to be human too, Goliath?" Gabriel asked.

"Yes we did," Caroline answered, "I am Caroline, and these are my friends Amy and Candy."

Goliath heard some of the male Avalon gargoyles whistle or mutter something to their neighbor.

"The rest of the gargoyles were original members of my clan before the Vikings sacked this castle and forced Princess Katherine to flee with you to Avalon," Goliath rumbled, ignoring the Avalon males who had made their attraction to the female trio somewhat obvious, "This is Othello and his mate Desdemona. They have recently returned to us…"

"They were on a vacation from the clan when Gabriel and Ophelia last visited us," Elisa spoke up, and she then whispered into her mate's ear, "Don't go into their history as Coldstone and Coldfire. It'll be dawn again by the time you get to the others."

Goliath slowly nodded and continued, "Yes they were on… vacation."

Gabriel eyed Othello and Desdemona closely. A grey male and golden female. He had never met them before, but somehow, felt a strange closeness to them. The Avalon leader felt this was strange since he had never known them before.

Goliath then turned to the rest of his clan, "This is Lexington."

Lexington waved and said a polite hello.

"This is Brooklyn," Goliath continued, "My second in command."

Brooklyn remained close to Amy, but waived politely.

"And this is Angela's mate, Broadway," Goliath said.

"We're gonna need a bigger kitchen," Broadway muttered quietly as he eyed all the gargoyles.

"And this is Hudson, the gargoyle who led the clan before me, and…" Goliath stopped when he noticed that the beasts were gone.

"Bronx and Trixie left about five minutes ago," Hudson commented, "Probably to get somethin' ta eat."

"We also have two gargoyle beasts," Goliath began to conclude his clan's introductions, "One you've met and know as Bronx. The other is a pet of Candy's and is named Trixie. They are somewhere around here."

Gabriel looked over the three clans that stood before his own, "Well, I guess it's our turn now isn't it?"

**Maddox Technologies**

"Two of the Seelies was missing from Avalon from what we saw," Maeve reported, "Raven and Banshee have reported that Anansi had died and that Coyote has left for the desert southwest."

"Coyote has left the court?" Maddox asked curiously.

"Yes," Maeve nodded, "After Oberon died though."

Maddox looked down in thought, "I doubt he's left the Seelie Court though. There has to be something there that Titania wants protected or else he wouldn't be there."

"What do you wish, my lord?" Maeve asked.

"Send Loki down there," Maddox answered, "I want to know exactly what Coyote is guarding that is so important and I want Coyote dead. If what he's guarding is useful, I want it brought to me. If not, I want it destroyed."

"Knowing Loki, it will probably be destroyed anyway," Maeve thought before saying out loud, "Very well, my Lord."

**Castle Wyvern**

"I am Gabriel," Gabriel announced, "and this is my mate Ophelia. For those of you who don't know, the members of my clan are the descendants of Goliath's original clan from Scotland."

Ophelia stepped forward and took Gabriel's hand, while looking at Angela with a smile.

"Before the attack by the 'Unseelie' as you've termed them, the Avalon clan numbered at thirty six, counting Angela," Gabriel continued, "But we've lost three to the Unseelie, and Angela is obviously now one of Goliath's clan. Now we number at thirty two."

"We are all sorry for your loss," Goliath said politely.

Gabriel nodded, "Thank you."

Gabriel then turned to the other Avalon gargoyles and said to them, "It might be easier if you introduced yourselves. That way no wonders who's pointing at who."

Gabriel and Ophelia then moved aside to let the others introduce themselves. The first to step forward was a dull brown male with white hair.

"I am called David," the gargoyle spoke clearly.

A sea green female stepped forward and slowly took David's hand, "I am called Mary. David is my mate."

A dark blue male stepped forward next, "I am called Kenneth."

A pure white female stepped forward, "My name is Guinevere."

Griff and Leo made a sudden coughing sound.

"No relation to the wife of Arthur Pendragon," Guinevere continued.

A dull grey web-winged male stepped forward next, "My name is Joshua. It's a pleasure to meet you all."

A bronze colored female then stepped forward and said meekly, "I'm Livia."

A silver and red colored male stepped forward, "My name is Lancelot, and like Guinevere, I'm not related to Arthur's knight."

A red female then stepped forward, "I'm called Theodora."

A red-orange male then stepped forward, "My name is Galahad. I'm Theodora's mate."

A dull golden colored female then stepped forward, "I'm Zoe."

Octavia and Julia looked intrigued by the last three female's names, but didn't say anything.

A pale purple male, nearly seven shades lighter than Goliath or Angela, stepped forward and said, "My name is Charlemagne."

A jungle green and purple female then stepped forward, "I'm Anne, Charlemagne's mate."

An emerald green male then stepped forward, "Hello, I'm called Gawain."

Next was a red and gold female, "My name is Leslie."

"Katherine named me Malcolm," a large brass colored male said, sounding very embarrassed.

A pale blue and purple female then announced, "My name is Janet."

"I am called Ian," a large black skinned male said.

A cream colored female then stepped forward, "My name is Alexandra."

A yellow and blue male then stepped up, "I'm called Logan."

A butterscotch female stepped forward, "I'm Tammy."

Next was a redish-brown male, "My name is Tobias, I'm Tammy's mate."

"My name is Sarah," a pink female who was a few shades darker than Candy said.

After her came a blue and red male, "I am called Nathaniel."

A sky blue female with blonde hair stepped forward next, "My name is Madeline."

"I'm Ethan," a greenish-pale blue male announced.

"I'm Eve," a peach colored female said.

A light green male then stepped forward, "I am called Ezekiel."

"I am called Ashley," a blackish-grey female said.

A dark blue male then stepped forward, "My name is Elijah."

A black and yellow male then stepped forward, "I am called Alfred."

"A pleasure to meet you all," Goliath rumbled, "Perhaps we could go in now and get something to eat?"

Everyone gave an affirmative answer to that and turned to go inside.

"What are you chuckling at?" Amy whispered quietly to Brooklyn as they went it.

"I was just thinking about the last Avalon gargoyle's name," Brooklyn said quietly, "He could be Batman and the butler all rolled into one."

"That's not funny," Amy answered.

"Hey, I've wanted to be Batman ever since we came here," Brooklyn retorted defensively.

"And why do you want to be Batman?" Amy asked.

"Girls seem to love him," Brooklyn shrugged.

"Just remember, you're only supposed to chase me," Amy whispered, "No one else."

Brooklyn put one arm around the yellow beaked gargoyle's shoulders and said, "You're all that a gargoyle could want."

Amy smiled as all the gargoyles went in for their breakfast.

Wedrington landed in the courtyard a few minutes latter with Demona, still 'dead' in his arms to find it empty.

"Hello?" Wedrington called, "Anyone home?"

**Outside Destine Mansion**

"Anyone make it out alive?" Matt Bluestone asked as he drove up.

"Big surprise we're back here," Flariaty grumbled loudly before the fireman Matt asked could answer.

"Ignore that," Matt said, "Did anyone make it out alive?"

"Not that we've seen, the hoses are just starting to make progress," the fireman answered.

"How long has it been burning?" Matt asked.

"About thirty minutes according to witnesses," the fireman answered, "you might want to question them."

Matt nodded before turning toward where Flariaty was and saw that she was heading for the fire escape of a nearby building.

"What are you doing?" Matt asked running up behind her, and then pointing in the direction of Destine Mansion, "The fire is over there."

"I thought I saw something on the roof of the building," Flariaty answered.

"And you assume a gargoyle did it?" Matt asked.

"No!" Flariaty growled, "I don't know what did it. But considering all the strange stuff I had to put up with during the Quarrymen investigation, I bet whatever is up there did it. And, I'm going to prove that it's the real cops in this city, not a bunch of mythical creatures that are stoned all day, that make this city safe."

"They're stone not stoned," Matt answered.

"I meant what I said," Flariaty answered, "Go call the gargoyles if you're scared."

Flariaty then turned and began to climb up the fire escape. Matt reluctantly followed. He knew of Detective Flariaty's jealousy of the clan's activities, but up to now, he didn't think that jealousy would cause her to do something stupid. The arrived on the roof to see a pair of glowing green eyes disappear behind a raised section of the roof.

"Freeze!" Flariaty yelled, "Pointing her gun at the spot where the two eyes disappeared, "Police."

"Freeze?" a voice then asked from behind Matt, "But then I'd be so cold!"

Flariaty turned to see Matt fly into her as if he were nothing. Both landed roughly on the pavement of the building's roof and Flariaty's gun was now lying several feet away. A female lion-like creature in Egyptian robes then stepped in front of them.

"I was looking for a gargoyle to come here, but you mortals will be far more interesting," Sekhmet chuckled evilly.

"Who? What are you?" Flariaty gasped, "What do you have to do with this fire?"

"I am called Sekhmet," Sekhmet bowed politely, "I am to be your future Goddess and you will feel free to bow to me now. I started this fire."

"You started the fire?" Flariaty asked.

"Uh, I think she's out of our league," Matt whispered to Flariaty.

"Are you deaf?" Sekhmet snarled.

"Then I must arrest you for arson," Flariaty commented, pulling herself up.

"Arrest me?" Sekhmet laughed, "You and what army?"

Sekhmet then produced a fireball in her palm and threw it at the two police detectives. Matt and Flariaty dove to the ground to avoid being hit by the fireball, but it lit the building they were on, on fire. Sekhmet then moved close to Matt.

"Maeve tells me you're the one who's friends with the gargoyles," Sekhmet commented.

"Yes?" Matt gulped.

"I'd prefer to kill you, but I was sent out with two missions," Sekhmet growled, "One was to capture Demona and the other was to deliver a message to the clan, but they wouldn't listen to me in a 'truce'. So you will deliver my message for me."

Matt tried to back away, but his hand felt the heat of the fire that Sekhmet had started behind them.

"Tell them this," Sekhmet commanded, "The Seelies are defeated. It is pointless to continue fighting the Unseelie Court. We will stop at nothing to secure our inevitable victory. The lives of their human friends, including yourself, the lives of any family they might so happen to posses outside their clan, and the lives of any who have helped them in the past will be TERMINATED if the gargoyle clan doesn't surrender itself within the next twenty four hours."

Matt gulped again at the message.

"And you, Detective Bluestone, have twenty four minutes to get to the Eyrie Building before I kill you and leave you as a message!" Sekhmet growled.

Sekhmet was about to do more when a blast of water hit the roof, spraying everyone with water, flowing at a high velocity. The Unseelie lioness roared with anger and disappeared.

"Firemen must have noticed the fire she just started," Matt commented to himself.

**Castle Wyvern**

"Hello?" Wedrington called again as he wandered threw the maze of passageways.

The white lion-like gargoyle was beginning to wonder if anyone even lived here. His sudden assumption that the castle was abandoned was soon dashed when he crashed into a blonde man with glasses as he rounded a corner.

Owen looked at Wedrington for a few moments and then at the unconscious Demona.

"Yes, may I help you?" Owen asked.

"I'm terribly sorry," Wedrington answered, "Do you live here?"

"Yes?" Owen replied, "Is there something you're after?"

"Help," Wedrington answered holding out Demona.

"There is nothing we can do for her," Owen answered.

"WHAT?!" Wedrington roared, "I awoke to find her dead. This is where her clan lives, you or they have to be able to something."

"The clan and Demona have long since dissolved all ties with each other, Mr.… Wedrington, I presume?" Owen said, and waited for Wedrington to nod before continuing, "They wouldn't help her because of her opposition to the clan. I can not help her because there is nothing that needs to be done."

"What?" Wedrington asked, looking confused.

"Didn't she tell you about her immortality?" Owen asked.

"She told me that she was immortal, but I assumed that meant that she could wake up from stone sleep dead," Wedrington answered.

"She is immortal, but only the condition that she doesn't kill or is killed by the human Macbeth," Owen said in his normal monotone, "As a result they feel each other's pain or in some cases 'death'."

"I don't understand," Wedrington growled becoming impatient.

"Macbeth earlier went to Avalon to aide the Seelie Court fight their enemies, the Unseelie Court," Owen explained.

Wedrington growled at the word 'Unseelie', remembering his experiences under Sekhmet.

"In the process, Macbeth was killed by one of the Unseelie," Owen continued, "But because the Unseelie was not Demona, neither he nor Demona are truly dead. They are in a… coma, if you will, for the time being."

"This is only temporary?" Wedrington asked looking down at the unconscious Demona.

"Yes," Owen nodded, "You may place her in the medical wing of the castle. If you would follow me."

**Elsewhere in the Castle**

"What do you mean, 'cut back on patrols'?" Brooklyn demanded, "If the Unseelie have forced Titania and her servants out of Avalon, and they've come here, we need to be as alert as ever."

"I agree brother," Othello nodded in agreement with the red beaked gargoyle, "We can not simply end our patrols because they're out there."

"I'm not talking ending our patrols," Goliath answered, "But they captured me, Elisa, and Angela all too easily. Merlin is the only one of us who can throw magic back at Unseelie. The rest of can't…"

"Merlin?" Gabriel asked.

"The London Order, Arthur and Macbeth found him before we joined the London Order," Julia answered.

"Macbeth is working with Arthur?" Ophelia asked, "Wasn't he the one who tried to help the Archmage take over Avalon?"

"He was under the control of the Weird Sisters at the time," came a new voice, "I hold no grudge against him, Lady Ophelia."

All heads turned to see Arthur and blue gargoyle that other than the color of its skin and hair looked fairly similar to Griff, but not exactly.

"Who is that?" Gabriel asked.

"Oh," Arthur answered, "This is Merlin. I'm sure you've all heard the stories and know he's human."

"Yes," Ophelia nodded, "Merlin is supposed to be human. How can he be a gargoyle?"

"Unseelie servants attempted to King Arthur serious bodily harm, but a gargoyle named Chloe pushed him out of the way and took the wound herself," Merlin answered, "Unfortunately the wound was so serious, and dawn was far enough away, that she needed medical treatment. Chloe and I switched forms, using magic, to allow her to go to the hospital."

"So where do you stand, Arthur?" Una asked, "Should we patrol to find these Unseelie, since they are likely to come here, or should we wait for them to come to us?"

"We can't wait, but I don't think we can really go looking for them either," Arthur sighed, "They're fey. They have the luxury of being able to hide anywhere, where as we would tend to stick out."

"As I tried to say earlier," Goliath cut in, "Patrols will be necessary to an extent. Just because the Unseelie are coming here, doesn't mean that our regular enemies are going to stop and let us fight them, but given their power, we can not merely patrol in teams of two or three, and we can not simply glide in patrol patterns over the city. They will attack each team and kill them."

"Patrol in larger numbers, then," Zafiro offered, "They might not attack a group of say… five or six, at the least."

"And with these communicators you have," Obsidiana added, "If one group where attacked, another group could come to their immediate rescue."

"The Unseelie Court is also still vulnerable to Iron," Arthur said, "They aren't invulnerable."

"Tom has trained us some with swords," Gabriel offered, "My clan can use them. And at least one member of my clan can go with each patrol group. That way, if it's attacked, we can kill one of those Unseelie."

Goliath nodded, "We will also need to try anticipating where the Unseelie will strike and patrol that area. That way we're not spread out over the city. Even with Gabriel's clan, this city is large. Going around the entire city will be difficult."

"Patrolling likely Unseelie targets will work the best, in terms of fighting them," Arthur nodded, "And patrolling in larger numbers with some iron weapons will insure a victory for us. The problem is predicting where they will attack and how many will be 'large enough'?"

"I think only Titania can answer that question," Elisa spoke up.

**Alex's Room**

"We could put you in your own room," Fox offered.

"I mean no offense to Puck," Titania answered, "But would prefer that my grandson is protected. I will be fine."

"Will there really be a war… mother?" Fox asked.

Titania frowned, "I have known Madoc longer than many of his servants. He is evil and he was jealous of Oberon in all things. He was jealous that their father chose Oberon instead of him to lead the fey. He was jealous that Oberon was more powerful than he was. Most of all, he was jealous that I chose Oberon over him."

"He's fighting this war because you wouldn't go out with him?" Fox gasped.

"Among other things," Titania sighed, "Goliath and his clan know Demona as the greatest single evil that they have faced. They are yet to face Madoc."

"The clan is busy planning who to fight them," Fox commented.

"I'm sure they are," Titania commented standing up, "I will need to speak with them on the subject as well."

Titania began to walk out of the room with Fox close behind. They ran into Princess Katherine as they went.

"I'm sorry," Katherine said politely.

"Are you looking for anyone?" Fox asked.

"No," Katherine sighed, "Just looking over my old home. How are the gargoyles doing?"

"Gabriel and Ophelia seem to be the only gargoyles from Avalon that seem willing to make conversation with Elisa or any of the… former humans in Goliath's clan," Fox commented, "When David and I…"

Katherine's look of puzzlement at Fox forced the red furred mutate to stop and rephrase her words.

"When Mr. Xanatos and I joined them for dinner," Fox repeated, "the Avalon gargoyles were rather shy around Elisa, Candy, Caroline, and Amy. Almost as if they didn't know what to say. Our presence didn't help either."

"I'd image it would be hard for them," Katherine sighed as they walked, "Gabriel's clan remembers a human Elisa Maza. They met and befriended a human Elisa Maza, even if it was only a short visit and that Goliath and Elisa didn't have time to really meet and get to know them. Now they've come here to find an Elisa Maza that is their clan sister."

"Desdemona's referred to Elisa and the other females like that from time to time," Fox commented, "And now you've mentioned it. May I ask why?"

"Their clans act as a large extended family," Katherine explained, "Especially since none of them usually know their biological parents. They call everyone brother or sister. I donnae know why they do that but that is what they do."

"But they did know Elisa was a gargoyle already," Fox pointed out.

"Yes, but considering one's memory," Katherine replied, "They may have thought her to be a gargoyle that looked exactly like a human. No wings, talons, fangs, just turned to stone with them when the sun rose."

"In time they'll get used to it," Fox said noticing the old princess's nervousness, "Give anyone enough time and they can get used to anything."

"I hope so, Mrs. Xanatos," Katherine answered, "I love them as if they were my own children."

Katherine, Titania, and Fox ran into the approaching group of gargoyles. Among them were the leading figures of each clan. Goliath, Elisa, Brooklyn, Griff, Leo, Zafiro, Obsidiana, Gabriel and Ophelia were the present gargoyles.

"We need to speak with you, Queen Titania," Goliath spoke first.

"I imagined," Titania answered, "I assume it is concerning the war against Madoc."

"Yes," Goliath nodded, "The Unseelie are more likely to strike at the city to try and draw us out of Castle Wyvern rather than attack it. While winning the war is the most important thing, my clan can not ignore our duty to the city. We will patrol the areas that the Unseelie are most likely to attack first and we will patrol in larger numbers to deal with them. And the teams will have Iron weapons."

"A very straight forward strategy," Titania commented, "And considering Madoc, it is the only strategy. The Unseelie are not 'more likely' to strike the city, they WILL strike the city. A member of my court will go with your patrol groups. Numbers and Iron will not do everything. One member of my court will aide your patrol teams. And most of the gargoyles and the court will remain here. Madoc often does the unexpected."

Goliath moved as if to say something but Titania moved her hand forward to stop them.

"We will stick with the current strategy for now," Titania said in a commanding voice that left no argument, "Unless we know exactly what Madoc plans to do and how he plans to do it, we can not send a majority away from the castle, for Avalon's Magic is safely locked away here, but we are the only things keeping Madoc from finding it."

Goliath turned to the others and then slowly bowed out of respect, "Very well."

**Medical Wing**

Demona woke up groggily, not really knowing where she was.

"Macbeth must have gotten himself killed somewhere," Demona thought as she pulled herself into a sitting position.

Demona tried to think over what had happened and figure out which room of her mansion she was in. As her vision finally cleared, she found out, she couldn't be in her mansion.

"There is no stonework in Destine Mansion," Demona thought, "That which isn't wood is one the human's synthetic materials."

The immortal gargoyle's thoughts were soon interrupted by a cheerful cry and two large white arms wrapping around her shoulder.

"You're alive!" Wedrington exclaimed, hugging her.

"Of course I'm alive," Demona answered almost harshly, "I'm immortal, aren't I?"

Demona watched as Wedrington prepared to answer, but it was different man's voice she heard.

"It appears you didn't tell your friend all the conditions of your immortality, Demona," Macbeth chuckled as he pulled himself up.

Demona turned to see Macbeth and a middle aged woman with a cast on her arm standing by a nearby bed.

"This is the one that betrayed you?" the woman asked Macbeth quietly, and the Scottish king only nodded.

"I see you've told her your side of the story," Demona growled, "We'll be leaving now."

Demona then turned to Wedrington, "Come, we're leaving before Goliath and his clan learn we're here."

Wedrington paid Macbeth and Chloe a nervous glance before saying, "Well… okay… but I should tell you that the Mansion is no longer an option."

"What do you mean, 'no longer an option'?" Demona demanded, her eyes beginning to glow, "Destine Mansion is my home. It is OUR home."

"It's also ashes," Wedrington said weakly.

"WHAT?!" Demona roared.

"You're mansion's been burned to the ground," Wedrington answered, "I saw it catch fire just after I left with you, and I thought you were dead!"

Macbeth watched as the white lion-like gargoyle began to become angry with Demona as the two faced each other.

"Did you see who started the fire?" Demona demanded, "Did you try to stop him?"

"I don't think I could have," Wedrington growled back, "It was Sekhmet, Demona, and you were 'dead' at the time. Should I have fought her and let her cats take you? Should I have fought her and let myself get killed or turned into her slave again?"

"Sekhmet?" Demona asked, the glow gone from her eyes, on of her hands involuntarily going to Wedrington's shoulder.

Wedrington nodded, "I know you want to make me into some kind of warrior, but I'm an archeologist. I may be a gargoyle now but I will never be what you want me to be."

"But you will be a fine warrior," Demona insisted, "Our training sessions have gotten better and you can glide nearly as well as I can. The fact that you carried me here proves that."

"Developing a crush, are we Demona?" Macbeth teased.

Demona blinked, realized how close she had moved to Wedrington and then backed up, looking embarrassed, and wishing she could kill him without dying herself. Macbeth only chuckled.

"If it was Sekhmet that came after your house, then I think it would be best if you talked with Goliath and Titania…" Macbeth began.

"What is Titania doing here?" Demona demanded.

"The whole Seelie Court is here," Chloe said before Macbeth could answer, "The Unseelie's took Avalon and drove them here. Macbeth is helping with the fight."

Macbeth nodded, "And considering the situation, Demona, it may be time to set aside old hatreds and work together."

Matt looked over his shoulder several times as he and Flariaty arrived at the Eyrie Building.

"She didn't follow us, Matt," Flariaty pointed out, sounding nearly as nervous as Matt felt.

"Yeah," Matt sighed, "But I got a bad feeling that there's way more than one of them."

"They burned down your mansion?" Goliath asked as Demona and Wedrington came before Goliath and the others.

The Wyvern Clan remained silent at the sight of immortal gargoyle while the Avalon clan seemed to whisper amongst themselves. The London Clan meanwhile seemed to be especially interested in Wedrington. Leo seemed to be the most curious of the white lion-like gargoyle. Wedrington himself looked rather nervous.

"Yes," Demona answered firmly, "As you know, Goliath, my immortality is linked to Macbeth. When Macbeth 'died' on Avalon to protect our eggs, I 'died' here. Since all this went on during the day, I didn't feel the effects until after I had awoken from stonesleep. Sekhmet then assaulted my mansion while I was out. If it hadn't been for Wedrington, I'd probably be an Unseelie prisoner."

"I see," Goliath rumbled, eying Demona suspiciously.

"I personally do not wish to be here," Demona continued, "You and I both know that, Goliath. But given what has happened to Destine Mansion and the fact it was the Unseelie that did it, it would be better for all of is if our feud were to end."

"I can not welcome you back into this clan," Goliath growled, "You are untrustworthy."

"I'm not talking about joining your clan!" Demona roared, "I'm talking about a truce. We work together to defeat a common enemy. That's all. Once the Unseelie are defeated, Wedrington and I will leave."

"You would help us, Mother?" Angela asked.

"Only to defeat the Unseelie," Demona answered, and then swallowing her pride, "I am even… willing to let Goliath and… the… and his mate command… me."

Elisa looked at the sky blue female as she stood before everyone. She then glanced at Brooklyn. The red beaked gargoyle was watching Demona closely but wasn't blindly attacking her the way he might have in the past if Demona showed up at the castle.

"You should agree to let her help," Elisa whispered into Goliath's ear, "We may not be able to trust her entirely, but if the Unseelie have made her their enemy, it might be better to have her as an ally rather than an enemy."

Goliath slowly nodded and let out a frustrated sigh, "I accept your offer of a truce, Demona. You will work with us to defeat the Unseelie."

Demona nodded and cloaked her wings over her shoulders, "Very well."

Demona then turned and walked to a nearby window and gazed out of it thinking. Wedrington tried to move to talk to her about something when Leo stepped in front of him. Griff and Una close behind the tan lion-like gargoyle.

"You're from England?" Leo asked.

"Yes," Wedrington answered nervously, "I don't want to fight."

"Fight?" Leo grunted which then turned into laughter, "I not trying to start one. It's just that there's only me, Una, and Griff in our clan until the Octavia and Julia joined us, but they're Roman gargoyles. You're the first English one that we've seen that wasn't ourselves."

"Where are you from?" Griff asked.

"My family comes from around Liverpool, mostly," Wedrington asked nervously.

"There is a clan in Liverpool?" Una asked hopefully.

Wedrington shook his head, "Not that I know of. I… uh… I used to be human. A sorceress did this to me."

The three London gargoyles looked shocked and then turned to Demona.

"Did she do this to you, then?" Leo asked.

"No," Wedrington said quickly, "I don't know who the sorceress was. I've mostly been trying to help her try and be… um, less violent I guess would be the word."

Gabriel, meanwhile, moved with Ophelia close behind him, to try and talk with Othello and Desdemona. Something about those two struck Gabriel as familiar to him. It was almost like a sixth sense. He couldn't figure out how he felt so familiar with these two and he had to figure it out.

"So, did you two have a good," Gabriel began to ask, pausing only to remember he words Goliath had used, "vacation?"

Othello glanced at Desdemona, but the golden female only shrugged her shoulders.

"It was very eventful," Othello commented.

Gabriel glanced back at Ophelia for a moment and then asked, "Do you enjoy being back."

"We enjoy being back with our clan very much," Desdemona answered, "It is also good to see that the eggs of our clan survived the massacre."

They talked politely for a few more minutes before both pairs parted for the rest of the night.

"Your parents are very nice," Ophelia commented as they moved into an empty corridor.

Gabriel stopped short.

"Parents?" Gabriel asked.

"Didn't you see it?" Ophelia asked, "You have Desdemona's hair color and Othello's flesh color. Your horns are shaped like Othello's but they're thick and curve over your head like Desdemona's. You share features with both of them. They have to be your parents, my love."

"My parents?" was all that Gabriel said.

Matt looked slightly interested by the sight of so many gargoyles as he and Flariaty entered the Great Hall. Flariaty however looked much more nervous.

"God, they breed like rabbits," Flariaty commented, "We're gonna be out of a job."

"No we're not," Matt answered, and then added humorously, "Someone has to work during the day."

The two detectives were soon stopped when two gargoyles deliberately blocked their path. One was a light green male with white hair and the other was a silver and red male that also had white hair.

"May I help you?" Ezekiel asked.

"And do you have permission to be here?" Lancelot added more suspiciously.

"We need to speak with Goliath and Elisa," Matt answered, "And Elisa might be the one that we need to speak with more."

"Do you have permission to be here?" Lancelot asked again.

Matt looked at the red and silver male. This was one of the gargoyles that had to have only just arrived. He had no idea who the gargoyle was and he doubted that the gargoyle knew who he was.

"Tell you what," Matt said, "Why don't you find Goliath and Elisa and tell them that Detective Matthew Bluestone is here to see them."

The two gargoyles looked at each other and then some of the other gargoyles, who were all beginning to gather around.

"Wait here," Lancelot commanded.

Flariaty watched as the gargoyle walked off into another room and then whispered to Matt, "Why are you taking orders from him? We're officers of the law and it's by OUR mercy that these creatures aren't killed. They should treat us with respect."

"They aren't at our 'mercy'," Matt whispered back, "They are our equals. These gargoyles here are new. They have no clue who we are and that Xanatos has a security list and that if we weren't supposed to be here, we wouldn't be here. Give 'em a brake."

"Even still," Flariaty replied, "We are officers of the law. They are civilians. Civilians do not command officers of the law."

"They're just making sure we aren't dangerous," Matt answered, "Just drop it."

Lancelot found Goliath and Elisa alone talking about how to handle the patrols. Lancelot approached the pair carefully. Goliath was large gargoyle. While Lancelot and Goliath were the same height, Goliath had twice the muscle mass and probably three times the strength. The gargoyle Elisa Maza he was rather uncertain about. He remembered a human woman, not a female gargoyle. He really didn't know what to say to a female who, when he'd met her the first time, could be a good friend but nothing more, and now had a set of talons, knee and elbow spurs, a tail, and wings. These conflicting memories made it difficult for him, and for all the members of the Avalon clan to really speak to her. Amy, Caroline, and Candy were in a similar situation, but not as much, since none of the Avalon clan had met them before.

"Um, Goliath," Lancelot spoke up, trying to get the male's attention.

Goliath and Elisa turned from their discussion.

"We have a Detective Matthew Bluestone in the Great Hall," Lancelot announced, "He said he wanted to talk to you, but didn't say if he had your permission to be here. Do you want me…?"

"You will do nothing of the sort," Elisa growled, "You are not to harm him."

"Did I do something wrong?" Lancelot asked backing away nervously.

"Nothing that isn't unforgivable," Goliath rumbled, "However, while we claim this as our castle, it is Xanatos's job to determine who is allowed in and who is not. If it weren't for the mutation of his wife and himself, there would be times when parts of the castle would be forbidden to us because of his social life…"

"I do not understand," Lancelot stammered.

"Xanatos runs a large business empire in the building below the castle and has made a large sum of money," Goliath explained, "As a corporate leader, it is expected that he lead a rather open social life and host charitable events. But he can't do that in his mutate form. Regardless he is the one who is in charge of admitting people to the castle."

"But what if they are enemies and have either snuck in?" Lancelot asked, "And with the Unseelie…"

"If they are enemies they are likely to come in shooting," Goliath rumbled, "And they would not take the elevator."

"So anyone who glides or flies up is an enemy?" Lancelot asked.

"No, anyone who attacks or looks like they are obviously going to attack is an enemy," Goliath tried to explain, realizing the that the Avalon Clan, not knowing any humans besides Tom, Katherine, and the Magus and now suddenly forced into a world where they are by far the minority and with powerful enemies, were only trying to make sure they weren't welcoming in someone that would do them harm, "We have some friends here in Manhattan. Most are human, while there are others like Fox and Xanatos, and there are some other gargoyles you haven't met yet."

Lancelot looked as he was about to say something, but held his tongue.

"We will have to show you a slide show of pictures of people who are friends of the clan and are welcome here," Goliath sighed, "But I guess until then, just get who they ask for. But do not do it in a manner that would make someone think you don't trust them."

Goliath then moved to catch up with Elisa who had already left to see Matt.

"Who is Matthew Bluestone anyway?" Lancelot asked.

"Elisa's former partner in the New York Police Department," Goliath answered.

It was a few minutes later when Goliath and Lancelot found Matt, Flariaty and a very nervous looking Elisa.

"What is it my love?" Goliath asked.

"They're going after my family," Elisa exclaimed, "Madoc is going after my family!"

"What!?" Goliath demanded, his eyes beginning to glow.

"Some evil fey called Sekhmet burned down Demona's mansion," Matt began to explain.

"We know that already," Goliath rumbled.

"Elisa told me that," Matt answered, "Well, Flariaty spotted her on the roof of a nearby building and raced after her. The only reason we're alive right now is that Sekhmet wanted us to deliver a message."

"And that was that they're going after Elisa's family?" Goliath interrupted.

"Actually," Matt said weakly, "It's any and every mortal friend of the clan. Elisa's family, the families of Caroline, Candy, and Amy, Caroline's boyfriend and his family, the Labyrinth, me, and the station might be a target itself as well."

Goliath growled in frustration.

"I doubt they'd attack the station," Elisa commented, "While they're still vulnerable to Iron and with Titania and her court here." Elisa's voice then became more depressed, "Individual homes might be targeted though. Greater surprise and the less likely that the target will be on its guard."

"So what's your plan, Goliath?" Lancelot hoped forward.

"I will go see my folks and warn Derek in the Labyrinth," Elisa said before Goliath could answer, "I'll try to see if I can get them to come here."

"You shouldn't go alone," Goliath sighed.

"Will you come with me then, Goliath?" Elisa asked.

Goliath only nodded, "We should wait until Amy, Candy, and Caroline can be warned first."

**Later**

"Mom," Candy said softly to her mother, "Mom wake up."

"Huh?" Abigail Wexmand muttered as she came out of her sleep, "Who's that?"

"It's me, Mom," Candy said softly.

Abigail Wexmand rolled over and carefully turned on a nearby lamp, squinting her eyes because of the sudden brightness. She saw Candy standing alone by her bedside.

"What time is it?" Abigail asked.

"It's almost two in the morning," Candy replied.

"Candy, you know I love you, but I have to work tomorrow," Abigail interrupted, "I can't be awake at two AM."

"I don't want you go to work tomorrow," Candy said firmly.

"What?" Abigail asked, "What's this?"

"I don't want you to go to work tomorrow," Candy repeated.

"Candy, I know my work schedule and your…" Abigail sighed, "Your sleeping patterns make it hard for us to do things as mother and daughter, but I have to work and you have your periods of stonesleep. We can't avoid either."

"No, Mom it's not that," Candy shook her head.

Abigail looked at Candy closely. She was nervous. Her eyes, which even her gargoyle form created an image of cheer and happiness looked grave and frightened.

"What is it?" Abigail asked.

"Some bad guys are coming, mom," Candy said, "Really bad guys. They said they were going to come after you if we don't surrender to them. And they aren't limited to night time activity. They could come after you while I'm asleep and can't protect you. I don't want you to go to work, mom. I want you to stay here where at least Mr. Xanatos can protect you while I sleep."

"Tell me everything," Abigail commanded in a motherly voice, "Slowly."

Caroline glided quickly toward Lawrence's family's apartment. Two of the unattached males from the Avalon clan had leaped at the chance to be her escort. She would have preferred someone from Goliath's clan or at least another female. While Caroline had nothing against the Avalon males and while she also felt sorry that they'd lost three members of their own clan, she didn't expect or want the sudden attention of the clan's males and their curiosity about their new surroundings.

"What are those loud smelly things down there?" Charlemagne asked.

Caroline glanced down in the direction in which the light purple male was pointing, "Those are cars. They're how people get around in the world."

"Where are the horses?" Charlemagne asked.

"Horses?" Caroline asked back.

"How do they move without horses to pull them?" Charlemagne clarified.

"Oh, they have an engine that moves them along the road," Caroline explained.

"What's an engine?" Logan asked.

"It's a mechanical device that allows humans to move overland faster than we can glide," Caroline answered, "Lexington will be more than happy to explain to everyone about modern technology. Right now we are here to warn Lawrence and his family."

As the group got closer to where Lawrence's apartment was, Caroline could see his light on through the window

"Good, he's awake," Caroline commented to herself as she landed on the fire escape outside the window.

Charlemagne and Logan landed behind her.

"Hello?" Lawrence called from inside, as he approached the windows in his boxers.

"It's me, Lawrence," Caroline answered, "Let me in."

Caroline then turned to Logan and Charlemagne and said, "Wait here."

Caroline then climbed through the window with her caped over her shoulders and was careful not to knock anything over with her tail. She found Lawrence frantically trying to find a pair of pants.

"Should I glide around the block until you're dressed?" Caroline asked, somewhat teasingly.

"No," Lawrence said poking his head out from behind a door he had opened to hide himself behind, "What's up?"

"What are you doing up so late?" Caroline asked, letting her curiosity get the better of her.

"I was watching television," Lawrence answered, "What's up?"

Caroline turned to see that he'd been watching a string of war movies on some channel and then returned her attention to Lawrence, "Lawrence something really bad has come up."

"You're not pregnant are you?" Lawrence asked nervously.

"Why do you always ask that when I say something's wrong?" Caroline demanded.

Lawrence only answered, "Nervous."

"I told you this already, Lawrence," Caroline sighed, "Even if we had… you know… I can't get pregnant till like 2008, from what Elisa and Angela have told me. What's going on has nothing to do with our personal lives."

Lawrence watched as Caroline began to pace in front of him.

"It's more of an I'm a gargoyle that has to protect you from a very big evil force that's coming, and may attack you to get to me," Caroline sighed again.

"Huh?" Lawrence asked, confused.

"During the past day, a bunch of evil magical beings called the Unseelie Court attacked an island called Avalon," Caroline explained, "They drove another group of magical beings called the Seelie Court and the gargoyle clan living there out. They however want to rule the world and they won't tolerate the Seelie's surviving their attack. The clan has decided to help them, and in turn, they've declared that if we don't surrender they will come after you and all the clan's human friends."

"Magical beings?" Lawrence questioned.

"Don't tell me you don't believe me when you know I used to be human," Caroline growled, "I'm trying to help you."

"It's just a lot to take in," Lawrence commented, "I didn't know a lot of this stuff was going on."

"You're only half a page behind the clan, Lawrence, and the clan is six pages behind everyone else," Caroline commented, "But the point is, you can't stay here. I can try to protect you at night, but they may come in the daytime. When I'm… you know. Sleeping. Right now the only safe place is the Eyrie Building. Xanatos can keep you and your folks safe while the clan and I sleep and we can protect you at night."

"Caroline, I'd gladly live anywhere you ask," Lawrence said, "But my folks would never leave this place. And you know they're somewhat distrustful of rich people. I still have school to go too. Not all of us get blessed with a gargoyle body and get out of school."

"Skip school," Caroline insisted, "These Unseelie are dangerous, Lawrence. They kidnapped Goliath, Elisa, and Angela. They escaped, but the Unseelie practically let them escape. They'll kill you, Lawrence. I know it!"

Lawrence watched as fear began to drive tears out of Caroline's eyes.

"I love you so much, Lawrence, that if you were to die," Caroline whimpered, "I don't know what I'd do. But I know I can't live without you."

Lawrence was about to say something when he heard the door to his room open and his groggy father stepped in.

"Lawrence what the devil are you doing up?" he father questioned, "You have school tomorrow and…"

Lawrence's father gasped in shock at what he saw in his son's room. An extremely nervous looking female blue gargoyle was standing in front of his son with its hands grasping Lawrence's arms. It had relatively short brown hair with three long horns growing through its hair. Two large bat-like wings stood unfurled behind its back, and a long dragon-like tail slowly twitched near the 's father also gasped at the attire of the creature. It was definitely underdressed for the weather, only wearing a pair of light blue denim cutoff shorts that came halfway down the gargoyle's thigh, and sleeveless red shirt that looked like a good portion of the back of the shirt had been ripped out. However, the thing that frightened him the most was that the creature's dark eyes were at least two inches above the top of Lawrence's head and nearly an inch above his own.

"Lawrence back away from that thing!" Mr. Urbis yelled loudly and the screaming back to his own room, "Martha! Martha get up and get my gun!"

"Dad, it's not what you think!" Lawrence exclaimed, "She's not here to hurt anyone."

"You don't know that!" Mr. Urbis said hastily, and then turned his attention to Caroline, "I thought your kind only went after criminals?"

"We do," Caroline answered simply, "I'm here to try and help you."

Mr. Urbis immediately recognized the voice.

"Caroline?" Mr. Urbis gasped, "This can't… this can't… this can't be. Caroline Nexus is human."

"Was human," Caroline corrected, "Listen, Mr. Urbis, I know this is going to be a lot to take in, but I need you, Mrs. Urbis, and Lawrence to come to Castle Wyvern with me. Everything will be explained there."

Martha Urbis came stumbling behind her husband and handed him an old revolver.

"Greg, what's going on?" Martha Urbis asked.

Her eyes widened when she saw Caroline.

"What is this?" Martha Urbis asked nervously and ducking behind her husband.

"It's one of them gargoyles, but it has Caroline's voice," Greg Urbis answered.

"It is Caroline," Lawrence insisted, "A witch turned her into a gargoyle."

"That's impossible," Martha Urbis said firmly.

"No it's not," Caroline sighed, "Now, please, I need to get you to Castle Wyvern where you'll be safe. Everything will be explained there."

"And how are we to get there?" Greg Urbis demanded, "Even if you can carry the weight of all three of us, you only have two hands."

"I have two members of my clan waiting out on the fire escape," Caroline pleaded, "Please. It's the only way you'll be safe."

**Axel Apartment**

Mr. Axel slowly stepped out through the hallway into the kitchen from the bedroom he shared with his wife. Along the way he passed the room that Amy used when she was human. Everything was left as if nothing had ever happened. He had meant to have most of his daughter's things, including her CD and movie collections transferred to her new home, but work and PIT had kept him and his wife busy. He had been awakened by a furious tapping on a glass sliding door that he installed to turn the fire escape into a miniature deck and fearing a burglary, he carried a thirty six ounce Aluminum baseball bat. As he neared the door, he realized he didn't need the bat.

"Amy, Brooklyn, what are you two doing here?" Mr. Axel grunted, still sounding sleepy, "It's two in the morning."

"I see you still lock this door at night," Amy commented, "Don't worry dad, we aren't here to pester you and mom. There's a something you and mom need to know."

"There's nothing wrong with you two is there?" Mr. Axel asked.

"No, but the city is in danger," Brooklyn answered, "Some seriously evil guys are out there and they've made a demand that unless we surrender to them, they will come after you and anyone we're allied with."

"They're coming after Judith and me?" Mr. Axel asked.

"We believe they well," Amy said weakly, "I want you and mom to come back to Castle Wyvern with us. You'll be safer there."

"Amy, your mother and I have work tomorrow," Mr. Axel sighed.

"Quit or as for time off on for personal reasons," Amy insisted, "Work for Xanatos at Eyrie Building. Anything that will keep you where I can protect you. They'll come for you while I'm asleep and then they'll kill you."

Mr. Axel gulped, "They really want to kill Judith and me?"

"That what we were told," Brooklyn sighed, "And it isn't just Amy that would be upset if something were to happen to you or your wife. Amy is part of our clan and if she mourns, we mourn."

"I'll get Judith," Mr. Axel sighed, "Hopefully you can explain all this along the way."

**Maza Apartment**

"This isn't what we meant when I said 'I wished you visited more'," Diane Maza commented drowsily as Elisa and Goliath came in.

"I'm sorry mom," Elisa replied weakly, "But this isn't a visit. I need you and dad to return to the castle with Goliath and me."

Diane Maza looked at Elisa and then at Goliath with a confused face, "Elisa, what's going on? Why do we need to go to the castle?"

"You and Peter know of the Third Race, am I right?" Goliath asked.

"Yes," Diane nodded, "From your 'world tour'. What does that have to do with whatever is going on?"

"A group of fey known as the Unseelie Court have recently attacked and forced their rivals, the Seelie Court out of the mystical island of Avalon," Goliath explained.

"Who is in these courts?" Peter asked from the dinning table, "I only know Coyote from your World Tour, and Puck from our association with your clan."

"I and only know of Anansi and Puck," Diane then added, "And from what you've learned from Demona, Anansi is dead."

"Puck and Coyote are members and Anansi was a member of the Seelie Court," Goliath sighed.

"And so the Seelie and Unseelie are rivals?" Peter Maza asked.

"Outright enemies would probably be the better word," Elisa sighed.

"Why are they fighting, anyway?" Diane asked before Elisa could say anything else.

"The right to rule," Goliath said in a voice that betrayed a lot of frustration, "Oberon, the Seelie King, fought with Madoc, the Unseelie King, many many years ago over who would rule, and when Madoc lost, the Unseelie Court disintegrated. Now, with Oberon being dead, Madoc has reformed his Court and is challenging Titania, Oberon's wife for the right to rule."

"And Madoc's being really evil about it," Elisa growled, "He's threatened Matt and if Titania doesn't surrender to him, he's threatened that he will strike at those who are closest to the clan. That would be you. I'd like nothing more than to wring his neck."

"He wouldn't…" Diane gasped.

"I strongly suspect he would," Goliath sighed, "He knows that the clan will aide Titania, but he also knows that we have a need to protect this city and that we have rather close relationships with some of the city's inhabitants. While any death that we could have prevented would be tragic, Madoc knows that if the clan were to lose its closest human allies, the clan might shy away from the war and try to avoid it. Allowing him to turn his forces loose on the Seelie Court without fear of someone using Iron weapons against them."

"And we can't protect you while you're here," Elisa said, "Our stone sleep requires that we return to Castle Wyvern every day where Xanatos's technology can keep them from smashing us. If you remain here, you would be vulnerable during the entire day and at least twenty minutes each night."

"What do you mean, twenty minutes?" Peter asked, "You guys awaken at sunset."

"Yes," Goliath said gravely, "But it takes time for us to travel from the Eyrie Building to here. And depending on the wind currents it can take up to ten minutes to make the trip."

"At Castle Wyvern, the same technology that protects us can protect you during the day, and we can protect you at night," Elisa quickly added, "No travel time needed."

"What about the Labyrinth?" Diane asked.

"We intend to warn them as soon as we get you to the castle," Elisa answered.

Diane and Peter as well as most of the other human friends of the clan were too tired to even notice all the extra gargoyles at the castle, not to mention the fey. After Goliath and Elisa dropped off her parents, they immediately left to deliver their warning to the Labyrinth while Owen arrived to lead the confused people to rooms for the night and promised to explain everything in the morning.

Goliath and Elisa returned half an hour later from the Labyrinth. Talon didn't appreciate being woken up in the middle of the night, but eventually thanked them for the warning. He said that he couldn't leave the Labyrinth, mostly out of fear that the homeless there might be attacked.

"I got a bad feeling about all of this," Goliath commented, as the two landed.

"At least all the people we know here are safe now," Elisa sighed, "That's the best we can do for now. Tomorrow night, I suppose we'll have to devise some sort of strategy. Figure out their likely targets and start patrolling the area."

"There are others," Goliath sighed, "Hopefully Madoc doesn't know about them."

**Flagstaff, Arizona, Beth Maza's Home**

Beth slowly rolled out of bed to greet the new day. The sun had just risen in the east and she made her way to the kitchen to make herself breakfast. The breakfast never had a chance to be eaten, as Coyote rushed through the front door, and found her just as she finished pouring herself a cup of coffee.

"Good morning, Coyote," Beth greeted with a smile, "Where were you last night?"

Coyote looked nervously around and waved his hand. A green glow surrounded Beth for a moment and when it was gone, the youngest Maza found herself wearing a pair of blue jeans, a white tee-shirt, and a pair of tan brown hiking boots. Beth was more than confused.

"Are you wanting to go on a nature hike or something?" Beth asked, "I have to work today."

"Not today, we gotta get outta here," Coyote said quickly, grabbing Beth's wrist and running for the back door.

"Coyote, what's going on?" Beth demanded beginning to become afraid knowing that something that could frighten a fey had to be dangerous.

Coyote didn't answer her and only pulled her along as he began to move quicker as he went. Unfortunately, by the time they got to the back door, it was blackened by a dark shadow.

"Oh no," Coyote muttered.

A large stone hammer then promptly knocked down the door revealing a Viking berserker in furs with white hair. What stood out about him the most was the presence of the Phoenix Gate on a chain around his neck.

"Loki?!" Coyote gasped, "You escaped!"

"That's right," Loki smiled as crashes suddenly sounded as past versions of Loki smashed through doors and windows, quickly surrounding Coyote and Beth.

"Coyote, who are these people?" Beth asked in a very frightened voice.

Loki then noticed Beth and smiled cruelly.

"Taking a mortal to your bed?" one past version of Loki sneered.

"Shame on you, Coyote," another past Loki laughed, "I guess we'll have to see how 'good' she is!"

"Leave her alone!" Coyote roared and pivoted and punched the past version of the evil fey.

"Get them!" the current Loki roared lifting up the hammer over his head.

Coyote quickly grabbed Beth around the shoulders and teleported out of the house, leaving the past versions of Loki to crash into themselves. They materialized on hill overlooking her home. They watched for a few seconds as the Lokis soon came back out of her home. Beth watched in utter horror as the lead Loki turned and using magic, set her home on fire.

"Coyote, who are those people?" Beth demanded.

"Actually, fey, and it's single individual," Coyote corrected.

"It looks like there are four of them, five if you count the one with that weird thing around his neck," Beth retorted.

"The other four are from different points in time," Coyote answered, "That is Loki. He's an evil fey. He was sentenced to spend eternity in the time vortex of the Phoenix Gate. I don't know how he escaped, but once we get to New York, I'd assume we'd get the answer."

"Can't you stop him?" Beth asked.

"Not him and his past selves," Coyote sighed, "Come on we gotta get out of here, and quickly."

Coyote and Beth then ran off into the desert. After about a hundred yards, Coyote opened a portal that would take them to New York and they escaped. The Phoenix fire meanwhile flashed as Loki returned his past selves to their proper time and then returned to the present. Looking at the flaming building that had once been Beth's home, Loki only sighed.

"Madoc's going to kill me," Loki muttered.

**The Labyrinth**

Claw made multiple gestures with his hands in sign language as he and the Labyrinth Clan talked over their own plans for defense.

"No," Talon sighed, "There aren't many places that so many homeless people can go. We can't move them. They're just as stuck here as we are."

"How can we fight them?" Maggie asked, "Goliath told you our electric powers are our only natural ability that will work, and they will only serve to make them mad."

"Iron," Talon commented, "We get our hands on some iron pipes that aren't in use anymore and turn them into spears or something. Since they are fey, Iron can kill them. The clones will also be of great help."

Claw gestured in sign language again.

"I don't know," Maggie answered, "Maybe in some of the older tunnels. We'd need to ask Owen or Xanatos where the pipes are."

"What's going on?" came a voice from the sidelines.

The turned to see Eleanor Reed approaching them. Despite the danger, Maggie found herself smiling slightly. Ever since her mother had discovered what had happened to her, Maggie feared that she would leave and never return. Eleanor Reed had however, remained and had become a sort of den mother to the clones. She helped with their lessons and occasionally offered them with words of encouragement.

"We're trying to figure out how to deal with the latest threat to the city," Talon chuckled, "And since Goliath and Elisa had to drag me out of bed at such an ungodly hour, we might as well be ready."

"I take it you didn't like being woken up?" Eleanor questioned.

"Yes!" Talon exclaimed, half laughing before turning serious, "But their information was important and serious. You remember what we'd told you about Puck correct?"

"Yeah, weird guy," Eleanor nearly chuckled, "He doesn't have an evil twin named 'Hockey' does he?"

"No," Maggie chuckled, "But he does have enemies that have the same magic powers he does. And there's an extremely good chance that the Labyrinth may be attacked by them to force the clan to surrender to them."

"And you said you need Iron to fight them?" Eleanor asked.

The three mutates nodded.

"I'll get it," Eleanor offered, "There's got to be a hardware store nearby in New Jersey, or I could go ask Mr. Xanatos himself for you."

"Thank you Mrs. Reed," Talon smiled, "You've been a great help to us. Especially since you've filled in for the position that Elisa used to have around here before she became a gargoyle."

"You're welcome," Eleanor replied, "And call me mom, since you apparently married my daughter without my knowing."

Talon and the others watched as Eleanor Reed slipped out of the Labyrinth and headed for the exit.

**Maddox Technologies**

Maddox sat at the end of a long conference table as some of the various lords of the Unseelie Court made their reports.

"You failed to apprehend Demona, but you did manage to deliver our surrender demand?" Maddox questioned to Sekhmet, who sat in her anthromorphic lion form.

"Yes my Lord," Sekhmet answered, "Another gargoyle found Demona and fled with her before I could get to her."

"Whoever it was, he or she must nut have know of Demona's immortality," Maddox sighed, "It is of no matter. Given her temperament, even if she joins our enemies, she will hurt the efforts more than she helps."

"You won't punish the cat-girl for failure?" Garlon asked.

"Watch it, Mouse," Sekhmet growled.

Garlon cringed at the nickname.

"Demona does not play well with others and she especially doesn't play well if she isn't in charge," Maddox explained, "Goliath will not hand over leadership of his clan and I'm certain the Avalon leader won't. Titania won't give her throne to Demona, and I'm certain that Xanatos won't give up his company."

"You believe Demona to be greedy then?" Maeve asked, "If so, she can be easily bought off."

"Not greedy," Maddox shook his head, "But she has the same belief of invincibility and superiority that Oberon had. If no one bows to her, as the 'rightful ruler of the world' she will leave in disgust. It's the lesson of Demona's past. If her lords fail to keep her happy, she betrays them. It is that simple."

Maddox then turned to Loki, "And you, Loki. Tell us, why was Coyote in his 'ancestral lands' and not on Avalon?"

"He was seeing a mortal," Loki answered.

"A visit?" Maeve asked, "He's been there too long for his presence there to be merely a visit."

"No," Loki shook his head, "He was 'SEEING' a mortal there. Romantically."

"So where is Coyote's head?" Huitzilopochtli demanded from across the table.

"He and his little Indian love got away," Loki grumbled.

"So you failed to even kill the mortal?" Maddox questioned.

"Yes," Loki grumbled.

"Very well," Maddox answered, "Loki can join the cleaning teams that are cleaning up the basement levels from the gargoyle's escape, and the next time he is sent on a serious mission, he'll know not to fail."

"The clean up teams!" Loki exclaimed, "But their mortals and kept practically in a trance!"

"And you can't have fun with any of them," Maddox said sternly, "Go."

Loki grumbled as he got up and walked toward the far door.

"And Loki," Maddox called as the Norse trickster reached the door, "If you fail me again when you are given a new assignment, I will not be as lenient as to merely put you on cleanup duty."

"So what do we do, now?" Morrigan asked.

"We will need cover to fight the war," Maddox said coldly, "The gargoyles and the mutates in Castle Wyvern will already know of us, but the rest of the mortals of this world don't. Since someone tampered with the spell that was supposed to make us immune to iron, we can not afford for the mortals to discover us and add to our enemies."

"What do we have to fear from mortals?" Banshee asked from another end of the table, "Raven and I left the Seelie Court so that we may have our way with them."

"But while Titania and her allies live," Maeve answered, "We can not simply command the mortals. Our enemies will tell them of our vulnerability to iron. And remember that the mortals outnumber the entire third race in population, and there are also halflings that would oppose us as well. We may have great power, the Seelie's presence and the mortal's numbers will keep our position vulnerable. We must defeat the Seelie Court while at the same time keep the mortals in the dark as to the entire operation."

"Disagree with my strategy," Maddox began, "And you can join Loki in cleaning."

Banshee and Raven bowed, "Yes my Lord."

"What can we use to create the cover?" Morrigan asked, "None of us are powerful enough to generate a sleep spell like Oberon did and even his is not powerful enough to keep such a spell active indefinitely."

Maddox nodded, "A minor spell will be all that is necessary. We only need to bring in moisture from the Atlantic Ocean and cold air from the arctic. New York and the east coast of the United States will sit under a blanket of snow and ice. The mortals will be too cold to even care about the war raging above them."

**Castle Wyvern**

Fox's golden eyes narrowed as dark clouds began to form over the city. Heavy snow fall could immediately be seen where the clouds were.

"Madoc has made his move," came Titania's voice.

"Huh?" Fox asked turning her head.

"The snow storm that is spreading," Titania commented, "Common Unseelie tactic to blind the world to their plans. He will use the snow as cover to keep the human population from noticing his activities. That way they won't have Iron weapons ready should they decide to attack the human population."

A feral growl escaped Fox's muzzle.

"My court, you and your husband, and the gargoyles will be unaffected by the cold," Titania continued, "But if it goes on for more than a year, the cold may begin to kill mortal humans exposed to it for an extend period of time."

"So not only is it a method of cover, but a method of weeding out the weak," Fox asked.

"Madoc intends for the human and gargoyle populations of the world to be his slaves," Titania answered, all her hatred for the Unseelie leader evident in her voice, "If you owned slaves, would you allow for weak slaves to live?"

"I don't want slaves, period," Fox answered, "I may not have done many good things in my past, but I know that slavery is wrong."

"Halcyon and I raised you well then," Titania smiled, "I am proud of that."

Fox glanced up at the sleeping gargoyles on the tower and various portions of the battlements.

"At least the clan got their human family and friends here, where you can protect them," Fox sighed.

"Don't you mean, 'so that WE can protect them'?" Titania asked.

"I would if I could take part in the actual protecting," Fox sighed.

"I do not understand," Titania replied.

"David does not want me putting myself in danger at the moment," Fox said weakly, "And I agree with him that in my current condition, it isn't wise for me to be risking my neck."

Titania looked at Fox for a moment, bringing her eyes to a soft green glow which soon faded as a look of surprise fell over the emerald skinned fey's face.

"You're… pregnant!" Titania exclaimed.

"Yes, mother," Fox whimpered looking down, "And do not wish to risk my child's life."

"If it weren't for Madoc, I'd be very happy for you," Titania said, getting over the surprise of her daughter's second pregnancy, "But I'm afraid you may have to fight, and you must at least learn some of your magic."

"My magic?" Fox asked.

"You are my daughter," Titania answered, "You know that. You have the power within you. Since I failed to teach you when you needed it the most, I must now teach you for your own protection and for the protection of your children, born and unborn."

Fox only gulped as Titania led her inside.

"So all these fey are stuck here until this Modoc guy is beaten?" Judith Axel asked Abigail Wexmand.

"That's what Candy told me last night," Abigail sighed, "The worst thing is that these guys have threatened to come after us, and that's what's got all the gargoyles upset."

"I'm sorry I didn't tell you about all this, dad," Lawrence said to his father, "But Caroline was very unhappy with what happened to her and the last thing she wanted was to have me taken away from her. She was afraid you would let me see her."

Mr. Urbis and his wife sat with a nearly brain dead look.

"I still can't believe it all," Greg Urbis muttered.

"It's a lot to get used to at first," Mr. Axel said leaning over, "But it makes life much more exciting in a way."

"Yeah, exciting," Greg Urbis muttered sarcastically, "I'm missing work because my son's gargoyle girlfriend is scared of a bunch of fairies."

"As you should be," came a voice from the other end of the hall as Xanatos and Owen entered the room.

Greg and Martha Urbis looked like they were going to have simultaneous heart attacks at the sight of the wolf-like mutate.

"I am David Xanatos," Xanatos introduced himself, "For those of you who don't know, I was turned into this by a brilliant geneticist. You are all here because of the current war being raged between the fey of Seelie and Unseelie Courts."

The group nodded.

"Yes," Peter Maza nodded, "Elisa and Goliath told us that they were intending to kill us to get at the clan."

"Yes," Xanatos nodded, "The gargoyles brought you all here to be protected from them."

"What do we have to fear from a bunch of fairies?" Greg Urbis challenged, standing up, "They're just little things with wings."

Owen immediate incased himself in bright lights and returned in Puck's form, "No we're not, and the term is Fae Folk. Or the Third Race. Or Children of Oberon. Or the Fey. Not fairies."

Lawrence's parents only snorted at Puck's remark but were slightly started by the elf's appearance.

"Next, the magic we wield is real," Puck continued, "While some of us are more powerful than others and can do more than others, our powers can't do everything."

"Then we have nothing to fear," Greg Urbis snorted.

Puck waived his arm and encased Greg Urbis in a green light. When it faded, the man had been turned into an ant.

"What have you done to me?" Greg Urbis demanded.

Puck lowered himself to the ground and placed one boot over Greg Urbis's head, "I've turned you into an ant. An insect. Still don't believe in magic?"

"No," Greg Urbis answered looking up at the boot with the ant's compound eyes.

Another flash of green light appeared and Greg Urbis was once again human.

"That was only a simple transformation spell," Puck explained, "But that is only a portion of what any fey can do, and it is easily possible for any fey to outright kill someone with that magic. Fortunately for you, the Seelie Court believes that outright killing is barbaric. We don't kill when we get involved with humans. In fact, most members of the Seelie Court have actually been teachers to inspire people."

"How long will we have to stay here?" Martha Urbis asked.

"Until the Unseelies are beaten," Xanatos answered, "Their leader, named Madoc, wants to rule the Third Race, and he isn't about to let anything stand in his way. Also since we have no I idea how long it will take, I am willing to offer everyone who wants one a job here. And no one will have to pay rent."

The assembled group remained silent.

**Elsewhere**

Coyote and Beth appeared in an empty portion of Central Park from the portal that Coyote had opened in the desert.

"Coyote, what's going on?" Beth demanded, "Why did Loki attack us?"

"I felt something while you were sleeping," Coyote answered, "Something dark and as if Avalon itself had been weakened. Loki probably attacked us to get me, and he would have used you to get to me."

"You felt something?" Beth questioned before she suddenly shivered, "Man who turned the thermostat down?"

Coyote noticed the falling snow magically put a winter jacket in Beth's hands. The youngest Maza put it on quickly.

"I felt something," Coyote nodded, "Call it a sixth sense. As for the weather, I think that's connected. We gotta get to the Eyrie Building."

They arrived ten minutes later to find a very edgy security guard in the lobby.

"I'm sorry, miss, but I can't let you go up to the castle without your name being on the list," the guard said, "It's protocol."

"Do you know of the gargoyles?" Beth growled.

The guard nodded, "They live up in the castle. That's why I'm not allowed to let anyone who isn't on the list up there."

"Well, I happen to be good friends with them," Beth warned, "I'm so close with one of them that she might as well be my sister. The gargoyles know I'm a friend. Let us in."

"The gargoyles don't awaken till sunset," the guard said in a business like tone.

The security guard then saw Coyote whisper something in Beth's ear. Beth sighed and then followed Coyote out. The guard only smiled at a 'job well done' as the two left.

Ten minutes later a uniformed officer came in the front lobby, lugging a large female gargoyle statue with him. It had a relatively weak looking browridge and two small horns on its forehead.

"What is that?" the lobby guard asked.

"I'd presume it's a gargoyle," the policeman said in a heavy Bronx accent, "Found it perched on our precinct roof. Presumed it lived here."

"And what makes you think it is a real gargoyle?" the guard demanded.

"It was there last night," the officer pointed out.

"Very well," the guard said, "Take the center elevator."

The policeman tipped his cap and proceeded to carry the statue to the elevator. Once the doors closed a green light enveloped the two and Coyote and a very human Beth emerged.

"Man, Elisa's picked up some weird sleeping habits," Beth commented, "No wonder they roar when they wake up."

Coyote chuckled lightly, "It's nothing much. The real problem is that guard will probably be fired tomorrow."

The elevator doors eventually opened again to see a very stern looking Owen.

"What?" Coyote asked, "No hug?"

"Neither of you are a policeman or a gargoyle," Owen said blandly, "Not what I expected."

"You shoulda known I was coming at least," Coyote smirked, before ushering Beth in, "Any idea what's going on?"

"The Second Unseelie War," Owen answered flatly.

"No wonder Loki attacked us in Arizona," Coyote mused.

"Second?" Beth asked horrified.

"I am afraid so, Miss Maza," Owen answered, "They have troubled the world and Coyote's court before. Now they have returned to cause trouble again."

Beth gulped while Owen returned his attention to Coyote.

"You will need to report to Titania that you have returned," Owen said firmly, "I'll see to it that you and Miss Maza are given a room."

**Thailog's Base, Dusk**

Fang was woken from his sleep as he heard Thailog, Holly, and their four new gargoyle lackeys awoke for the night. Fang snarled to himself as Holly lead the four former humans out from the room that they normally slept in. The blood red female had become an unofficial second in Thailog's 'clan' as the black gargoyle and the female planned together. Thailog to gain greater power with which to defeat the clan, Holly to get revenge on the tan gargoyle that beat her. Fang, himself, felt as if he was being reduced to a lackey's state as well.

"Ah, you're awake, Fang," Holly smiled, "Excellent. You will lead Butch, Buzz, Rage, and Lucifer on our next recruiting drive. I have the energy change two tonight, so take your time and make sure that they're strong. No skinny guys. Sell some of those that aren't worthy for transformation. Hopefully they start a gang war that destroys New York."

Fang only grumbled, "Fine. So long as I'm in charge."

Fang lead the four transformed thugs out of the hidden base. A few minutes later two black hands settled on Holly's shoulders.

"You'll make a fine Queen," Thailog smiled.

Holly inwardly smiled, "Must you feel the need to claim me every time we're alone?"

"I thought you enjoyed it?" Thailog questioned.

Holly smiled again, "True. But there is no love between us. We should both know that. Our passions are more toward what our goals are not toward each other."

"True, but unless I can gain immortality," Thailog commented, "I will need an heir. You can provide me with one."

"Some I'm just a breeder to you?" Holly questioned.

"No," Thailog smiled back, "You're my only hope at victory."

"Then I better get what I want out of this relationship," Holly said firmly.

Fang and Thailog's four thugs emerged into an alley from under the city to find a very different New York from the night before. While the temperatures had been cool, they had not been as cold as they were now and there was not an inch and a half of snow on the ground, and flakes still falling.

"Did Holly cause this?" one of the thugs, Lucifer asked.

"She's only been working on the spell to transform humans to gargoyles for Thailog," Fang grumbled, "Ignore it. I don't feel cold anyway."

Fang took a few steps to a nearby fire escape feeling the snow crunch beneath his feet. Thailog's thugs merely moved to the nearby wall and began to scale it. They all arrived on the roof at the same time to see at least ten elf-like creatures wearing only tattered brown pants.

"Gargoyles!" one of the creatures yelled above them.

"The master's orders!" another countered.

"Gargoyles!" the first one reiterated and dove downward.

Fang paused to observe the creatures that had come down to attack him and the thugs. They had white skin and claws and their mouths looked they were full of sharp teeth. They had no hair, but the tops of their bald heads were a bright red, and the red skin looked almost as if they were wearing night caps.

Fang fired an electric blast at the first creature that came close. The creature howled with pain and slumped to the ground, but got up a few seconds after the electricity's effects wore off. The thugs seemed to do better. All of them had been former street thugs, and most of them had been captured by Goliath's clan from petty crime or another. Despite gaining talons and greater strength as part of their transformation, the four thugs still kept the weapons they used as human. Chains, knives, one even still carried a baseball bat. Fang thought this stuff was rather silly, but when he saw one of these creatures go flying after it was hit by one of the thug's chains and looked like it was injured, Fang began to change his opinion.

"Wood and electricity no harm Redcap," one of the creature snarled.

Fang watched as one of the creatures fall dead after a thug stabbed it with his knife. Apparently metal could hurt these things. Saying nothing, Fang leaped back to the fire escape and yanked one of the vertical bars out of its position, bending the hand rail and the flooring. Three creatures that were chasing him landed on his back and began to claw at his back.

Fang roared with pain as they did so. The cougar-like mutate flexed his wings and managed to throw tow of the three off. They went flying but quickly recovered. Before they could return, Fang backed his body into the brick wall of the building, crushing the third on his back.

When Fang turned to face the other two, he found they had lost all ability to speak in their frenzy and were merely roaring like crazed idiots charging at him. He clubbed one across the face with the piece of the fire escape and watched as it shrieked in pain and fell to the ground below him. He wasn't fast enough to get the other one as it knocked off the fire escape and sank its teeth into his shoulder. Fang roared and electrified his entire body. It got the creature to let go of him and allow Fang to recover and glide into the air. He landed on the roof to find five dead creatures and his four thugs.

"Can't fight the street way," Butch commented.

"But they don't tire either," Fang commented as he pointed to the other two who were joined by the three that chased after Fang.

The creatures in their blind fury charged again. Fang fired a wide electrical charge. The blast only took them to their knees, but gave Fang the time to get close his piece of the fire escape. Using the blunt tip as a spear, Fang thrust that piece of the fire escape into the creatures head. Not designed to be a weapon, the piece of the fire escape bent slightly before Fang's sheer strength forced it through the creature's skull. The various other thugs charged and attacked. Two using their chains like whips while the other two used their knives to kill the creatures. The one with a baseball bat mere made sure they stayed down so the thugs with knives could kill the creature.

"Wait!" Fang yelled as the thugs moved on to the final creature, "Thailog will want to question them. Wrap him in this."

Fang handed the thug, Buzz, his piece of the fire escape, "That should hold him."

Fang then looked at the dead creatures lying on the roof top.

"Move the dead ones away from the entrance to our base," Fang instructed, "I'll bet these guys have friends, and I don't want them showing up."

Rage and Lucifer nodded while Butch and Buzz made sure the piece of the fire escape was well secured around the one living one. Buzz then handed the prisoner to Fang.

**Castle Wyvern**

"Well you've certainly had plenty of company," Beth commented, as she was reunited with her sister.

"Yeah," Elisa sighed, "But the London Clan and Macbeth and Arthur will probably return to protect London when this is all over. The Avalon Clan will return with Titania and her court to Avalon."

Beth nodded, "It's good to see you again Elisa."

"It's good to see you too, Beth," Elisa smiled back, "I wish it came under much better circumstances."

"I know," Beth sighed, and then added weakly, "Mom and dad told me how nervous you were when you and Goliath came to pick them up."

"I feared they would be attacked," Elisa commented, "Would you fear for them if you in my position?"

"Absolutely," Beth agreed, and then said weakly, "You guys will be careful right?"

Elisa nodded and placed one hand on Beth's shoulder as the two walked inside.

Getting into dinning hall now took longer with humans, mutates, and fey eating their dinner, while the clan began eating its breakfast. Gabriel managed to get a seat near Desdemona and Othello for himself and one for Ophelia.

"So what's for breakfast?" Gabriel asked.

"I believe Owen is cooking tonight, so we will probably eat what the others are eating for dinner," Othello answered.

"So what do you think of Manhattan, Gabriel?" Desdemona asked.

"It's a bit colder from when Ophelia and I last visited, but it's alright," Gabriel replied, "Would you mind if I asked you a question?"

Othello looked to his mate and then back to the Avalon leader, "We wouldn't mind."

"Are you my parents?" Gabriel asked directly.

"Huh?" Othello asked back looking confused, "You and you clan brothers and sisters are our rookery children yes."

"Not that," Gabriel shook his head, "I'm talking biological. I mean, Angela is Goliath and Demona's daughter. Are you and Desdemona my biological parents?"

Othello paused to scratch his head leaving Desdemona to answer the question.

"The hatchlings are the hatchlings of the clan," Desdemona answered, "Who particular hatchlings are related to is unimportant."

"They're important to us," Ophelia said quietly, "Princess Katherine raised us like she would if we were her own children. Besides shouldn't every gargoyle know who is related to him by blood? You wouldn't want to have physical relationships with your blood brother or sister, parent or child? Would you?"

"No," Othello said firmly, "But their pheromones would not affect us or you. So why search for two individuals out of an entire clan that would care for you?"

"To be a family," Gabriel answered, "It's how we were raised. Are you my parents or not?"

"We don't know, Gabriel," Desdemona answered politely, "We were raised as children of the entire clan and that's how we laid our egg before the massacre."

**Thailog's Base**

"That isn't a human," Holly pointed out as Fang and the thugs returned with their prisoner.

"True, but it appears that they've gone through quite a battle to capture him," Thailog smiled as he noticed the wounds that Fang and the thugs had sustained, "We might as well figure out what they've brought us."

The black skinned clone then turned to the thugs, "Go clean yourselves up. Fang and I will have a talk with this creature here."

"He's been cranky ever since he woke up," Fang commented.

Thailog chuckled, "Who are what are you?"

"I am Yisshiek leader of the fifth Redcap squad of the Unseelie Army," the creature answered.

"And who are the Unseelie?" Thailog questioned.

"The Unseelie Court led by the fey Madoc and Maeve," Yisshiek answered, "Destined to destroy the usurper Titania and conquer the world."

"Conquer the world?" Thailog asked.

"Yes," Yisshiek answered, "With the destruction of the Seelie Court anything that opposes the Unseelie will perish."

"I'd assume that includes us?" Holly demanded.

"Of course," Yisshiek smiled.

Thailog noted the metal bar wrapped around the creatures chest, pinning its arms down.

"This bar is made of Iron," Thailog pointed to Fang, "Either Yisshiek, here, is very stupid, or Iron has some affect on Unseelies that we do not know about. Once the thugs are cleaned up, I want you and Holly to take them out into the tunnels and scrounge up as much iron bars as you can."

"You can not stop the Unseelie," Yisshiek said clearly.

Fang ran a current of electricity into the Iron bar. The redcap screamed with pain.

"We can't have these Unseelie ruling the world if **I **am to rule the world," Thailog mused, "And I'm sure Goliath will oppose them for…"

Thailog then smiled.

"What should we do with him?" Holly asked pointing at Yisshiek.

"Kill him and dump the body in one of the storm drains that takes rain water out to the ocean," Thailog said coldly, "I have matters I need to attend to."

**Castle Wyvern**

Owen quietly walked into the Eyrie Building's main communications center. As the clan had come to life and with the Seelie Court and the clan's human friends and family residing in the castle, Owen had sent many of the people who worked in these sections home early, and it was getting close to time to send the rest of the staff home for the night. Owen quietly pressed a button that was flashing indicating an incoming message. Owen knew of the incoming message because the computerized intercom system had been blaring that there was an incoming message that needed to be answered. Wanting to make sure that no one besides those who already knew of Xanatos and Fox's mutation, Owen came alone.

Owen faced a large communications screen as the he pressed the button. The screen immediately came to life, and Owen's eyes widened at what he saw.

"Hello, Mr. Burnett, or should I call you 'Uncle'?" an image of Thailog said on the screen.

"How did you…?" Owen demanded.

"Anyone with a connection knows the Eyrie Building's computer's visual communication system," Thailog smiled, "It's how you and most of the really big global companies conduct meetings when the CEO's are half way around the world. Marvelous system, too. Mine is obviously not as advanced, but then I'm only starting."

"What do you want, Thailog?" Owen demanded again.

"I wish to talk to Goliath," Thailog smiled, "I'm sure he'll be interested in what I have to say."

Goliath only let out a low growl as Owen repeated Thailog's message.

"I don't get it," Beth whispered to Elisa, "Who is this Thailog guy that's got him so mad?"

"Thailog is a clone of Goliath," Elisa whispered back, "Except Thailog lacks any good qualities."

It took a few minutes to get Goliath to agree to figure out was going on. Goliath moved into the communication room about five minutes later to see the black skinned clone pacing on the screen in front of him.

"What do you want, Thailog?" Goliath demanded.

The clone jumped at his voice, "Ah, Goliath, thank you for agreeing to converse with me…"

"What do you want, Thailog?" Goliath growled, his eyes glowing dimly.

"Have you or any of your clan run into any members of an 'Unseelie Court'?" Thailog asked.

"Why should you care about the Unseelie Court?" Goliath asked suspiciously.

"I'll take that as a yes," Thailog smiled, "My people have recently had a run in with a few of their followers."

Thailog then reached for something that was off screen and then pulled the dead redcap onto the screen. The creature was still wrapped in the Iron bar from the fire escape, but one tip of the bar now punctured the creature's chest.

"Ten of these things attacked my followers," Thailog continued, and before Goliath could retort, "And don't worry, they're all fine. All of these creatures are dead."

"What do you want, Thailog?" Goliath growled impatiently.

"Am I to assume that you are opposed to the Unseelie Court and its agenda?" Thailog asked.

"They are out to conquer the world, Thailog," Goliath said in an aggravated tone, "Of course I'm opposed to their agenda."

"Then it would appear that we have a common enemy," Thailog smiled, "What I want is an alliance, Goliath. My people will work with your people."

"Why should I ally with you?" Goliath questioned, "We are totally different."

"That's like someone saying it's dark at night," Thailog answered.

Goliath growled at the image of Thailog on the screen.

"I will not deny that I have the same goals as the Unseelie Court," Thailog said, "But if the Unseelies were to win, would I get the throne? And since I'd wager that unless you've suddenly become a wizard, you do not have the numbers or the power to fight them. And you know that I do not have the means to fight them when they learn that it ten of their 'redcaps' were killed. You and I need each other, Goliath."

"I do not need your help," Goliath growled.

"Really?" Thailog asked, "How many of these Unseelie have you defeated? How many have you captured. Even if you have wizard or fey allies, I doubt they can be trusted to guarantee victory. You agree to help me, and I'll agree to help you."

Goliath looked down for a moment.

"And of course, while this alliance stands," Thailog continued, "My followers will do your clan no harm and your clan is to do my followers no harm. What do you say, brother? Partners against a common foe?"

**Maddox Industries**

Madoc didn't like what he saw. He had sent out several squads of redcapped dwarfs to kill the gargoyle's mortal friends, and all but one returned. He also looked to see a terrified man and woman standing in chains in front of the second redcap squad.

"Report," Madoc growled.

One redcap advanced out of the center and spoke clearly to the Unseelie leader, "The mortal's homes were abandoned. There was no one there. Bluestone and their police friends were at the precinct building and we were told not to go there."

"Who are these people then?" Madoc questioned, "They are the human parents of one of the gargoyles in the clan. Why are they here and more importantly alive?"

The redcap nervously glanced at the Caroline's chained parents, "My Lord, these are Mr. and Mrs. Nexus. They were taken alive because when squad three attacked their home, they learned in their attack that they and the gargoyle Nexus do not exactly like one another."

"How did you learn this?" Madoc asked firmly.

"They babbled about her not wishing to see them again and begged for their lives," the redcap answered quickly.

Madoc was quickly brought into a new train of thought, "A human transformed into a gargoyle that doesn't care about its parents? Most interesting."

"Their story should prove intriguing," Madoc finally said out loud, and motioned to the redcap squad holding their chains, "Take them to cell nineteen in the basement. I will deal with them later."

The redcaps nodded and dragged their two prisoners out the door. Mr. and Mrs. Nexus screamed all the way.

"Now what of the Labyrinth and where is squad five?" Madoc demanded.

"The Labyrinth was one of the places that squad five was supposed to attack," the redcap said nervously, "However, we found all but one of the members of squad five laying dead on a roof top. We were unable to discern whether they were returning from the Labyrinth or heading to the Labyrinth."

"How could they have been killed?" Madoc demanded, "Our intelligence says that they have no knowledge that we even exist."

"Queen Maeve's intelligence reports indicate that there are cat like mutants living in the Labyrinth," the redcap gulped, "It is possible that they have the ability to kill fey or perhaps the Labyrinth inhabitants killed them with Iron weapons."

"Those creatures would have only had an advantage if they were warned of the attack," Madoc growled, mostly to himself.

"Titania's lackeys most likely," came Maeve's voice from the doorway, "Some insolent court members have just reported that various members of Goliath's clan were seen gliding to the target sights. The targets were warned."

Madoc looked up at Maeve and then returned his attention to the redcap.

"Leave us," Madoc growled.

The redcap saluted and ran off.

"She will fight then," Madoc commented once Maeve shut the door.

"Did you really intend to kill the families?" Maeve asked, "If so, the surrender demand was foolish."

"I intended to see if Titania would be willing to fight," Madoc answered, "I am disappointed that we didn't get the opportunity to kill the families, but our objectives were achieved. Titania and her court will fight back."

"That means we need to figure out what to do with Titania herself and the Weird Sisters," Maeve pointed out, "Titania at her weakest is as strong as you at your strongest, and the Weird Sisters together could rival Oberon himself."

"I know," Madoc smiled, "But without Odin, Grandmother, Anansi, Raven, Banshee, and most importantly Oberon and the Olympian Court as well, Titania can not win the war. We're going to have a lot of fun this time around."

**Castle Wyvern**

"You allied us with Thailog!?" Demona screamed, "After what he did to Wedrington!?"

"I have no affection for Thailog and I have no doubt that he will somehow betray us," Goliath answered, "But he claims his followers have killed a member of the Unseelie Court. He is, at the moment, fighting the same enemy we are."

"That's no excuse," Demona growled, "Even if Thailog doesn't betray us, his methods to gain victory will not be what you would consider proper."

"I'd hate to say it," Brooklyn began, "But Demona's right on this one. He's untrustworthy. He doesn't do evil things because he's suffered in his past or defines protection differently; he does evil things because it helps him gain power. How do we know he isn't already allied with Madoc?"

"That is unlikely," came Titania's voice, "Madoc would use his magic to scan any potential ally's mind for possible things that he's kept secret. If what you say about this Thailog is true, then Madoc would have had him killed or enslaved in such a manner that his brain wouldn't function. Thus preventing Madoc from having to deal with him later."

"Still, brother, he has not proven himself to be worthy of being even considered as an ally against Madoc," Othello grumbled.

"We have no choice," Goliath answered, "Titania's court is weakened by Madoc's attack on Avalon. And other than Merlin and Demona, we have no one who knows magic besides the Seelie Court. The Labyrinth Clan can help, but their prime concern is the Labyrinth and its dwellers there. At this time, we need all the help we can get, and at this time, Thailog is the only one present we can ally with."

"And what if he betrays us?" Elisa asked.

"I don't know," Goliath admitted, "Right now, were in a very desperate situation and desperate times call for desperate measures."

Gabriel glanced at Demona and Macbeth, who both stood fairly far apart and added, "Or unlikely allies."

**To be Continued…**


	12. A Death in the Family

All characters appearing in Gargoyles and Gargoyles: The Goliath Chronicles are copyrighted to Buena Vista Television/The Walt Disney Company. I've taken the idea for the Unseelie Court from the TGS. No infringement of these copyrights is intended, and is not authorized by the copyright holder. All original characters are the property of SN.

Note: I'm disregarding the events of the "Goliath Chronicles", with the exception of "The Journey" because I do not wish to use the rest of the "Goliath Chronicles" as canon to my story. This story takes place immediately after "Unlikely Allies".

A Death in the Family

By SN/TVfan

Email: Sam_Nary 

**Castle Wyvern**

Candy, Caroline, and Amy crouched along the edge of the battlements while the rest of the clan argued over the decision to ally with Thailog.

"What do you guys think about all this?" Amy asked.

"I don't know," Candy shook her head, "I mean I know that Thailog is evil and all, but so are these Unseelie characters, and they've actually succeeded in defeating their opponents. So if he's willing to help us, maybe we should let him help us until the Unseelie's are beaten."

"I'm not really sure either," Caroline added, "I mean I haven't really thought about it."

There was a silence for a moment.

"It's Angela's brothers, they're driving me crazy," Caroline complained quietly to her friends, "Have you noticed how they've been following us around? The unmated ones in particular? I mean, we're supposed to be fighting a bunch of evil magic users that want to conquer the world. Is it really the time for them to be asking a bunch of questions?"

"They're just curious about their new surroundings," Amy answered.

"Not all the questions I've received have been about their 'new surroundings'," Caroline answered.

Candy meanwhile turned her head away from Caroline and Amy as she caught the scent of something that didn't smell right in the city. The three former humans had by now adjusted to all the heightened senses that came along with their transformation, and could now recognize many of the different odors that a gargoyle's nose could pick up. Outside, and from the height that Castle Wyvern was at, they most commonly smelled octane and other scents related to the cabs, trucks, personal cars, busses, and other vehicles driving below them. Those scents were the dominant ones. However, the scent that Candy had just caught didn't smell like that. It smelled like something was burning.

"Does something smell like it's on fire to you guys?" Candy asked interrupting Caroline and Amy.

The other two turned in the direction that Candy was looking. A few short sniffs detected the same burning smell that Candy had detected. They also saw a light rising above the skyline that wasn't electrical and a pillar of smoke rising above where the light was. Their eyes widened as their brains confirmed what it was. They quickly turned to report it to Goliath and the others.

**Inside the Castle**

"Come along Fox," Titania instructed, "This spell is far more simple then energy blast you threw at Oberon."

"That was different!" Fox protested.

"Yes," Titania nodded, "You had little knowledge of your true inheritance then. All the more proving that you should find this easy. Light the candle."

Fox looked around the dark room, seeing everything as if it were already daylight. One of the few benefits she found in her mutation, near perfect night vision. Titania stood a few feet away holding a candle in her hands. The fey Queen had spent the last half hour trying to get her to light the candle.

"Focus on what you intend to do," Titania instructed, "If you really don't think you can do it, try to think of a reason why you have to do it. Do you want Madoc to take your family and kill them?"

If Titania was looking for results, she got them. Fox's eyes lit up with the same white radiance that all mutates eyes glowed with and the red furred mutate suddenly created a tiny emerald green orb in one of her hands. The orb flashed a few seconds later the drapes hanging nearby were on fire. Titania watched the response and glanced at the damaged drapes with a look that seemed oblivious to the fire.

"It's progress," Titania sighed, waving her hand, putting the fire out and repairing the drapes in one stroke, "But you used too much power and you hit the wrong 'target'."

"What do you mean too much power?" Fox asked, "I barely got an orb the size of a penny. Alex could generate an orb the size of his head if he wanted to."

"Alex has know of his ancestry since infancy and was tutored by Puck in that time," Titania answered, "You, partially do to my own mistakes, didn't learn of it till recently, and this is the first that you've ever been taught in your own heritage. You do not lack power, the power was always there. The problem is that magic, fey magic in particular, is best learned from childhood or younger. Since you have never learned your magic, what you lack is not power but control. It is difficult for you to summon the power you desire and you can not control how much power you actually use. And with anything, if you lack control, your aim will be off."

"Aren't you afraid that I'd hit you then?" Fox asked.

"It is a possibility," Titania shrugged, "But I can recover. The spell is simple, and while it can generate powerful results, it is not powerful in itself. I could easily recover, deflect, or dodge the spell if it were to come my way. Now try again. Remember to try and harness the power you have. Use whatever you need to activate it, but only enough so that you can control it."

Fox sighed and began try again. She closed her eyes as tight as she could and focused for a few moments. Fox felt sweat run down the fur on her face neck as slowly a new orb of green light formed in her palm. Again, its circumference was only about the size of a penny, but this time the orb gently disappeared as the candle was let by a flame.

"Did I do it?" Fox asked not opening her eyes.

"Look for yourself," Titania responded.

Fox cautiously opened one eye and then the other to see the candle light with a small flame.

"Very well done, Fox," Titania smiled before the mutate could say anything, "That will be all for now. You'll find with more practice, control and ability will get easier."

**Manhattan**

"This was my parent's apartment!" Elisa exclaimed as she, Goliath, Demona, Wedrington, Hudson, David, Mary, Griff, and Octavia descended through the snowy weather.

Goliath's eyes widened as he saw the apartment building in flames as the group landed on the roof of the apartment building opposite the burning one. Hudson paused for a moment to look over the edge of the building they were on. He saw very few people standing in front of the building. What made the situation worse is that he didn't see any fire trucks or police there.

"There are no humans here fighting the fire," Hudson commented a loud, sounding shocked and surprised.

"These fires were only started recently, and through magic," Demona announced, "And given this sudden snow storm, I doubt any sort of vehicle will be able to make much progress."

"We must make sure everyone has gotten out," Goliath said looking at the fire.

"And would you do that?" Demona demanded.

Goliath glanced at the few people standing in front of the building, "We do what we have to do."

Goliath immediately dove from the roof to confront the two people. Hudson and Elisa were quick to follow. David, Mary, Griff, and Octavia hesitated for a moment, but soon followed as well. Demona remained unmoved while Wedrington looked nervously on.

"Aren't you going to help them?" Wedrington asked.

"No," Demona half snarled, "They are only humans. Besides, as I said before, this fire was started by magic. It was most likely started by the Unseelie."

"Can you put the fire out then?" Wedrington asked, "With your own magic?"

"Not without drowning anyone at ground level or in the building with water," Demona answered.

Goliath and the others landed with a strong thud in the snow that was beginning to deepen in many places. The three people watching the fire barely noticed their arrival.

"Is anyone in there?" Goliath asked with as much concern as possible.

The people turned, each looking extremely fearful. They gasped at the sight of the seven gargoyles but soon recovered. The people did not look entirely relaxed however.

"Is anyone still in there?" Goliath asked again.

"My children!" a woman who was one of the three people, "My children might be in there. I just left ten minutes ago to get something from the corner store to help with the little ones, and I came back to find the whole place in flames. I don't know if they got out…"

The woman's speech began to become lost in nervous cries for her children. One of the two men stepped forward nervously to talk to the large lavender gargoyle.

"Everyone is probably in there," the man said, "It's night right now. People are probably in their beds."

The man nearly fell over when each of the gargoyle's eyes widened in horror.

"We must get them out," Goliath instructed to the others.

"Agreed," Octavia nodded, "But how are we to get in and save them? The fire is thick and it appears that Demona does not wish to help us with her magic. Only the Legionnaire could enter that building and walk away unburned."

"We can't let the people in there die, lass," Hudson insisted before Goliath could answer, "A gargoyle cannae no more…"

"I know what must be done, and I understand that we can not let any human die," Octavia interrupted, "But we can't rush in. The flames have consumed the building on the outside, and we don't know how think they are on the inside. We need at least some fire extinguishers."

"They're already in the building," the man pointed out.

"Then that option is useless," Goliath said sternly, "We must go in!"

Goliath rushed forward towards the front door to the apartment building. Using the tough membrane of the back of his wings, he lunged through the door, taking the door out with him. He found the interior of the building to be in much better condition then the outside. There was still fire everywhere, but the hallways seemed manageable.

"Goliath?" Elisa called from the outside, looking extremely nervous.

"The fire is worse on the outside than it is on the inside," Goliath answered, "Come we must hurry. Everyone take different floors and use the stairs."

Elisa and the others nodded and rushed in, dodging the flames where they were, and making sure they didn't step on any weakened floor boards. Demona and Wedrington watched from the other roof, out of sight.

"What do you suppose we do while they're in there risking their lives?" Wedrington asked.

"We watch," Demona answered, "As I've said, it had to have been the Unseelie that started this blaze. Do you think they would simply burn the place and leave? This has to be some sort of trap on their part."

"Even if it is, you could have told them that," Wedrington answered, "I doubt Goliath is going to be very happy that you didn't help him."

"I am not part of his clan," Demona answered, "I will not take orders from him. Besides, if it is a trap of the Unseelies, I want to be ready for them."

**Elsewhere**

Candy, Lexington, Julia, Zafiro, Obsidiana, Jade, Turquesa, Kenneth, and Joshua landed on to find a scene that was only slightly different from the scene that Goliath's group had encountered. Several police and fire trucks had managed to arrive and the firemen were already moving to put out the fire that was rapidly consuming the office building.

"This is where my mom works!" Candy exclaimed.

"Tis the work of the Unseelies," the Weird Sisters said in unison above them.

"Remind me why they came along," Lexington groaned.

"To make sure you were not ambushed by the Unseelie," Luna answered.

"Or is that the strategy you wish to pursue?" Selene asked.

"We can easily oblige," Phoebe finished.

"He was only joking," Julia answered before bringing her eagle-like beak close to Lexington's ear, "I will not pretend to know what your problem with them is, but I will warn you that it is strategically unwise to insult or show disrespect to your allies in a time of war."

Lexington nodded, "Well, it looks like the firemen have everything in hand here."

Lexington then turned to Candy, "Does your mother's company employ anyone at night?"

"Only a few night watchmen," Candy answered, "Like most others, and only one or two at most would have been inside when the fire started."

"There are two men under blankets near the ambulance," Julia interrupted.

"We'd better just patrol the local area to make sure there aren't any more Unseelie in the area," Lexington sighed, "We can't do much against the fire. Unless you three could put the fire out?"

"If Oberon's Law didn't demand that we stay out of mortal affairs we would," Selene answered.

"But despite the return of the Unseelie, the law can not be broken," Phoebe finished.

The olive gargoyle gave a depressed sigh and moved of to make sure the Unseelie were gone.

**Maddox Technologies**

Maddox frowned at the small pixie-like Unseelie that had come to report to him. The creature glowed with a bright blue color and its wings looked torn and broke. Maddox still had to stop and remember that all Unseelie pixies looked like this.

"The buildings you demanded burned are on fire," the pixie reported, "But several gargoyle teams are investigating the scenes and they believe that we are to blame for the fires."

"We did burn the buildings," Maddox smiled, "Did your teams make contact with them?"

"No, my Lord," the pixie bowed, "The teams were escorted by magic users acting as shields to protect the rescue teams from any possible attack by our forces."

"Which ones, mortal or members of Titania's court?" Maddox questioned.

"Both," the pixie answered nervously, "Two teams were escorted be gargoyle sorcerers. One was obviously Demona the other was a blue skinned English gargoyle that they referred to as Merlin. The rest were members of Titania's court."

"She expects to be attacked," Maddox surmised while rubbing his chin with his fingers, "Huitzilopochtli's idea was correct. Find Garlon and bring him to me."

"Yes, my Lord," the pixie saluted and speed off.

**The Labyrinth**

"And who are you again?" Delilah asked four people who had gathered in front of her.

An elf wearing a bright green dress that looked like it had various flowers growing out of the fabric stepped forward, "We call ourselves the Seasons, and we are part of Titania's Court. We were told you and your clan were allied with Goliath and his clan, but chose to remain down here."

"Not my clan," Delilah shook her head, "Talon's clan. Talon is our leader. I am protecting my home."

The elf nodded and continued, "I personally am called Spring."

She then motioned to another female elf wearing a bright green dress that had pattern that resembled a grassy field, "This is Summer." After that she turned to the next female elf wearing a dress colored orange, red, and yellow, "This is Autumn." The last was another female elf in an ice blue dress with snowflake patterns sewed into it, "This is Winter."

Delilah looked at the four fey again and then said, "I must get Talon. Please wait here."

The four fey waited for a few moments until Delilah and a black furred panther-like mutate returned.

"Sorry if we've kept you waiting," the mutate said quickly, "I'm Talon, you're from Titania's court, right?"

"Yes," Spring nodded, "We were sent to provide you with support should the Unseelie decide to attack you. Iron can not protect you from everything and the gargoyles are limited by their stone slumber."

"Come on in," Talon offered, "You can meet the others, and update us on what all is going on."

"Thank you," Spring answered as she and the other three fey followed the mutate into the underground Labyrinth homeless shelter.

**Castle Wyvern**

Xanatos snarled to himself as he heard the news from one of the patrol teams that had returned from their attempts to figure out what was burning.

"At least they haven't reported fatalities, sir," Owen said from behind them, "Madoc and many members of the Unseelie Court have been known to torture and kill those that they capture, be they mortal or immortal."

"They're using the city as hostages," Xanatos growled, "They won't give us a fair fight. They will do something to stir up attention. We'll go out and then they'll pick us off one by one. And this snow storm they've stirred up is perfect for it. You may be able to use magic to see through the storm. Any gargoyle or mutate probably has good enough eyesight to see through this, and the steal clan can be programmed to use a different set of sensors to navigate by, but we are only their goal. Even I never attacked the general populace."

"There is generally difference between being shrewd and evil, sir," Owen commented.

"I'm going to go have a talk with Titania," Xanatos responded, "We're gonna have to find a way to keep Madoc from burning down all of New York."

**Above Manhattan**

"You should have helped!" Goliath growled at Demona as his group finally managed to evacuate all the living people out of the burning building, "Several of the people we rescued were seriously hurt!"

"But not dead," Demona answered, "And they had nothing to do with the Unseelie."

"That was my mother's apartment," Elisa growled back, becoming defensive, "It was TARGETED by the Unseelie."

"And your families were saved," Demona answered coldly, "And none of the other families in that building were killed."

"But they could have," Goliath lectured, "If you wish to work with my clan, then you must ignore your own hatred and HELP us."

"I helped plenty," Demona argued, "Suppose the Unseelie attacked while I was in there rescuing some human? The building would have been destroyed in one blow and then the only one to have 'survived' would have been me."

"That's a risk you should have taken," Goliath argued sternly, "Many of the people we rescued were seriously hurt and some may not survive. Living beings will die because you failed to act."

"Which do you prefer, Goliath?" Demona asked, "Humans dying because I fail to act or humans dying because I act. Destroying humanity may not be my goal, Goliath, but all humanity is still a threat to gargoyles, regardless of the 'friends' you've made. I will not risk my own life to save those who only wish to kill me before they kill themselves."

Demona left Goliath little time to answer as she angled off toward the Eyrie Building on a faster current. Wedrington shyly and nervously followed.

"What do we do now, Goliath?" David asked weakly.

Goliath gave a growling sigh and turned his head toward the Avalon gargoyle and the rest, "We return. Dealing with Demona will be tough and I'm afraid that she will be the toughest ally to keep."

"Why?" David asked curiously.

"Her heart rules her body, not her brain," Hudson answered, "She sees an injustice towards gargoyles, and instead of thinking about it rationally, she attacks the act itself and goes after the ones she feels responsible. If a rogue gargoyle tried to rob a human of his food or money, and the human killed the gargoyle in self defense, and Demona witnessed it, she would blame the human as the aggressor, because it was the gargoyle that lost."

"And it comes from her past experiences, including the time before my clan was cursed to its one thousand year sleep," Goliath added, "Princess Katherine was very timid and afraid of the clan, making her treatment of our kind to be less than kind. Demona never saw Katherine's fear. Only Katherine's reaction to that fear and added to a thousand years of life and misinterpreting the actions of humans has welded a very strong personality that doesn't allow her to let her guard down or believe that humans are capable of being kind, only at best indifferent."

The rest of the trip back to the castle passed in silence.

**Maddox Technologies**

Maddox stood calmly in the building's conference room watching on specially built mirrors of his own the events that surrounded the buildings he had had burnt down when Garlon entered.

"You wished to see me, my Lord?" Garlon asked.

Maddox nodded, "Yes. I've recently received a report that may help us deal with the mortals who aide Titania's followers."

Garlon stood silent waiting for Maddox to continue.

"Goliath and his clan apparently guard this city and all the humans in it seem to be important to them," Maddox then explained, "But since Xanatos can not house all of them in his castle, I believe we have the perfect strategy to use."

"What do you wish me to do?" Garlon asked.

Maddox smiled, "All those that reside in Manhattan are important to Goliath's clan and Titania is sending some of her followers to provide them with 'cover'. We can destroy these groups easily while they're small and separated. And the mortals are the perfect bait."

Garlon nodded. Maddox meanwhile, turned and gestured toward one of the mirrors. The mirror's image changed to show a large airship flying through the air over the bay between ManhattanIsland and Long Island.

"I want you, Sekhmet, and Huitzilopochtli to take the redcap squads and attack this airship," Maddox instructed, "Maeve has reported that the two mortals who live on in it have recently established fairly close contact with Xanatos, and it is extremely likely that they've done the same with Goliath's clan."

"I've been doing some reading," Garlon commented, "That airship is owned by one of Xanatos's business rivals. One that is far weaker than Xanatos Enterprises. We could…"

Maddox smiled, "Yes. That would surround Xanatos Enterprises. Cyberbiotics as a Maddox Technologies owned company on one side and Maddox Technologies on the other. Xanatos would be in much tighter financial straights then… I'll have Maeve work to get the proper paperwork ready for such an acquisition."

Maddox paused from his pacing and faced Garlon, "Go. Take Sekhmet and Huitzilopochtli and the redcap squads and kill the two mortals on the airship. But make sure the Usurper and her allies at the Eyrie Building discover it and move to counter it. When they do so, kill them."

"Yes, my Lord," Garlon eagerly bowed and left.

Maddox smiled and once the door was shut, he pressed a call button on the underside of the desk in the conference room.

"Attention, will Raven, Morrigan, and Banshee come to my office at this time," Maddox spoke into the building's intercom system.

**Castle Wyvern**

Wedrington found Demona sulking in a section of the castle that had not yet been fully renovated by Xanatos. He had heard from one of Goliath's clan that had spoken with him that the billionaire had been renovating sections of the old castle so that they were fully outfitted with modern technology and comforts. This section was obviously one that hadn't been renovated yet.

"You should have seen the castle in its original condition," Demona commented to Wedrington as she heard him approach, "It was better then."

"Dark and damp?" Wedrington asked and the looking at the stone walls, "and freezing in winter and boiling hot in summer?"

"Yes, but that's not what I meant," Demona replied, "Fewer humans and they mostly all lived in the castle or in its courtyard."

"Times change," Wedrington pointed, "As I'm sure you know that."

Demona nodded.

"Demona, I know humanity is not your favorite life form and all," Wedrington began, "But do you have to battle with Goliath over his protection of them?"

"Humans are weak and easily frightened," Demona snorted, "And strangely, they are full of contradictions. They are not strong enough to be warriors but yet they love to make war and they invent all these special devices to make their killing more effective. I will not protect a race that…"

"That doesn't give you the advantage in every situation?" Wedrington asked back, "Demona, there are a great many humans that have been warrior's in the past. You don't have to be a gargoyle to be a warrior. Man's definition of warfare has changed, while most gargoyle's apparently has not. You can't judge another culture or race to be wrong because they're different. Also, Demona, there are large numbers of people everywhere that believe all war is barbaric and needs to be ended. Not all people fit the definition you give them. I should be more than an example of that."

"You're a gargoyle," Demona answered.

"Only by magic," Wedrington answered back, "I was born a human being."

"I still will not protect every human on this earth," Demona replied firmly, "There are few humans like you and… the detective and neither of you are human anymore."

"I can understand that you don't want to help those that will only turn around and hurt you," Wedrington sighed, "But there is no way of telling a human that doesn't care about gargoyles from a human that does by looking at them."

"I can not defend a race on blind faith that the particular one that I'm protecting is a possible ally for all gargoyles," Demona said.

Wedrington sighed heavily and rubbed his chin with his talons. He had managed to persuade the sky-blue female to be more tolerant of humanity using similar arguments before, much to his own surprise considering what he had learned of her history. But yet he couldn't get her to help Goliath's clan protect the people of Manhattan. Then an idea came to mind.

"You've said that your intention is to protect gargoyles, right Demona?" Wedrington asked.

He waited for her to nod.

"Of course," Demona answered, "Someone has to."

"Well, Goliath's clan and their allies wish to protect the people of this city and the people of their respective homelands as well as defeat the Unseelie," Wedrington pointed out, "And since the Unseelie managed to track you across the globe, I highly doubt they don't already know what Goliath and his clan will do."

Demona's eyes widened, "You're not saying?"

"I'm saying that they likely know that Goliath's clan will try to protect the people here as much as they can and will thus strike at what Goliath's clan defends to draw them out," Wedrington said weakly, "And since they are the only gargoyles here, they are the ones you have to protect. You may have to help them protect humans if you wish to protect them."

Demona paused for a moment and stared into the eyes of the white lion-like gargoyle. Watching him for a moment, old instincts that she had not felt, since before her own mating ceremony with Goliath centuries before, seemed to resurface. They were not instincts she wanted to feel and it took a few seconds for Demona to suppress them.

"I can't…" Demona tried to say.

"Would you help them for me?" Wedrington asked, "I feel that we need to do something to help."

"Yes," Demona said slowly, while at the same time mentally scolding herself.

**Cyberbiotic's Airship**

"Mr. Renard, you need to wake up, sir," Preston Vogel said in a nervous voice at the entrance to Halcyon Renard's private room on the airship.

"Gruh…What?" Renard grumbled as he slowly awoke from his sleep.

"Our radar systems have detected several airborne objects headed in our direction," Vogel answered, "All human sized and have refused to answer any attempt to contact them by radio."

"Are they gargoyles, mutates, or robots?" Renard asked weakly.

"None of the above, sir," Vogel answered, "Three appear to be human or at least human-like. Most appear to look like elves with red heads and very big teeth."

Renard coughed heavily for a few seconds before literally dragging himself into his wheelchair.

"Have you raised our defenses?" Renard has asked.

"Only the shields," Vogel answered, "They have not done anything yet, so I have not activated the Cybots."

Renard activated his wheelchair and began to move it into the hallway so he could get to the bridge.

"Come on, we'll need to deal with this," Renard said firmly as he felt the airship suddenly shudder.

Outside, Garlon, Sekhmet, and Huitzilopochtli watched as the spear that Huitzilopochtli created merely bounced off of the airship's shield. The various redcaps around them merely growled their own questions.

"That shield must be similar to the one that Xanatos supposedly has around his building," Garlon commented.

"GRRRR," Huitzilopochtli growled, "That should have tore a hole big enough for the redcaps to break through."

"And it didn't," Sekhmet pointed out, and then focusing on the shield with her feline like eyes, "We must approach this carefully. Meanwhile, remember Lord Madoc's orders. Create a light show to attract the attention of the gargoyles."

Garlon and Huitzilopochtli sighed and moved to do their own work.

**Castle Wyvern**

Othello and Desdemona stood watch over the castle's towers as the various teams that went out to inspect the fires returned and while Tom, Macbeth, and Arthur worked to provide the Avalon gargoyles that didn't join the patrols with proper training in close combat with Iron weapons. They watched as Demona and Wedrington returned and left for the interior of the castle and as the various groups returned. Goliath's group was the last group to return.

"How did it go, brother?" Othello asked.

Goliath only growled something that couldn't be understood.

"Burned like the others?" Desdemona then asked toward Elisa.

Elisa nodded, "Yeah. Burnt to the ground. We the people out alright, but Demona did nothing and made things harder than they could have been. And what's frustrating about it is that there are likely to be a few people among those we saved who will die before the night is over."

Othello and Desdemona gave a frustrated sigh to answer things.

"Maybe allying with her was not the best decision, brother," Othello commented.

Goliath shook his head, "We have to put up with her. We share the same enemy in the Unseelie, and from what Wedrington told us, it is likely that if she weren't with us, she'd be enslaved by the Unseelie."

"What do we do next?" Desdemona asked.

"We need to find some way to help protect Matt and the other policemen and women," Elisa said clearly before Goliath could answer, "Their job is to protect and serve. Matt and the others aren't going to just quit going to work because they may end up as targets by the Unseelie. You know that I wouldn't if I were still human."

Goliath paused to look at Elisa and then quickly hugged her, embracing his mate with both his arms and wings.

"Don't worry, Elisa," Goliath whispered, trying to comfort her, "We will find some way to protect them or help them protect themselves."

"Thanks," Elisa replied back, "We have to make sure they're safe."

**Illuminati Headquarters, Undisclosed location**

The Mage's ghost reclined in a rather expensive looking office that was normally used by One of the Illuminati Council, but since the Mage's defeat, the ghost had taken on the role of commanding his Illuminati followers to make sure that his overall plan was followed.

"The Unseelie have begun their war," a hooded Illuminati member, One, reported.

"As I expected," the Mage's ghost sighed, "Madoc was never one to follow commands. But then, I never intended for him to live either, so, nothing lost on our part, eh?"

One slowly nodded, "Hacker is overseeing the distribution of Iron bullets to our agents in Manhattan."

"Very good," the Mage answered, "Tell him to deliver a few rounds of Iron bullets to the police as well. If my hunch proves correct, the gargoyles of the city will fight with Madoc and where the gargoyles go, a certain Detective Bluestone will go."

"At once, sir," One answered and turned to leave.

"Oh, and one more thing," the Mage called after him, "Let me know when our supermen arrive."

"Yes sir," One answered.

**Renard's Airship**

"The shields are holding," Vogel reported as another of Huitzilopochtli's magically created spears came in contact.

"Too easily," Renard grumbled, "It's as if this is more of a distraction than anything else."

"What do you want done sir?" Vogel asked.

"Land the airship at our airfield as quickly as possible," Renard yelled out between coughs, "I have a bad feeling that once their distraction is over, they'll simply destroy the ship. And send a distress call to the Eyrie Building. We're going to need help."

Outside, Sekhmet watched calmly as Garlon and Huitzilopochtli attacked with various low level spells, designed to only attract attention. Her feline eyes easily noted the airship's rudders change their angle as the airship began to turn toward land, slow its speed and lower its altitude.

"They're getting ready to land!" Garlon called out, "Any idea as to when you're going to let us destroy the thing?"

Sekhmet inwardly smirked at the impatience in the other Unseelie's voice and answered calmly, "Not yet."

Sekhmet continued to watch, until she saw a small antenna lift out of the roof of airship's bridge. A radio antenna. Renard was calling for help.

**Castle Wyvern**

Elisa had gone to talk to her parents about what the Unseelie had done to their apartment most of the other patrol teams were either going to eat or were waiting for a new assignment, while Goliath walked through the castle's stone halls in search of either Owen or Xanatos. The lavender male found Xanatos involved with Titania in a serious discussion of some sort, with Fox standing nervously nearby.

"This is serious," Titania mused as Goliath walked closer, "If the city's buildings are destroyed, the people will be left homeless and in this blizzard he has laid on New York…"

"He's striking at the people to drive out the gargoyles," Xanatos finished and then turned to Goliath as the large gargoyle continued walking, "Goliath, would your clan remain here if there was nothing to protect?"

"Only to defeat the Unseelie," Goliath sighed, "I take it that is what you think the Unseelies are trying to do?"

"Why else would you attack the clan's friends and family and cover all of New York in blizzard," Xanatos replied, "They don't want us helping Titania, and will do anything they think will get us out of their way. He thinks we are more of a threat to him than Titania is, so Madoc wants to get rid of us to make his war easier."

"Whatever his reason, he must be stopped," Titania said firmly, "Do you have any suggestions Goliath?"

"We need to make sure the people of this city can defend themselves as much as possible," Goliath stated, "We were lucky to get the clan's human friends and family out of those apartments before they were burned, and there are still others who put their lives at risk every day."

"You would be referring to Detective Bluestone?" Fox asked.

"And the other police officers he works with," Goliath nodded, "The Unseelie are out of their league, but I doubt that that will stop them from trying to enforce the law."

"There are various things that my court can do to help them survive and fight personally," Titania sighed, "But those methods would not help them in life afterward. My court will not be of much help."

"What?" Goliath gasped.

"As you know, fey can only be killed by Iron or magic," Titania explained, "While gargoyles and mutates can't do magic, their enhanced strength gives them the ability to rely singularly on Iron weapons to help them win. The same is true for many other creatures that man believes to be merely myth. Magic is the only thing that humans can use to possibly win. They don't have the heightened senses that you and the gargoyles have. They don't have the enhanced strength and endurance that you and the gargoyles have. And to my knowledge, human guns do not use Iron for bullets because of the metal's weight. Meaning that if a human didn't know magic…"

"They would need to get close in order to stab the Unseelie, which they would not be given the opportunity," Goliath finished.

"What of the Steel Clan?" Xanatos ventured, "Or my Iron armor?"

"Can you clothe millions of people in custom made suits of highly advanced suits of armor?" Titania asked, "Is there even enough Iron on this planet for such a task?"

"Probably not," Xanatos sighed, his shoulders and wings dropping.

"Is there anything you can do?" Goliath asked in Titania's direction.

"Not unless all of New York wishes to become a gargoyle or some other kind of mythical creature," Titania answered, "And I very much doubt that they would want that and I doubt even more that your clan would approve."

Goliath sighed heavily, "Then there is nothing we can do to protect them."

"We can keep casualties to a minimum by stopping them as soon as possible," Titania commented in a voice that almost sounded more defeated then Goliath's.

Goliath was about to say more, when Owen cleared his throat from the doorway to get the group's attention.

"I'm sorry to interrupt, sir, Goliath, my Queen," Owen announced, "But we have an emergency radio message coming to us from over the radio. It's Renard."

The group quickly moved to the radio room to hear the report of an extremely nervous sounding Vogel, since Renard appeared to be unable to speak.

"What's going on?" Xanatos demanded.

"The airship is under attack!" Vogel replied over the radio, "Two appear to be human, one of which is dressed in something the Guatemalan gargoyles would wear. One looks like a lioness and they have several elves with red heads with them."

"Huitzilopochtli and Sekhmet are two of the attackers," Titania commented, "The red headed elves are redcaps, but I can not tell who the third is. It doesn't matter, though. With the information we do have, we know that the Unseelie are attacking Renard's airship."

"Father?" Fox gasped shocked before yelling into the radio, "Vogel where is the airship now?"

"We are preparing to land at the airship's hanger on Long Island," Vogel answered before the radio suddenly went into static.

"Owen, how many Steel Clan units do we have?" Xanatos demanded.

"Currently we have twenty Steel Clan robots, Mr. Xanatos," Owen answered, "But only five have been fully programmed and none have Iron armor. They would be useless against the Unseelie."

"It doesn't matter," Fox growled, "Something has to be done to save them. It is my father we're talking about."

"Someone will save Renard and Vogel, my dear," Xanatos tried to comfort his wife, "Don't worry."

"I won't," Fox answered, "Because I'm going and I will not take 'you can't go because you're pregnant' for an answer. He's my father."

"I will go as well," Titania said firmly, "The Sisters will remain here to command the court. Perhaps my presence will lure Madoc himself to battle. Once Renard and Vogel are safe, we are to return here."

Titania then turned toward Xanatos, who looked extremely concerned for his wife and the child she was carrying, "And I will insure that no harm comes my daughter or her unborn child."

"I'll have Othello and Desdemona take some of the clan to help as well," Goliath said as he turned to go about getting the gargoyles that had not gone out on the earlier rescue mission.

"It should be obvious that I'm going," Xanatos said.

It took less than five minutes to get everyone that needed to be airborne, airborne. Fox and Xanatos led the way, while Titania used her magic to float in the middle of the formation. Desdemona and Othello led Gabriel, Ophelia, Charlemagne, Anne, Leo, and Una in a formation that surrounded the fey Queen and kept the two canine like mutates close.

**Renard's Airship**

"We've landed and the shields are still holding," Vogel commented.

"How much longer till Xanatos can get help here?" Renard demanded.

"Help should be here shortly, Mr. Renard," Vogel answered.

Above them Sekhmet continued to watch the airship while giving glances toward the Eyrie Building. The redcaps floated nervously around her waiting for a command. The lioness like Unseelie glanced once more toward the tall building with its medieval castle perched atop it. Ten winged forms were headed in their direction with a singular human-like form floating in mid air among them.

"Attack from above the airship's engines!" Sekhmet roared, "There are no shields there to allow the vessel's engines to get fresh air!"

Huitzilopochtli conjured up another stone tipped spear and threw it into the air. The spear flew up in a high arch and then came straight down onto one of the airship's engines. The engine exploded, doing minor damage to the body of the airship, but taking every other engine on that side of the airship in a chain reaction of explosions. Garlon added to the destruction by flying above the airship's remaining engines.

"Starboard engines have now been destroyed," Vogel reported as another set of explosions rocked the airship.

"Why did they wait till we landed to destroy our engines?" Renard coughed.

"I do not know sir," Vogel answered as he checked another of the airship's panels to see that the radar had detected new arrivals, "Perhaps it will not matter because I believe help is arriving."

"Can you see who is attacking?" Garlon asked as the redcaps dove into the crippled airship.

"The mutates, eight gargoyles, and the Usurper herself," Sekhmet answered.

"What a glorious victory we will have," Huitzilopochtli smirked as he readied a spear.

Sekhmet silently nodded.

"May I remind you, that Titania is reserved for Lord Madoc himself," Garlon said firmly, "And is probably strong enough to beat us even without their help."

"If you're afraid, you can run home," Huitzilopochtli snarled as he conjured up a spear and hurled it at the oncoming rescue force.

"Look out!" Xanatos yelled as spear between him and Fox, narrowly missing both of them.

Taking the warning, Titania transformed the spear into pure energy and absorbed it.

"Huitzilopochtli, Sekhmet, and Garlon," Titania mused, "Three of your most powerful servants."

The group was silent as they heard the fey Queen's comment.

"Go and rescue Renard," Titania then said urgently, "I can handle them."

Fox immediately dove toward the crippled airship, not needing instruction to try and save her father. Their relations were starting to improve after years of opposing each other in various ways, and Fox was determined not to let her father down. Xanatos and the others were quick to dive after her.

"Oh no you don't," Sekhmet snarled as she saw the group diving for the airship, and readied a fireball.

The lioness Unseelie never had a chance to throw the fireball, however, as it suddenly turned into an ice ball that resembled a fireball.

"Did you forget that I am still here?" Titania questioned.

"What's the situation?" Renard coughed weakly, his voice getting horse.

"Those elves are working their way toward the bridge, sir," Vogel reported, "The Cybots are putting up a fair defense, but they only seem to have success against them when they're in physical contact with the creatures. Our only real success seems to come from the fact that these creatures are either lost in the maze of hallways because they are unfamiliar or because they can't read."

Renard was silent for a moment and then asked, "What about the other three that were helping the elves?"

"I can not be certain, sir," Vogel sighed, "Our engines have been destroyed and with them, the turbines that our electric generators use to create electricity. Without that electricity, our systems aren't working. There was barely enough power to run the internal sensors for this report."

"The batteries, we can…" Renard thought out loud.

"The batteries are currently being used to power the computer that is organizing the Cybots," Vogel cut in, "And I do not know how long they will last."

Vogel moved around the bridge frantically, hoping to see something out of the airship's windows.

"They seem to be battling someone or something outside," Vogel reported.

Almost as soon as Vogel finished the report, one of the Cybots crashed through the bridge doors with several of the elves on it.

"Redcaps," Anne growled at the sight of creature that had been crushed by something.

The group had landed in an area where the redcaps and the Cybots had done battle earlier. Pieces of the robots lay everywhere and there one or two redcaps that had been crushed underneath the robot's feet.

"You know what they are?" Leo asked.

"Yes," Gabriel nodded, "Avalon had a spectacular library in which were books that the Seelie Court used as its own reference. Guardian Tom thought it would be useful for us to study them so we could protect Avalon more efficiently. He was especially adamant about this after the Archmage attempted to take over the island. I doubt that anyone who hasn't been to Avalon has read those books."

"It doesn't matter," Fox said in a determined voice, "Those creatures are after my father. And I'm going to stop them."

"We all are," Xanatos tried to comfort his wife as he caught up to her, "Just be careful."

Fox only growled in reply.

Titania dodged another fireball that Sekhmet had thrown, while using her own magic to control the icy waters below her to grab Huitzilopochtli and Garlon and then to send the two Unseelie on a collision course with Sekhmet herself.

"Fine help you two are," Sekhmet growled as she recovered, "I have to do all the work."

"You haven't hit her yet," Garlon snarled as he pulled himself away from the other two.

Garlon then raised an emerald ring around Titania and threw one of his own fireballs into it. The result of this action was the ring exploding into thousands of different fireballs that all flew at Titania. The Seelie Queen was unable to dodge this attack, and she screamed with pain as Garlon's attack hit her.

"If only I could have that sound lull me to sleep at night," Garlon snickered.

Titania had lost a little altitude as a result of Garlon's attack, but the attack lacked the power needed to do her serious harm. As she began to make her way back up and return to the battle, she noticed Huitzilopochtli preparing another spear to throw. When the Aztec Unseelie released the spear, Titania altered its guidance, and it flew straight into Sekhmet's left shoulder. The Egyptian Unseelie screamed in pain and screamed curses as the shock of the weapon puncturing her flesh sent her falling to the waters below.

Garlon watched as Sekhmet struggled to recover but couldn't because of Huitzilopochtli's spear in her shoulder. He winced as the lioness-like fey hit the water.

"I'll get her out of here," Garlon said in a frustrated voice, and then commanded to Huitzilopochtli, "You hold her off until I can return."

Garlon then dove downward while Huitzilopochtli moved to block Titania from following the mousy haired fey.

The sounds of the redcap's battle with the Cybots echoed through the metal hallways of the airship as Fox and the others ran through hallways, being careful not to trip over pieces of the destroyed robots or step in the crushed bodies of any killed redcap. As they neared the bridge, a group of redcaps came out of another corridor opposite them.

"Furry creatures!" one redcap exclaimed spotting Fox and Xanatos before the gargoyles that were with them caught up.

Fox, trying to remember what little teaching that her mother had given her and focus on her magic as hard as she could. The redcaps only stared at her in confusion, while Xanatos moved to get between them and her. When she opened her eyes again, Fox found that she had fallen short of her goal, and had only let the pointed ears of the redcap that had spoken on fire. The creature howled with pain and ran back down the corridor, trying to put the fire out, while the other redcaps began to growl at their attackers.

"Furry creature knows magic!" another redcap spoke up, "Kill it!"

They surged forward only to be met by a wall of electricity that Xanatos threw at them.

"You will not harm my wife," Xanatos growled in warning.

The electric blasts did little, other than anger the redcaps, but it did give Charlemagne and Anna time to ready the swords they carried and for Una to ready one of her own spells. Between the sheer strength of the gargoyles that had no weapons, the iron in Charlemagne and Anne's swords, Fox and Xanatos's electric blasts, and Una's magic, the assembled redcaps didn't last very long.

These minor battles with small groups of redcaps continued as the pushed forward trying to get to the bridge. Xanatos began to worry a bit about his wife, as Fox seemed to get steadily more nervous the closer they got to the bridge. He hoped that the redcaps had not been able to find the bridge since many of their battles seemed to occur in areas where the redcaps had already battled the Cybots. Those hopes were dashed as the rounded a corner onto the bridge of the airship.

Four redcaps had trapped Renard and Vogel in one corner of the room. Renard had been knocked out of his wheelchair and looked like he had been mauled by a bear. Vogel didn't look much better as he desperately swung a piece of metal like a club in a desperate attempt to keep himself and his employer safe.

"NO!" Fox roared while her eyes took on a slight emerald color for a moment, but they soon faded back to the simpler glow of an angry mutate.

The redcaps turned at the sound of Fox's roar, but did nothing as they suddenly burst into flame. Fox meanwhile rushed to her father's side.

"You won't get by me," Huitzilopochtli sneered as he hurled another spear at Titania.

Titania, who was becoming tired of dodging attacks that could be easily blocked or absorbed, conjured up a large shield with three straight bars running across it. When the spear came in contact with the shield it shattered and split into many smaller pieces. Huitzilopochtli watched in shock as the fragments of the spear he'd thrown turned into arrows and came flying back at him.

Garlon had just set Sekhmet down in a snow bank that was forming on the roof of a nearby building when he saw Huitzilopochtli's form drop from the sky. The Aztec Unseelie was riddled by arrows that looked like they were made from one of his own spears. He then watched as Titania threw a fireball of her own after the falling Unseelie.

"We'd better get out of here," Garlon said to the unconscious Sekhmet and lifted her up and flew off into the blizzard that the Unseelie had created.

Titania watched them flee for a moment and then lowered herself to the ground near the airship. The others were already on their way out when she landed. Her eyes widened at the sight of the mauled Renard in Fox's arms.

"He's still alive," Xanatos reported while he held Vogel up, "But just barely. We need to get him back to the Eyrie Building."

"What of the attacking redcaps?" Titania questioned.

"Those we didn't kill were killed by the Cybots," Xanatos answered, "What about the Unseelie?"

"Huitzilopochtli has met his end, and Garlon and Sekhmet have fled," Titania answered as she used her magic to transport them back to Castle Wyvern.

**Castle Wyvern**

Renard was hooked up to various life support systems upon his arrival while Vogel was given first aide. Fox sat nervously near her father as the elderly man struggled for each breath.

"I failed him," Vogel commented weakly while Owen finished treating the man's wounds, "I failed him."

Owen glanced at the man that Puck had chosen to copy and imitate and answered simply, "You managed to keep him alive. I would not count that as failure."

"Only for awhile," Vogel answered, defeated, "He's dying. I just know it."

"Please get better," Fox whispered into Renard's ear while the man lay on his bed, "Please get better."

Titania quietly slipped into the room to stand near Fox.

"Is he any better?" Titania asked.

"No," Fox choked out, on the verge of breaking down.

"You know I would help him if there was anything I could do?" Titania asked.

"Can't you do something?" Fox asked back.

"I'm sorry," Titania answered, "We must hope that these devices allow him to regain his strength."

"Strength I don't have," came a muffled voice.

Fox and Titania looked up to see that Renard had regained consciousness. Speaking through the mask that was part of the life support system was difficult for the old man, especially in the condition he was in before the attack, but Fox could still hear him.

"I'm dying Janine," Renard said weakly, "I can feel my strength failing. What little strength I had."

"No," Fox whispered, "You can't die."

"We all die," Renard answered, "It is our lot in life. We can not change that."

Fox was quiet for a moment and then whispered, "I don't want you to die."

"There was a great baseball player once," Renard began, "Played pitcher for the New York Giants. In 1917 when the United States entered the First World War, he went to serve in France with the American army. While he never saw combat, he was accidentally gassed in a training exercise and was given about ten years or so to live. When the wounds of the gassing finally killed him he told his wife, 'I suppose you better go out and have a good cry. Don't make it a long one… this can't be helped'. That's the situation I'm in. This can't be helped."

"Christy Mattewson," Titania said.

"The 'Christian Gentleman of Baseball'," Renard finished, "I loved reading about him as a boy, though I doubt there is anyone who would want to read about me."

"Your grandchildren will," Fox insisted, "Don't die. Please don't die!"

"I'm sure they will," Renard smiled weakly before his eyes closed and his hand fell out of Fox's.

"No…" Fox weaped.

**Maddox Technologies**

"Renard is dead?" Maddox questioned.

"Yes my Lord," Garlon bowed, "But we paid a heavy price. Huitzilopochtli and all the redcaps are dead and Sekhmet is in the infirmary."

"How could one fey and a few gargoyles do all that?" Maddox questioned.

"The one fey was Titania herself," Garlon reported, "And the redcaps ran into various large robots that were constructed mostly out of Iron."

Maddox sighed and rubbed his chin, "Perhaps I have underestimated Titania's will to fight. Hopefully, Morrigan and her group had better success to offset this."

"We were only a distraction?" Garlon gasped.

"Not intentionally," Maddox answered sternly, "But prosecuting this war against Titania will be difficult. Especially if she is not afraid to fight herself. We will need some way of improving our strength."

"And we might have a way," Morrigan announced as she entered.

Raven and Banshee followed behind pulling a large wheeled bed behind them. On the bed lay a man covered in bandages and casts.

"And who is this invalid?" Garlon demanded.

"The key to helping our court secure victory," Morrigan snarled back, "My Lord Madoc, I beg to put before you, Alex Sevarius. The clone of Anton Sevarius."

Maddox smiled and walked over to view the practically crippled man.

"Maeve's reports indicate that Anton purposely locked his genetic knowledge out of the clone's mind, but that is something I think can be easily remedied," Maddox mused, "Where did you find him?"

"A small prison/hospital in New Jersey," Morrigan answered.

"Excellent," Maddox smiled, "You've all done well. I will deal with our formal acquiring of Cyberbiotics tomorrow, while the next phase of the war rests on what knowledge we can get out of Mr. Sevarius."

**To Be Continued…**


	13. To Inherit the Throne

All characters appearing in Gargoyles and Gargoyles: The Goliath Chronicles are copyrighted to Buena Vista Television/The Walt Disney Company. I've taken the idea for the Unseelie Court from the TGS. No infringement of these copyrights is intended, and is not authorized by the copyright holder. All original characters are the property of SN.

Note: I'm disregarding the events of the "Goliath Chronicles", with the exception of "The Journey" because I do not wish to use the rest of the "Goliath Chronicles" as canon to my story. This story takes place two days after "A Death in the Family".

To Inherit the Throne

By SN/TVfan

Email: Sam_Nary 

**Matt Bluestone's Apartment**

Matt sat on his bed tying his shoes to get ready for work while he had a television news program was on as background noise.

"And in economic news," the reporter said clearly, "A seemingly massive battle appears to be on the horizon as Cyberbiotics seems to continue to fall downhill with the loss of founder and CEO Halcyon Renard, who died two days ago from injuries resulting in the destruction of Cyberbiotic's second airship."

Matt paused to look up at the television screen.

"The new CEO on the block, known only as Mr. Maddox, of Maddox Technologies has offered to buy Cyberbiotics and save the company, which has created much talk on Wall Street as a possible plus for the economy," the reporter continued, "The problem however, is that Halcyon Renard has left the future of his company to be decided in his final will and testament, which is currently in a safe deposit box that has not yet been opened since the death of the Cyberbiotics CEO. Reports from Renard's lawyers indicate that unless it is commanded by a court issued warrant, the only people who could order the opening of the safe deposit box is Fox Xanatos, wife of David Xanatos."

Matt sighed and shut the television off as he left, feeling glad that he wasn't the person guarding that safe deposit box.

**Maddox Technologies**

Maddox angrily shut off his own television while Maeve stood nearby. The Unseelie Queen remained silent as she sensed Maddox's anger.

"Damn that fool!" Maddox roared in rage, "How can a man in America give anything as large as company in a will?"

"Obviously very easily," Maeve quipped, "Possibly a good thing for us, my Lord. Means that maybe some republics of the world will accept our domination over them."

"If only it were that simple," Maddox sighed, "Can you determine where this safe deposit box is?"

"Obviously in a bank, but no news channel has reported which bank," Maeve answered, "I could send Garlon out to find that out."

"Do that," Maddox grumbled, "Please. I'd wish to be alone for a while."

"Yes my Lord," Maeve bowed.

**Castle Wyvern**

"Come along, Fox," Titania urged, "This should not be that difficult. You've mastered the fire spell. Granted this spell is a bit more complex, but it doesn't require all that much power."

Fox tried to focus even harder, but again to no avail. For the past two days, Titania had been trying to teach Fox how to create an illusion spell that would allow her to look like her human form. She had added that it might be possible for her to use her own magic to fully restore her human body once she had gained mastery over her magic, but that would be a long shot, and the spell itself would be much more complicated. Titania had told her not to go that far yet. A simple illusion spell was about all she could probably manage.

But she was still mourning the loss of her father. A father who should still be living if she could have been a bit faster.

"I'm sorry," Fox sighed, "I can't do this. I just can't."

"You must, Fox," Titania urged, "I know this is hard. It's hard on all of us. But I can not keep censoring the news to keep the location of Renard's will safe and Madoc will eventually find out that location, if he hasn't already. And if my understanding of Renard is correct, he is the only one that ever saw the will. If Madoc gets his hands on it, it will be quite easy for him to alter the will in his favor."

"We shouldn't even have to be worrying about the will," Fox sighed weakly.

"I know," Titania answered with a voice that showed that she was trying to work through her own grief, "But we can't change what has happened. We can only hope that things will get better in the future."

Fox didn't answer.

"Can you do this for him?" Titania asked, "I'm sure that Renard intended for his grandson to be his beneficiary. He wouldn't want him to lose and I know he wouldn't want you to be weak now. No matter what has happened."

"I can try," Fox sighed.

Meanwhile, Diane Maza stood out in the courtyard, which was rapidly filling with snow from the Unseelie created blizzard, looking up at the stone forms of the gargoyles on the tower above her. All too often though, her eyes settled on the stone forms at the very top of the tower. She noted the look of frustration and nearly a look of defeat on Elisa and Goliath's faces.

"You okay, mom?" came Beth's voice.

"I don't know," Diane sighed, her eyes never leaving the stone figures on the top of the tower, "We've lost our home. The apartment that you, Derek, and Elisa grew up in is gone. Elisa and Goliath came to our apartment the night before these Unseelie attacked it. They were entirely focused on Peter and me."

"I don't think they thought they would burn down the entire apartment even if you weren't there," Beth commented, "From what you've said, they were afraid that they'd try to kill you."

"I know," Diane added, "And given that they ended up burning down the entire apartment, I'm not sure if we can truly be safe. You know they're bound to attack this castle eventually and we'd be caught in the crossfire. Detective Bluestone broke his hand the last time there was a big battle here and that was supposedly only one maniac wielding magic."

"What are you saying, mom?" Beth asked.

"I'm saying it's not safe for us in Manhattan," Diane said, "And maybe we'll be safer if we go somewhere far away."

"Elisa won't let you do that," Beth pointed out, "From what I've seen in the past two days, she's become very protective of you and dad."

"I know," Diane sighed, "That's what's going to make what I have to tell her so hard."

By dusk, the clan broke free of their stone shells to greet another night. Elisa sighed heavily as she shook the last bits of stone and snow off of her.

"We'd better go in and figure out what we missed during the day," Goliath sighed from beside her.

Entering the main hall of the castle, the gargoyles found many of Titania's court in various discussions while the castle's human population ate dinner.

"Good evening," Anubis greeted Goliath politely first, "Not much happened today. Madoc is continuing to try and acquire Cyberbiotics from whoever Renard left it to in his will."

Goliath only sighed before moving to one of the tables while Broadway rushed off to begin the clan's breakfast.

"Thank you," Goliath replied as he slowly walked off.

Goliath and Elisa had just sat down as Gabriel and Ophelia had approached them.

"Goliath, may I speak with you for a moment?" Gabriel asked.

Goliath slowly nodded, thinking that maybe Gabriel or Ophelia had some ideas as to how to deal with the Unseelie.

"I know this is not probably the right time for this," Gabriel began, "But I must know. You have been here longer than I have, so I figure you must know…"

"What is it you wish to know?" Goliath asked.

"My parentage," Gabriel answered, "I want to know who my parents are."

"I can not answer," Goliath answered, "Demona and I had only one egg in the rookery before the Vikings sacked the castle, and that was Angela. And since the clan at that time reared all the eggs collectively, it is impossible to tell whose child you are. Your blood parents could be among those who died in the massacre."

"I believe that Desdemona and Othello are my parents actually," Gabriel said sheepishly, "I mean I have physical attributes of both of them and…"

"You believe that they are most likely your biological parents?" Elisa finished.

Gabriel slowly nodded.

"Have you talked with them about this, then?" Goliath asked, "If you believe them to be your parents, than I am not the one to ask."

"We have already tried that actually," Ophelia spoke up, "But, we essentially got the same answer you just gave us. In addition to 'it's not the gargoyle way'."

"It wasn't the clan's custom to recognize its hatchlings in the middle ages," Goliath answered before turning to Elisa, "But in this new world, where most of the clan's females were once human and one of the 'true' gargoyles was raised by humans, I believe that the clans traditions will have to change."

Goliath paused to give a brief smile, "And change can be good." He paused again and then sighed, "If we survive all this."

"We will, Goliath," Elisa encouraged, "We've survived worse."

"Anyway, is there anyway that I could find out for sure if they are my parents?" Gabriel asked.

Goliath remembered something that he had learned from Angela and Elisa during their world tour, "I believe a scientist or doctor could analyze and compare your blood with Othello and Desdemona's and you could find out that way. Is that correct, Elisa?"

"There are tests that can be determine the parents of children, yes," Elisa nodded, "The key will be getting Othello and Desdemona go along with it."

Xanatos meanwhile was busy with both Owen and Vogel in his main office. All three of them were looking over various legal documents.

"Is there any way we might be able to get the lawyers to have the will brought here?" Xanatos asked in frustration.

Owen shook his head, "It appears that Mr. Renard left explicit instructions that only Fox could have the safety deposit box opened. Even if she isn't the only beneficiary."

"That came as a result of Mr. Renard's new will," Vogel explained, "He and Fox seemed to be on better terms since your son, Alex, was born, Mr. Xanatos, so about two years ago, Mr. Renard had a new will drafted."

"Do you know the contents of the will?" Xanatos questioned, "Anything specific?"

"Only that Mr. Renard approved of the will," Vogel answered.

"Great," Xanatos sighed, "This puts everything on Fox and Titania then, doesn't it?"

"Yes, Mr. Xanatos," Owen nodded, "And given the fact that Titania is Fox's mother, I believe we may have an advantage in getting the will before Madoc does."

**Maddox Technologies**

Mr. and Mrs. Nexus sat in a rather small metallic room. It was barely bigger than most closets, and there was only a small bench that both had to use to sleep on. And since it was constructed out of solid metal, the bench was not very comfortable. Suddenly the door in front of them opened to reveal a female figure with dark green hair and pointed ears.

"Good evening," Maeve smiled, "It is time for another of our little talks, if you will come with me."

Maeve turned to leave, and both Mr. and Mrs. Nexus felt somehow compelled to follow, despite their own wishes to flee. Maeve led them into another room and both Unseelie prisoners walked to sit in rather large metal chairs with fitted restraints so they couldn't try to escape. Maeve used her magic to make sure the restraints were fashioned.

"Now, to cover old ground," Maeve began, "I will remind you that we know of the current species status of your daughter, Caroline. When we began the war, we intended to kill off the families of those related to the gargoyle clan's former humans. Yet, of all of them, you two were the only ones still at home. The others were missing and presumed to be rescued by the gargoyles themselves."

Justin Nexus looked at his wife nervously.

Maeve then turned around and looked at both of them fiercely, "Why didn't the gargoyles save you? Caroline Nexus is your daughter, and as a gargoyle she should be very protective of you."

"We don't know," Justin Nexus answered.

"I find that answer unacceptable," Maeve answered, "Something is telling me that you're not telling the truth. And I do not like liars."

"We may not have raised her in a manner that would inspire her to wish to protect us," Mrs. Nexus said weakly.

"Finally we get somewhere," Maeve laughed, "Now I see. So what did you do? Were you negligent? Did you not care for her? Were you hard on her?"

"She helped our social position," Mrs. Nexus answered again weakly.

"Parenting by greed!" Maeve laughed, "I love it! You may return to your cell for now."

Maeve released the binds that held the prisoners down and they then walked, as if in a trance, back to their cell.

"They will be fine slaves," Maeve smiled inwardly to herself.

**Castle Wyvern**

Fox stood in front of a tall mirror in her and Xanatos's private room, focused entirely on trying to get the spell right. She focused on what her mother had told her to do. Titania had left the room for a moment, and Fox was beginning to worry if she would ever master the spell. Grief for her lost father was still there and she hoped that wasn't breaking her concentration. She focused inwardly on her power that Titania said she had.

"Well done, Fox," came Titania's voice from behind her, "I knew you could do it if you focus."

Fox opened her eyes and looked in the mirror. She saw a red furred fox-like mutate wearing an altered black sweatshirt and grey sweatpants.

"What do you mean?" Fox asked, "I still look like a mutate."

"To you, perhaps," Titania answered, "But that is because that is what you are and because you can not view yourself with someone else's eyes. The spell I taught you is an illusion spell, but it only allows others to see you as what the illusion you are creating wishes them to see. That spell will last longer. Most illusion spells where you can see the illusion yourself last for much shorter periods of time and would immediately cease to operate after making physical contact with anyone."

"Oh man," Fox sighed, "So, I guess I know where we're going tomorrow."

Titania nodded.

**Maddox Technologies**

Garlon strode confidently into Maddox's office while the Unseelie Leader looked to busy with some form of paperwork

"Yes," Maddox answered looking up from his chair.

"I have some good news and I have some better news," Garlon announced.

Maddox nodded, "Have you identified the location of the will?"

Garlon nodded with an evil smile, "It's in a small security bank on the north side of Manhattan."

"Can you find this bank?" Maddox asked.

"Most easily," Garlon answered, "But you haven't heard the best part yet. This bank is apparently unguarded at night. No one is there, not even night security."

Maddox smiled, "Very well. Take Morrigan to Central Park and gather some slaves for me. The mortals for some reason are trying to fight our blizzard. There should be city workers there and possibly a few people that actually enjoy freezing temperatures."

"But Central Park is no where's near the bank!" Garlon protested.

"But it is closer to the gargoyles," Maddox said firmly, "If you go waltzing into that bank, Titania will send some gargoyles and at least one member of her court to stop you. And in the end we could lose not only members of our court but the will as well. You and Morrigan will create havoc in Central Park. The gargoyles will fight their battle there. Since this bank has no security, that it should be within the slave's capabilities to liberate the will for us in a much more secretive fashion."

"Yes my Lord," Garlon bowed.

**Castle Wyvern**

"Two teams will patrol tonight," Goliath said before the assembled group of gargoyles, "One group will patrol the southern half of Manhattan and the other to patrol the northern half of the city."

Zafiro and the Guatemalans stepped forward.

"I will take the second group," Zafiro volunteered.

Goliath nodded, "Brooklyn, Amy, Logan, and Ian, you will accompany Zafiro and his clan. Elisa, Othello, Desdemona, you will be with my group."

"We'll join you," Griff and Octavia offered as they stepped forward.

"Ophelia and I will come as well," Gabriel spoke up.

Goliath again nodded, "The rest should remain here to guard the castle."

The doors to the main hall then opened as Titania and a few members of her court followed.

"Have you established your patrols for tonight?" Titania asked.

"Yes," Goliath answered, "The patrol teams are assigned. I am taking one group. Zafiro is taking the other group."

Titania nodded, "Coyote and Anubis will provide your patrol teams with cover tonight."

**Central Park**

Garlon and Morrigan floated above the large park. The sights amazed them. There were crews of people using specialized snow blowers to remove fallen snow from the sidewalks. There were also several people out jogging or walking in the snowy conditions. They were all wearing warm clothing, but the two Unseelie assumed that most people would not go outside unless they had to considering the blizzard that they had created, but there were people out for a walk, a few had a dog on a leash. All despite the cold.

"Well this will make our job a bit easier," Garlon snickered, "They're all so willing to be captured."

Morrigan sighed and gave the mousey haired fey a disapproving smile.

"So what first?" Garlon asked, "Should we capture them, or should we play with them for a little bit?"

"Play of course," Morrigan answered with a smile as she waved her hands about the air.

There was brief flash of emerald light after Morrigan cast her spell, and then numerous ravens flew out of the trees to begin harassing the people below.

"Man, I love my job," Garlon smiled.

**Northern sector of Manhattan**

Lucius blankly stared out across the street from a dark alley at a small security bank that he had been instructed to go to. The former aspirer of Roman greatness was now stuck with his followers as direct slaves to the Unseelie Court's will. He had enough intelligence to command some of the other slaves, but not enough to make demands or to fight against Madoc's will. He and his men all wore body armor similar to that which Macbeth wore, but none of Madoc's slaves wore coats and the Unseelie insignia was painted in black and wait paint on the right chest plate of the body armor.

Suddenly a small pixie-like Unseelie appeared out of nowhere in front of Lucius.

"Garlon and Morrigan have begun their attack to round up new slaves," the Unseelie reported, "You are not to move in until Titania responds to their threat."

Lucius silently bowed.

**Castle Wyvern**

Candy slowly typed away at the clan's computer. She was still working on writing out all of the facts she had gathered on gargoyle biology, and since she was not assigned to one of the patrol teams tonight, she decided she'd get some work done on it. Lexington sat nearby eating some snack food and was helping her whenever she needed it. Candy had just finished typing what was to be the introduction to the book when the door behind her slammed suddenly, startling them. The loud noise of the door slamming startled both the two web winged gargoyles and as a result, Lex nearly dropped what he was eating and Candy had pressed down on a button creating a long line of periods.

They turned to see a seriously frustrated looking Caroline walking toward them.

"You okay, Caroline?" Candy asked.

"I just can't believe them," Caroline said in a frustrated voice.

"Believe who?" Lex asked.

"These Avalon males," Caroline growled, "Lawrence and I were watching a movie and while we were watching the movie, but as soon as he went to bed… they were all over me."

"They jumped on you?" Lex asked rubbing the side of his head with one hand.

"No," Caroline shook her head, "More like open flirtation. I tried telling them that Lawrence and I are dating but they didn't seem to care."

"Oh boy," Lex sighed.

"What is it?" Caroline and Candy both asked.

Lex looked down for a moment, slightly embarrassed, "This sounds an awful lot like what happened when Angela first came here."

The other two became noticeably interested.

"What happened?" Candy asked.

"Well, it had been around a thousand years since the Wyvern Massacre, and Brooklyn, Broadway, and I only had each other for company that was our own age," Lex explained, "Hudson was obviously still the clan elder then, and Goliath was still the leader. But when Goliath, Elisa, and Bronx returned from the World Tour they returned with Angela. Being the first female we'd seen, we tried to impress her and ended up fighting with each other."

Candy and Caroline watched him for a moment while Lexington sighed remembering some of the events of those days that stuck in his mind the most.

"You…?" Candy began but was unable to finish.

"It wasn't our best moment," Lex sighed.

"So how did she stop you three?" Caroline asked, "You three certainly weren't trying to impress her when we first got here."

"She had chosen Broadway by then," Lexington sighed, "But that's a different story. She basically put her foot down and told how she expected to act. You can't keep them from hanging out with you but maybe you can get them to stop flirting with you."

"I wish I knew why they were doing it!" Caroline said, "Then I'd know how to stop it."

"I can't answer you there," Lex said quickly, "I wouldn't have thought that the Avalon males would even behave like this. I mean they've had females as friends all their lives. The only thing that makes you two and Amy new to them is the fact that you were human by birth."

Caroline didn't look much better, "I almost wish I was assigned to go on one of the patrol teams tonight. Then I wouldn't have to deal with this."

"You might want to talk to Angela about this," Lex offered, "She might know how to help you deal with this."

**Central Park**

One of the men piloting the small snow blowers was completely startled when a flock of ravens flew out of nowhere, some even just appearing in front of his vehicle. The surprise of dozens of large black birds suddenly pecking aggressively at the glass windows and blinding his forward view caused the man to drive off the path sending snow that had drifted in the areas where the grass normally was in all directions. The vehicle finally came to a stop when it hit a nearby tree. The impact however cracked the glass and the ravens took full advantage of it. The man screamed in terror as the birds quickly surrounded him.

Above the park, Garlon and Morrigan marveled at the chaos that they had created below them. One raven flew up to Morrigan and dropped a clear glass marble with the man who was driving the small snow blower.

"I do love this spell," Morrigan laughed, "Little birds to do the weak work and we can wait for the real fun."

Garlon gave a weak chuckle, "Yeah, but I wished I could have gone to get the will."

"Titania must have hit you and Sekhmet harder than everybody thinks," Morrigan commented, "Or did you forget Madoc's change in tactics? Since Titania herself is willing to give battle, we can not afford to be caught where Titania or the Weird Sisters could catch us alone. And we are to work in groups so that way if they do catch us we are not alone and if it is a weaker member of her court, we stand a better chance of winning."

"I know," Garlon answered in an annoyed voice, "Part of this just feels like we're still hiding though."

Morrigan just sighed as she placed the marble in a small pouch on her side.

Goliath's team glided slowly over various points that had been designated as likely targets by the Unseelie. A few of these points were close to Central Park and the gargoyles quickly detected the commotion going on there.

"Did anyone hear that?" Griff asked.

"Sounds like screaming," Ophelia commented.

"And the cawing of ravens," Desdemona added.

"We should investigate," Goliath insisted as he leaped from the building they had earlier landed on to rest and glided toward the sounds emanating from the park.

The found several ravens surrounding a man bundled under warm winter clothing along one of the pathways. The man was screaming for his life and waving his arms around wildly trying to swat the birds away from him. Goliath and Elisa were the first to dive down, slashing at the dark colored birds with their talons. The others quickly followed. The birds seemed to be far more interested in getting the man then defending themselves and in a few short seconds, the birds lay at their feet while the man ran off screaming.

"I hear more screaming and cawing," Othello said turning his head to elsewhere in the park.

Coyote by that time caught up with the gargoyles and took a look at the ravens lying on the ground.

"Well, I can say we were successful in finding an Unseelie operation," Coyote commented.

"How so?" Octavia asked.

"These ravens aren't real," Coyote answered, "They look real. They even feel real. And they probably act real. But they aren't real. Merely raw magical power molded into the form of a raven."

"But why would Madoc simply go after people in Central Park?" Elisa asked.

"Slaves," Coyote guessed, "During the first war, he gathered slaves to serve his court wherever his court went. By the time that war ended, we end up freeing up to three hundred thousand slaves that Madoc had taken."

"Will these ravens cause us any more trouble?" Goliath asked, motioning to the ones that they had already defeated.

"No," Coyote answered, "The spell used to merely create them is complex and if the Unseelie are using them to gather slaves, quantity supersedes quality. Better to have many that can be 'killed' easily than three that are nearly impossible to 'kill'."

"We must spread out and get rid of as many of these Ravens as possible," Goliath said, "We will go in pairs. Coyote, I'm counting on you to be quick to react should any pair of gargoyles run across the fey that are casting the spell to control these ravens."

Coyote's image shimmered to change from what looked like a young Peter Maza to that of an anthromorphic coyote in the same clothing.

"I'll give you one better," Coyote called as he began to run through the snow drifts on his now furry feet, "I'll go looking for them."

**Elsewhere**

Lucius waited quietly with the other slaves until the small pixie appeared in front of him once more.

"Titania has reacted to the disturbance in the Park," the pixie said in an authoritative voice, "You will acquire the will now."

Lucius nodded and bowed to pixie, which he might not have done if he hadn't been enslaved and motioned the other slaves to move forward on the bank. Lucius and the slaves made about four steps into the street when voice with a strong Scottish accent stopped them.

"I believe the bank is closed at the moment," Macbeth said as he stepped out of the shadows next to the bank itself, "You'll have to come back tomorrow to make your deposit."

Lucius paused to look at the man. He remembered him from London. He was why he was enslaved to Maddox. His eyes widened further when Arthur came to stand beside the immortal Scottish king with his own sword drawn.

"By order of Madoc, Lord of the Unseelie Court, I command you to leave this place," Lucius said clearly.

Arthur and Macbeth traded looks and Lucius inwardly knew what they were thinking. He wanted his words to be more commanding, but thanks to his own enslavement, they didn't. Lucius then moved one arm forward to motion the slaves behind him to move on the two medieval kings.

Macbeth answered by firing one of his electric blasters on attacking group of slaves. The blast hit five slaves and they fell to the ground in pain. Many of the other slaves dove away or stopped entirely to avoid being hit by the electricity. That gave Macbeth time to pull out a flare gun and fire it into the air.

Meanwhile, Lucius had pulled out his own sword and advanced on Arthur, not noticing what Macbeth had done to the other slaves.

"Don't say I didn't warn you," Lucius tried to say coldly.

Zafiro's patrol group was not far away when a flare suddenly shot out from between two of the many buildings in the city. After a short period of time, the flare exploded in a brilliant red light temporarily blinding the gargoyles.

"What was that?" Logan asked in a startled voice.

"I can't see!" Ian added.

"It was a flare," Amy answered, rubbing her eyes and hoping she didn't glide into Brooklyn, "Humans use them to show their location during times of distress or danger at night."

"They…" Logan began to ask.

"Lex will try to explain it to you later," Brooklyn cut in, "Right now we'd best figure out who launched that flare."

"Yes," Zafiro nodded, "And make sure that the one who launched it is not causing trouble."

By the time they got to the area where the flare had come from they found Macbeth and Arthur in a large battle with many human like men in modern style battle armor.

"Unseelie slaves," Anubis commented from behind the gargoyles, "I'm almost surprised Madoc took this long to use them."

"What?" Jade asked.

"The Seelie Court is bound by Oberon's Law," Anubis answered, "We can not interfere with the lives of mortals. While the Unseelie slaves are our enemies, they are mortal. I can not do anything to stop them unless they come to the point of directly endangering my life."

"So it's gargoyles to the rescue?" Brooklyn quipped, "Fun. Let's go!"

As they had before in London, Lucius had drawn Arthur into a sword fight. Unfortunately for Lucius, Arthur found that in his enslaved state, he could not counter minor moves that he could employ to his advantage. Taking advantage of Excalibur's length, Arthur refused to allow Lucius to draw close with his gladius

"You can not win," Lucius said in his enslaved voice.

"Really?" Arthur questioned, "Then how come Macbeth has knocked out half of your soldiers…"

Arthur glanced up to see several winged shapes descending out of the night.

"…and a group of gargoyles is about to come to our aide?" Arthur finished with a chuckle.

Lucius paused for a moment to glance up and he too saw the approaching winged forms.

"I must not fail," Lucius growled and viscously continued his attack on Arthur.

Macbeth was somewhat glad to see the group of gargoyles descending on the battle that he and Arthur were involved in. His electric blasters were beginning to run low on their battery charge and they were doing less and less damage to the slaves, whose own armor prevented them from taking serious injury from Macbeth's weapons. The immortal Scottish king was fortunate that he had managed to lead them away from the bank that Madoc was likely targeting, and that at least one or two men would get ahead of the main group, allowing Macbeth to knock them out while he tried to recover from the electric blast.

The slaves were only armed with swords and could not fight Macbeth at long ranges, and those that were hit by the electric blasts from Macbeth's weapons ended up dropping their weapons and were forced to improvise. Many garbage cans that normally sat outside many of the buildings in the area were thrown through the air in hopes of knocking Macbeth over. He sighed heavily as two gargoyles dove in front of him and tackled at least three slaves that had managed to get close to him as a result of these tactics.

"Just can't stay out of trouble, can you?" Brooklyn chuckled in a joking manner.

"Better me than Cyberbiotics," Macbeth muttered back as he pulled himself to his feet.

"Let me guess," Amy groaned, "After the will?"

"That would be my best guess," Macbeth nodded.

Zafiro landed behind two Unseelie slaves that were trying to rush after Macbeth. The red Guatemalan gargoyle merely grabbed them from behind and slammed their heads together, knocking them out. He turned to see Obsidiana taking out a third Unseelie slave with a sweep of her tail.

"Why would they employ such weak fighters?" Obsidiana wondered out loud.

"To secure the Unseelie Court's numbers," Anubis answered as he came down with their part of the battle over, "Most members of the Unseelie Court are generally weaker than those of theSeelie Court. To make up for this they are viler and more willing to fight battles where our greater strength will count against us. One of Madoc's most popular tactics was to enslave mortals and send them in mass assaults against us. While we tried to stop and help them, the real Unseelie members would come out of nowhere and take cheep shots against us."

"So where's the Unseelie?" Turquesa asked.

"Strangely, I do not sense any in the area," Anubis answered, "It is strange. He attacks with slaves but has no hidden Unseelie to hit us while we are distracted."

The Egyptian fey's musing was interrupted by the sound of metal clashing on metal. They turned to see that Arthur and Lucius were still involved in their sword fight from earlier.

"We have you outnumbered and surrounded," Arthur informed Lucius as he noticed the gargoyles beginning to move to capture the Unseelie slave from behind, "Surrender now while you have the chance."

"NO!" Lucius roared as he charged forward and lowered his shoulder, knocking Arthur into the thick snow that had gathered on the sidewalk.

Lucius then turned and ran off into the night in a dead sprint. Arthur simply pulled himself up, breathing heavily.

"Well, at least they won't get the will," Arthur sighed.

"Yes," Macbeth nodded as he walked forward with Brooklyn and Amy behind him.

"What were you two doing here?" Ian asked, "Goliath didn't mention that you were out."

"That's because we didn't discuss anything with Goliath," Macbeth answered, "You and the other gargoyles were asleep at the time. We came here because we knew that if Madoc was truly serious in acquiring Cyberbiotics, he would need to know that Renard's will either left it to him or didn't mention the company at all. Since you were asleep, and Xanatos and the fey would tend to stick out during the day, Arthur and I agreed to watch over the bank where Renard's will is kept."

"A good thing you did too," Logan commented rolling one of the slaves over with his foot, "This many guys could have done a lot more than take one will."

"We'll need groups to keep watch over this place until dawn tomorrow," Brooklyn sighed, "Madoc will be less likely to attack then."

"I can keep watch," Anubis volunteered, "By the time Madoc receives the slave's report it will be close to dawn and a fey would stand a better chance of getting the document than a slave."

"Speaking of which, Anubis," Obsidiana asked, "Is there any way of freeing them?"

"I believe I can do that," Anubis nodded, "But we must make sure they will have shelter. They will still be unconscious."

"There was a homeless shelter about a block down the street in that direction," Brooklyn said while pointing in a westward direction to indicate where 'that direction' was.

Anubis nodded and then went about his work in freeing the unconscious slaves.

**Central Park**

Goliath and Elisa found another group of 'ravens' attacking an elderly woman who seemed to be struggling not only to keep the birds away from her but to keep a hold on an armful of groceries that she had. The two gargoyles rushed forward to begin driving the birds off. Again as they had encountered before with these birds, the ravens paid little attention to Goliath or Elisa, but seemed to focus on the woman. The birds fell away with several aimed strikes of their talons and tails. They turned to see the woman still standing there, clutching her groceries and trembling with fear.

"You're not going to rob me are you?" the woman asked in a weak voice.

"No, we merely wanted to get these birds away from you," Elisa answered tossing one of the ravens into the snow.

"Thank you then," the woman mumbled, "They nearly made me drop my groceries and I don't have the money to buy more and I'm almost home."

"You don't live far from here?" Goliath asked.

"I live just over there," the woman answered pointing with one hand while juggling her bags of food with the other.

"It's not that far," Elisa commented to Goliath, "We should help get her to her building. There may be more of those ravens out there."

Goliath slowly nodded.

"Those gargoyles are killing my ravens," Morrigan growled as a single raven returned with a glass marble with a person in it, "I can feel the termination of each bird and I can sense the presence of a fey."

"Let the gargoyles hut your birds," Garlon snorted, "We've gathered more than enough slaves from throughout the entire park to gather what Lord Madoc requires. While the gargoyles deal with the birds, we'll kill the fey they've brought with them."

Morrigan smiled, "I'd prefer not to lose my ravens, but you have a very interesting idea."

The two Unseelie soon began floating over the park in search of the fey that had come with the gargoyles.

Coyote struggled through yet another snow drift in search of the Unseelie that were here. He was thankful that he had taken the form of an anthromorphic coyote at this time due to the extreme cold. His fey abilities allowed him to withstand the cold, but he felt much more comfortable with a coyote's fur on his back.

He continued to trudge through the snow, sniffing intently through his currently canine nose. He had the scent of at least two Unseelie and he was determined to track them down. He had just come onto one of the park's walkways when an emerald orb of energy struck a snow bank in front of him, exploding and sending nearly all the snow onto him. When Coyote stuck his head out of the snow bank, he was hit in the face by a flock of ravens and thrown into a powerful punch that hit his kidneys.

"Bad dog," Morrigan teased, "Letting gargoyles kill my ravens."

Coyote charged a fist with his own energy and threw a punch at Morrigan's side. The blow itself that Coyote landed was strong enough to knock the female Unseelie do the ground, and the energy that Coyote had collected in his fist was strong enough to send her flying into a tree. Morrigan soon found herself digging out of a pile of snow that had fallen off of the tree and onto her.

"Evil fey," Coyote growled as he tried to pull himself up.

He didn't get much of a chance. Garlon lunged and threw another punch at him, sending Coyote tumbling to the ground face first. The southwestern desert fey pulled himself up slowly to face Garlon again.

"They say your speed is unmatched," Garlon commented, "But I've heard this marvelous thing about coyotes that I think would counter that."

"Oh really?" Coyote challenged, "And what is that?"

"They chew off their own feet when caught in traps," Garlon laughed as he conjured up multiple bear traps around Coyote.

Coyote looked at the traps and their long jagged teeth. They surrounded him and he couldn't take a step without stepping in one of the traps. Coyote sighed and levitated into the air above the traps.

"I'm not tied to the ground, you know," Coyote warned.

"True, but snow still has to obey the laws of gravity," Garlon chuckled as he pointed upward.

Coyote looked up to see that Garlon had conjured up a massive snowball above him and he quickly lowered himself to where he was standing a minute before and braced for impact.

**Castle Wyvern**

"You honestly think we should leave?" Mr. Axel asked, gripping his wife close to him, "Amy looked pretty nervous when she and Brooklyn came to our apartment to bring us here. And not much later, we learn that the maniacs that they were trying to get us away from burned the entire apartment building to the ground."

"I know how you feel," Diane Maza nodded as she looked at the human friends and family of the clan, "I know how all of you feel. Elisa and Goliath looked just as nervous. But the thing is we're still targets here. They burned our homes to the ground. Who is to say the castle isn't next? Look what they did to the Cyberbiotics airship. It was almost as heavily defended as this place."

"I can't leave, not without knowing that Candy is safe," Abigail Wexmand argued, "How can any of us leave here without our loved ones?"

"It's not how, but why," Peter Maza spoke up, "We are nothing more than targets to the Unseelie. And we're sitting right now at their prime objective. They plan to attack here, but they also know about this shield that Xanatos has. They want to destroy the clan and probably a good chunk of Queen Titania's Court outside the shield before attacking Wyvern itself. That will put us in double danger. If they attack the castle and find us here, we will become direct hostages in their attempt for power. And take it from a guy who's served with the police, you don't want to be involved in a shootout with a group of criminals when the criminals turn and take hostages in the middle of the fight."

"And so your answer is to leave?" Greg Urbis argued.

"None of us are fighters," Peter retorted, "The only real exceptions might be myself for my police service and Ms. Wexmand for her former association with the…"

"I was never really any good," Abigail answered, "Before Mr. 'Castaway' was sent to jail for the first time, I was regulated to secretary type work and I wasn't allowed on missions. My first real assignment was the night after I learned Candy had been changed into a gargoyle, and it only got me knocked out."

"And I'm too old to be a cop anymore," Peter added, "My point is that none of us are in any condition to fight with the gargoyles against these guys. We either are too old or lack the training, and we all lack the strength."

"What if we were to gain the strength?" Judith Axel piped up, "Because I won't leave my daughter. If I leave at all, she will have to come with us."

"And how could we gain the strength, then?" Abigail asked.

"The fey," Beth spoke up, "They could give us the strength through magic."

Diane stood up and turned squarely toward Beth, "I refuse to let another member of my family lose their humanity to insane geneticists or magicians! Your brother lost his to Sevarius and your sister lost hers to the Mage. I'm not going to go through that again."

"We might not even be much help anyway," Peter added, "It would take time to for anyone who would undergo something like that to learn how to use that strength. It would be safer for us and easier for the clan if we were to simply find some place far away from the castle where the Unseelie couldn't strike us."

"And suppose a place like that existed?" Mr. Axel questioned, "Where might that be? They knew exactly where our homes where. Your youngest daughter even said they attacked her out inArizona! Is there a safe place we can go? New York isn't safe, because that's where the war is. The North American continent isn't safe because we know they can go to Arizona, and if they can go across the country, who's to say they can't go across the world?"

"I don't know," Diane sighed, "We would have to ask Queen Titania about that."

"I'd agree with what the young Ms. Maza said before," Greg Urbis said from beside his wife, "I'm not so keen on losing my humanity, but maybe there's another way of getting the strength to fight these guys. Like some suit of armor or something."

Peter then sighed to Diane, "I don't think this was a very good idea. They won't leave their families and we all know that their families wouldn't leave their clan."

"I know," Diane answered, "and I do not wish to leave Elisa, myself. But we're only a source of worry for them. And as you said, we're too old to fight."

"Mr. Axel has a point," Peter told her, "We need to figure out if and where this safe place would be. We can't just leave Manhattan and expect to find a safe place."

"We'll need to talk to Titania about that," Diana sighed.

**Central Park**

The gargoyles regrouped along the western edge of the park. Many of them were panting heavily.

"All the ravens should be dead," Gabriel panted.

"And we beat rather easily," Griff added.

Octavia quickly nodded, "Too easy in my opinion. I don't think the Unseelies intended for this to be their primary sphere of operation tonight."

"We'll have to see if Zafiro's group came across anything," Goliath answered, "Right now, we must find Coyote. He's gone to find the Unseelie that created those ravens and may need our help."

Coyote violently lifted himself out of the pile of snow that Garlon had dumped on him, sending much of it in many directions. He sighed with relief as the snow he had thrown had not only covered up the bear traps that Garlon had placed but knocked the mousy haired fey to the ground. Charging his fists with energy, Coyote lunged again at Garlon. His punch caught the Unseelie just as he was preparing to get back on his feet.

"Morrigan, help me!" Garlon growled.

The female Unseelie had not left her place by the tree that Coyote had thrown her against earlier. She looked weak and considerably more pale than normal.

"What is wrong with you?" Garlon demanded from the ground.

"My ravens are dead," Morrigan gasped slowly, "My energies are spent. I need rest."

With that, Morrigan merely disappeared from sight and left Garlon alone.

"I defeat this mutt by myself," Garlon snarled.

The mousy haired fey watched as Coyote began come closer. He neared what appeared to be an Iron lamp post and the Unseelie knew his best chance in knocking the object over. Garlon pivoted on the ground and grabbed a nearby stone bench and hurled it at the lamp post.

Coyote watched as the stone bench hit the lamp post. He quickly dove to try and avoid being hit by the lamp post, but unfortunately, the iron post landed on one of Coyote's ankles, taking him to the ground. He screamed as the Iron in the post began to burn through the fur on his ankles.

"Ha!" Garlon laughed as he pulled himself up, "You'll still have to chew off your own foot!"

Coyote merely growled at him as he tried to pull his feet free. Garlon simply hit him in the chest with a fireball.

"Did I say you could leave?" Garlon said cruelly.

Garlon then raised one hand to throw another fireball at Coyote and hold him helpless, when an arrow struck him in the shoulder.

"AAARRRRGGGGHHH!" Garlon cringed as he soon realized that the very tip of arrow was made of Iron.

He turned to see the gargoyles that Coyote had escorted to Central Park charging toward him.

"Great," Garlon muttered.

Ophelia pulled out another arrow from a quiver that she had carried with her. The quiver was a good two inches longer than the arrows and had a special flap that she could use to hold the arrows inside the quiver and her bow next to it. Around the castle she didn't really wear it, but with the clan's patrols to keep the Unseelie Court from destroying the city, she had taken to carrying it.

Garlon tried to raise the wounded arm but found that the arrow was lodged in his shoulder blade and preventing him from even lifting the arm, let alone using it. Plus the fact that the iron tip was still causing him enormous pain. The first gargoyles to reach him were Othello and Desdemona. The golden female threw one punch into Garlon's already wounded shoulder while the grey male punched Garlon squarely in the face. The Unseelie flew back, and by stroke of bad luck, landed on one of the bear traps he had conjured up earlier. One closed on his butt, another on his left wrist, and a third on his right wrist.

Griff watched Garlon scream and disappear in a flash of light as he threw the lamp post of off Coyote.

"Do you need any help getting back to the castle?" Griff asked looking at the Iron burns on Coyote's ankles.

"No, I'll be fine," Coyote shook his head as he jumped up, only to wince and fall into the griffon-like gargoyle's arms, "Maybe for a while."

"We'd best return, it'll be dawn soon," Goliath commented looking eastward.

**Castle Wyvern**

Goliath's group returned to find that Zafiro's team had already returned.

"How did you do?" Zafiro asked as Goliath and the others touched down.

Goliath watched while Elisa and Griff helped Coyote into the castle where he could relax and let the Iron burns heal.

"Two Unseelie were trying to make people in Central Park into their slaves," Goliath rumbled, "We saved some people and defeated the Unseelies, but we can not be certain how much damage they did and how many slaves they took before we got there."

Zafiro sighed before reporting how his team did, "We ran into Macbeth and Arthur defending a bank from a group of Unseelie slaves."

"Was it the bank where…?" Goliath asked.

"Macbeth and Arthur said it was," Zafiro replied, "They and Anubis are still there."

"Octavia was right," Goliath mused, "They were after the will."

"It's confusing though why they would only send slaves to recover it," Zafiro commented, "In their state of enslavement, they were very easy to defeat."

"They must have only expected one patrol team," Goliath sighed, "We merely got lucky by sending out two patrol teams."

Zafiro only nodded.

"What?" Othello almost roared Gabriel and Ophelia followed him and Desdemona into the castle.

"Listen, I know that to you the entire clan is the parents of the hatchlings," Gabriel pleaded, "But I feel it is important to know which mated pair are my biological parents. Would you please consider the test?"

"If I agree, will you answer me why you feel this is important?" Othello retorted.

"Because we were raised by Princess Katherine the way she would have raised her own children, if she had any," Gabriel answered, "Everyone should know who their parents are."

"Very well," Othello sighed, "Desdemona and I will go through with it tomorrow night."

"I'm fine, honestly," Coyote, who had returned to his more human-like form, insisted as Beth put icepacks on his ankles.

"Uh-huh," Beth nodded, "And these red marks that look like third degree burns are a real indicator of your overall health."

While Beth continued to work on Coyote's wounds, Elisa stood watch with her wings caped. The tan skinned gargoyle was soon joined by Peter and Diane.

"How is he?" Diane asked.

"The only thing that's really hurt is his pride," Elisa chuckled.

Diane gave a half chuckle and then her face turned deadly serious.

"What is it?" Elisa asked.

"Elisa, your father and I are going to Nigeria," Diane said firmly but still quite softly, as if she hoped Elisa wouldn't be able to hear her.

"When this is all over?" Elisa asked.

Diane looked down and a tear ran down her check, "No, Elisa. As soon as Titania and her court can figure out a way to sneak us out of Manhattan without the Unseelies knowing."

"But… but…," Elisa stuttered in shock, "You can't leave! It's too dangerous! They might try and kill you!"

"They already tried," Peter answered, "And they'll only try again if we stay here. They're bound to attack the castle sooner or later. Be it now or a year from now. And once they do, they will come after us because they know we're here. And your mother and I are too old to fight."

"You can't leave," Elisa pleaded, tears beginning to form in her eyes, "You can't leave me. You can' leave the clan. It's your family."

"We don't want to," Diane said weakly, "But we're in more danger here than we would be if we were in Nigeria and if the Unseelie didn't know we were there. We talked with Titania about it. These Unseelies are dangerous, but they don't pay the closest attention. While they're focused here, they won't even look at the rest of the world. Especially while Titania's court is here."

"Stay here," Elisa insisted, "Where I can protect you."

"We don't want to leave, Elisa," Diane almost sobbed, "But we have to. Just as you have to stay here. When this is all over here, we'll come back."

"Are you taking Beth or any of the other humans with you?" Elisa asked weakly.

"No," Peter sighed, "Your sister wishes to remain here to help provide medical help and all of them are younger and wish to fight should the time come."

Elisa looked at her parents for a moment and then silently walked out of the room.

**Maddox Technologies**

Maddox sat behind his desk, looking extremely frustrated as four beings stood in front of him. Among them an exhausted Morrigan, a wounded Garlon, a panting Lucius, and a small pixie-like Unseelie.

"So Arthur and Macbeth intercepted you and you lost all of the slaves I sent with you," Maddox said to Lucius.

Lucius gave a defeated nod. Maddox then turned his attention to the pixie.

"Did you make your own attempt to retrieve the will?" Maddox demanded.

"Yes my Lord, but the safety deposit box was sealed with Iron," the pixie reported, "It was useless."

"You failed me Lucius," Maddox growled, "I wanted that will. Gnat, here, was sent to make her own attempt, but she was more of a guide for you and was only supposed to go in if it looked as if you had failed. You are regulated to replace Loki on punishment detail in the basements until further notice."

Lucius bowed with a defeated look on his face and left the office. Maddox then turned his attention to Morrigan and Garlon.

"I sent you out to capture slaves and to kill or distract Titania and the gargoyles," Maddox commented sternly, "How many slaves did you capture?"

"About half as many as Lucius lost," Morrigan answered, "I can go capture more as soon as I regain my strength."

Maddox ignored her, "Did any members of Goliath's clan or Titania's court die?"

"No, my lord," Garlon answered, "But I was so close to killing Coyote you could feel the fur coat we could have made out of him."

"Did you provide enough of a distraction that the only gargoyles and fey that were out would come to you and ignore the slaves's mission?" Maddox asked.

"No, my Lord," Garlon said in a voice that betrayed a lot of fear, "As Lucius said, Arthur and Macbeth intercepted him."

Maddox snapped his fingers, and Garlon suddenly felt the bones in his arms snap in various places. The mousey haired fey screamed with pain and nearly sunk to the floor.

"Morrigan you will take the slaves you've gathered to Maeve and she will deal with their enslavement," Maddox commanded, "Garlon, you are to go to the medical wing and have your injuries tended to."

"Yes my Lord," the two Unseelie bowed and left the room leaving a very angry looking Maddox.

**The Bank, The Next Day**

Several of Cyberbiotics attorneys stood nervously in one of the bank's back offices. Many were in the process of hanging large overcoats on a coat hanger in the back of the room.

"You're sure she agreed to come today?" one of the lawyers asked.

"Yes," an older attorney nodded, "Fox Xanatos and Anastasia Renard will be here to read the will this morning."

"Yes, but it's nearly ten," the first lawyer answered back.

"I'm here," came Fox's voice from the doorway behind them.

The already nervous lawyers turned to see a human looking Fox standing in the doorway. She wore a long black winter coat over a normal business suit. They saw Anastasia Renard standing a few feet behind her.

"Thank you for coming, Mrs. Xanatos, Mrs. Renard," the lead lawyer said in a welcoming voice, and then turned to a nearby bank employee, "You may open the safety deposit box now."

The bank worker promptly nodded and left through a side door. The various attorneys then took their seats along one side of the long table. The lead attorney motioned for Fox and Anastasia to sit opposite them.

"Please, take a seat," the lead attorney said calmly, "He'll be back in a moment."

Fox and Anastasia slowly sat down. Fox was half surprised as to how her illusion spell worked. She still felt the weight of her wings on her back, and they felt a little uncomfortable being pressed against her back and the back of the chair. She looked at her hands. Covered in bright red fur, only interrupted where her short claws had grown out of her fingertips. She inwardly sighed with relief that she had successfully managed to do the illusion spell. Her internal thoughts were interrupted when the bank worker returned and there was a knock on the door that that Fox and Anastasia had entered through.

"Who could that be?" Anastasia asked, "I assumed this was to be a private meeting."

"It is," the lead attorney nodded as he took a moderately sized briefcase from the bank employee, "You two and a third party that has taken a vested interest in Cyberbiotics."

The bank employee had meanwhile moved to the door and opened it to reveal Maddox standing there, almost casually.

"Good morning, madams, sirs," Maddox said politely as he walked in and took a seat next to Anastasia and ignoring the woman's look of anger and the growling noises that had begun to escape Fox's throat.

"What are you doing here?" Anastasia demanded icily, "This is a matter concerning the family of Halcyon Renard. He did not even know who you are."

"As the attorneys have explained," Maddox answered with a smile, "I have a vested interest in Cyberbiotics, and as it is my wish to buy the company I feel it is important that I be here, since it appears that Mr. Renard left the future of his company in his will…"

"He wouldn't have left it to you," Fox growled aggressively.

"True," Maddox smiled back, "But whether you like it or not, I am a major player here, and if I am to buy Cyberbiotics, I must know who I must negotiate with. This is neutral ground. I assure you."

"If I may interrupt," the lead attorney interrupted, "We must get along with the will."

The attorney then opened the briefcase and pulled a small stack of papers out of it and placed them on the desk in front of him.

The attorney cleared his throat carefully before beginning to read the report, "I, Halcyon Renard, leave this as a last will and testament to leave my worldly goods to those that have rightfully earned them. I ask that my personal fortune be donated to the Red Cross and other medical charities related to research for serious diseases. I leave the only piece of private property that I own to my former wife, Anastasia Renard, may she find more use for it than I did. Cyberbiotics, the company I founded and built from the ground up, is to be left to my grandson, Alexander Xanatos. However, for the time being, the company will pass in trust to my daughter, Janine Xanatos, and my chief assistant, Preston Vogel, until young Alexander's eighteenth birthday. After that point the company is the sole property of Alexander Xanatos, its future will lay with him."

The lawyer continued reading with various other things that Renard had left in his will while Fox, Anastasia, and Maddox listened. It took nearly an hour for all the legal jargon to be worked out before everyone was free to leave. Although Maddox had clearly lost interest by that time. Legally he would have to wait until the young Alexander Xanatos had turned eighteen and given the reception that Anastasia and Fox gave him, he assumed they wouldn't sell the company. When it was time to leave, the disguised Unseelie leader simply stalked off.

"I'm glad he's gone," Fox said angrily as she took the briefcase that contained the will of the table and began to walk away with it.

Anastasia only nodded. The two women quietly left the bank and took a taxi back to the Eyrie Building. On the roof of a building opposite the bank, Maddox stood in his true form as Madoc watching them depart through the blizzard that his court had generated.

"You may think you've won, Titania," Madoc cursed quietly, "But this is far from the end. Enjoy your saving of Cyberbiotics while you can. Because soon, it and the whole world will be mine!"

**The End…**


	14. Curses

All characters appearing in Gargoyles and Gargoyles: The Goliath Chronicles are copyrighted to Buena Vista Television/The Walt Disney Company. I've taken the idea for the Unseelie Court from the TGS. No infringement of these copyrights is intended, and is not authorized by the copyright holder. All original characters are the property of SN.

Note: I'm disregarding the events of the "Goliath Chronicles", with the exception of "The Journey" because I do not wish to use the rest of the "Goliath Chronicles" as canon to my story. This story takes place one day after "To Inherit the Throne".

Curses

By SN/TVfan

Email: Sam_Nary 

**Labyrinth**

Maggie slowly led another homeless man into the main area of the Labyrinth to help the man get warm. The man was completely frozen with icicles of frozen snow and ice in his beard. He was the fourth man in such a condition to enter the Labyrinth.

"This blizzard is getting worse and worse," Maggie commented aloud as she made her way back to the small section where the mutates and the clones had their private living quarters.

"Another one?" her mother's voice asked from the kitchen/dinning room that had been constructed.

"Yes," Maggie sighed as she walked in and took a seat opposite her mother, "This blizzard that the Unseelies is getting worse. All the homeless shelters on the surface are already full up and possibly over crowded. Now the Labyrinth is starting to fill up. And it's only supposed to get colder and more snow is expected."

"I'm glad it's warm down here," Eleanor Reed commented.

Maggie nodded in agreement, "Me too. But if it stays this cold much longer, we may soon exceed what the Labyrinth is able to produce without having to depend on a constant supply train coming in, and if it keeps snowing like this for much longer, no one may be able to get out of the Labyrinth."

"Don't worry," Eleanor Reed said giving a week smile, "I'm sure we'll find some way to keep everyone safe somehow."

"Thanks for being here to help us out, mom," Maggie smiled.

"You're welcome," Eleanor Reed answered.

**Castle Wyvern**

The large exercise room in the castle was filled with the sound of metal hitting metal as Tom, Macbeth, and Arthur began trying to train the clan's human friends in the basic skills that were needed to safely wield Iron weapons. The skills would hopefully allow them to survive when the big battle came, although he wasn't sure as to how helpful his training could actually be. The Unseelies could still attack at long range, and iron suits of armor would be too heavy to be of any real use, unless the armor was similar in design to the way Xanatos made his robots. And that would make the training that Tom was currently giving useless because of the extra advantages that Xanatos's robots had. This all left them with their own questions, but he did know that there was no real time to argue or figure them out. The Unseelie Court would eventually start a big fight and the clan's human friends and family would either need to leave or be trained beforehand.

"Very good," Tom said as the group finished going through the motions that Arthur and Macbeth had earlier demonstrated.

Tom then looked up at a clock on the wall and then glanced at a window.

"I guess that'll be enough for today," Tom commented.

The group of people gave heavy sighs of relief and slowly walked out.

"So what do ye think?" Tom asked to the other two men from the Middle Ages.

"They have potential," Arthur commented, "If they're properly trained."

"Unfortunately we don't have the time to properly train them," Macbeth commented gruffly, "I will agree with Arthur that their wish to help their friends and family gives them great potential, but the Unseelies will not give us the time to train them properly.

"Guess we'll just have to make the best of the time we have," Tom sighed.

**Maddox Technologies**

Maddox sat quietly in deep thought behind his desk. So intense was his focus that he failed to hear the door open and shut, and it was a few minutes before he noticed that someone had entered the room.

"Ah, Maeve," Maddox said as he finally looked up, "Thank you for coming."

Maeve nodded and took a seat opposite Maddox.

"How is the status of Mr. Sevarius?" Maddox asked.

"His injuries are healing easily with magical manipulation," Maeve answered with a smile, "And our attempts to awaken the scientific knowledge that Anton Sevarius kept from him are beginning to show progress. He should be ready to begin contributing to our plans in a few days at the earliest, a week at the longest."

Maddox nodded, "I expected as much. That is good. I have something else for you."

Maeve remained silent for the time being.

"You understand that Macbeth was able to thwart our attempt to take Renard's will?" Maddox asked.

"Yes," Maeve nodded, "I'm also aware of Sekhmet's previous battles with Demona, if I am to understand what you're getting at."

"You understand me perfectly," Maddox smiled, "I want you to rid the world of Demona and Macbeth. It shouldn't be too drastically difficult. From your reports, neither are really on the best of terms with each other and so it won't take much to get them at each other."

"I believe I can accomplish the task at hand," Maeve nodded with a simple smile.

"Thank you," Maddox nodded, "I would prefer that this be done as soon as possible."

"Of course," Maeve bowed after standing up and left the room.

**Castle Wyvern, Dusk**

The towers echoed with the roars of multiple gargoyles as they broke out of their stone shells for the night. Each threw the layer of stone that covered them all day and the snow that had accumulated on their stone forms and quickly went inside to plan the night's patrols and eat their breakfast in relative comfort. Elisa was silent as she took her own food and sat down at a desk away from much of the clan and their human friends and family as they ate their dinner.

"What is troubling you, my love?" Goliath asked as he noticed where she was sitting.

"My parents," Elisa answered simply.

"They still wish to seek shelter far away from New York?" Goliath asked.

Elisa could barely bring herself to nod.

"They will be safe there," Goliath encouraged, "If Madoc doesn't know they're there then no harm should come to them."

"But after all we did to bring them here and protect them from the Unseelie?" Elisa asked, "Why would they leave to a place where I can not protect them."

"I think it's because they care for you," Goliath commented, "I've spoken with Peter and Diane. They are concerned that you may worry too much about them while they are here and they wish to go where you don't have to be concerned about their safety."

That didn't help Elisa much. She still continued to eat quietly.

"They have promised to return when this is all over," Goliath pointed out, "This will only be temporary."

"That's the good part of this, I guess," Elisa answered, "That we'll beat the Unseelie and that they'll come back."

"Here's your food, Demona," Wedrington said politely handing her her plate.

"Thank you," Demona replied with a small smile which quickly became serious, "I believe we will be assigned patrol routes tonight."

Wedrington solemnly nodded.

"You will stay by my side, and in terms of combat, you will do as I do," Demona instructed, "Is that clear?"

"Yes, Demona," Wedrington answered nervously.

"Relax," the immortal gargoyle insisted, "You'll do fine. Our training sessions have gotten much better and soon you will be able to fight on your own."

"If you say so," Wedrington said nervously.

Demona couldn't keep herself from smiling back.

Ten minutes later the group began to assemble to assign the patrol teams. The gargoyles largely crowded around Goliath and Elisa and the leaders of the other clans, which included Zafiro, Obsidiana, Leo, and Una.

"Una and I will take a group out, Goliath," Leo volunteered.

"I will go as well," Hudson added stepping forward, "I am nae crippled yet."

"Very well," Goliath nodded, "Una, Leo, Hudson, I want you to take Broadway, Angela, Mary, David, and Elijah on your patrol. Have Merlin provide your team with the cover that a magic user can provide. Lexington, Candy, I want you to take Wedrington, Madeline, Nathanial, Tobias, Tammy, and Malcolm on your patrol. Demona will provide your group with the cover that a magic user can provide."

The assigned gargoyles nodded and prepared to go out on their patrols. Goliath watched the other gargoyles depart and then turned to Elisa, who remained by his side.

"You and I meanwhile will help your parents prepare to leave," Goliath sighed, "There is much they will need help with, and I sense you need some closure."

Elisa weakly nodded.

**Maddox Technologies**

"These here are various warehouses owned by Xanatos Enterprises," Maeve instructed to various Unseelies while pointing at various points on a map of Manhattan, "Our priority in this mission is to find the gargoyle Demona and or the human Macbeth. Should a gargoyle patrol team approach you that doesn't contain one of these two, you are to return here."

"I would prefer to take care of Demona, myself," Sekhmet said almost defiantly.

"Need I remind you that Demona is immortal and that her immortality is closely entwined with Macbeth's?" Maeve said firmly

Sekhmet shook her head.

"Good," Maeve said coldly, "The point is to trick them into combating each other and killing each other. Once they're dead they'll be short two immortals, one of whom is a powerful magic user."

Maeve then turned her eyes to observe the other Unseelies around her, waiting for the question she was sure would follow.

"How do we trick them?" Raven asked.

"I have the means to trick them," Maeve smiled, "Once a team with Demona or Macbeth in it appears to stop you, all you need to do is distract them long enough for me to cast the spell."

The other present Unseelie nodded and prepared to leave after their assorted targets.

**Elsewhere in Manhattan**

Hacker hadn't expected a hooded member of the Council to arrive, but then, considering the possible risk that Madoc's Unseelie Court represented, he wasn't about to be surprised by it.

"Thank you for agreeing to this meeting," Council member said politely.

"What are your orders, Four?" Hacker asked.

"What is the status of the war against Madoc?" Four asked sternly.

"Madoc has made no move against any of our operations in the city," Hacker reported, "At least none that would be considered vital. He seems entirely focused on Xanatos Enterprises and even more specifically, Castle Wyvern and the clan that resides within."

"Have the Iron weapons been distributed?" Four asked.

"Yes," Hacker answered, "And the various minor members have been informed of the Unseelie danger, except for David Xanatos, but then he doesn't need the warning."

Four nodded, "Given his alliance with Madoc's prime targets, the Council assumed he knew of the Unseelie threat well before now. Speaking of which, has there been any indication of what Titania has been up to? Anastasia Renard was recently in New York."

"It would appear that she is helping Xanatos and the gargoyles," Hacker answered nervously.

"The Mage will not like us working with her," Four mused to himself, "But she is the lesser of two evils in the Council's eye."

Hacker watched as Four the then turned around and waved into the shadows of the warehouse that they were in. Almost immediately afterward, ten men in all black commando gear walked toward the two men.

"These men are to aid you in the battle against the Unseelie Court," Four stated, "They are our trained 'supermen' and will provide you with the 'hired muscle' to defeat the Unseelies and the gargoyles, should they perceive us as a threat to them."

Hacker nodded, "Your orders, sir?"

"This has come directly from the Mage," Four said clearly, "The Unseelie Court has betrayed its alliance with the Illuminati. They are to be destroyed. Any Seelie fey that are destroyed as will be a bonus, but is not the main mission at this time. It is the Council's decision that for the time being, you are to orchestrate the defense of Manhattan from the Unseelies. Do not let us down."

"Yes, sir," Hacker bowed as Four turned and left the room.

Leo and Una's patrol team, had meanwhile found little activity. They came across a few minor crooks trying to rob people as they tried to either get to work or get home as quickly as possible to get out of the cold and might not be paying as much attention as they should.

"This is getting tiresome," Angela commented, "There's been no sign of them anywhere."

"At least we can keep these ruffians under control," Leo replied while he tossed one of the local crooks to the ground near a group of unconscious thugs.

"Tis a lull," Hudson grumbled, "There were times when the Vikings would camp near the castle but not attack it. Then later, when they thought we'd relaxed, they'd attack. Something big is in the works."

"Can you predict where they will attack next?" Elijah asked Hudson curiously.

The older gargoyle nearly laughed after hearing the question, "Nay, lad. It's just experience and a gut feeling."

The conversation was cut short by the sound of an explosion in the distance. It was then Merlin who called down to them.

"If any of you wanted action," Merlin said clearly, "Then you might just get your wish. It looks like a warehouse a few blocks away just exploded."

"Can you see who or what caused it?" Broadway asked as the group began to climb up the side of a building to get airborne.

"No," Merlin shook his head, "but I can give you three guesses."

Meanwhile, at the site of the explosion Raven and Banshee watched the flames engulf sections of the building. Various humans scrambled to either put the fire out or get to safety.

"Now this is fun," Raven commented looking down on the people below them.

Banshee nodded with a laugh, "Maybe we'll get to tangle with one of the gargoyles that bested us before."

"If Demona or Macbeth are with them," came the Morrigan's voice from behind the two Seelie defectors.

"Of course," Banshee bowed, "But no one even seems to be coming to investigate."

Raven readied his wings to fire another barrage of feathers and then chuckled, "Perhaps the devastation isn't large enough!"

With that the black feathered fey launched several feathers from his wings at another nearby warehouse. They crashed through the building's boarded windows and exploded inside setting the building on fire and sending more high pitched alarms blaring into the night. Banshee meanwhile tried to focus through the smoke that was rising from the fires below them and the falling snow to see several shapes in the air approaching them.

"Something's coming!" Banshee announced.

"Finally," Raven grumbled.

Angela and Broadway were the first to arrive at the scene. They found two warehouses burning and several people were fleeing the area. They could hear the sirens of fire engines trying to make their way through the streets. They also quickly spotted three Unseelies floating in the air above them. Angela recognized two of them.

"Raven and Banshee," Angela growled.

Broadway kept close by but didn't say anything.

"She's one of the three gargoyles that beat us before!" Raven announced and dove down toward the two, with Banshee close behind.

Morrigan meanwhile scanned the group of gargoyles coming behind Angela and Broadway.

"Wait, you two!" Morrigan ordered, "Demona is not among them. We leave!"

Raven and Banshee paused to look and saw that neither Demona nor Macbeth was with this team of gargoyles. Morrigan disappeared in a flash of light before Una or Leo could get a shot at her. Their pause, however allowed Angela and Broadway the time to get close enough to punch the two fey. Both Raven and Banshee were sent flying by the blow, but quickly recovered.

"You're all just lucky that the plan requires us to let you get away with that," Raven sneered as he vanished.

The gargoyles meanwhile came in for a landing on one of the buildings that weren't burning.

"That didn't make any sense," Mary commented, "Why did they just run like that?"

"The Morrigan mentioned something about Demona or Macbeth," Leo answered.

"But why would they want Macbeth or my mother?" Angela asked, "Both are immortal, unless they kill each other and mother is very strong in magic. They couldn't just capture her to hold as a prisoner."

"Maybe it's a bit more complex that trying to kill or capture," Hudson offered, "They may try to pull some sort of trick."

"We must find a way to warn Demona then that the Unseelie are after her or Macbeth specifically," Merlin commented, "And since it appears that all the people managed to get out of these buildings and that the fire department is already on its way, I suggest we get going."

"We will find Demona's patrol team before we return to the Castle," Una instructed.

The others nodded, and they were soon off into the night sky.

**Elsewhere**

Sekhmet and her werecheetahs along with a few other minor Unseelie stood over a similar sight that Morrigan, Raven, and Banshee had looked over on the other side of Manhattan. A few Xanatos Enterprises warehouses had been set afire and several humans were below trying to save the buildings and what was inside them.

"Foolish mortals," Sekhmet laughed from a nearby rooftop.

The Egyptian Unseelie then motioned to the two werecheetah's beside her.

"Go, my pets," Sekhmet commanded, "Madoc will be pleased with new slaves."

Sekhmet then watched with a cruel sense of fascination as the two werecheetah's assumed a form that was completely animal like and leaped down to the ground. She nearly broke out laughing with joy as the humans below screamed as they were attacked by the werecheetahs.

"Shouldn't they have stayed here for when the gargoyles arrive?" a ghost-like Unseelie, called Ghoul asked.

"This is Maeve's plan, not mine," Sekhmet snapped back, "If we were doing this my way, my pets and I would simply ambush Demona and have our revenge on her."

"Unless you've secretly been Macbeth over these past years, you can not kill her," Ghoul argued.

"Shut up," Sekhmet growled.

"If you'll allow me to interrupt this little argument," came the voice of the third Unseelie in the group, "But we have company."

Sekhmet turned her attention away from Ghoul to look in the direction in which the third Unseelie was pointing. She easily spotted nine shapes coming toward them.

"Can you see if Demona is among them?" Ghoul asked.

"We'll find out soon enough," Sekhmet answered.

Demona was the first to notice the Unseelies at the site. The immortal gargoyle focused on identifying them and paid little attention to the building they had attacked.

"Can you see if anyone's inside there?" Lexington asked from the front of the group.

Candy was about to answer when the sound of pained screams echoed up to her ears. She noticed that the others heard it too, and Wedrington noticeably flinched when he heard it.

"What the heck was that?" Candy asked.

"Sekhmet's here," Wedrington commented, his voice edged with fear.

"What's he talking about?" Nathanial asked, "We aren't close enough to see who caused the fire down there."

"I'd still like to know what caused that scream," Candy commented.

"Sekhmet's enslaving people down there," Wedrington answered while his mind remembered what happened to him when he had is first altercation with the Egyptian Unseelie.

"Why would that cause someone to scream like that though?" Tobias asked, hoping the white lion-like gargoyle would be able to answer.

By this time the patrol group had come close enough that they could make out the Unseelie figures standing on the roof of a building next to the one that was on fire. Upon seeing the lion-headed Unseelie, Demona's eyes immediately took on a blood red glow.

"Sekhmet has several werecheetahs that serve her," Demona explained, her eyes not losing their luminance, "She uses them to enslave those she wishes to serve her. Those screams were likely to have come from humans that were bitten by those werecheetahs."

"She uses those she's already enslaved to enslave others?" Lexington asked.

"Yes," Demona growled, "And the subsequent transformation into one of her 'pets' is extremely painful."

"We need to see if we can get those werecheetahs away from the people," Lex said aloud, "But don't get bit. Demona, can you keep Sekhmet and the other Unseelies busy?"

"Easily," Demona said with confidence, "Although I would suggest that at least two Avalon gargoyles, who have Iron weapons aide me as well."

Tobias and Tammy each readied a sword that they had been carrying and moved up to flank Demona.

"Okay," Lex nodded, "The rest of us will deal with those cheetahs."

And with that the two groups took off. Lexington lead Candy, Wedrington, Madeline, Nathanial, and Malcolm down toward where Sekhmet had earlier sent her werecheetahs. Demona lead Tobias and Tammy meanwhile along a path that would take them directly at Sekhmet and the other Unseelies.

"Demona is in this group," Sekhmet smiled as the gargoyles got closer.

"Most of them look as though they're going to deal with your pets instead of us," Ghoul pointed out.

"Demona's apparently been recently educated by the Mage," Sekhmet growled in a voice that did betray a fare amount of jealousy, "She is strong enough in magic that she could fight all three of us and stand a chance of winning."

"Where's your lust for revenge?" Ghoul taunted.

"I can beat her," Sekhmet growled, "She cheated me in our last battle."

Any further argument by Ghoul was cut short as magically created lightning bolt struck all three Unseelies simultaneously. The shot knocked all of them to ground while Demona, Tobias, and Tammy landed on the roof top.

"Kill the other two quickly before they can recover," Demona insisted, "Sekhmet is mine."

Ghoul, sensing that the blade was made of Iron, barely avoided being stabbed in the chest by it and quickly got up only to be whacked by Tobias's tail. The third Unseelie wasn't as quick. While Tammy failed to hit any vital organ with her attack, she did manage to cut through the Unseelie's arm with her sword.

The third Unseelie screamed with pain as the Iron blade cut through its flesh, and struggled to get up while Tammy prepared to strike at him again. The Unseelie quickly erected a shield to protect himself, but knew that the Iron would eventually be able to cut through the barrier.

"Ghoul and Scorpio will not be defeated so easily," Sekhmet snarled as she got to her feet, "Your friends will die and soon it will be three on one."

Demona growled something in Latin and charged at Sekhmet, intent on killing the lion-headed Unseelie.

Lexington's group found the two werecheetahs running up the ally between the two buildings. There were four unconscious humans lying on the ground and Lex noticed one human running as fast as he could from the two werecheetahs. The six gargoyles glided down to intercept the werecheetahs.

Lex moved to land one of the animals and pin it to the ground. The cheetah let out an inhuman scream as Lex's toe talons dug into its shoulder blades and it quickly managed to throw the olive green webwing off of it.

Candy meanwhile moved after the other werecheetah and slashed at its eyes with her talons as she glided over it. The creature screamed with pain, but the second werecheetah's cry was shortened as Wedrington literally tackled the animal. The two soon rolled along the ground and ended up with Wedrington holding the animal in choke hold and pinning it against a dumpster.

Both werecheetah's changed to a more anthromorphic form as the rest of the gargoyles that were with Lex landed and took battle positions to stop the animals. The man they were chasing kept running. Lex glanced at Wedrington, who continued to try and strangle the werecheetah he had pinned.

"I won't let you harm me again," Wedrington growled.

Lex turned to the others, "Let's just take care of the other one. Wedrington seems to have everything in hand."

**A few blocks away**

Maeve stood calmly on the roof of a nearby building as the respective battles began. The green haired Unseelie held a small diamond that with a bright white light. She stood alone for awhile and calmly watched the other Unseelies launch their destructive attacks against various Xanatos Enterprises warehouses. A slight smile came to her face as she saw the smoke and flames rise from above the skyline that she could see. Then after a few minutes a magically created image of Sekhmet appeared before her.

"Lady Sekhmet," Maeve acknowledged her.

"Demona was with the group that found my operations," Sekhmet reported.

Maeve then watched as the image of Sekhmet flinched as if in pain from some form of electricity.

"And I would suggest you hurry," Sekhmet said in a voice that indicated her own anger at the situation as well as some embarrassment, "Demona has proved to be a formidable foe and she is assisted by warriors armed with Iron. She has managed to keep all three of us off balance."

"I am on my way," Maeve chuckled slightly in amusement.

Maeve then simply disappeared in a flash of light. The Unseelie Queen reappeared on another building far closer to Sekhmet's location. She easily saw the battle. Demona and Sekhmet were trading powerful spells in attempts to harm the other. Demona seemed to make hers more widespread so that Scorpio and Ghoul were also attacked as well. Maeve also noted the battle going on in the alley between the rest of the gargoyles and Sekhmet's werecheetahs. It was clear that Sekhmet couldn't gain the upper hand in her battle and could get no help from the others.

But Maeve also saw that Demona was completely unaware to her presence. Maeve quickly sent a large amount of her magical energy to the diamond and created a magically projected bow to launch the energized gem which now had a projected staff attached to it and aimed the weapon directly at Demona's turned back.

Maeve then spoke quietly.

"Precious gem, here my plea,

alter the vision of my enemy,

make every friend she sees,

a foe to bring to its knees."

With that, Maeve released the 'arrow' and it flew uninterrupted and hit Demona in her lower back. The diamond quickly embedded itself in Demona's flesh. Demona herself felt intense electric-like pain surge through her as something hit her just a few inches above the belt of her loin cloth. So strong was the pain that immortal gargoyle dropped to the ground unconscious.

Sekhmet say the diamond that Maeve had launched and then yelled, "Mission complete. It's time to go."

With that the Unseelies and their slaves, including the ones that Sekhmet had only just acquired vanished mysteriously.

"What was that about?" Tobias asked, "We weren't losing but we weren't winning either. Why did they just leave?"

"It must have had something to do with what's happened to Demona," Tammy commented looking at the red headed female that lay unconscious not a few feet away from them.

Wedrington stared at place where the werecheetah had been a moment before. It had simply vanished a few moments before.

"I was almost free of them," Wedrington muttered.

"It'll be alright," Lexington encouraged, "Let's go figure out what's going on with the others."

The climbed up on the roof to see Tobias and Tammy trying to awaken Demona, whom they had rolled onto her back. The immortal gargoyle remained unconscious.

"What happened?" Wedrington demanded.

"We don't know," Tammy answered, "We had the Unseelies in a stalemate and this weird white light erupted around Demona, and then she fell to the ground as she is now."

"We'd best get her back to the castle," Lex sighed, "It was probably magic and Demona is the only one HERE that knows magic. Perhaps Titania might know something."

**Castle Wyvern**

"I still don't want you to leave," Elisa said weakly while she and her parents worked to pack the clothes they had brought to the castle up in a series of duffel bags.

"I know you don't," Diane answered just as weakly, "But your father and I are in no condition to stand up to some powerful fey that intends to use as bargaining tools at best. We're too old, and even if these Unseelies could just be shot, I don't even know how to properly hold a gun, let alone fire one."

"But I can protect you here," Elisa argued.

"What if you failed?" Diane asked back, "Your father and I have seen a lot of the clan's behavior in the past few months. If something were to happen to us, you'd commit suicide because you would feel so guilty. We've seen it on Goliath's face. We've seen it on the faces of the clan. We've seen it on yours. We'll be safer in Nigeria, where this war isn't going on and you won't have to worry about us."

Elisa couldn't bring herself to answer. Goliath and Peter Maza stood nearby packing a few things into a different set of duffel bags. Both remained silent.

"We still love you and the clan will always be our friends," Diane continued, "but this war is beyond everyone's control. There is no way you can guarantee our safety, as much as you'd like to."

Diane then moved to take her daughter in a firm hug.

"And Tea and Fara can look after us," Diane added, "We'll be completely safe. And we promise that when this is all over, we'll come back. All you'll need to do is let us know."

"You promise?" Elisa asked, gripping her mother tightly.

"Yes, we both promise," Diane answered.

With that Elisa smiled weakly and released her mother from the hug that she had her mother in.

"Okay," Elisa replied.

"Everything seems about packed," Peter Maza announced.

"We'd best converse with Titania or Xanatos," Goliath then offered, "They will know better how to smuggle you out of Manhattan."

Diane and Peter nodded and slowly followed Goliath out of the room and into the hallways that made up much of Castle Wyvern's interior. By the time they had arrived in the Great Hall, they found out that the patrol groups had returned, but they also found something they hadn't expected. Demona lay unconscious on a large table in the middle of the room.

"What's going on?" Goliath asked.

"Apparently the Unseelies had some plan involving Demona," Titania answered as no one else was able to answer at the moment.

"We came across an Unseelie party, father," Angela spoke next, "But they vanished when they learned that mother was not part of our patrol group. They even mentioned that they had to leave because Demona was not part of our patrol group. We then went in search of Lex and Candy's patrol team to find that Demona had been attacked already."

"Has she regained consciousness?" Goliath asked.

"No," Angela answered.

"Whatever has caused her to be unconscious has left a strong aura of magic about her that is not her own," Titania added, "Without the exact wording of the spell and knowledge of how the spell works, there is nothing I can do."

"We'll have to simply wait until she wakes up then," Goliath sighed, "Hopefully the Unseelies simply tried some trickery to directly kill her and don't realize the particulars of her immortality."

There were quiet murmurs of uncertain agreement.

"I'll take her to a room where she can rest," Wedrington announced.

**Maddox Technologies**

Maeve walked into Maddox's office with a slight smile of triumph on her face.

"I take it things went well?" Maddox asked looking at her.

"Completely," Maeve replied, "Demona will awaken to see her allies as us and will fight them. Eventually she will either kill or be killed by Macbeth. At best we will be rid of Demona and Macbeth as well as possibly a few other gargoyles and fey, and at worst, they will discover the diamond and we will only be rid of a few gargoyles and fey."

"Either way it is a direct help to our cause," Maddox nodded, "And in the long run, if it turns out to be the worst, we can deal with Demona and Macbeth in our own way."

Maeve nodded in agreement.

**Castle Wyvern**

Demona remained unconscious for the remainder of the night. Wedrington sat nervously nearby, waiting for her to awaken, but both gargoyles turned to stone before anything else could have happened. Elsewhere in the Castle, Xanatos was busy looking over various reports that had begun coming into his office shortly after the sun rose.

"Well the Unseelies are fighting us the way everyone else has," Xanatos muttered under his breath.

"Troubles sir?" Owen asked as he entered Xanatos's private office in the castle.

"I've just been looking over these security reports," Xanatos explained holding up a few sheets of paper, "Those warehouses the Unseelies blew up last night all belonged to Xanatos Enterprises. They're going after my business to weaken us. A billionaire can't help anyone when he isn't a billionaire."

Owen remained silent.

"And the way Madoc has behaved so far, I doubt that 'taking the fight to him' will really work," Xanatos grumbled, "Not unless Titania decides to have one final battle with Madoc."

"That would be unlikely," Owen interrupted, "While Madoc may desire to rule over the lower races, he isn't willing to reveal his presence until after his opposition is gone, and Titania would never deviate from laws that have governed the fey long before Oberon. An all out attack on Maddox Technologies would attract too much unwanted attention to both the third race and the clan."

Xanatos stared down at the security documents on his desk for a few moments. After few moments, Xanatos finally chuckled, "We need to find some way of protecting my business interests from suffering from all of this. Xanatos Enterprises took a hard hit during Sevarius's tenure as Nightstone's CEO. And the Unseelies are obviously a tougher opponent."

"What do you think is wrong with Demona?" Fox asked as she and Titania ate breakfast.

"I can not be entirely certain," Titania sighed, "I know it's magical in nature, but the patrol team that was with her reported there was nothing on her and no one heard the spell that was cast."

"You're sure there was nothing on her?" Fox asked.

"They said there wasn't," Titania answered, "And it's daytime now. We can't tell if there is anything on her until she sheds her stone skin."

Fox then scratched the side of her head, "I just wonder how this could have happened. She was still alive and…"

"Magic is a very powerful art," Titania interrupted, "And we will need to keep with our lesson schedule if you are to be ready when the battle comes."

Fox nodded and continued eating.

**Dusk**

Demona felt stiff and sore as she awakened from her stone slumber. She found herself in a private room inside Castle Wyvern and assumed that her patrol team brought her back. She slowly sat up and rubbed her back, her talons coming close to knocking the diamond that Maeve had fired at her the night before. Demona however, didn't know it was there.

"Demona!" she heard a voice say, "Are you alright?"

Demona turned and her eyes widened at what she saw.

"Loki!" Demona growled, "What are you doing here?"

Wedrington looked around, as he was the one who spoke, "Demona, are you alright? There's no one here but me, and I'm Wedrington, not Loki."

Unfortunately for Wedrington, that's not what Demona heard, and the immortal gargoyle lunged at him and knocked him out with a powerful blow to the head. Demona then left him and moved into the hallway. She came across two minor fey of the Seelie Court. Again, what Demona saw and heard were completely opposite of what they were.

"More Unseelies!" Demona roared, "Here?"

The two fey looked at each other and then looked around, seeing nothing.

"Demona, are you in good health?" one asked, "There are no Unseelies here."

"Fulmenos Venite!" Demona screamed.

"Well done, Fox," Titania smiled as she watched Fox successfully complete the new spell that she had taught her daughter.

"I don't see how changing the color of the bed sheets is helpful," Fox commented.

"It is all in terms of progress," Titania replied, "The spells that will be of greater help to you in combating any foe you may have are far more complex than you are currently capable of handling. Once you've mastered the simple spells, we will move on to the harder stuff. And I must congratulate you on your progress. Most halflings that haven't learned of their heritage from youth never even manage to come this far after a full year of lessons."

"I guess I'm just special," Fox gave a weak laugh.

Titania was about to answer when the door behind them opened suddenly and a member of Titania's court walked in.

"My Queen, my Queen," the fey said quickly.

"What is it?" Titania asked back.

"Something is wrong with Demona," the fey answered, "She's attacking us for some unknown reason. The Sisters have managed to keep her contained in the Great Hall but she has already killed three members of the Court."

Fox looked on shocked while Titania gasped at the report.

"What brought about this behavior?" Titania demanded.

"I don't know, my Queen," the fey said nervously, "But she keeps referring to those she comes across as members of the Unseelie Court."

"What?" Fox asked.

"She is referring to members of the Seelie Court with the names of members of the Unseelie Court," the fey answered.

"I will need to look into this," Titania sighed, "Fox, I would prefer that you remain here with Alex."

Fox slowly nodded.

Meanwhile, Princess Katherine and Guardian Tom were busy trying to explain what was going on to the clan. The sound of Demona's roars and various sounds related the spells being cast echoed loudly throughout the castle.

"The Sisters thankfully have managed to keep her contained in the Great Hall, but no one is sure why this happening," Katherine explained.

"It has to be that spell that knocked her out last night," Angela spoke up, "It has to be. She wasn't attacking anyone before last night and she certainly knew the difference between the Seelie fey and the Unseelie fey."

"What about our families?" Candy asked.

"Macbeth and Arthur have moved them to a secure part of the castle," Tom answered, "They're safe. For now, anyway."

"We'd best investigate this," Goliath rumbled, "Demona can be a powerful opponent and if the Unseelies have somehow corrupted her mind, I have a feeling that Queen Titania will need all the available help she can get."

The others quickly nodded and followed Goliath in the direction of the Great Hall.

In the Great Hall, Demona stood fuming at the four holes where the doors that led in and out of the room used to be. From her point of view, three Unseelies had worked together to put up an energy barrier that she had difficult penetrating. She had shattered the doors themselves with lightning spells, but the barrier remained in tact.

"The Unseelies can't keep me here forever, and I will find out what they're doing here," Demona thought angrily.

Demona then charged directly toward one of doorways, only to collide with the barrier and be flung back into the center of the Great Hall.

"You can not escape Demona," Selene said from other side of the barrier, "And we will not lower the barriers until you explain what has come over you and until whatever has been controlling you has lost its grip."

"Nothing is controlling me," Demona snarled, "And you Unseelies will be punished for invading this castle."

"We are not Unseelies," Phoebe answered from a different doorway.

Demona merely snarled and unleashed a pair of lightning spells on the barriers that the Weird Sisters had erected. The barrier wavered, but held. Demona only growled at it.

Outside the barrier, the Weird Sisters focused much of their powers into maintaining the barriers. While combined, the Sisters were probably a match for Demona in terms of power, but that would be only by a narrow margin and with her gargoyle strength, Demona could probably draw the conflict from a magical to a physical one. On top of this, the Sisters knew that they couldn't kill Demona, thanks to their own interference.

Suddenly, the Sisters's thoughts were interrupted as there was a brief flash of green light and Phoebe and Luna suddenly appeared next to Selene. The three turned to see Titania standing before them.

"What's happening?" Titania questioned.

"The magic that you sensed on Demona is still affecting her," Selene answered.

"It is making her see us her enemies and so she has attacked us violently," Phoebe added.

"Thankfully we have managed to maintain the barrier to keep her in the Great Hall," Luna finished, "The spell does not seem to be weakening."

"Have you discerned how the spell is working?" Titania asked.

"No," the Sisters answered in unison while looking down.

Inside the Great Hall, Demona looked up to see Maeve conversing with the three Unseelies that had her trapped in the room.

"I don't know how you got into the castle, but I will defeat you!" Demona roared, "Come in and face me if you dare, Maeve."

"An illusion spell and a powerful one," Titania commented, "The spell is making her think we are the Unseelies."

Titania then turned to the fey that told her and Fox what Demona was doing and commanded, "Find the gargoyles that patrolled with Demona last night. I must know if they heard anything before Demona was attacked."

"Xanatos isn't going to like this," Brooklyn muttered as the clan approached a different doorway to the Great Hall and saw that the doors had been blasted away.

Goliath ignored his second's comments and looked inside the Great Hall to see Demona standing inside it and raging at what looked like Titania a different doorway.

"Why is she calling Queen Titania 'Maeve'?" Alfred asked curiously.

"Maybe it's the spell," Broadway offered.

Elisa meanwhile approached the green barrier to take a closer look at Demona. Something had caught the tan gargoyle's eye and she wanted to get a closer look.

"Did Demona get any new jewelry?" Elisa asked.

"Why would you ask, Elisa?" Angela answered, "You and mother have never gotten along very well and now isn't the time to be discussing things like that."

"I'm not," Elisa answered back, "It looks like there is something lodged in her lower back, just a bit above her belt. It looks kinda like a diamond."

The others then moved closer to the barrier to take a closer look. With intense focus each noticed the small object giving off a dim white light lodged on Demona's back.

"Elisa you were right!" Angela exclaimed first, "That wasn't there last night. At least not before we went on patrol. Could that be what's controlling her?"

"It could be," Merlin said moving to the front, "I can sense magic coming from Demona, but I can not be certain whether that diamond is the cause of Demona's behavior or not."

"But you're Merlin," David protested.

"Yes," Merlin chuckled, "But despite my reputation in legend, I was never as powerful as the Mage, whose magic Demona wields. I'm also only a fey halfling. While I generally use human magic, my power comes from the third race. In her effort to battle who she supposes to be her enemies, Demona has used a lot of magic. So much… I guess 'magical residue' is lingering in the room that it is garbling up any one spell."

"Titania might be able to, if we can bring her attention to it," Una suggested.

Goliath nodded, "Probably. Merlin, Elisa, Angela, Lexington, come with me. We'll need to talk with Titania. The rest of you move around to the other exits. Make sure Demona doesn't escape if she trashes the barrier."

While Goliath and his group moved to talk with Titania, the rest of the clan quickly moved to follow Goliath's orders. Brooklyn and Amy took command of one group of gargoyles that would watch the doors that led to the Great Hall from the west, while Zafiro and Obsidiana were sent with another group to watch the doors that led to the Great Hall from the east. Griff, Leo, and Una took a third group to watch the doors that led into the Great Hall from the north while Demona continued to pay attention to Titania and the Weird Sisters who were at the south door.

Shortly after taking positions along the doors that lead into the Great Hall from the east, Zafiro's group heard the arrival of more beings from within the castle. They turned to see Xanatos arrive with three Steel Clan units close behind him.

"What's going on?" Xanatos demanded, "I heard explosions. Are we under attack?"

"The Unseelies have used their trickery on Demona," Zafiro answered, "She believes we are the Unseelies and is attacking as such."

"That's a new one," Xanatos almost laughed.

Inside the Great Hall, Demona was becoming increasingly more nervous. From her point of view, more Unseelies had gathered at the doors and she was now surrounded on all sides. Even if she beat one of them, she couldn't beat them all. The immortal gargoyle felt extremely nervous and furious at the same time that she was the last being fighting the Unseelies and that it was very probable that she would lose.

"Come on Maeve!" Demona screamed, "At least fight me. Let's get this over with!"

Outside the door that Demona was facing, Titania only sighed again. She didn't want to have to temporarily kill Demona, but the way the immortal gargoyle was ranting on and on about how the Unseelies had 'captured' the castle, the Seelie Queen was beginning to see very little alternative

"Queen Titania," she heard Goliath's voice address her.

She turned to see Goliath along with Merlin and a few members of his clan approaching her. She noticed that the fey she had sent to gather the gargoyles that patrolled the night before was not with them.

"Did you patrol last night, Goliath?" Titania asked.

Goliath shook his head, "No, Elisa and I did not."

"Merlin, Lexington, and I did, though," Angela interrupted.

"You three were with Demona's group?" Titania questioned.

"I was," Lexington clarified, "Angela and Merlin were with Una and Leo's team."

"That isn't important right now," Elisa interjected, "There's something on Demona's back that wasn't there last night. We think that might be the tool the Unseelies are using to create their illusion."

"You can see it, if we could get her to turn around," Merlin added, "It is in the shape of an extremely small diamond."

"Sisters," Titania commanded, "Go to the other end of the hall and find someway to get Demona to turn around."

Inside the Great Hall, Demona watched as the three 'Unseelies' that trapped her in this room suddenly vanished while she saw Maeve continue to talk with other Unseelies that appeared in front of her. She tensed her muscles in preparation for some form of attack.

"Demona," she heard three voices speak in unison from behind her.

She turned to see the three that just vanished and now appeared inside the Great Hall.

"There, can you see it?" Elisa asked as she pointed at the diamond that she spotted earlier.

Titania looked hard at the small object embedded in Demona's back.

"It's possible that THAT is the true cause for Demona's actions," Titania sighed, "But Demona has used so much magic in there that her magic is acting as a smoke screen for the spell that is affecting her."

"I was thinking," Lexington said aloud, "If that diamond is what's causing her to behave this way, what would happen if we simply took it off of her?"

"Unless you know the words of the spell that was cast on the diamond, that is the only option," Titania answered.

"So you're finally willing to fight me?" Demona questioned the Weird Sisters, still believing it was three Unseelie fey she was facing.

"If that's what it takes to get you to stop this absurd and abnormal behavior," the Sisters answered in unison.

"You'll sing a different tone after I kill you," Demona growled.

The sky-blue female then used her magic to throw the Sisters against the far wall; she then threw a lightning spell at the ceiling. The stonework couldn't withstand the bolt and soon fell on top of the Sisters, pinning them under the rubble. Demona looked to see that the three fey that she saw weren't moving. She then saw that their barrier didn't include the ceiling, and she quickly began scaling the wall to get onto the next floor and escape the other Unseelies around her.

"No!" Titania shouted as she in the others rushed into the Great Hall that Demona vacated.

"Is anyone on that floor?" Xanatos asked.

"Fox and Alex," Titania answered in voice that betrayed a great deal of fear.

Xanatos immediately turned to the three Steel Clan robots with him and commanded quickly, "Follow her and 'kill' her."

The three robots took off and flew threw the hole that Demona had created when she blasted through the roof.

"She'll destroy those robots easily," Titania commented.

"Yes," Xanatos admitted as he turned and ran in the direction of the closest stairwell to get to the next floor, "But they'll slow her down long enough for me to catch Fox.

"Or…" Titania said with a wave of her arm and teleported everyone onto the next floor, "…I could just transport you here."

Goliath quickly turned, "Spread out. Make sure that Demona does not find Fox or Alex. If you find her, try to lead her back toward this hole. If we can trap her in Great Hall, it will be easier to get the diamond off of her."

The assembled gargoyles nodded and quickly spread out in search of the immortal gargoyle.

Demona meanwhile was running as quickly as she could to find a way out of the castle. She couldn't stay here with the Unseelies controlling it, and for now, escape was her highest priority. She then ducked low as three laser shots were fired over her head. She turned to see three Unseelie flying towards her with laser rifles.

"Why would fey be carrying laser rifles?" Demona asked herself quietly, "No matter."

Demona merely used a spell to create a new stone wall that blocked the path of the three fey. Behind them, Goliath, Elisa, Angela, Titania, Xanatos, and Lexington came around a corner to see three Steel Clan units fly into a stone wall and explode.

"There's not supposed to be a wall there," Xanatos growled.

"Demona used her magic to keep your robots from following her," Titania answered, "It isn't that hard to figure out. Come on."

Gabriel, Ophelia, Alfred, Brooklyn, Amy and Broadway meanwhile took a different route, hopping to be able to lead Demona back into the Great Hall. Suddenly the immortal gargoyle appeared as they ran down the hall.

"More wanting to fight me?!" Demona roared.

"We just want to help you, if you let us," Alfred pleaded, "Please, we don't want to hurt you."

Demona gave an inaudible growl and threw a lightning spell at Gabriel who was the lead gargoyle in the group. Before the Avalon leader had a chance to move, Alfred dove forward and tackled Gabriel to the ground, letting the lightning spell fly harmlessly down the hall way.

"Thanks," Gabriel whispered.

"You'd do the same for me," Alfred answered back.

"Come on, she's getting away!" Amy yelled while pointing down a hallway that Demona had fled.

Demona kept running as hard as she could until she rounded a corner and got hit the face with at least a ton of stand that came flying at her.

"The desert southwest isn't sandy, but I couldn't resist the stereotype," Coyote laughed, "Now, Demona are you going to come peaceably and let us help you or not?"

Demona burst out from under the sand, sending it flying. Her eyes were blazing red and she only growled, not bothering to give a coordinated answer.

"Guess not," Coyote shrugged as he dove to a side to avoid being raked by Demona's talons.

Demona missed the Unseelie that she saw and did a quick summersault to get back to her fight and face her attacker. She did not notice the sound of the approaching footsteps from the hallway that she had just immerged from. She was far too focused on what the Unseelie in front of her would do.

Coyote knowing that the goal was to try immobilize Demona so that Titania could examine the sorceress was trying to think some way that wasn't lethal, even though he knew that he could never truly kill her. Smirking with the idea of another desert stereotype he raised his hand and let a bolt of emerald energy fly from his hand. It landed at Demona's feet, and soon after landing, Demona was surrounded by various types of cacti, all with long needles.

Coyote was then stuck with a loss for words as Demona then calmly began walking toward Coyote. The southwestern fey winced as he heard the plants and their needles break under Demona's feet. He was frozen with fear as Demona slowly emerged from the patch of cacti that he had created and gripped him by the neck.

"Don't you now that the skin in a gargoyle's feet and hands is strong enough to be slammed into solid stone without breaking open?" Demona growled in triumph, "It is our great advantage of all the other races. We can walk over anything barefoot without cutting our feet. Humans have to wear shoes and fey have to either wear shoes or magically remove the obstacle."

"I guess this is just a good educational experience for me then," Coyote managed to say, "There are no gargoyles where I come from."

"How unfortunate for you," Demona snarled.

Demona prepared to deliver the blow that would kill Coyote when she was suddenly tackled from behind. Coyote fell to the ground as she and her attacker rolled over and over on the ground in a wrestling match.

"Coyote are you alright?" Gabriel asked as he and the others in his group came forward.

Coyote glanced at Alfred and Demona wrestled and then nodded, "Yeah, I'm fine. But we better help your friend."

The wrestling match with the new Unseelie had taken Demona a fair distance away from the Unseelie she was fighting earlier. She heard more voices along with the first Unseelie's, and knew she had to get away quickly.

"It's time to end this," Demona growled as she pinned her attacker to the floor and raised her hand and generated a ball of energy in her palm.

"NO!" Gabriel and Ophelia screamed as Demona brought her magically created weapon down on Alfred's face.

Gabriel was the closest to Demona as she began to move away from Alfred's unmoving body. The Avalon leader managed to land a powerful punch to Demona's head that knocked her to the ground.

"Get the diamond off her back!" Brooklyn yelled as he and the others gathered around Alfred's body.

"He's… he's dead," Ophelia gasped, "She killed him!"

Gabriel simply kept punching the immortal gargoyle as fast and as hard as she could. Demona meanwhile began to recover, and as Gabriel lunged at her again, she dodged at the last second, grabbed Gabriel's outstretched arm and used his own momentum against him. Demona slammed the Avalon leader head first into the wall. Gabriel then sank to the floor unconscious, but obviously still alive.

"Gabriel!" Ophelia cried out in shock as she rushed forward to drag his body away before Demona could do him any further harm.

"Anyone else think they can take me?" Demona snarled.

"I think I can," came Angela's voice from behind her.

Broadway and Brooklyn looked up to see that Goliath's group had caught up with the battle and had come around from behind Demona. Demona only turned her head to see more Unseelies coming toward her. One was practically beside her.

"You won't…" Demona began to snarl.

"This is for your own good, mother," Angela said as she grabbed Demona by the shoulder with one hand and raked her talons across Demona's back, knocking the diamond off of the immortal gargoyle.

Demona gave of a scream of pain, but soon fell unconscious. Titania meanwhile began inspecting the diamond that Angela had knocked off Demona's back. The Seelie Queen lifted it using a levitating spell to avoid physical contact with the gem.

"An enchanted diamond," Titania commented, "You were right that this is what was affecting Demona's behavior."

"What do we do with her?" Broadway asked.

"Clean and bandage her wounds and place her back in her bed," Titania said, "The gem can no longer affect her know that it is no longer in contact with her."

Titania then squeezed one hand into a fist and her levitating spell soon crushed the diamond into powder.

**Maddox Technologies**

"They've destroyed the gem, my Lord," Maeve reported gravely.

"What did we accomplish before it happened?" Maddox asked back slowly.

"I sensed that she killed three Seelie fey and one gargoyle before the gem was destroyed," Maeve answered, "The spell can work on her, just as it would on anyone else."

"Do we posses any more gems that we can use later?" Maddox asked, "It's unlikely that Goliath or Titania would try to punish Demona for something we've done, especially because they wouldn't want her to switch sides on them."

"Unfortunately no, that was the last gem that survived the first war," Maeve answered, "But Macbeth and Demona could be tricked into fighting using other methods, should you wish to continue."

Maddox nodded, "We'll keep that on the side for now. Your aides have reported that Alex Sevarius has completed his recovery. I'd like to see what he can do."

"Yes, my Lord," Maeve bowed.

**Castle Wyvern**

"Why are you willing to let her live?" Gabriel demanded angrily, "She killed three of your court, did extreme damage to Mr. Xanatos's building, and killed one of my clan."

"Her actions were not her own," Titania sighed, "The gem that the Unseelies used was used commonly during the First Unseelie War to get us to were down our forces. We were fortunate in this case that Demona herself was not killed as a result of the Unseelie action."

"Alfred was my rookery brother," Gabriel insisted with great grief, "I refuse to allow her to live as if nothing happened."

Gabriel looked toward Goliath and Elisa and other members of the Manhattan clan who had battled Demona before for support, but found them silent.

"I understand your grief, Gabriel," Titania answered him, "But blame the Unseelies, not Demona. Those gems are powerful and according to reports of the attack on the patrol group, she didn't even know it was coming."

"I do," Gabriel replied, "But we can't directly punish them at this moment."

"Gabriel, Angela was the one who knocked the diamond off of her," Goliath answered, "Despite my clan's opposition to Demona's activities, Demona has a strong love for Angela. Much the same way I've come to feel for her. The fact that it was Angela who attacked her may be more than enough punishment than you could imagine."

"She may even remember what was going on while the Unseelies had her tricked," Ophelia offered from another side of the room, "She may feel sorry for her actions."

Gabriel looked down. Torn between his anger at the Unseelie Court and his grief for his killed rookery sibling.

"Demona is also important to our cause in fighting the Unseelies," Titania said firmly, "While we will all grieve for those lost, punishing Demona now would only weaken our position. We must 'turn the other check' in this situation."

Demona was meanwhile coming to in another room. Her lower back was on fire with pain. It felt as if she had glided through a hornet's nest and the insects had stung her repeatedly all along her back.

"Demona?" she heard Wedrington's voice call out to her.

"Wedrington?" Demona asked back turning her head to see the white lion-like gargoyle, "What happened? Where's Sekhmet?"

"You're in the castle, Demona," Wedrington answered, "Sekhmet flew off after some other Unseelie knocked you out."

"What happened?" Demona asked.

"That's what we want to know," Wedrington sighed, "When you woke up this evening, you saw everyone as an Unseelie and attacked them as such."

"Attacked?" Demona gasped.

"From what the others have told me, you killed three fey and one of the Avalon Clan," Wedrington informed her.

"Cursed Sekhmet," Demona growled, "This is her fault."

"It is," Wedrington admitted, "But Gabriel and many of the Avalon gargoyles have taken it personally."

"I didn't want anyone in their clan to die," Demona answered, "I don't… I don't even remember anything after patrol last night."

"It'd be best to tell Gabriel and the others that," Wedrington said, "And apologize to them as well. The seemed pretty upset."

"I'll try," Demona only sighed, "But apologizing was never my strongpoint."

"You know I'll be there to help, should you need it," Wedrington offered.

Demona looked at the transformed Englishman and sighed, "Thank you."

**The End…**


	15. The Problem with Family

All characters appearing in Gargoyles and Gargoyles: The Goliath Chronicles are copyrighted to Buena Vista Television/The Walt Disney Company. I've taken the idea for the Unseelie Court from the TGS. No infringement of these copyrights is intended, and is not authorized by the copyright holder. All original characters are the property of SN.

Note: I'm disregarding the events of the "Goliath Chronicles", with the exception of "The Journey" because I do not wish to use the rest of the "Goliath Chronicles" as canon to my story. This story takes place one day after "Curses".

The Problem with Family…

By SN/TVfan

Email: Sam_Nary 

**Castle Wyvern**

Gabriel stood silently in an empty section of the library staring out one of the windows into the large snowstorm that the Unseelies had made to rage all over Manhattan. His thoughts dwelled on the most recent member of his clan that had died.

"How did Goliath and the others do it when they discovered their clan was gone?" Gabriel asked to himself aloud.

"Do what?" a voice asked behind him.

Gabriel turned to see Ophelia flanked by Owen approaching him. There was a large business envelope in the blonde assistant's hands.

"I want to know how Goliath and the others were able to deal with the loss of so many of their clan, and all at once," Gabriel explained, "Perhaps then I can move on."

"Demona has apologized repeatedly for her involvement in the Unseelie plot," Ophelia commented.

"I know," Gabriel sighed, "It was the Unseelies that are responsible for Alfred's death. As well as the three that were killed on Avalon. But I still miss them."

"Perhaps you should talk to them, my love," Ophelia offered, "If you're curious how Goliath and his clan have overcome the tragedies that they have suffered, ask them about it. Only they can answer those questions."

Gabriel gave a weak smile, "I'll consider that."

Owen meanwhile raised one fist and coughed into it to get the two gargoyles' attention.

"Is there something you needed Owen?" Gabriel asked.

"I wish to report that the blood work that you requested to determine your parentage has been completed," Owen answered and then lifted the large envelope so that Gabriel and Ophelia paid attention to it, "I have the results here. I assumed you wished to know."

Gabriel glanced at Ophelia and nodded.

"Good," Owen answered, "Than all we need now is Othello and Desdemona."

Xanatos's chief assistant then turned around and began to walk out of the library. Gabriel and Ophelia quickly followed him.

**23****rd**** Precinct Headquarters**

Matt sat quietly in the precinct's break room drinking from a mug of coffee. He had been working extended shifts for the past several days. The heavy blizzard that had been going on was beginning to exhaust city workers as every street had to be plowed and the sidewalks shoveled, despite the near constant stream of traffic that kept on going despite the storm. Sometimes the red haired detective wondered how many of those people were on their way to work or tourists or others that didn't need to be anywhere.

"HEY!" Flariaty yelled trying to get his attention.

Matt managed half a yawn as he looked up.

"You awake in there?" Flariaty asked.

"I'm fine," Matt sighed, and then noticed the sheet of paper she held in her hand, "What's that?"

Flariaty only handed it to him.

"It's a missing person's list," Matt exclaimed as he looked at the paper.

Matt continued reading from the list until he saw a certain set of names that were on the list.

"Where did you get this?" Matt asked.

"It was posted with all the other cases that every precinct could expect having to deal with," Flariaty answered, "Most of them are people from the buildings were all burned down on the same night."

Matt remained silent. Flariaty meanwhile continued.

"Entire apartment buildings burned to the ground with no evidence to indicate that it wasn't spontaneous combustion," Flariaty said in a voice that indicated she was trying to get some information out of Matt, "Sounds extremely strange. And strange seems to be you MO."

Matt only sighed, "I'm not strange. We're going to need to take a trip to the castle."

"See that's what I mean," Flariaty said firmly, "Just about every case that comes across your desk involves us having to talk to the gargoyles. They're taking over our jobs."

Matt stood up, pulled Flariaty inside the room and the shut the door and locked it. He then spoke to the female detective very quietly.

"First of all, the gargoyles aren't taking over our jobs," Matt said quietly but firmly, "Second, most of the cases that I've been assigned have some relevance to the clan. The Quarrymen wanted to kill all the gargoyles. They would have been involved one way or another."

Matt then raised the paper that Flariaty had handed him so that Flariaty could easily read the list. Matt then continued in a voice that was slightly softer then before so that no one outside the room could hear.

"And one of the names on this list is one of the gargoyles up at the castle," Matt finished.

**Maddox Technologies**

"It's amazing how simple it all is," Alex Sevarius said in an amazed voice, "The scientific knowledge Anton had."

"Has," Maddox corrected, "To the best of my knowledge the man you're cloned from is still alive."

"But we didn't free you from imprisonment and grant you Anton Sevarius's scientific knowledge for your amazement," Maeve added quickly.

"Oh?" the clone of Anton Sevarius inquired, "And why have you done what you've done, then? If I may ask."

"We have need of 'your' knowledge in genetics," Maddox answered simply, and then turned to lead Alex Sevarius to another room.

The clone followed the Unseelie lord slowly and somewhat cautiously. Maeve followed behind both of them to make sure the clone didn't pull something to escape. Maddox led them to another room in the basement of the Maddox Technologies building. The room was essentially a large laboratory with two large lab tables and strapped to them were two people.

"I presume you wish me to mutate these two?" Alex Sevarius asked looking at the two people strapped to the tables.

"Among others," Maddox nodded, "They are to be slaves to my court, but it has appeared that simple human slaves have not been able to combat the allies of my enemies effectively."

"By that, I'm sure you mean 'gargoyles'," Alex Sevarius commented, "If you know that Anton knew the formula to create mutates than you must know of the gargoyles."

Maddox and Maeve nodded.

"We know of them," Maddox nodded, "And mutate slaves would be able to combat them much easier than human slaves."

"Am I to be 'enslaved' along with them, or shall I receive payment for my services?" Alex Sevarius inquired.

"That, I'm afraid will depend on your loyalty," Maeve growled, "If you willingly and loyally serve the Unseelie Court, you will be treated well. Show any sign of betrayal, and you will be enslaved."

Maeve then pushed her point home by creating a small emerald green ball of magical energy in the palm of her hand.

"Are we clear, Mr. Sevarius?" Maeve questioned.

"Perfectly clear," Alex Sevarius gulped as he stepped back away from the woman, "I will require some ingredients to create the mutate formula."

"Easily acquirable," Maddox said with a wave of his hand, dismissing the clone's answer as a matter of little importance.

Alex Sevarius was about to say more when Garlon came rushing into the room. The mousy haired fey looked exhausted from what looked like a lot of running.

"What is it, Garlon?" Maddox demanded, "I am busy here."

"I apologize, my Lord," Garlon bowed, still gasping for breath, "But Wolf, Hyena, and Jackal have regained consciousness and wish to speak with you."

"And they sent you here?" Maeve questioned.

"No," Garlon answered, "I beat them here. They are searching for you, my Lord."

"Do they dare betray me?" Maddox questioned.

"I do not think so," Garlon answered, "As far as I know they only wish to speak with you and are simply not patient enough to wait for you."

Maddox only answered with a sigh and rubbed his temples with his hands.

"I better deal with this before they walk into a room that they shouldn't," Maddox said, half to himself, and then commanded to Maeve, "You will see to it that Mr. Sevarius has everything he needs."

"Yes, my Lord," Maeve answered and then turned to Alex Sevarius inquired, "What do you require?"

Alex Sevarius then began to go down the list of items he needed for the various mutate formulas.

**Castle Wyvern**

"This path through the sewers should get you to the Lincoln Tunnel safely," Titania announced as she handed a sheet of paper to Diane Maza, "It will take you through the Labyrinth and it avoids all areas that the Unseelies are likely to strike."

"Thank you for your help," Diane said weakly.

"Do you have the bus and airline tickets?" Xanatos asked from another section of the table.

Diane and Peter turned their attention to the black furred mutate and slowly nodded.

"Good," Titania affirmed, "Now, you will require an escort, at least to the bus station."

"Goliath and I will go," Elisa volunteered as she stepped forward from a spot near the back of the room.

"Talon and the mutates will probably be willing to help as well once we get to the Labyrinth," Goliath added.

"You will still need to take others and at least one magic user," Titania said firmly, "While this operation is to be kept quiet, I will not take the risk of the Unseelies stumbling upon you unguarded."

Goliath turned to some of the other gargoyles behind him and the commanded, "Hudson, Brooklyn, Broadway, Angela, I will require you to assist Elisa and I in escorting them to their bus station."

They nodded. Xanatos then came forward from his position.

"I'll help as well," Xanatos offered, "It's the least I can do."

"Thank you, Xanatos," Goliath rumbled.

"I'll go as well," Coyote announced appearing into the room, "It's been my responsibility to protect the Maza family, so why should I take a break now?"

"Very good," Titania nodded, "You'd best be off now. The faster you can get to Trenton, the less likely that Madoc will know that you've left the area."

Diane and Peter nodded and slowly shouldered their bags. The group then turned to take one of the Eyrie's elevators that would take them to the sewer tunnel that connected the Eyrie Buildingwith the Labyrinth. Goliath moved to give his clan some last minute instructions while Peter and Diane moved to say their goodbyes to Beth.

"Caroline, I will need you to take Othello and Desdemona and lead tonight's patrol group," Goliath instructed, "Take whom you choose and choose well."

"Um, okay," Caroline answered nervously.

"Are you sure you won't come with us?" Diane meanwhile asked Beth.

"I'm sure," Beth answered, "Besides, I studied medicine in college, I might as well put it to use."

"Be careful," Diane instructed, "And whatever you do, do not grow wings."

Peter meanwhile turned to Elisa. He noticed that her tail twitched somewhat nervously.

"You'll look after Beth, right Elisa?" Peter asked.

Elisa nodded immediately, "Of course I will."

Meanwhile, Othello and Desdemona were a different living room inside the castle. The two gargoyles had earlier been helping Lexington and Candy watch young Alex, but Fox had recently taken the youngster to his bed for night, and Lex and Candy then left for the computer room. The two had little time to relax. For less then four minutes after the two webwinged gargoyles left, Owen, with Gabriel and Ophelia entered the room. Othello noticed the envelope that Owen held first.

"What is it, Owen?" Othello asked.

Owen held up the envelope and said in his normal monotone voice, "The blood work that was requested has been completed. These are the results."

Othello gave a short pause to glance at Desdemona. The grey male finally nodded.

"Very well," Othello sighed, "We will listen."

Gabriel and Ophelia quickly took seats in two chairs opposite the couch that Othello and Desdemona were sitting on while Owen moved to stand between them. Owen carefully cleared his throat before speaking.

"All the possible tests to determine the relationship between Othello and Desdemona to Gabriel have been done," Owen announced.

Owen then turned to almost face Othello and Desdemona.

"Those tests indicate that Gabriel is your son," Owen finished.

The room was dead silent for several minutes.

"Father? Mother?" Gabriel said finally.

Neither Desdemona nor Othello answered. The silence was again broken by Caroline's entrance into the room.

"I'm sorry to intrude on whatever's going on," Caroline said nervously, "But Goliath wants Othello and Desdemona to lead tonight's patrol."

"Very well," Othello answered the blue female and then turned back to Gabriel and Ophelia, "You are welcome to join the patrol group if you wish, but this matter is to wait until we return to the castle."

"Thank you, but I'll stay here for tonight," Gabriel sighed, "We can talk about this later."

Othello and Desdemona nodded and turned to follow Caroline out. Owen followed close behind.

"Why did you do that?" Ophelia demanded as soon as they were gone, "If I had a chance of knowing my biological parents, I wouldn't pass it up."

Gabriel sighed in an almost defeated fashion, "Did you see their faces? I don't think they WANT to be my biological parents. It might be better to forget everything about this happened."

**Maddox Technologies**

Maddox found the Hyena, Wolf, and Jackal looking around the doors where Maddox was storing gateways to various secret Unseelie bases. These bases were currently being used to store some of the larger monsters and creatures that either served the Unseelie or were allied with the Unseelie. The new robot members that Maddox had used to replace Canis and Vulpine were still in their storage compartments after their previous battle, and were obviously absent.

"Is he in there?" Wolf demanded as Hyena opened one door.

Hyena shook her head.

"Come on, he owns this joint, where else would he be?" Jackal growled.

"Is there something I can do for you?" Maddox asked he rounded a corner.

The three Pack members stopped dead in their tracks, and Hyena quickly closed the door she had opened. They reminded Maddox of kids who had gotten their hands caught in the cookie jar.

"Well?" Maddox asked with a minor tone of impatience.

"We want some action," Jackal stepped forward bravely, "We're tired of being cooped up here. You gotta want something killed or maimed. We can settle for maimed."

"I have plenty of things that need to be killed or maimed, but at this time, you are not directly needed," Maddox commented, "Why don't you relax and take it easy."

"We have been 'taking it easy'," Wolf growled from the back, "We want something to do."

"Yeah, we could easily kill a few of the gargoyles for you," Hyena added, "Anything to get some action."

"You really are gluttons for punishment, aren't you?" Maddox teased.

"Hey, you hired us to help you take over the world," Jackal argued, "If we're willing to work, why should you prohibit us from working?"

"That I did," Maddox mused thinking, "Perhaps there is something you can do. If you will follow me to my office."

The Pack members smiled.

Meanwhile, in the laboratory that the Maddox had set up for Alex Sevarius to use, the clone of Anton Sevarius watched various pieces of scientific tubing channel what looked like bright green liquids from vats to various beakers and other scientific equipment.

"It was incredibly quick of you to get what I needed," Alex Sevarius commented to Maeve, who still kept watch over him.

"They were not difficult to acquire," Maeve shrugged in a manner that said, 'just do your job, servant'.

Alex Sevarius nodded and turned to the first lab table.

"Which type of mutate do you want?" Alex Sevarius asked, "Canine or feline?"

"Lord Madoc will require an equal number of each," Maeve said coldly, "The choice as to which type goes first is up to you, but remember that the second must be of the other type."

Alex Sevarius then shrugged and took one set of tubes that were connected to small hypodermic needles. He connected the tubes to miniaturized pumps that were sitting in the beakers that held the mutagenic formula. These pumps thus pumped all air out of the tubes and prepared the way for the formula to be injected. He slowly approached the figure of the woman.

"Please don't do this!" Mrs. Nexus begged whole heartedly.

"I'm sorry, they're promising me a generous amount of money and freedom from prison to do this," Alex Sevarius smiled as he injected the hypodermic needles into Mrs. Nexus's arm.

**Castle Wyvern**

Othello and Desdemona lead Caroline, Amy, Candy, Lexington, Lancelot, and Logan off into the night for the night's patrol taking along a fox like member of the Seelie Court called Kitsune as their magic user. At the same time, Matt and Flariaty had pulled into the Eyrie Building's underground parking garage.

"Man, it's even slushy down here," Flariaty commented as she noticed the partially melted bits of snow that had dripped off of cars that had come and left the building.

Matt barely nodded, "Yeah, but it's still better then the streets. It's been snowing so hard that all the plowing crews are well behind. I'm surprised we haven't had any major accidents or road closings yet."

The two detectives then took the stairs into the Eyrie's lobby and took the long elevator ride up to the castle. Owen was waiting for them when they arrived.

"Good evening, Detectives," Owen greeted, "Is there something you require, or is this a social call?"

Before Matt could answer, Flariaty answered for him.

"We have a few questions for Caroline Nexus," Flariaty said in a voice that Owen had not heard since the clan's feud with Xanatos. A voice that Owen usually heard from Detective Maza.

Owen soon turned his attention to Matt, whose face looked slightly frustrated with his new partner's statement.

"Caroline and her family have been listed as 'missing'," Matt explained, "Since it's highly unlikely that Caroline has left the clan, we'd like to know if she's had any contact with her family."

"Her family has not been here are all," Owen answered, "Whether she has met with them outside the castle on her patrols is something you will need to ask her when she returns. I can lead you to a place where you can wait if you wish."

"Do you know where she is?" Flariaty asked quickly.

"Currently, Caroline has left for tonight's patrol," Owen answered.

Matt nodded, "We'll wait."

Owen nodded and turned toward the end of the castle's entrance hall, "If you'll come with me."

"Stop making it seem as if the clan has done something wrong," Matt whispered as they followed Xanatos's assistant.

"I didn't know I was," Flariaty whispered back, "Besides, I told the truth. We do need to ask her some questions."

"The way you said we have questions implies that there is something that they've done that requires questioning," Matt insisted, "Remember we're supposed to be the clan's friends. Xanatos won't let us get this far without a warrant if the clan doesn't feel we're trustworthy."

Detective Flariaty gave an aggravated sigh, but was quiet and followed Matt and Owen into a room in which they could wait for the patrolling team of gargoyles to return.

**The Labyrinth**

"You're leaving New York?" Talon asked with a hint of surprise in his voice, this being the first time he'd heard of his parent's decision to go to Nigeria and sit out the war between the Seelie and Unseelie Courts.

"Yes," Diane answered, "It's too dangerous for us to remain here. If and when they attack the castle, we'd be targets and unable to defend ourselves. If we can get to Nigeria safely and undetected, we should be safe."

"How have things been down here?" Elisa asked changing the subject.

"Other than we're beginning to become overcrowded down here because of the weather," Maggie answered, "All the homeless shelters on the surface are full so more and more are coming here."

"Will you need any help?" Xanatos asked, "I could have food and stuff brought in for those that need it."

"We're doing fine for now," Talon shrugged, "We can deal with the overcrowding stuff. There's been no Unseelie activity down here to speak of."

"That's good," Brooklyn commented, "Maybe they don't know about the Labyrinth."

"I'd doubt it," Goliath rumbled, before explaining to Talon why they were stopping in the Labyrinth, "While secrecy is an important part of this mission, we don't want to risk your parents being unguarded until we can get them to the bus station in New Jersey."

"I'd presume you're asking for me to lend a hand?" Talon asked.

Goliath nodded. Talon then turned the rest of the Labyrinth Clan, which had gathered around him in a semi-circle. The four Seelie fey that had been sent to help guard the Labyrinth were the only ones absent.

"Delilah, Malibu, you two will come with me to help the others escort my folks out safely," Talon instructed, "Maggie, I trust you and Claw to look after the Labyrinth while we're gone."

Claw gave Talon a thumbs up gesture and Maggie promised to do her best. Talon meanwhile joined Goliath and his group as they began to continue on through the maze of tunnels that existed under New York.

Five minutes later more footsteps were heard along the tunnels that led toward the Labyrinth. Most sounded as if the feet were almost entirely made of metal. Only one set of footsteps sounded like an organic foot. The Pack slowly rounded the corner to see the large doors that served as the Labyrinth's primary entrance to be locked tight.

"Guess they're not expecting visitors," Jackal chuckled.

Jackal then motioned to large robotic addition that Maddox had built for the Pack. A green light flashed under Dreadnought's domed head and it activated its laser cannons and fired them directly at the Labyrinth's doors. The doors made of simple steel, exploded as a result, the sound of which echoing throughout the tunnels.

"Let's go on in," Jackal smiled.

Inside the Labyrinth, the explosion knocked everyone off their feet, and the clones that remained there help guard the Labyrinth were half buried in rubble from the destroyed door.

"What was that?" Burbank asked as he shook his wings to throw the fallen rubble off of him.

"The door exploded," Brentwood answered.

"That it did!" came a maniacally sounding voice from the doorway.

Maggie and Claw came running toward the area as the clones pulled themselves out of the rubble and as the Pack began to enter the Labyrinth.

"Is everyone alright?" Maggie asked while Claw tried to look through the still unsettled dust to see who was attacking them.

"We okay," Hollywood answered, "Not hurt."

"You soon will be!" Hyena announced as the Pack clearly came into view.

On reflex, Maggie and Claw launched electric blasts at the Pack members. One hit Hyena squarely in the chest, but earlier upgrades to the cyborg allowed Hyena to channel the electricity to separate battery pack. The other hit the smaller robot, Shadow, that was with the Pack.

"Thanks for the power boost," Hyena laughed as she extended her metallic claws.

"What's going on?" came another voice coming private sector of the Labyrinth that the mutates and clones used.

Maggie turned see her mother nervously sticking only her head around the corner to the mutate's living quarters.

"Mother!" Maggie yelled almost as nervously, "Get Spring and the other fey. We're going to need their help, and get the people out of her and to safety. We're under attack."

**Above Manhattan**

Candy, Amy, Caroline, and Lexington glided fairly close together in their patrol group over the city. Othello and Desdemona remained in the lead while Lancelot and Logan seemed to hover near the clan's new female trio.

"Thanks for coming with this patrol, you guys," Caroline said to Amy and Candy.

"It's something to do, since Brooklyn is escorting the Mazas," Amy shrugged.

Candy nodded in agreement before calling ahead to Othello and Desdemona.

"Do you guys see anything from up there?" Candy asked.

"No," Othello answered, "Even the human criminals seem to be wishing to get out of the cold tonight."

Meanwhile, Lexington turned his head to scan one of the alleyways that they were gliding over, when he saw a shadow move along the rooftops a few blocks away.

"Hey," Lex called out, "I think I saw something."

"What was it?" Logan asked.

"I don't know, but it had wings," Lexington replied, "Are there any other patrol teams out tonight?"

"Not among our clan," Othello stated, "Perhaps Thailog is doing something to fight the Unseelie."

"That'd be a first," Lex mumbled, "He hasn't done anything since he contacted us a while back."

"We should investigate anyway," Othello answered, "If Thailog is helping us, he could have information that is useful, and if it is an Unseelie, it must be stopped."

Lex and the others nodded and banked to follow Othello and Desdemona in investigating whatever it was that was moving around the city's rooftops. Below them Kitsune continued running along roof tops and using magic to teleport over streets to follow the gargoyles. After a few minutes, the group landed on a rooftop to observe what Lex had seen earlier. What they saw shocked them entirely.

Gliding somewhat wobbly back and forth between buildings were two mutates. One was a female canine based mutate that was covered in gray and tan fur. The other was a male feline based mutate that looked like a winged bobcat. Its fur was a dull brown with dark black spots, and the fur on its cheeks was slightly longer the fur on the rest of its body.

"Mutates!?" Lex gasped, "What are mutates doing out here?"

"Didn't you tell us there were other people who were mutated, like Xanatos and his wife?" Lancelot asked.

"Yes, but they live underground," Desdemona answered, "And all of them are feline based mutates."

"Plus they can all glide much better than those two," Lex added.

"But if we have Anton Sevarius in Wyvern's dungeon and the police arrested Alex Sevarius," Amy began, "Who could have created these two?"

"Maybe the Unseelies freed Alex Sevarius?" Logan offered.

No one had time to answer as female grey fox mutate noticed them and then turned charged toward them. The male bobcat mutate was close behind. Both then launched their electric blasts at the group, hoping to take out one or more of them. Lex and the others successfully managed to duck under blasts and avoided being harmed. The two mutates then went over them before preparing to circle around for another pass.

"I can deal with them," Kitsune commented, "Then we will get the answers we seek."

Suddenly a magically created fireball hit the Seelie fey in back, knocking it to the ground. Managing to hold back heavy chuckles, Loki then emerged from the shadows that he was hiding in.

"I'm afraid the mutates are not your concern," Loki pointed out.

**Maddox Technologies**

The battle that had just erupted between Loki and the two mutates and Othello's patrol group was not necessarily too far away from the Maddox Technologies building. The structure built to be a business office and used as the front line headquarters of the Unseelie Court was also above the area in which the two groups were battling. Maddox was watching it all unfold through his office window with magically enhanced vision.

"How goes the battle?" Maeve asked from behind him.

"Fair," Maddox answered, "The new mutate slaves have startled the gargoyles and Loki has insured that their magical shield can not interfere."

"You did remind Loki that this is a test of the new mutates, and that once the Seelie is defeated, he is to stand down?" Maeve checked, "He does tend to get a bit carried away at times."

"I did," Maddox nodded, "And I added that if he dared disobey, I'd deliver him to Titania. He swore he wouldn't go against my orders."

**The Sewers**

Goliath's group had moved a very good distance down the tunnels by the time the sound of the explosion that the Pack had caused at the Labyrinth reached them. But despite this, the sound of the explosion was extremely clear to them.

"What was that?" Diane asked nervously.

"Sounded like an explosion to me," Broadway answered.

"The question shouldn't be what but where," Talon commented, "With these tunnels, any loud noise could easily echo through the tunnels and it'd be impossible to know exactly where it came from."

"It definitely came from behind us," Hudson pointed out, "And the people in the Labyrinth had to have heard it. They might know better as to where the blast originated."

Goliath nodded, "Xanatos and I will go back. The rest of you will continue with your original mission."

The others eventually nodded. Although Elisa and Talon did so somewhat reluctantly. Elisa, because she feared for her mate and Talon because he wondered if someone had attacked the Labyrinth.

"Come on, let's go," Brooklyn said as they watched the lavender leader and black furred wolf-like mutate round a corner to investigate the sound of the explosion.

Back in the Labyrinth itself, Dreadnought quickly opened up with its Gatling guns on the clones as they tried to get into defensive positions to deal with the rest of the Pack. Thankfully for the clones, they were able to dodge the bullets. Dreadnought's heavy rate of fire however kept them from doing anything might allow them to hurt the Pack members while Jackal, Hyena, Shadow, and Wolf advanced on Claw and Maggie. Spring, Autumn, Summer, and Winter had yet to arrive and provide aide, and this made the two mutates nervous.

"You can't win, you know that," Hyena smirked as the female cyborg lunged at Maggie first with her metallic claws extended.

Maggie could only duck under Hyena's attack and narrowly missing being torn to shreds by the cyborg's claws. The lioness mutate then quickly rolled to avoid being impaled by Shadow's unsheathed sword. Jackal meanwhile fired a quick laser blast at Claw, and dove forward to land a punch on the tiger-like mutate's jaw while it dodged the laser blast. Claw tried to land a blow on Jackal, but quickly found himself being tackled by Wolf.

"Claw!" Maggie screamed.

"Forget him, he ain't gonna live!" Hyena sneered as she and Shadow prepared to attack Maggie from two sides.

"No he won't!" announced a new voice from behind Hyena.

A wall of fall leaves of various colors, and flying with tremendous force and in a tight column flew into Hyena's back before the cyborg could turn to see who spoke. The flying leaves pushed Hyena with a tremendous amount of force and the cyborg found herself flying forward at the same rate of speed as the leaves. Maggie ducked down as Hyena was thrown into Dreadnought's line of fire.

"Not again!" Hyena screamed as Dreadnought's Gatling gun bullets ricocheted of her metal armor and knocked her into the far wall in front of Dreadnought.

Hollywood then whacked her in the head with his tail for good measure. Maggie meanwhile looked up to see that Autumn and the other fey had arrived.

"We're sorry we're late," Autumn said, "But we felt it was important to help your mother in her task of getting those you protect to safety."

"Is she alright?" Maggie asked.

"She will be fine," Winter replied, "She should be on her way to Eyrie by now."

"You won't," Jackal sneered, "Dreadnought, take out the fey!"

A green light flicked on under the large robot's domed head and it shut down its Gatling guns and aimed its rockets at the four Seelie fey hovering above Maggie and Claw. Soon afterward, rockets went flying through the air, forcing everything in front of massive robot to dive out of the way.

"Blast it, Jackal, can't you tell that robot not to shoot in OUR direction?" Wolf snarled as he narrowly avoided being hit by falling debris that was a result of Dreadnought's rockets exploding on the side of the Labyrinth wall.

"You could try to stay out of Dreadnought's line of fire," Jackal shot back, "No come on, the battle isn't over, yet."

**Elsewhere**

As the battle with the mutates and Loki continued beyond the initial shock, Othello quickly took charge.

"Desdemona and I will aide Kitsune," Othello stated clearly as they ducked down to avoid being hit by more electric blasts from the mutates, "The rest of you are to get those mutates under control."

The others and Logan and Lancelot enthusiastically leaped to pursue the mutates. Lexington, Candy, Amy, and Caroline weren't far behind. After a few minutes, the two mutates suddenly turned and fired off electric blasts, hitting both of the young Avalon males. Each screamed with pain and suddenly dropped from the sky. Caroline's eyes widened in horror and she quickly dove to provide them with some sort of help.

"Amy," Caroline yelled, "Come with me. We gotta catch them. Lex and Candy can't use their arms while gliding."

The yellow female slowly nodded and dived down as well. Lex and Candy meanwhile charged on to make sure the mutates didn't get away. The mutates fired two more electric blasts at them, but the two web-winged gargoyles were easily able to dodge them and charge onward. Lex managed to tackle the female grey fox-like mutate while Candy tackled the male bobcat-like mutate and drove them into the roof of a nearby apartment building. The two web wings, however, had built up too much speed during their charge and after hitting the roof, they rolled off of the mutates they attacked.

Caroline and Amy, meanwhile easily caught up to the two falling Avalon males. The speed of their dives to catch them, and the sudden addition of extra weight on their wings forced them to land. Both Logan and Lancelot began to regain their senses as Caroline and Amy landed and prepared to set them down.

"Thank you, my lady," Lancelot said in a voice that sounded slightly romantic in nature.

Caroline simply dropped him into the snow. Logan chose to remain quiet after seeing the blue female's reaction.

"Now is not the time," Caroline said in a commanding voice, "Lex and Candy are up there facing those mutates. Focus on the task at hand."

Caroline and Amy then quickly leaped to the side of the building and began to scale the wall, leaving Logan and Lancelot to follow.

Loki used his axe to chop through another projectile that resembled a fox's tail that Kitsune had thrown at him.

"Is that the best you got?" Loki taunted while throwing a fireball of his own at the Seelie fey.

Kitsune barely avoided being hit by the fireball and was unprepared to fight the Norse trickster in close combat. Loki, however, was more than up to it and launched himself forward to land a powerful punch that threw Kitsune to the stonework of the roof.

"I'm going to enjoy this," Loki smiled as raised his axe above his head to kill the Seelie fey.

"To bad you won't accomplish it," came a growling voice from behind him.

Loki turned his head to see a golden colored fist slam into his face. Desdemona's punch threw Loki over the fallen Kitsune and he landed face first on the snow covered rooftop. He had no time to recover however, as a grey, club-like tail hit him with great force in the side and knocked him off the roof.

"Thank you," Kitsune said to Othello and Desdemona as the two gargoyles helped him up.

"There were only two mutates sighted," Othello answered as he picked up Loki's axe, "There's more then enough of us to let us help you."

At that time, Loki came flying back up from the alley, his eyes glowing green.

"Trust me," Loki smirked, "You'll need it."

Loki then threw another series of fireballs at the group. Othello and Desdemona managed to dodge the attack, and Kitsune used magic to deflect Loki's attack. The Seelie fey then created another fox tail-like projectile and launched it at Loki. Unprepared for the attack, it hit Loki squarely in chest and white haired Unseelie was knocked back a few feet.

"Oh, you'll pay for that!" Loki snarled.

**New Jersey**

"Do you think we should wait until Goliath returns?" Diane asked quietly.

"The tickets say the bus will leave in five minutes," Peter commented, "I don't think we have the time."

"I'll tell Goliath you said goodbye," Elisa said solomly.

Diane looked back to see their daughter and son hidden in the shadows with the rest of the clan. She carefully approached them and hugged each.

"We'll always love you, you know that?" Diane asked.

Elisa slowly nodded, "Just come back when this is all over."

"I intend to," Diane smiled back.

She hugged Elisa one final time and turned back towards the bus stop. Elisa and Talon stood there watching until their bus arrived.

"We should be getting back," Brooklyn commented from behind them.

Elisa stood there watching the spot where the bus was. Eventually the tan gargoyle nodded.

"Okay," Elisa sighed as she turned to follow the others, "I just hope they'll be okay."

"I'm sure they'll be fine," Angela said in an encouraging voice.

**The Labyrinth**

The battle in the Labyrinth was not going well. Jackal, Hyena, Wolf, and Shadow had focused on battling Maggie, Claw, and the clones that were in the Labyrinth while Dreadnought fired on Spring and the other Seelie fey that had been sent to the underground shelter. The large robot fired everything from machine gun bullets through its Gatling guns, rockets, and particle beam weaponry from its built in lasers. The robot's rate of fire was so great that occasionally one of the four fey would be hit by some piece of shrapnel.

On top of this, the large robot did not seem to even be slowed down by their magic. Spring, Summer, Autumn, and Winter tried every energy spell they knew and those spells harmlessly bounced off the large robot's armor. Winter tried encasing its legs and joints in ice, and the robot easily broke free. Spring tried to make it rust with rain, but the robot's metal armor didn't even show a hint of deterioration. Autumn tried to knock it over with gusts of fall wind and leaves. The robot was too heavy to even be budged by that attack.

"We need to combine our attacks," Winter said to Autumn, "I'll freeze its legs, then you then try to knock it over."

"Anything's worth a shot," Autumn shrugged as the two fey floated in mid air.

Winter shot forward and puffed up her cheeks with air and then blew the air out toward Dreadnought. Thousands of ice crystals were carried by her breath and soon the massive robot's legs were held in place a thick layer of ice. Autumn then moved forward and shot forward a strong gust of wind and fall leaves to knock the large robot as it tried to break free of the ice. It didn't work at first, but Autumn quickly increased the force of the wind and after a while the massive robot fell to the ground. But it suffered very little damage and soon began to scramble back to its feet.

"We're going to need some more help," Autumn commented back to the other Seelie fey as the robot rose to fire on them once more.

Maggie meanwhile wound up facing Wolf as the battle between the Labyrinth dwellers and the Pack restructured when Dreadnought turned its attention to the four Seelie fey.

The lioness mutate was shocked by how animal-like the 'man' had become. Wolf for the moment had lost the ability to speak in an almost completely animalistic rage. Something that Maggie had never seen in herself or any of the other mutates, and they were supposed to have more animal DNA in them. He growled and slobbered as he threw powerful but uncoordinated punches at Maggie. Maggie managed to dodge these blows but knew she couldn't a fist fight with him. Eventually Wolf would land a blow on her, and judging by the strength of the blows he was currently throwing, it would hurt. Thankfully, Maggie had one weapon that Wolf had no defense against. As the grey furred and wingless mutate lunged at her, Maggie dodged and launched a powerful electric blast into Wolf's back. Wolf screamed with pain and soon fell to the ground unconscious.

Claw, meanwhile was stuck with a much tougher opponent in Shadow. The more human sized robot was fast and incredibly smart. The tiger-like mutate's electric blasts had no effect on the robot and the robot's long sword gave it an advantage at short range combat while its wrist mounted laser gave it an advantage at long range combat.

Shadow swung its sword out, aiming to hack off Claw's right arm. The mutate barely managed to dodge the attack, then using catlike reflexes grabbed Shadow's outstretched arm and physically threw the robot into the far wall. Unfortunately, the impact with the wall did nothing to slow Shadow down. The robot was quickly on its feet again and began firing on Claw with its lasers. Shadow's first shot missed, and the second was knocked away from the robot's intended target.

Claw quickly noticed that Maggie had finished off Wolf and come to help and was throwing various pieces of rubble that Dreadnought had generated at the smaller robot, and had already dinged Shadow's laser weapons.

"We've got to get that thing in front of the other one's weapons!" Maggie yelled.

Claw nodded and charged forward to hopefully get a strong grip on Shadow before the robot could use its sword.

Jackal meanwhile faced off against Burbank. While the clone of the Manhattan clan's elder, Hudson, was only aged to a point where was he was physically as old as the trio, Jackal found that the mustard yellow gargoyle was not very fast and could be easily out maneuvered by many of the most basic martial arts moves. The male cyborg wasn't even trying to use his upgraded weapons.

"This is almost too easy!" Jackal laughed out loud as he leaped over Burbank's head and kicked the gargoyle directly between his wings.

"Not easy enough," Hyena growled as the female cyborg struggled with Brentwood and Hollywood.

The other two clones that were present in the Labyrinth had managed to make some success against Hyena. Brentwood would dash in and out to counter Hyena's speed to set the Pack's only female member up for powerful blows. Both clones had been clawed some, but Hyena was unable to manage little more then a stalemate against the two clones. It was onto this battle that Xanatos and Goliath found as they made their way back to the Labyrinth.

"The Pack!" Goliath gasped.

"What would they want with the Labyrinth?" Xanatos asked out loud.

Goliath quickly recovered and answered, "Madoc must still be employing them through Maddox Technologies."

"And he'd probably want the Seelie fey that Titania sent here killed," Xanatos finished, "Well, we'd better help."

Goliath nodded as the two moved to join the fray. Xanatos moved help Maggie and Claw in their efforts against Shadow, while Goliath moved to help Burbank with Jackal. The male cyborg tried to swing both arms together to club Burbank on each side of his head. The clone thankfully noticed this and managed to catch Jackal's wrists before the cyborg could deliver the blow he intended.

Jackal then tried to kick the clone back, but Goliath had gotten close enough to factor into the battle. Swinging his tail around, Goliath pulled the foot Jackal intended to be the foot that would hold his weight while he threw his kick out from under him. As Jackal began to fall from the loss of balance, Goliath clubbed the male cyborg with his fist, knocking Jackal out.

"Thank you, Goliath," Burbank breathed, "You came back."

"Yes, to investigate an explosion we heard," Goliath answered.

"Bad men caused it," Burbank growled.

Goliath nodded, "Come, we must help the others."

Shadow meanwhile, had managed to out-wrestle Claw and now had the tiger-like mutate pinned to the far wall of the Labyrinth. While the robot held Claw still with one hand, it pulled back the other arm and prepared to ram its sword through the mutate's chest. Unfortunately, just as Shadow prepared to launch that arm forward, it was suddenly pulled back by an unknown force. Shadow moved its head to check on the position of the other mutate it had engaged. It saw that Maggie was recovering from a kick that Shadow had delivered to her midsection. The robot then turned its head to check the restrained arm. Shadow saw that a black furred wolf-like mutate gripping its arm at the elbow.

"Now don't you know that tigers are endangered and it's illegal to kill them?" Xanatos teased the robot as he gripped it with both hands and then swung the automation into the air, sending it flying towards the larger robot that was still maintaining a stalemate with Spring and the other Seelie fey.

Dreadnought's sensors indicated an object was coming toward it and the three mutates behind it watched as the large robot's smaller sets of lasers attempted to destroy the 'object' that was flying towards it. The lasers bounced harmlessly off of Shadow's armor, but it provided Winter and Autumn with another chance to knock the massive robot over. Dreadnought landed on top of the smaller Shadow, and when the dust settled, Shadow was offline for the time being.

"We need to find some way of taking out that big robot," Maggie shouted, "The fey's magic doesn't seem to affect it and our electric blasts will only give it more power."

Claw picked up a piece of rubble that Dreadnought's heavy fire had generated in the course of the larger robot's attack and hurled it at the large robot's glass dome before it could get up. The stonework bounced off Dreadnought's dome as if it were a ping-pong ball. Winter then encased the robot's arms and legs in thick layers of ice. Surprisingly, the massive robot made little progress in trying to break out.

"That doesn't look like it will hold him for long," Xanatos commented.

At the other end of the Labyrinth's main entrance hall, Hyena struggled against now four opponents.

"Great," Hyena mumbled to herself, "Just great."

Brentwood leaped at her first. Hyena caught the cloned webwing with one hand and punched him in the chest with her other hand, with her electric cattle prods extended. Brentwood screamed with pain and fell limp as the Hyena finally knocked the clone out. She then threw the unconscious gargoyle into Goliath, knocking him over. She had no chance to stop Hollywood or Burbank however. The two clones attacked at the same time that Goliath had stepped forward, and in knocking Goliath over, she had no time to react to the other gargoyles. Hollywood grabbed her by one arm andBurbank by the other. The two clones then slammed her head first into the wall of the Labyrinth. Hyena quickly joined Jackal and Wolf among the unconscious Pack members.

"Bad people beaten," Hollywood stated.

"Imprison now?" Burbank asked.

"I don't think we can," Maggie sighed pointing at Dreadnought.

The massive robot was still struggling against the layers of ice that Winter had buried it in.

"That thing will break free soon, and we have no means of defeating it," Maggie finished.

"We could…" Goliath began to suggest.

"Bringing the Labyrinth down on it may destroy the robot, but it would leave the Labyrinth itself uninhabitable," Xanatos interrupted, "And there are buildings above us. If the Labyrinth collapses, those buildings will collapse."

Goliath nodded when he remembered that the Labyrinth was essentially part of the city's sewer system.

"Then perhaps it might be best to leave the Labyrinth until Madoc is defeated," Goliath suggested, "We know the Pack is working for him and it is for his reasons that they have attacked you now. And I'm sure the castle is more then capable of sheltering you until the Unseelies are defeated."

Xanatos nodded as he watched the large lavender gargoyle's facial expression. Goliath wasn't going to take no for an answer.

"It probably would be safer," Xanatos nodded as the group began to exit the Labyrinth, "Since we have no way of taking care of the larger robot for now."

"Who will tell this to Talon?" Maggie asked.

"We will inform him," Spring said, "That way if the robot frees itself by then, we can at least allow them to escape."

The others nodded and continued along the tunnels that led back to the Eyrie Building. Spring and the other Seelie fey floated down the tunnels that Elisa and the others had left down earlier. Inside the now completely abandoned Labyrinth, Dreadnought's green light blinked in patterned system under its domed head.

**Maddox Technologies**

Maddox was still watching Othello's patrol team battle the mutates and Loki when Garlon entered the room and stood at attention behind him and Maeve. After a second or two, Maddox turned to face the mousy haired fey.

"Yes, Garlon?" Maddox asked.

"The battle report from 'Dreadnought' has just come in," Garlon reported, "The Pack was successful in capturing the Labyrinth, but unsuccessful in killing any of the inhabitants. He also credits their victory to the late arrival of reinforcements on the side of the Labyrinth dwellers."

"Members of Goliath's clan no doubt," Maddox shrugged, "And no small loss. Now we have the Labyrinth and all things are moving toward the planned end."

With that Maddox and Maeve dismissed Garlon and returned their attention to the battle going on outside.

**Manhattan Rooftops**

Lex and Candy dove behind a shone chimney that rose out of the side of the roof of the building they were on as the two strange mutates fired their electric blasts at the roof behind them.

"I wish they wouldn't do that," Lex sighed.

Candy nodded in whole hearted agreement. Caroline, Amy, Logan, and Lancelot meanwhile reached the roof to see the two webwings dart behind the chimney. The male bobcat mutate was the first to turn and face the new arrivals. Its yellow eyes settled on Caroline. And then it did something that shocked all of them. It spoke.

"The disrespecter arrives," the mutate growled.

The female gray fox mutate then turned its head to stare directly into Caroline's eyes.

"Disrespectful child!" the mutate hissed.

The two mutates then leap at them. Amy managed to tackle one in mid air and wrestle it to the ground, but the other avoided both Logan and Lancelot's attempts to intercept it and knocked Caroline to the ground. It was the male mutate.

"Disrespectful child!" the mutate growled.

"Why do you keep saying that?" Caroline asked, "I don't know you."

Caroline then kicked the mutate off of her. Unfortunately she kicked him into Amy, knocking her off of the other mutate. Amy quickly recovered and was joined by Lex and Candy. They advanced on the mutates from one side while Caroline, Logan, and Lancelot advanced on them from the other.

The two mutates gave a growling sigh and fired their electric blasts in a wide spread hoping to hit more then one of their attackers. The blasts missed, but allowed the two mutates to get out of the position they were in. Again they focused on Caroline as they attacked again with focused electric blasts on the blue gargoyle. Caroline managed to dodge the electric blasts and tackle the male bobcat-like mutate.

"Disrespectful child," the mutate growled.

"Why do you keep calling me that?!" Caroline demanded.

The other mutate hit her with an electric blast while the bobcat mutate kicked her off of him.

"Never did as you were told," the female mutate snarled.

"They're talking like they know you," Candy commented as she and Amy helped Caroline up.

"I wish I new them," Caroline mumbled.

"You must honor thy father and thy mother!" the male mutate added, "You failed."

It was at that moment that Caroline figured it out. These mutates did know her. They were her parents. The parents that never cared for her unless it suited them. The parents that essentially abandoned her throughout her life. Soon thereafter, her eyes took on a harsh red glow.

"And if you had taken the time to raise me the way a family is supposed to be raised, I would have," Caroline growled back while pointing an accusing finger at the two mutates, "But no! Social high climbing was far more important for you! I was only a trophy to be brought out on social occasions."

Amy looked at Caroline and then at the two mutates. Candy and Lex looked just as shocked as she was, while Logan and Lancelot were confused as to what was going on.

"They can't possibly be…" Candy began to say.

"They have to be," Caroline answered, "Calling me a 'child' and saying I need to honor my father and mother. Who else would bring that up besides one's parents?"

"How could they have become mutates?" Lex asked, "Xanatos has been following Maddox Technologies in the business news. Maddox is not exactly a real important person in New York on the social ladder. And that's despite running a huge corporation."

"What's going on?" Lancelot asked.

"Apparently, the Unseelies have captured, enslaved, and mutated my parents," Caroline said in an almost calm voice.

"We're sorry," Logan and Lancelot said in unison.

The bobcat mutate and grey fox mutate launched their electric blasts and knocked Logan, Lancelot, Lex, Candy, and Amy to the ground, leaving Caroline standing defiantly before them. The red glow undiminished from her eyes.

"It is you who should be sorry," the bobcat mutate, Mr. Nexus, said.

"It's your fault we are like this," the grey fox mutate, Mrs. Nexus, snarled.

"It's the Unseelie's fault, not mine," Caroline growled back.

"You could have saved us," Mr. Nexus argued.

"Why didn't you save us like you saved that bastard you call a boyfriend?" Mrs. Nexus added.

Caroline only roared in response knocked her mother to the ground with one punch and knocked her father back with one of her wings.

"Don't you dare talk about Lawrence that way!" Caroline roared, "He, Amy, and Candy were the only ones that treated me as a human being when I lived with you. I didn't save you because you didn't deserve to be saved. I don't want you in my life! I don't care what's happened to you!"

"If that's how you feel," Mr. Nexus said with a fanged smile, and fired an electric blast at Caroline.

The blast hit her at point blank range and knocked Caroline off the roof of the building. Before she could react and catch an updraft with her wings, she hit a fire escape and fell unconscious.

"Caroline!" Amy yelled as she leaped after her friend.

Logan and Lancelot then moved toward the two mutates. The female mutate took them out with a well aimed electric blast, sending the two Avalon gargoyles into Candy and Lex. When they got to their feet again they found that the two mutates were gone.

"Where did they go?" Logan asked as he looked around.

"More importantly, why did they leave?" Lex added, "They had us on the ropes."

Caroline as already beginning to regain consciousness when Amy caught her. The two landed safely in the snow filled alley to see the two mutates glide away.

"Where are they going?" Amy asked.

"Probably back to the Unseelies," Caroline commented as she shook off of the affects of taking out a fire escape.

"You really didn't warn them that the Unseelies were out there and going after our families?" Amy asked.

"You know just as much as I do that they were never really a family," Caroline said angrily, "You, Candy, Lawrence, and now… now the clan have been more of a family for me then they ever were."

Amy stood there in silence watching as Caroline continued speaking.

"To some extent I thought the Unseelies knew that already and would not have gone after them," Caroline sighed.

"If you want to free them, you know I'll help," Amy offered.

Caroline gave her friend a weak smile and said, "Thank you. Come on, we'd better get back to the others."

Othello leaped from the roof and quickly glided a short ways away to avoid being hit by a fireball that Loki had thrown at him. The Norse trickster had recovered his axe and was now using his fireballs to augment his skills with the weapon. Kitsune and Desdemona tried to attack the Unseelie from behind while he was launching fireballs at Othello, but Loki turned and swung his axe at full force and Kitsune had all he could do to teleport himself and Desdemona to a safe distance.

"You know you can't win!" Loki yelled at the top of his lungs, "Dawn isn't too far away and your gargoyle friends will be helpless. And you know I'm more powerful than you!"

"If you were so powerful, you should have killed us all by know," Kistune answered from another rooftop, "You are powerful but you lack knowledge."

Kitsune then threw another of his 'fox tail' weapons at Loki. Loki easily cut through it with his axe, but took a blow from Othello in the back of his head and blow from Desdemona in his stomach while he was distracted by Kitsune's attack.

Loki answered this with a cry of rage. He launched himself into the air, using his magic to sustain flight and raised his axe high, intending to chop Kitsune in half. The blow missed, but Loki quickly threw a fireball that sent Kitsune spiraling into the two gargoyles. Desdemona easily caught him, while Othello moved to face Loki. Kitsune however was getting nervous. Dawn was fast approaching. It wasn't as close as Loki thought, but it was close enough and the gargoyles would turn to stone and would be defenseless. Kitsune also knew that he was nowhere near strong enough to face Loki on his own.

Loki threw a quick fireball at Othello as the grey gargoyle landed, but it harmlessly bounced off his right shoulder guard, and Othello quickly moved to knock his axe away. Loki watched as it sailed through the air and land in a snow bank.

"I don't need a weapon to defeat you," Loki snarled and threw a punch that knocked Othello back a few feet.

Othello meanwhile looked to see Caroline's part of their patrol team returning to their location.

"Perhaps," Othello answered, "But we have you outnumbered. You can't beat all of us."

Loki glanced up to see more gargoyles approaching, lead by a blue female with a dragon-like tail and then glanced down to a lower tear of the roof he was on to see Desdemona and Kitsune approaching from below. The numbers were against him, and the gargoyles that were arriving were with the group when he first attacked to make sure that the mutates wouldn't have to deal with a fey's powers.

"Cursed mutates!" Loki roared, "Why'd they have to give up and spoil my fun?"

Loki angrily retreated to where his axe had fallen. Snarling at the approaching gargoyles he flung a ball of energy at the elevated portion of the roof that Othello was standing on.

"Let's see you dig yourself out of that!" Loki snarled as he vanished.

The blast hit the side of the wall and it immediately collapsed on the rest of the roof.

"Othello!" Desdemona called out as she ran over.

Othello slowly stood up on top of all the rubble.

"I'm fine," he muttered, "I've seen better days, but I am unharmed."

Caroline's group meanwhile landed on the edge of the roof.

"Is anyone hurt?" Lex asked.

"No," Desdemona answered, "Thankfully we are all fine. Did you learn the identity of the mutates?"

"They are my biological parents," Caroline answered, "And they've been enslaved by the Unseelies."

"On top of it all, they seem to have flown the coop on us," Amy added.

"Madoc most likely recalled them," Kitsune spoke up, "We meanwhile had best begin returning to the Castle. Titania will need to know of this development."

The group nodded and began to glide back towards the Eyrie Building. Caroline and Amy went ahead with Lex and Candy closely following. Both Logan and Lancelot fell to the rear of the group. Othello moved toward Lex and Candy to try and see if they knew anymore about what had happened.

"How did she react to learning that her parents were mutates?" Othello asked.

Candy looked to Lex beside her and then back to Othello and answered, "I don't really know. We know that they didn't treat her well when they raised her. She's told us that. Candy and I have told you that. I'd think some of that is still affecting her. I'd think she'd want to free them from the Unseelie enslavement spell, but I don't think she'd care one way or the other whether or not they remain mutates."

Othello only answered with an extremely frustrated sigh before continuing on.

**The Sewers**

"Evacuated?" Talon gasped.

"We had to," Spring nodded, "The Pack brought two powerful robots with it. One of which we could not fully defeat and might still be active."

"Is anyone…?" Talon began to ask.

"No," Summer spoke, "We managed to defeat the smaller robot, Jackal, Hyena, and Wolf, and the larger robot was restrained. No one was killed. Maggie and the others are on their way to theEyrie Building."

"Thank goodness no one was hurt," Elisa sighed placing a hand on Talon's shoulder.

Talon glanced back at Elisa. She didn't look any better since they watched their parents's bus drive away, but she did look like she was trying to be supportive. He noticed that Delilah andMalibu looked pretty well shocked by what had happened as well.

"I guess a move to the castle won't do much harm," Talon sighed, "But only until the Unseelies are defeated. Afterwards, we will return and we'll make sure that the Pack can't repeat what it's done."

Delilah and Malibu gave weak smiles and the group slowly began moving on.

**Maddox Technologies**

Maddox found Alex Sevarius nervously cleaning the equipment in the lab that he had provided for the clone. Garlon followed behind him.

"You need not worry, Doctor," Maddox said calmly, "Your life is not in danger."

Alex Sevarius sighed but did not look as if he we was really going to calm down. Maddox meanwhile walked forward and continued speaking.

"Your mutates proved quite successful against members of Goliath's clan," Maddox announced, "And I must say I am quite impressed. I have had Maeve here for years observing the clan and its behavior. She reported to me the successes and failures of the Anton Sevarius's mutate experiments. Mr. and Mrs. Nexus proved to be even more successful than anticipated."

"I still say you should have had them kill them," Garlon grumbled, "Loki is still grumbling."

"If they died, who would relay the message that the game has changed?" Maddox asked back, "I have my reasons. They are not to be questioned."

"Yes, my Lord," Garlon bowed.

Maddox then returned his attention to Alex Sevarius standing before him.

"Doctor Sevarius," Maddox began, "I want you to convert the rest of my human slaves into mutates. They will provide my forces with a better advantage against Goliath and his clan."

"Yes, sir," Alex Sevarius answered.

Maddox then turned to leave, "Garlon will work out the details with you on how they are to be mutated. And by the way, Doctor Sevarius, should you ever consider betraying me in any fashion, you will join the mutates you are creating. I will also be the final judge on what is betrayal and what is not, and I am watching."

Alex Sevarius gulped, "Yes, sir."

**Castle Wyvern**

Goliath and the group that had escorted the Mazas to the bus stop had returned by the time Othello and Desdemona's patrol team returned.

"How did things go, brother?" Othello asked as he and Desdemona approached the lavender clan leader.

"From what I was told, getting the Mazas to their bus went as planned," Goliath rumbled, "The Unseelies, however, sent the Pack to take the Labyrinth. We managed to beat them, but we could not deal with the largest robotic member of the Pack effectively without bringing down the Labyrinth and the buildings above it down on the robot."

"So that is why Talon and the clones are here," Desdemona commented, "How is Elisa dealing with all of this?"

"She still feels that we would be able to protect her parents better, but has obviously accepted that they don't agree," Goliath answered, "She will be fine, given time."

Othello and Desdemona slowly nodded as Goliath changed the subject.

"How did your patrol go?" Goliath asked.

Othello only answered with a sigh, "Where do I start?"

Goliath watched his rookery brother for a few moments.

"Apparently the Unseelies have freed Alex Sevarius from whatever prison the humans were holding him in," Othello began, pausing as he heard Goliath growl at the name, "And they had him mutate two people. They were Caroline's parents."

"How did she react?" Goliath asked sounding somewhat surprised.

"From what we heard, once she learned that the battle quickly became an argument over whether or not their parenting practices were right or wrong," Desdemona answered.

"The real problem, however, is that Madoc could command Alex Sevarius to create more mutates to serve the Unseelie," Othello added.

"Titania will need to know of this, or at least Xanatos," Goliath sighed.

"Caroline and Kitsune are already going to do that," Othello answered.

Goliath slowly nodded while Othello noticed Gabriel and Ophelia conversing with Angela.

"Brother," Othello asked, "what was Angela like when she first discovered you were her biological father?"

Goliath raised a browridge out of curiosity at his rookery brother's question, but decided to answer it anyway.

"She was very insistent that I recognize her as my daughter and treat her as such," Goliath answered, almost chuckling, "While, she, Elisa, Bronx, and I were on our 'World Tour', I realized that she wasn't about to accept the old way as solution, so I recognized her as my own."

Othello was silent for a moment, while Goliath continued.

"Over time I believe I've gotten used to the idea of having Angela," Goliath continued, "And I'm not sure if I would want to go back to the old way. Especially since I'm pretty sure that Elisa would wish to know which egg was hers. Why do you ask these questions?"

"Gabriel," Othello answered, "He at first believed that Desdemona and I are his biological parents and asked that we undergo certain blood tests to test that theory. Earlier this evening the results of those tests came in, proving that Gabriel's assumptions were correct."

"Ah-ha," Goliath replied, "You wish to know how to proceed?"

"Not just that, brother," Desdemona added, "But why he is even concerned over this. He is old enough that he could live on his own without the clan for guidance if he wished. Why does he want to know who his parents are?"

"I believe the 'why' comes from the fact that Princess Katherine, the Magus, and Tom have raised them as if they were their own children," Goliath answered, "They recognize the human way of raising children more then they do our traditional model."

Othello and Desdemona nodded.

"As for how to continue," Goliath sighed, "My best suggestion would be to accept and recognize that he is your son. Get to know him and such. You'd be surprised what the younger generation knows when you give them the chance."

"We'll consider what you've said, brother," Othello answered as he and his mate turned to walk into the castle.

Meanwhile in the Great Hall, Caroline and Kitsune finished their report to Titania.

"More mutates?" Titania questioned.

"Yes, my Queen," Kitsune bowed.

"And they are your parents?" Titania asked Caroline.

Caroline only nodded.

Titania then sighed heavily, "This only complicates things."

**Later, near dawn**

Gabriel and Ophelia carefully climbed up onto a section of the battlements apart from the main tower where the Manhattan clan rested.

"You still should have talked to them," Ophelia insisted, "They can't possibly hate you."

"It seemed obvious that they didn't want to deal with it," Gabriel answered weakly.

"That's because you gave up!" Ophelia insisted.

"Gabriel?" came a deep voice from behind the two Avalon gargoyles.

Both turned to see Othello and Desdemona slowly making their way toward them.

"Father, mother," Gabriel said politely and stepping down from the ledge.

Othello and Desdemona noticeably sighed, still trying to get used to being referred to by those particular words.

"We have been thinking," Othello began, "and perhaps it would not be so hard for us to recognize you as our son."

"You would do that?" Gabriel asked, his eyes widening.

"We are willing," Desdemona nodded, "But we believe that the recognition should be enough. You certainly aren't a hatchling anymore and you have your own clan to lead."

"But you recognize me as your son?" Gabriel asked.

"Yes," Othello nodded.

"Thank you," Gabriel smiled as he shock Othello's hand as the gargoyles turned to stone for the day.

**Over the Atlantic Ocean**

"Well," Peter Maza commented, "Looks like we made it. No one even attacked the bus."

"That's a relief," Diane answered as she looked out the window, trying to see New York City, even though they were miles away and couldn't possibly see it.

"They'll be fine," Peter commented, "Elisa and Derek can take care of themselves and Beth has Coyote to protect her."

"I know," Diane replied, "I just hope we did the right thing."

Peter was then silent as the large Boeing seven-forty-seven flew off in a southeastern direction.

**The End**


	16. The Keeper of the Gate

All characters appearing in Gargoyles and Gargoyles: The Goliath Chronicles are copyrighted to Buena Vista Television/The Walt Disney Company. I've taken the idea for the Unseelie Court from the TGS. No infringement of these copyrights is intended, and is not authorized by the copyright holder. All original characters are the property of SN.

Note: I'm disregarding the events of the "Goliath Chronicles", with the exception of "The Journey" because I do not wish to use the rest of the "Goliath Chronicles" as canon to my story. This story takes place one day after "The Problem with Family".

The Keeper of the Gate

By SN/TVfan

Email: Sam_Nary 

**Elysium**

"You've done well," Mars commented off hand to the human man in a toga standing next to him, "Lady Diana has progressed remarkably well."

Maximus nodded, "I did the best I could to train her."

The ancient Roman then turned to face the Olympian fey. Mars, or Ares as the Greeks called him, was a powerfully built fey. Tall and muscular, and was never seen without wearing his ancient Greek style of armor. Above all, Mars was commanding.

"The Unseelie Court is committing great acts of evil," Mars said firmly, "Now that Diana is trained, the two of you will defeat them."

Maximus sighed and nodded in agreement, "I wish I could have had more time to train her though. Or maybe let her warm up against foes that do not have the capability to kill us."

Mars looked at Diana as she practiced her sword playing skills. He knew both loved each other and he knew that because of that love, they would both fear for each other. But, Mars could remember the ferocity of the First Unseelie War. Madoc could not go unopposed.

"Legionnaire," Mars commanded, "you and Lady Diana are the only ones that can aide the Seelie Court and those that oppose Madoc. As you know, God can not interfere. He and the world's other Gods are concerned with the fate of the soul. The Olympian Court is bound by those commands. You will stop the evil of the Unseelie Court."

"Yes, highness," Maximus answered with a bow.

"Good," Mars answered, "I will leave the planning to you and your love. And Legionnaire…"

"Yes?" Maximus asked.

"Good luck," Mars finished as he vanished from view, probably returning to a different sector of Elysium.

Maximus meanwhile returned his attention to Diana. He was worried that he had not trained her as well as he was able and feared her death. But Mars was right. Madoc had to be stopped, and he had been chosen as the Legionnaire, and Diana had chosen to join him. They had responsibilities to honor.

"So, how am I doing?" Diana asked as she set the sword she was practicing with, a Roman gladius, down.

"Quite well," Maximus answered, "You have completed all the training that I can give at this time."

Diana looked at him nervously as Maximus was silent for a moment.

"We are required to act on Earth," Maximus said weakly, "I have no more available time to train you…"

"I'll follow your lead," Diana answered, "Just remember you're not the only one who's nervous."

**Castle Wyvern**

The various clans that were now living in the castle filed into a large dinning hall shortly after they awakened while Broadway rushed to get a breakfast ready for them all. The clones, lead by Delilah, were the last to enter, and all of them were extremely nervous as they entered. Talon and the mutates and Maggie's mother joined Goliath, Elisa, Othello, and Desdemona.

"Talon," Goliath began slowly, "We may need your help in running the patrols. It's highly likely that the Unseelies could use the same tactics against Othello's patrol team last night."

"You want us to balance things out in case they send a fey and one of their new mutate slaves out?" Talon asked.

Goliath nodded, "Your ability to use your electric blasts will be able to balance out theirs."

"I'd be more than willing to help," the panther-like mutate then said firmly, "You and Elisa would probably do anything to help us if we were in trouble."

Goliath and Elisa both nodded.

"Have you or Xanatos come up with any idea of how to deal with the Pack's 'Dreadnought'?" Goliath asked.

"We've had no ideas," Maggie answered, "If Xanatos has any ideas we haven't heard them."

"The use of the Steel Clan is an option," Othello mused aloud.

Elisa shook her head, "They're not smart enough. Their lasers might do damage but despite all the upgrades Xanatos has given to them over the years, I doubt they have the intelligence needed to avoid the weapons and their targeting computers that are on that Dreadnought. They have numbers, but probably not enough."

"That's where Coyote comes in, Detective," came Xanatos's voice from behind the table.

They turned to see the black furred wolf-mutate that ran one of the biggest companies on the planet approach them and sit down, his bat-like wings caped.

"What does a Native American trickster have to do with this?" Elisa asked, "From what I was told, magic did not even chip 'Dreadnought's' paint let alone do it harm."

"Wrong Coyote," Xanatos replied, "I've had Owen get the focus on Coyote Four-point-One."

The group was silent for a moment, and Xanatos took the pause as a sign to continue.

"Since Dreadnought seems to have the advantage in terms of armor and armament, we need to utilize whatever we can to counteract it," Xanatos explained, "And while the Steel Clan is certainly faster and more agile, they are not as well protected and considering the weaponry that Dreadnought had on him, the Steel Clan would need to much larger in order in order to deal it. As you said, Detective, they aren't smart enough and fast enough to avoid all of Dreadnought's firepower. Coyote 4.1, however, will be just as well armed and armored as Dreadnought, thus putting them both on an even keel."

"Go ahead with the robot," Goliath sighed, "We can't stop you from building him. I have concerns about having to deal with the robotic Coyote, but that robot the Pack had with them was too powerful for us to deal with alone."

"Don't worry," Xanatos said quickly, "The new Coyote will be firmly in our corner. Titania wants to know who's on tonight's patrol team."

"We can settle that after breakfast," Goliath answered.

**Maddox Technologies**

"You sent for me, my Lord?" Loki asked.

"Yes," Maddox answered, "I have an additional mission for you."

"Why do I get the feeling I'm not going to like this," Loki mumbled to himself.

"Oh, I think you will," Maddox answered, "I am to assume you still possess the Phoenix Gate?"

"Yes, but the only thing we can use it for is to temporarily bring some of our past forms with us and then return them once the battle is over," Loki answered, "We can't use it to alter history. I tried that when I first escaped. Failed miserably."

"True," Maddox nodded, "We can't change our past, but the Phoenix Gate is one of those things that, as some would say, can't fall into the wrong hands. While the Phoenix Gate is only good for exploring time and watching what happened or what will happen, Titania would never stand for us using it."

Loki only stared at him.

"Plus I also require a distraction," Maddox continued, "They most surely know that the Pack is still in our employ and that we are using Sevarius's lovely mutation serum. I don't want Titania to think that those methods are the only kind we employ. Besides, it will allow you to 'have fun' as you put it. You and your 'past selves' may do what you wish, so long as attract attention and kill at least one member of Titania's Court. I trust the bar is not too low there."

"It will be done, my Lord," Loki bowed and left.

Maeve entered a few minutes later.

"Are they ready?" Maddox asked before she could even shut the door.

Maeve nodded, "Yes. Raven, Banshee, and Morrigan have already moving into position. While Loki deals with whatever patrol team that Titania sends, they will ensure that we are victorious in the long run."

"Meanwhile, what is Sevarius's status concerning the slaves?" Maddox asked.

"He says he's administered the serum to half of the slaves so far," Maeve answered, "I've had them placed in containment cells for the duration of their transformations."

"Good," Maddox nodded, "All things are going according to plan."

**Castle Wyvern**

"My clan can lead the patrols tonight," Zafiro told Goliath as the gargoyles gathered to establish the patrol team.

"Claw and I will also go," Talon volunteered, "Just in case they use those mutates again."

Goliath nodded, "You'll need to take some of the Avalon clan with you. Let them learn a little about the outside world."

Goliath then turned toward where much of the Avalon clan stood, "Gabriel, you may instruct which members of your clan to join tonight's patrol."

Gabriel nodded and called out the names of the Avalon gargoyles slotted for the night's patrol, "Okay, Guinevere, Livia, and Gawain, it's your turn tonight."

The three young gargoyles nodded and moved to stand beside the four Guatemalan gargoyles and Talon and Claw. Demona meanwhile gave a stern glance at the clones, who huddled nervously near Maggie. She especially glared at Delilah, as Demona's hatred for the first Thailog's betrayal of her still burned strongly. Noticing that the clones were not selected for patrol duty, she stepped forward.

"Wedrington and I will go as well," Demona volunteered.

"What?" Goliath asked.

"The patrol team will need someone that understands magic to provide protection against a possible attack by Unseeles," Demona answered, "I am capable of providing such protection. I volunteer."

"But your spot in the rotation only recently passed," Goliath countered, "With foes as powerful as the Unseelie, wouldn't you prefer to recuperate and prepare for when your spot comes up again?"

"I do not mind the extra work," Demona growled strongly, "And Titania's fey can remain to guard the castle."

"Fine," Goliath relented, "You may go."

"Thank you," Demona answered.

The patrol group then turned to head out. Each gargoyle walked out ignoring the cold and snow and the group was quickly off. The gargoyles that remained at the castle began to move to do their own things. Elisa, meanwhile, remained puzzled.

"Why did she volunteer so suddenly?" Elisa asked aloud, "We were lucky to get her to agree to go on patrols as it is."

"I do not know," Goliath answered, and was about to continue when he was interrupted by a new voice.

"She's mean," the interrupting voice said.

Goliath and Elisa turned to see that Delilah was still standing were she had been before.

"She's mean," Delilah repeated.

"Delilah?" Elisa asked as she moved toward the clone, "What happened?"

"She growled at me when I tried to find a set for Malibu and the others," Delilah answered, "It was mean of her, so I growled back. Then when Goliath was assigning tonight's patrol and she glared at me. I would have growled back at her again, but I didn't want to seem like I was rude."

"You weren't," Elisa managed to say, "And don't worry, everything will be fine."

Delilah nodded and then headed down a passage that the other clones used earlier. Elisa then sighed once the clone was out of sight and could no longer hear them.

"I just can't believe it," Elisa only sighed, "I just can't believe it."

**The Streets of Manhattan**

Flariaty sighed as she and detective Bluestone moved back to their car.

"You okay?" Matt asked.

"I'm fine," Flariaty grumbled, "it's just that why did you drag me out to Eyrie Building to tell a gargoyle that her human parents are 'missing' only to learn that the gargoyle knew what had happened to said parents?"

"How was I to know that she would 'run into' her parents while one her patrol," Matt answered, "If I knew that she would run into her parents beforehand, we wouldn't have gone. Believe me."

"I believe you, but that's not my point," Flariaty sighed, "Everything is just so weird lately in this city. It's snowing so hard that the plows are overworked. Most crooks seem to be staying out of the cold. We have the usual strangeness with Eyrie Building and its gargoyles. And on top of it we have these hyper-aggressive fairies trying to conquer Manhattan, and if we try to alert the populace to the problem, we'll be locked away in a loony bin."

"There are some things that are just out of our control," Matt shrugged, "You should have seen some of the stuff I had deal with when I was first partnered with Elisa. And for awhile, I had to put up with it without knowing about the gargoyles. Life is much stranger than any of us first assumed when we were little."

Meanwhile as the two detectives slowly drove off, two figures stepped onto the roof of building that Matt and Flariaty had just left. One figure was obviously the Legionnaire, dressed in his armor, his red cape moving slightly with the wind. The other was Diana.

She blinked in surprise as she emerged from portal between Elysium and Earth. She found that her clothing had changed again. She was no longer wearing the stola and palla that she wore in Elysium, but neither was she wearing what she considered her normal clothes that she wore when she came to Earth to continue working at her job.

Instead she was wearing black painted Greek style metal breastplate that seemed to be molded to resemble a woman's chest and torso, rather than a man's. She felt eternally thankful that there was nothing obscene about the armor she was wearing. She also noticed that the armor was ornamented with small pieces of bright silver colored metal objects that were highly detailed. There was a winged horse on each breast and they were positioned so that they were facing each other. There was a robed woman holding up a torch on either side of her stomach and located about where her belly-button was on her skin, underneath the armor and cloth, there was an eagle perched on two olive branches that were arranged so that they made a circle.

There were various straps of leather, dyed a deep shade of purple, which hung from the arm openings of the breastplate she wore and around the bottom of the breastplate. The leather straps that hung from the bottom of the breastplate seemed to create a moderate skirt-like effect. Underneath the breastplate, she was wearing a tunic that was dyed the same shade of purple as the leather straps that were attached to her breastplate. She also found that she was wearing the same type of heavy woven leather boots that Maximus wore, however she only had a circular metal knee guard where Maximus had series of linked plates that protected his shins. Looking at the snow that had accumulated on the roof, Diana was also grateful for the black pants she was wearing and for the black long sleeved shirt that she was wearing under her tunic. Two circular clips, with a picture of an eagle carved into them were fastened to her shoulders, held a dark purple cape, not as large as Maximus's, on her back. Unlike Maximus, she wore no helmet.

"This," Diana commented, "This is new."

"What is?" Maximus asked looking back.

"The armor," Diana answered, "I mean, you were probably wearing that when Mars made you the Legionnaire, so I thought I'd end up in a sweat suit or something."

Maximus chuckled back at her and gestured to his own armor, "I was not wearing this when Mars made me 'the Legionnaire'. This armor was not invented at the time, but I did continue to use it after the use of the armor was discontinued."

"You liked it, didn't you?" Diana asked.

Maximus only laughed and nodded back.

"So how did I get armor?" Diana asked.

"My best guess would be that it was created by the same magic that Minerva to make you who you are now," Maximus answered.

The two began walking along the rooftop in the general direction of the Maddox Technologies building.

"And another thin," Diana continued, "Don't I get a 'code name' or anything? I mean you're called the Legionnaire. Don't I get something like that?"

"You read too many comic books as a child," Maximus commented back humorously, and was tempted to burst out laughing when he heard a snow ball hit the back of his helmet.

Maximus then sighed when he saw that she was serious and then said calmly, "Well, your armor is colored and designed the way the Praetorian Guard would have dressed, would you accept Praetoria?"

Diana smirked back at him, "Of course. What is next?"

"Our objective is to see that the Unseelie Court is defeated in the new war that it has started with the Seelie Court," Maximus answered, "For now, it would be best to check out the Unseelie's actions within the city. We will also have to let Seelie Court know that we are here and are active in fighting their enemies."

"Shouldn't we do that first?" Diana asked.

"Without proof of a victory?" Maximus asked back, "They'd toss us back on the curb for being unworthy allies."

**Elsewhere**

Loki appeared in a flash of light above a fairly classy restaurant with a smirk on his face that genuinely meant trouble. The Norse trickster quickly produced and activated the Phoenix Gate. He disappeared into the Gate's flames and less three seconds later, reemerged with five other Lokis.

"Do you see the building below us?" the present Loki asked as he fastened the Phoenix Gate in a position to hold his bear skin cape on.

The other Lokis looked down, and one by one, each put on a devilish smile.

"Then let's attract some gargoyles," Loki smiled as he created a fireball in his hands while the other Lokis simultaneously did the same.

The night had been quiet for Zafiro's patrol group. There were a few minor street criminals trying to make a quick buck off of folks as they tried to make their way home through the snow and ice of the Unseelie's blizzard, but there had been nothing major. Demona and Wedrington glided slightly above the rest of the patrol group. The entire group was in relative silence. The Guatemalans, along with Talon and Claw, were quiet because of their focus on scanning for any possible danger, although Claw couldn't have made any noise if he wanted to. The younger Avalon clan members were quiet because they felt they had little they could share with two mutates, a clan that they never knew existed until they came to New York, and one gargoyle that had participated in an attempt by Archmage to take over Avalon.

Suddenly a massive fiery explosion echoed through the Manhattan night. The patrol group was several blocks away, but even with the snow falling, the effects of the blast were clearly visible.

"So much for a quiet patrol," Talon commented as Zafiro banked ahead of them to head toward the explosion.

"We will investigate this," Zafiro instructed, "Make sure that no one was harmed."

The others nodded in agreement.

"I would advise caution," Demona said from above, "I've used a 'locater spell' to see where the Unseelie's are, or at least where the strongest sources of magic are. I don't want to hit with some cursed diamond again. The magical energy readings are strongest near the blast zone."

"Can you identify who is there?" Obsidiana asked.

"No," Demona shook her head, "The spell can only locate sources of power and to determine how powerful it is."

Zafiro nodded as he led the group forward.

Back at the explosion site, the Lokis looked down at the rising flames that completely engulfed the restaurant and were threatening to spread to the other nearby buildings. The present Loki smiled at his handiwork and then looked out over the Manhattan skyline. He easily saw the approaching winged figures coming in their direction.

"Hide yourselves among the surrounding buildings," the present Loki instructed, "We're about to have company, and I still have something I need to do."

The other Lokis nodded and flew off toward hiding spots. Loki then prepared to use magic to rely his message to Maddox.

**Maddox Technologies**

Maddox was sitting in his office when a magically created image of Loki's face appeared just above his desk.

"Yes?" Maddox asked.

"I've blown up some restaurant, and I already appear to have some gargoyles coming to investigate," the image of Loki answered, "You may commence whatever other plans you had scheduled."

"Thank you," Maddox asked, "You may deal with the gargoyles however you wish."

The image then disappeared as Maddox stood up. Garlon was waiting in the hallway as Maddox exited his office. The mousy haired fey immediately snapped to attention.

"Ah, there you are, Garlon," Maddox said, noticing the fey.

"My Lord," Garlon acknowledged with a bow.

"Loki has succeeded in attracting the gargoyles attention," Maddox announced to the lower ranking member of the Unseelie Court, "I want you to rely the attack orders to the second strike team."

"Yes, my Lord," Garlon bowed again.

The mousy haired Unseelie then disappeared and was off to carry out his own orders.

**Above Manhattan**

"Anyone see anything?" Zafiro asked.

"No," Talon coughed out, "However this fire started, it's generated a lot of smoke."

The patrol team had finally arrived at the location of the restaurant that Loki had destroyed to find that the heavy snow had once more delayed the fire department and the black smoke from the fire mixed with falling snow cut visibility down to zero.

"Demona, could you possibly put the fire out?" Zafiro asked.

Demona sighed heavily. The restaurant was a human establishment and she did not entirely care whether or not it burned down. Deciding however to respect her already shaky alliance with Goliath's clan, she slowly nodded.

"I'll try," Demona answered.

The immortal gargoyle first went above the flames while the others watched from the roof of a nearby building. Using water to put the fire out was out of the question. It would only cause more trouble.

Speaking quickly in Latin Demona commanded, "Entomb this blaze with a shield of energy!"

Emerald energy quickly sparked through the air and the others watched as a dome of energy surrounded the burning building, cutting it off from the oxygen that it needed. Shortly thereafter, the fire went out. Unfortunately, putting the fire out was not the end of their troubles as a new voice was heard through the night.

"Aw, you ruined everything!" a voice yelled, tinged with both sarcasm and anger.

Demona, from her position, turned to be hit from all sides by fireballs that sent her tumbling onto the already damaged restaurant. Zafiro and the others gasped from their positions. They never saw who threw the fireballs at Demona, nor did they see where they were hiding. They only saw that fireballs were thrown. The identity of their attacker did not, however, remain a secret for long. Shortly after Demona's body crashed through the damaged roof of the building that the gargoyles had found in flames, six 'men' with white hair and wearing bear skins came flying out from various hiding places on buildings surrounding the one that they had burnt down.

"What the?" Talon growled as one of them flew past him.

The six flying figures then settled to hover in a straight line above them. One stood out entirely with the Phoenix Gate attacked to his chest.

"Oh, don't tell me you haven't heard of me?" Loki asked humorously.

"We know who you are, Loki," Talon growled, "We've heard quite a bit about you. Who are the look-alikes?"

Loki looked back that the other Lokis that were with him.

"There are no look-alikes here," the present Loki shrugged, "You only face Loki here."

Guinevere then noticed what the present Loki wearing that was different from the other Lokis.

"It can't be," Guinevere said aloud, "He's wearing the Phoenix Gate, but Goliath should have it…"

"So that's who set me free?" Loki interrupted, "Goliath, eh? Must be a big guy."

"What are you talking about?" Turquesa demanded.

Loki laughed again, "Oberon had the Phoenix Gate created to serve as a way to keep me out of the mortal realm. By its ability to 'burn down the walls of space and time', Oberon was able to imprison me in the time stream. I was freed when a large lavender male gargoyle threw the Phoenix Gate into the vortex."

Talon and Claw looked on at the Lokis angrily while Wedrington looked on with a slightly puzzled look. The Guatemalans continued to glare at Loki while the Avalon gargoyles looked positively shocked.

"Goliath would never help them!" Livia said defiantly, although there was some nervousness in his voice.

"Not knowingly," Talon mumbled.

"What?" Wedrington asked.

"I heard something from Elisa that Puck once tried to steal the Gate for his own purposes and that Goliath flung the Gate into its own flames to prevent the wrong hands from using it," Talon answered, "Apparently he didn't know about Loki."

"That doesn't matter now," Zafiro said firmly, "Right now, we must deal with Loki."

"Easier said than done!" Loki smiled as led his past selves down upon the patrol team.

**Warehouse, Elsewhere in Manhattan**

"You couldn't determine the exact cause of the fire?" Hacker asked the genetically engineered 'superman'.

"Not from my observation point," the superman answered, "But considering the weather and recent occurrences, I wouldn't doubt that the Unseelie were behind it."

Hacker began pacing slowly. This was one of the frustrating parts of his mission. The council had commanded him to defend New York from the Unseelie threat, but he only had a few supermen at his command and most of the other Illuminati members in Manhattan were relatively low ranking and were not trained to keep the actions that were required to fight the Unseelies secret. On top of this, by the time the supermen would manage to get to where the Unseelies were causing trouble, the gargoyles and Titania's Court had already stopped their foes. The best Hacker could do at the moment was have the supermen establish recon posts to observe what the Unseelie were doing and make sure that the other Illuminati members had the new guns that could shoot Iron bullets for their own protection. That was the best he could do for the time being.

"What are your orders?" the superman asked, interrupting Hacker's chain of thought.

"Take your Iron bullet gun and investigate this occurrence," Hacker said firmly, "If it is the Unseelie and the fey in question is still there, kill it. If not, return here."

The superman saluted and then turned toward a metal shelf near the door. However, before the superman even made it to the shelf, an emerald sphere of energy shattered the warehouses windows. Hacker looked up to see three figures entered through the destroyed windows.

"So this is where the secret opposition hangs out?" Banshee commented.

"Yes," Morrigan smiled, "The wisps found it after it was noticed that there were others observing our fights with the gargoyles."

Hacker looked up to see two female fey float down toward him and the superman while a third, which looked like an anthromorphic raven, hovered near the rafters.

"Get the Iron gun!" Hacker yelled to the superman while reaching under his jacket to get his own weapon.

It was at this time that the third fey did something. It raised the wings on its back as far as they could go and then swung them forward at a high rate of speed, launching several feathers at the two men on the ground. Four hit the superman and pinned him to ground. One of the remaining two feathers caught the back of Hackers coat pulling him to the ground and exposing his Iron gun as he tried to draw it. The final feather struck the gun itself and knocked it from Hacker's hand. It landed several feet away and one of the two female fey then destroyed it with an energy blast.

Hacker meanwhile found himself stuck to the floor thanks to the feather that that gone through the material of his coat. Slowly he reached behind himself to pull the feather out of his coat. His hands never reached the black feather as several emerald green energy bands wrapped around him pinning his legs together and holding his arms to his stomach. Once he was bound, the feather simply disappeared.

"We were sent here for you, Mr. Hacker," Banshee teased, "You can't leave now."

"You've betrayed your alliance with the Mage," Hacker accused.

"Just as he's betrayed his alliance with Madoc," Raven shot back as he landed near the shelf holding the guns that could shot bullets made of solid Iron.

The black feathered Seelie traitor picked up one of the guns and held it up to his eyes. The weapon was surprisingly heavy considering its size, and if it fired Iron as Hacker said, it would also have to have a heavy recoil as result of the pressure and power needed to fire a much heavier bullet off at the same speed as a normal bullet from a normal gun.

"Take the gun and the mortal back to Lord Madoc," Morrigan commented, "He will decide what to do with them. I will be along shortly."

Raven tossed the gun he was holding to Banshee to carry and scooped up the screaming Hacker in his arms. The two then took off into the night leaving Morrigan with the Illuminati 'superman' who was still pinned to the floor. Morrigan slowly walked toward the immobilized superman.

"Quit your struggling," Morrigan said sternly, "You can't break those feathers, and they will disappear after we leave."

"Why not kill me as you're sure to do to Hacker?" the superman growled defiantly.

"Because we know all about the Illuminati's little superman program," Morrigan answered, "The main facility is in China, and hidden from even the Chinese. While Madoc will do all he can to crush you if you oppose him, he feels that your people would be a better asset to the Unseelie Court then to the Illuminati."

"Your slaves, you mean," the superman snarled.

"Well yes, Madoc would be the one in charge, you would be changing one master for another," Morrigan shrugged, "But Madoc actually has power. You are supermen with strength, speed, and intelligence far beyond the capacity of normal humans. Yet those you serve are human. You are better then them, like we are better then them."

"The Mage was the most powerful human wizard ever," the superman asserted.

"The Mage is also dead," Morrigan answered back, "And no one in the Illuminati's inner circle is immortal. You are better then they are and would be better served to join those that are your equals."

"You're not going to kill me?" the superman asked.

"Madoc is offering that you serve him instead of the humans that you should rightfully rule over," Morrigan told him, "If you decide to oppose him, he will kill you. That is all."

And with that Morrigan disappeared from view. As the Unseelie faded out of sight the superman heard her say, "Once you've made your decision, come to the Maddox Technologies Building."

The feathers that were holding the superman down then disappeared and he slowly got up and walked out of the warehouse with a very pondering look on his face.

**Elsewhere**

Demona shook of the impact of hitting the roof of the restaurant and was quickly back on her feet. The immortal gargoyle was thoroughly enraged by whoever these Unseelie were. They struck at her without her even knowing where they were. Demona quickly found that due to the fire that the floor was greatly weakened and she had to proceed slowly. Once she got to the roof of the burned restaurant Demona tried to find where the rest of the patrol team was. She could make out several flashes of fireballs or some sort of energized weapon being fired.

"Please be alive," Demona muttered as she took off to get back to the patrol group, knowing they had nothing that could be super effective against multiple magic users.

Talon dove to the ground to avoid being hit by one of the past Loki's axes while Jade meanwhile dodged a fireball that was thrown at him. Talon tried to hit the fey with an electric blast while it moved to strike again, but it was unsuccessful. While the blast did hit the past Loki, the fey seemed unharmed by it. Talon was grateful that the electric blast bought Jade the time to close with and punch the Unseelie, knocking him back.

"We need a new plan," Talon muttered, "These guys are powerful, and until Demona gets back to us, we have nothing that can really harm them."

"I'm all ears if you have one," Jade answered.

They eyed the past Loki as it recovered from Jade's punch and prepared to advance on them again. The early portion of the battle had not gone terribly well for the patrol team. They had luckily managed to avoid being killed, but there were six Lokis that they had to face. And they had taken Demona out with their first strike. One had chased Talon and Jade to where they were. The second went after Zafiro, Wedrington, and Claw. The third chased after Turquesa and Obsidiana. The fourth went after Guinevere and Livia while fifth went after Gawain. The present Loki merely hovered above everything watching the battle unfold.

The past Loki quickly threw a series of fireballs at Talon and Jade. Two hit Jade and knocked him back into the air-conditioning unit of the building they were on while Talon had all he could do to avoid being hit and found himself laying at the feet of the past Loki.

"Easier than I thought," the past Loki smiled as he raised his axe over his head to bring it down on Talon's neck.

Talon looked on in fear as Loki swung the weapon down. The past Loki however never heard the sound of the axe blade meeting flesh. Instead it was the sound of the blade bouncing off some sort of energy barrier. The past Loki looked down to see an energy field surrounding the black furred panther mutate that he had tried to kill. He tried hacking at the field again with the axe, and again and again. Each time it failed. The past Loki was about to use a spell when he was hit in the side by a magically generated lightning bolt.

Talon looked up to see Demona's form approaching at a high rate of speed and breathed, "Finally."

Demona landed near the first two members of the patrol group that she had come across.

"Where is everyone?" Demona demanded.

"Spread out," Jade answered, "Loki and his past forms have gone after all of us in the short time while you were out cold."

"No one's been killed yet," Talon said weakly, "If that's what you're worried about."

Demona nodded and looked at the past Loki who was already getting up and gathering his axe.

"If these are past selves then the only one who can be killed is the present Loki," Demona sighed, "This changes everything."

The past Loki charged with is battle axe raised high over his head. He screamed as he went. Demona crouched in a defensive stance and created an Iron chain through magic. This past version of the Norse trickster would have to be restrained if he was to be defeated. The clan would also have to get the Phoenix Gate back from the present Loki to return the past versions to the past. Just as the past Loki got close, Demona swung the Iron chain out to try and imprison the Unseelie with it. Instead, it wrapped around the battle axe that the past Loki was carrying. Deciding it was better than nothing, Demona pulled back hard on her end of the chain, pulling the axe out of the past Loki's hands. The Unseelie himself flew forward for a few feet as a result of being suddenly jerked forward and then stumbled into a punch thrown by Jade and an electric blast from Talon. He then slumped to ground unconscious.

"That's one," Demona sighed as she wrapped the Iron chain around the knocked out Unseelie.

Gawain meanwhile ducked behind a structure on the top of the roof that would obviously lead to stairs and the building's various floors as three fireballs that were thrown by the past Loki that had gone after him zipped through the air and dissipated into nothing about a block away. He now wished he had stuck with one of the others instead of going off in his own direction when the past and present versions of Loki attacked. One past Loki had now driven him several blocks away from where the original battle was and he had no idea where the present Loki was. Trying to retreat back to the castle was starting to look like the safest option. He didn't have any Iron or magic with which to kill these Unseelie and he was sure to be killed if he stayed out here.

"Here gargoyle, gargoyle, gargoyle," the past Loki called out from behind him as if he were calling for a lost pet, "I promise I won't hurt you. I just want to chop you into little pieces!"

Gawain shuddered as he heard the Unseelie's voice. One of his shoulders had been burned by a fireball and one wing had been cut slightly by the fey's axe. He wanted nothing more than to knock this past Loki out, but knew that that was very unlikely. He wondered if he could trick the Unseelie into doing something stupid. He pressed himself against the structure that he had earlier dove behind and watched the shadow of the past Loki approach. His plan to ambush the Unseelie didn't really work as suddenly the shadow disappeared and then puff of flame suddenly appeared in front of Gawain.

"Here you are," the past Loki smiled as he appeared, "I thought you ran away on me."

Gawain only looked back at the Unseelie with defiance in his eyes as he tried to think of a way to try and get the upper hand in this battle. The past Loki meanwhile laughed and raised his axe above his head. Gawain now feared he was going to be killed outright as he also saw a human-like shadow approach from behind the past Loki. This had to be the present Loki, as Gawain refused to believe that anyone else in the patrol group had been killed. He shut his eyes and tried to shield himself with his wings as he saw the Unseelie's axe move forward and he prepared for the blow to come.

He blinked when no blow came. He heard something that sounded like and axe chopping wood, but felt nothing. He opened his eyes to see that the past Loki was still there and his arms had come down, but half of his axe had been cut off by something. Gawain could even see the axe blade protruding out of the snow that had accumulated on the rooftop.

"What the?" the past Loki muttered.

Gawain then saw a sphere of pure light fly down from above him and hit the past Loki squarely in the chest. The impact of the sphere on the Unseelie's chest caused a small, but powerful localized explosion and knocked the Unseelie to the ground. Another sphere of light came down a few seconds later hitting the past Loki in the head and knocking him out. All the while the shadow that Gawain had seen earlier remained unmoved, so he stayed in a defensive stance, prepared for anything his opponent might do.

"Calm yourself, gargoyle," the shadow said in a somewhat friendly voice, "We are on your side."

"I don't even know who you are, so how can I trust you?" Gawain answered back.

The figure gave a slight chuckle and the slowly began approach him. Gawain was expecting the present Loki to come into the light and attack him, but the sounds of the figure's movement were totally wrong for Loki. Gawain heard the sounds of metal clanking together and the sound of heavy boots crunching the snow. Gawain then gasped as a man in Roman battle armor stepped into view a short sword in his hand. The man sheathed his sword raised his fist to his chest.

"I am Maximus Victus Romus, the Legionnaire," the man introduced himself and then gestured to another form that was lowering herself from the roof of the structure that Gawain had pressed his back to, "and this is Diana Britannia Heartsis, Praetoria."

Gawain looked over Diana for a moment. She seemed to be a very beautiful woman; even the dark colored Greek style armor couldn't hide that.

"Am I to assume that you are part of the Manhattan clan?" Maximus asked.

Gawain shook his head, "No, my clan if from Avalon. We're only here because the Unseelies have forced us out of our home. My name is Gawain."

Gawain then wondered while he was telling this man this, but he had to feel grateful for their help in knocking out the past Loki.

"A pleasure to meet you, Gawain," Diana smiled.

"Yeah, what are you two doing out here?" Gawain asked, "It's awfully cold out and these Unseelie are dangerous."

"I will explain everything later if you wish," Maximus answered him, "For the time being…" Maximus then gestured to the unconscious past Loki, "…these must be dealt with."

"For now," Diana added, "Let's just say that we are very well prepared to deal with whatever the Unseelies decide to throw at us.

"Okay," Gawain replied slowly and gestured to the unconscious Unseelie at their feet, "what about him?"

"I have a strong feeling that he is directly from the past," Maximus told Gawain in a voice that gave no argument, "We will need to hold him somewhere until we can send him back to his proper time."

Gawain then watched in awe as the man made a long half wooden-half metal javelin appear with a quick burst of flame and then watched the man bend the metal around the past Loki's body. Maximus then turned to face Gawain again.

"Now," Maximus began, "are there anymore of these past versions of this fey around?"

**Maddox Technologies**

"How many more of these weapons were in the warehouse?" Maddox asked as he inspected the Iron bullet gun that Raven, Banshee, and Morrigan had taken from the warehouse that Hacker was using as a headquarters.

Hacker meanwhile lay at the feet of the latter three Unseelie bound and gagged by bands of energy.

"At the very least ten," Raven answered, "but that doesn't account for the crates that were there, and it doesn't mean that the weapons are loaded."

"I want you and Banshee to return to that warehouse for the rest of the guns and the ammunition," Maddox commanded, "Since the gun itself isn't made of Iron, it should be possible that we could use these weapons to our advantage."

"To use Iron, sire?" Banshee asked.

"Yes," Maddox answered firmly, "It would allow the weaker members of my court to match up more evenly with fey like the Weird Sisters."

"As you command," Raven and Banshee answered and vanished from the room.

Only Morrigan remained in Maddox's office.

"Did the Illuminati's supermen accept my offer?" Maddox questioned.

"They have not given a definite yes or no, my Lord," Morrigan answered, "I told him to bring the others here when he has made his decision."

Maddox then smiled, "Which means we will easily find out their answer. If they show up they will say yes, if they do not show up, they have obviously said no."

"What do you wish done with the Illuminati?" Morrigan asked.

"We will have to destroy the Illuminati shortly after we defeat the Seelie Court," Maddox sighed, "They in some manner control the world and could pose the threat to give serious resistance to our rule, especially if their supermen can match a gargoyle in physical combat and if they're armed with these guns that can shoot Iron bullets. We'll need someone who understands their methods and tactics, and most importantly, who's part of their organization. Take him down to the basement. Tell Maeve to enslave him and then have him mutated."

"Yes, my Lord," Morrigan bowed and then turned around to leave, as she did, Hacker's body levitated off of the ground and followed her out the door.

**Elsewhere**

Wedrington rolled away to avoid being hit by another fireball that the past Loki that went after him, Zafiro, and Claw. Nearby Claw tried to use an electric blast to give the white English gargoyle some cover. Claw quickly found that while his electric blast hit its target, it didn't do much more then slow the Unseelie down. The past Loki quickly recovered and prepared throw more fireballs at the three of them.

"Say, Claw," Zafiro called to the tiger-mutate, "We need to take the fight to him. The longer we try to dodge attacks, the better his chances at getting to us. I know your electric blasts aren't doing much, but they are slowing him down…"

Claw nodded and began firing at the Unseelie as quickly as he possibly could. He hoped he could keep the past Loki on his heals long enough for the two gargoyles to land some blows on him or get that axe away from him.

The past Loki had just recovered from the earlier blast as he was quickly hit by multiple electric blasts in rapid succession. The blasts did cause him to feel pain, but it was very weak. It merely felt like his entire body had fallen asleep. He would recover quickly and he would promptly deal with the mutate. He didn't get much time to do so, however as he found himself on the receiving end of a punch thrown by Zafiro and closely followed by another thrown by Wedrington. The two gargoyles watched as the past Loki was thrown off the roof.

"Somehow I don't think we were as successful as that looked," Wedrington muttered under his breath.

"It'll buy time for Demona to recover from their attack on her earlier," Zafiro answered.

Wedrington nodded hopefully, but his thoughts quickly turned to the past Loki they were facing came flying back to face them. The past Loki quickly threw a series of fireballs at the two gargoyles and threw another series at Claw. Both Wedrington and Zafiro easily dodged the Unseelie's attack and most of the fireballs thrown at Claw missed because of objects between the past Loki and Claw.

"Admirable tactics, but ultimately stupid," the past Loki sneered, "Simple electricity can't harm me and physical blows are even less effective."

A new voice then suddenly interrupted the past Loki's taunts.

"True, but you should have paid attention to what Zafiro said before you attacked just now," came Demona's voice.

The past Loki looked up to see Demona, Jade, and Talon approaching his position. To his dismay he also saw the past Loki that went after Jade and Talon wrapped in Iron chains and hovering a few feet behind the group. The past Loki summoned his battle axe and sent his own power into it. Demona then watched as the past Loki threw his axe toward them, and as fire flew in all directions from the blade.

"Get down!" Demona yelled as she canceled the levitation spell on the past Loki she had already defeated and ducked down to avoid being hit by the axe.

The past Loki cursed as the axe flew harmlessly over the heads of the two gargoyles and mutate and he cursed again when it missed the other past Loki to free it from the chains it was wrapped in.

"Fulmenos Venite!" Demona exclaimed while pointing one arm at the past Loki.

The past Loki had no time to dodge the magically created lightning bolt and was knocked to the ground by it. Claw and Talon then moved to use their own electric blasts at the fallen Unseelie. Already weakened by Demona's attack, the past Loki was actually hurt by the mutate's attacks and fell unconscious. Demona then quickly summoned another Iron chain and wrapped it around the second past Loki.

"Come, we must get to the others," Demona said quickly to the others, surpressing the urge to go and embrace Wedrington upon seeing that he was still alive.

Turquesa and Obsidiana ducked under another fireball thrown at them by the past Loki that had gone after them. They had both been driven several blocks away from where the battle had began, but using teamwork, the two females had managed to get the Unseelie's battle axe away from him. Turquesa still held the weapon in her hands.

"Any plan on getting rid of that guy?" Obsidiana asked.

The past Loki then flew over the position and threw three fireballs at them. The two gargoyles then had to dive out from behind their cover to avoid being hit. Both gasped to see that the fireballs that the past Loki had thrown had lit the building's roof on fire, despite all the snow that covered it.

"The axe might do him harm," Turquesa suggested as she got up from where she had landed, "But we'd need to bring him to short range combat first."

"That would be a problem," Obsidiana sighed, "He hasn't done anything remotely like that since we took his battle axe away from him."

Their thoughts were interrupted when they heard Loki cry out in pain. When they looked up, they saw the past Loki fall onto the fire he had created, his own furs on fire. What surprised them more was that when the past Loki landed, his body completely smothered the flames. Before either could ask what happened, a man in Roman style battle armor appeared in a puff of flame and pointed a Roman gladius to the Unseelie's throat.

"Yield," the man commanded.

The past Loki gazed up at the man in armor and then at the two gargoyles he had earlier been battling. Sensing an unfamiliar power coming from the armored man the past Loki decided to call it quits.

"I yield," the past Loki gulped as he stared at the man's sword, "Don't kill me."

Maximus then sheathed his sword once more and summoned another pilum. After wrapping the metal half of the pilum around the defeated past Loki he turned to face the two Guatemalan gargoyles.

"Who are you?" Obsidiana asked as she eyed the man.

"For now, let us simply say I am a friend," Maximus answered calmly, "I will explain everything later, once these past fey have been returned to their proper place in the timeline."

The two nodded and thanked Maximus politely for his help. Turquesa took up the job of carrying the defeated past Loki. Maximus repeated his statements about wishing to help and urged that they try to regroup with the rest of the patrol team. As the group set out, Turquesa and Obsidiana gliding, Maximus walking and teleporting across the gaps between buildings, the ancient soldier turned his thoughts to how he could possibly explain himself and to certain parts of his plan in dealing with the current battle.

Guinevere and Livia both struggled as hard as they could to try and break free of the energy bands that the past Loki that had gone after them had wrapped them in. The past Loki that was facing them meanwhile stood over the two gargoyles with his axe raised high over his head.

"You know, you were much easier to catch then I thought," the past Loki teased, "Real bad that I have to kill you straight away, because we could have some real fun otherwise."

Guinevere and Livia's eyes widened in fear when they saw the bloodlust in the Unseelie's eyes. They began to struggle even harder to get free as they noticed the forward motion that the past Loki's axe was taking. However, while they were struggling they saw something that perplexed them to no end. A ball of light came out of nowhere and hit the axe as the past Loki swung it forward. They saw what looked like a small explosion and then saw the past Loki falling to the ground and hearing the axe crashing into the stonework of the rooftop. The two Avalon females tried to roll over so they could see who had come to their rescue. Surprisingly it was Gawain and a human woman dressed in mostly black colored Greek style armor.

"Hold still, you'll be free in a minute," Diana said as she used her sword to cut the energy bands that held the two Avalon females down.

"Thank you," Livia said politely, "I was sure we were goners."

"Relax, you have more friends then you know," Diana replied as she returned her attention to the past Loki she had just knocked back.

Diana looked to see that he was struggling to get his axe out of the stonework of the roof. The past Loki finally managed to yank the weapon free, but was forced to stagger backward in a rather clumsy fashion because of it. Diana readied another light sphere and hit the past Loki in the head with it as he staggered backward. The past Loki then dropped to the ground unconscious.

"That takes care of that," Diana commented.

Guinevere and Livia still stared at the woman in armor as she summoned a javelin type weapon, much like the one that was wrapped around the unconscious past Loki that Gawain had with him, and wrapped the metal part of the javelin around the past Loki that she had just taken care of.

"Who is she?" Guinevere asked Gawain.

The Avalon male shrugged, "I don't know. Her name is Diana, but how she and her partner are able to do what they do and why they are here, I don't know."

"Partner?" Livia asked, "Besides us there is no one here but her."

"That would be the Legionnaire," Diana answered as she walked toward the three gargoyles, "He is currently rounding up one of the other past forms of that particular fey."

"Loki," Gawain said, "He's called Loki."

"Regardless, Loki has brought versions of himself forward in time to aid him in his current battles," Diana continued, "We must gather all of his past forms together and defeat the Loki that is actually from this timeframe. The Legionnaire and I will explain ourselves fully once we have the time to do so."

"We will have to hold you to that," Guinevere said sternly.

Diana nodded, "Will one of you be able to manage carrying the defeated Lokis?"

Gawain nodded and picked up the one that Maximus and Diana had defeated upon their arrival at the battle scene and then moved to pick up the one that Diana had just defeated.

"What next?" Guinevere asked.

"We find the present Loki," Diana said clearly as she looked out into the night sky.

The present Loki was hovering in the air not too far away. His face did not look as confident as he wanted it to be. Through his magic he had sensed that several, if not all of his past forms had been defeated. He also sensed that Demona had recovered from their attack on her faster then anticipated. On top of this, he sensed two new beings in the area. They had been touched by magic but in many ways they weren't. Not that the present Loki really cared. His main focus was now on freeing his past selves from whatever prison they were in.

"When you want something done, do it yourself," the present Loki muttered.

The Norse Unseelie then dove down and began flying just over the rooftops to try and intercept one of the groups of gargoyles. He didn't get far before he was suddenly attacked from the side. A magically created lightning strike him in the side and threw him into the wall of a raised structure of the top of a nearby building. He looked up to see Demona, Talon, Wedrington, Zafiro, Claw and Jade standing on the other end of the roof. Two unconscious past Lokis floated in mid air behind them.

"Where is the rest of my clan?" Demona demanded.

"Release my past selves," Loki demanded back.

"And allow someone as foul as yourself to run amok with the ability to tinker with the timeline?" came a new voice from another side of the roof, "I'm afraid that I can not allow your demands to be met, Unseelie."

Both Loki and Demona's group turned to look in the direction of the voice. They saw the rest of their patrol team with the rest of the past Lokis, all defeated. What surprised them however, were two humans. One was male and wearing Roman battle armor while the other was female and wearing more Greek-like armor. Both were holding swords.

"Who are you?" both Loki and Demona asked at the same time.

It was the male that answered.

Maximus turned to Demona and the group with her and said, "To you, I am an ally. One who stands for justice."

Maximus then turned to Loki, "To you and all others who do evil, I am your enemy. Simple as that."

Loki leaped to his feet growling, "I don't know who you are, but I assure you I'll make your death quick."

The Unseelie then summoned his battle axe and charged toward Maximus. The Roman soldier sidestepped at the last minute while Loki slammed his axe into the spot where Maximus had been standing a moment before. The axe blade quickly became trapped in the brick of the roof. Loki scrambled to try to pull his axe out, but Maximus closed with the Unseelie and backhanded him sending Loki into the snow away from his axe.

Loki was slow to get up. The man was strong. Stronger then any human he had fought before. He quickly decided he couldn't win in short range combat.

"You will pay for that," Loki smiled.

Maximus watched as Loki lifted himself into the air and deduced that the fey was now going to long range tactics. Loki smiled as he thought of the armored man burning to death as he created a fireball in one palm and barely restrained himself from laughing when he threw the fireball at him. He then growled as he saw the man summon a large square shield and duck behind it. The fireball bounced harmlessly off of the shield and evaporated into nothing when it hit the snow.

After Loki's attack failed, Maximus lowered his shield, a scutum, and threw a fireball of his own back at the fey. Loki was shocked by the man's move and had no time to dodge the attack. Maximus's fireball hit him squarely in the chest, and the flames quickly engulfed Loki's body. The Norse Unseelie screamed with pain and dropped to the ground a few feet away from where Maximus was standing. The flames died away quickly, but Loki still looked hurt as he staggered back to his feet. His clothes were burned, and only the Phoenix Gate looked like it was in good condition. On top of this, Loki had learned something about the man he was facing.

"You were touched by Ares!" Loki exclaimed, "Or was it Mars? I can never remember what the Greek fey wanted to be called."

"Mars to the Romans, Ares to the Greeks," Maximus answered him and took one swing with his gladius cutting the Phoenix Gate free from Loki's furs, "Diana, the Gate."

The gargoyles and mutates watched as the woman that accompanied Maximus walk halfway across the roof and pick up the Phoenix Gate from the ground. Maximus meanwhile moved closer to be in a position which he could use to kill the Unseelie. Loki knowing that this man and probably the woman with him were given powers by Mars decided that he wasn't going to stick around any longer. Either the man would kill him or one of the gargoyles would.

"This isn't the end!" Loki sneered as he fled off the roof and vanished into thin air before he could hit the street.

There was a long silence that followed as Maximus sheathed his sword and along with Diana began gathering all the past Lokis in one place.

"Wow," Talon finally said breaking the silence, "Who are you really? What was he talking about Mars? What does a planet have to do with all this?"

"I will answer all of your questions at the appropriate time," Maximus answered.

"NOW is the APPROPRIATE time, human," Demona growled, "I for one would like to know who you are."

"Return to your castle," Maximus said firmly looking Demona in the eyes, "These past Lokis must be returned to their correct time in history. Once that is done, I will go there and explain everything."

Diana then handed Maximus the Phoenix Gate. Demona and the others watched as Maximus smiled down at the Gate and then turned and raised it high and spoke the correct incantation for the Phoenix Gate.

"Deflagrate muri tempi et intervallia," Maximus spoke clearly as the Gate activated in response.

There was a flash of flame and Maximus, Diana, and the past Lokis disappeared with it. The group stared at the spot for a few moments before Zafiro spoke up in a weak voice.

"We'd best get back to the castle," Zafiro commented, "We can't stand around here waiting, and the others will need to know what we've seen."

**Castle Wyvern, later**

"And then he used the Phoenix Gate to return the past versions of Loki to the past," Zafiro finished explaining to Titania and Goliath.

The leader of the Seelie Court looked somewhat intrigued by the patrol team's explanation of what happened. Goliath meanwhile looked just as confused by the fact that it took practically the entire patrol team to explain what had happened. Other gargoyles and members of the Seelie Court had also made themselves present to hear the report. The rather complex story left a great amount of confusion on many of the listeners.

"And you still do not know who they are?" Goliath asked.

"We know their names, not much else," Obsidiana answered.

"And he said he would come here?" Titania asked.

"Yes," Demona nodded.

"Then we will wait for him," Titania answered as she moved to the middle of the main hall in the castle.

"How can you trust someone you know so little about?" Demona demanded.

"Because if Loki was right in assessing that this man was 'touched' by Mars," Titania answered, "He would have to be a man of honor and honors his word. I trust Mars that much to chose a soldier wisely."

This only left Goliath and the patrol team in greater confusion.

"But who is 'Mars'?" Talon asked, "Isn't Mars a planet?"

"The planet Mars was named for the fey Mars," Titania answered, "Or Ares if you're Greek. Mars is the name the Romans gave him. Mars is part of what is called the Olympian Court."

"Olympian?" Jade asked.

"After the first Unseelie War, the most powerful of the fey that belonged to what people who study mythology have termed the Greco-Roman pantheon of Gods, Jupiter to the Romans, Zeus to the Greeks, tried to persuade Oberon that the Seelie Court needed to be more involved in the mortal world. To help the younger races," Titania explained, "Oberon, however, would have none of it and demanded that the Olympian fey remain on Avalon permanently. Appalled by this decision in favor of isolationism, Jupiter and the Olympian fey left Avalon and formed their own court, the Olympian Court."

"Was there a war with the Olympians?" Guinevere asked.

"Thankfully no," Titania sighed, "After the Olympians left Avalon, we never heard directly from them again. It is assumed however that they found someone who agreed with their ideas or found someplace from which they could help the younger races without risk of Oberon attacking them."

"Does this mean they will come back to help fight the Unseelies again?" Gawain asked.

"Of that I can not be certain," Titania answered with a sigh, "We have been out of touch with the Olympian Court for so long that it is impossible for any member of the Seelie Court to know what their position is."

The emerald skinned leader of the Seelie Court was silent after that. Many of those gathered in the Great Hall were now curious about what the patrol team had gone through and were equally curious about the report. Goliath himself sighed as he moved to a position to wait. Surprisingly it was Demona who moved toward him.

"I can't believe all this," Demona grumbled, "It's as if she were expecting some sort of hero. I saw the man. He was only human."

"If he's willing to help us fight the Unseelie, I would advise you accept him," Goliath sighed back, "Especially if he was able to defeat Loki as you described."

"I could have defeated Loki as I described," Demona muttered half to herself and then argued, "That isn't the point. He didn't explain himself fully, and we've only got half the picture from Titania. We can not trust him, especially because he is human."

"Give him the chance to earn your trust then," Goliath argued, "After all, you trust Wedrington and he was born human."

Demona only sighed and turned to watch many of the Seelie fey in the room prepare the room for the arrival of this 'Legionnaire'.

**Maddox Technologies**

"And on top of all this, you lost the Phoenix Gate?" Maddox demanded.

"You told me that Mars and all his Greek friends left the Court and have essentially disappeared," Loki yelled back, "The guy who attacked me had definite ties to Mars."

Maddox's eyes narrowed and what he growled next somewhat startled the frustrated Loki.

"So the Legionnaire has been sent here," Maddox said coldly, "That man is beginning to become a nuisance."

"Would you mind explaining to me who this 'Legionnaire' is?" Loki asked angrily.

Maddox looked up to see that Loki was still there, remembering that the Norse Unseelie had spent the period between the two Unseelie Wars trapped within the walls of space and time, he sighed.

"He is someone you will need to be more careful with when you face him next," Maddox sighed, "Sit down and I will explain."

**Castle Wyvern**

Maximus and Diana emerged from the Phoenix Gate in the medieval fortress's courtyard. Diana glanced at the towers the stood above them and then returned her eyes to Maximus.

"We'd best get this over with," Diana sighed.

Maximus nodded and walked forward toward a large set of doors that lead to the interior of the castle. Diana followed closely, but she couldn't help by observe her surroundings. They first entered a fairly large entrance hall and to their surprise there was a man in well kept business suit waiting for them.

"I am Owen Burnett, personal aide to David Xanatos," the man introduced himself, "Am I to assume that you are the Legionnaire?"

"I am," Maximus answered, and then gestured to Diana, "This is my partner, Diana Britannia Heartsis, Praetoria."

Owen looked at Diana for a moment and then nodded and then said, "If you'll come with me…"

Maximus and Diana followed the man through the hallways of the castle until they came to a large set of mechanical doors. Owen then gestured to the doors themselves.

"All you need to do is go through here," Owen explained.

Maximus nodded and walked forward. Diana was close behind. They entered a large and fairly crowded room that was filled with both fey and gargoyles. Maximus also noted that Macbeth and Arthur were even present. They were expecting them.

Standing directly in front of them, behind a large table was an emerald skinned female fey in almost ornate Arab garb.

"Greetings Legionnaire," Titania announced, "To what do we owe the honor of this visit?"

"Am I to presume you are the Seelie Court's leader?" Maximus asked back.

"I am Queen Titania, yes," Titania answered.

"I am Maximus Victus Romus, the Legionnaire," Maximus announced in clear voice and then gestured to Diana, "and this is Diana Britannia Heartsis, Praetoria. We are here to forge a short term alliance to insure the destruction of the Unseelie Court."

"I see," Titania nodded, "I have heard that you have been touched by Mars. Is this true? If so, what is your relation to the Olympian Court?"

"I was made the Legionnaire by Mars, yes, in the year 509 BC," Maximus answered.

"I was made Praetoria by Minerva only recently," Diana added before Maximus could answer the second part of the question.

Maximus nodded, "Yes. We are equal partners with the Olympian Court…"

"Impossible," the Weird Sisters snorted from the sidelines, "You are human."

"That I am, and you three are rude," Maximus shot back, "Do not interrupt a man when he is explaining something."

The Sisters prepared to advance Maximus, and Maximus prepared to draw his sword. It was Titania that prevented a fight.

"Please continue Legionnaire," Titania encouraged.

"As I was saying," Maximus continued, "We are equal partners with the Olympian Court in the service of God."

"God?" Titania asked.

"Specifically the Judeo-Christian-Islamic God," Maximus answered, "It is he the Olympian Court turned to after they left this Court. I will clarify that I will not answer any theological questions, as I am not a theologian. I am a soldier. For any interested the God we serve is not the only god, merely the one we serve. It is our sworn duty to defend what is honorable from that which is not. In this case it means defeating the Unseelie Court."

"I see," Titania sighed, "Am I also to assume that you still have the Phoenix Gate?"

Maximus nodded, "For rules that I can not go into, we are not allowed to bring the Gate into Elysium. Someone who lives here must be charged to be the Gate's keeper."

"And who would you wish to charge with this task?" Titania asked.

"We have received no instruction for the basis of determining the Gate's keeper," Maximus answered, "My only solution would be to return it to the last mortal that possessed it before it fell into Loki's hands."

"Acceptable," Titania replied, "Do you know who that would be?"

"Regrettably not," Maximus sighed, "I will then turn the question to the gathered crowd. Who was the last one to hold the Gate before Loki?"

Maximus watched as a large lavender male gargoyle stepped forward.

"I was," Goliath answered, "But given the circumstances, Legionnaire, I am not certain you planned course of action is entirely wise. Loki was imprisoned in the walls of space and time. The Phoenix Gate was the key to Loki's prison. A while back another fey attempting to buy his freedom from the Gathering tried to steal the Gate from me. To prevent the Gate from wrong hands, I threw the Gate into its own flames. I… am responsible for Loki's escape."

"Did you know he was there before you threw the Gate?" Maximus asked.

"No," Goliath rumbled.

"Then I have no objections to your actions," Maximus replied, "You were intending to prevent the evils you knew from taking it. It is not your fault that you didn't know he was there."

Maximus the held one hand out toward Goliath and presented the lavender gargoyle with the Phoenix Gate.

"You are hereby charged as the Keeper of the Gate," Maximus said authoritatively, "Try to be careful with it."

Maximus heard a few muffled chuckles as some of the people in the crowd caught his joke.

"The terms of the alliance are simple," Maximus announced as he turned to face Titania, "Diana and I will require food and lodgings and that will be enough. We will help with every campaign against the Unseelie."

"Those terms are more then acceptable to me," Titania answered, "I thank you and your partner for coming her to help us."

Titania then bowed respectfully toward Maximus and Diana. Maximus and Diana answered by raising their right fist to their chest.

**The End…**


	17. On the Home Front

All characters appearing in Gargoyles and Gargoyles: The Goliath Chronicles are copyrighted to Buena Vista Television/The Walt Disney Company. I've taken the idea for the Unseelie Court from the TGS. No infringement of these copyrights is intended, and is not authorized by the copyright holder. All original characters are the property of SN.

Note: I'm disregarding the events of the "Goliath Chronicles", with the exception of "The Journey" because I do not wish to use the rest of the "Goliath Chronicles" as canon to my story. This story takes place one day after "The Keeper of the Gate".

On the Home Front

By SN/TVfan

Email: **Sam_Nary **

**Castle Wyvern, Sunset**

Lawrence stood nervously on the tower level on which a fair number of the clan slept. Of course, he was there for only one gargoyle in particular. He stepped back slightly as Caroline's stone form cracked and splintered as she awakened from her stone sleep.

"Lawrence!" Caroline exclaimed as she stepped down from her pedestal, "What are you doing out here? You'll freeze."

"I just came to see you wake up," Lawrence answered, "And besides, I have a coat and it isn't that cold out."

Caroline hugged him tightly, "Ok, I'm up. Let's go inside."

Lawrence smiled and offered Caroline an arm. The blue female took it as Lawrence escorted Caroline in. Meanwhile a small group of Avalon males watched the two as they walked into the castle. While no one saw them, it was clear that there was a slight look of jealousy on their faces.

"I wish she didn't favor that human so much," Ian grumbled.

Elijah nodded, "She should at least give us a chance. I mean, we're gargoyles after all."

"Maybe someone should talk to him?" Lancelot offered, "I mean we can't out right challenge him. He is a friend of Goliath's clan."

"Thanks for volunteering," Ian smiled, slapping Lancelot on his back.

"Me?" Lancelot gasped, "I hardly know the man."

"Yes, that's true," Elijah answered before Ian could, "But you did come up with the suggestion, so you get talk to him. Besides you're smarter then both of us combined."

Lancelot only sighed, "Fine, I'll do it."

With that the group broke up. Ian and Elijah joined the other gargoyles as they went in for breakfast, while Lancelot slowly walked after Caroline and Lawrence. Lawrence and Caroline meanwhile had gone into another section of the castle. Caroline held Lawrence's arm the entire way.

"So, Lawrence, how did your day go?" Caroline asked.

"Went alright," Lawrence answered, "Had fencing lessons, worked hard. I still can't believe that Macbeth and Arthur know all that stuff."

"It's probably a medieval thing," Caroline explained, "All medieval kings are supposed to know how to use a sword."

Lawrence nodded, "Yeah, but it's hard. I almost wish that the Unseelies would let me go to school. But then there's the snow. Half the time I'd following a snow plow."

"Is it that bad?" Caroline asked, "I have seen the snow fall but I didn't think it was slowing down traffic."

"Glad you're asleep during the day, aren't ya?" Lawrence chuckled.

"Only while I don't have to go to school," Caroline chuckled back.

Lawrence chuckled back, "You'll join me and my family for diner tonight?"

Caroline nodded, "I don't have patrol tonight, so yes."

The two smiled and walked into a small dining room where Lawrence's parents had set out a fairly modest dinner table.

The rest of the clan maneuvered into the large dinning hall. Many of them ate quickly, mostly because they were scheduled for he night and didn't want to be late when Goliath assigned the patrol teams. Outside the dinning hall there was a similar argument going on.

"And why not?" Fox protested, "I can still glide and fire electric bolts. I can even use a few minor spells."

"Spells that wouldn't stop an Unseelie," Xanatos pointed out to his wife, "And besides you're still pregnant. I want you here, where neither you nor the child will be in danger."

Fox looked downright depressed. Xanatos remembered that neither he nor his wife were ever people who could sit calmly when there was trouble. They had to do something about the problem. But Fox was now in no condition to go around fighting anybody, good or evil. He couldn't allow her leave the castle.

"I also need you to help Owen keep the company running while I'm out," Xanatos tried to persuade Fox.

"Fine," Fox growled in an irritated voice, "I'll stay here."

**Maddox Technologies**

"What do you mean, no?" Sekhmet demanded, "I want my revenge with Demona."

"Just what I said," Maddox answered, "No. With the Legionnaire here now with another ally, we need to knock the Seelie Court out of this war quickly."

"And if I could get rid of Demona, the Seelie Court would be severely weakened," Sekhmet argued.

"I have no doubt," Maddox nodded, "But you will remain here while Garlon uses our various gates to bring our larger allies to New York. Until they are in position, we are going to wait."

The Egyptian Unseelie only stared forward at Maddox.

"I promise you that you will have Demona and Macbeth all to yourself," Maddox promised, "They will be your targets specifically."

Sekhmet's face brightened slightly and she then sighed, "Thank you, my Lord."

Maddox nodded and watched Sekhmet turn to leave. Maeve was entered just as Sekhmet left. The Unseelie Queen was forced to sidestep in order to avoid barreling into the Egyptian Unseelie as she left.

"I take it your plans for the assault on the Eyrie continue very slowly?" Maeve asked as she glanced back in Sekhmet's general direction.

"They all have their demands," Maddox sighed, "Hers is simply getting her revenge against Demona."

Maeve nodded.

"What is Garlon's current status?" Maddox asked.

"He has successfully rounded up all of the 'abominable snowmen' that roam the Himalayas," Maeve answered, "He is now on his way to the Alps to awaken the dragon's nest. After that he will journey to South America for the Killer Frogs."

"What of the others? The basilisks?" Maddox asked.

"I'm afraid the others have fallen victim to either the Legionnaire or various mortal sorcerers," Maeve answered, "Some gargoyle clans may have even dealt with them before they were hunted down. Garlon has so far found no sign of any of the others."

"Great," Maddox grumbled, "At least we'll be able to finish this once and for all."

**Castle Wyvern**

"We'll do our best, Goliath," Griff stated clearly as he lead his patrol team out into the night.

The griffon-like English gargoyle was leading Octavia, Julia, Brooklyn, Amy, Ethan, Eve, and Ashley on the night's patrol. Coyote had volunteered to go along to provide the patrol team with cover against magic, while Maggie had volunteered to help Xanatos give the group protection against any potential threat from mutates. The Legionnaire and Praetoria were also present as the patrol team was assigned, but like Coyote, they had their own way of travel.

Goliath acknowledged Griff's comment and then dismissed the rest of the gargoyles to go about their planned activities. The Manhattan leader noticed that one gargoyle was missing from the meeting, but decided to ignore it. She wasn't required to patrol tonight.

Demona meanwhile turned quickly to leave the hallway as soon as Goliath dismissed the other gargoyles. She moved quickly and paused only occasionally to glare in th direction of the clones, and Delilah specifically. Hudson, Talon, and Claw were busy trying to get them to go into Hudson's television room to watch a movie and didn't notice the immortal female gargoyle's glares. Wedrington, meanwhile had trouble following Demona as the sky-blue female moved quickly, and practically cutting off a few members of the Avalon clan.

"Demona!" Wedrington called after her, "Demona wait up!"

She stopped as soon as she got into a smaller hallway, which was much less crowded. The two then began slowly walking in the direction of the library.

"What were you looking at before?" Wedrington asked curiously, "You kept looking at something."

"It was nothing," Demona sighed, realizing that he had caught her glaring at the clones, "I was just curious as to where some of the others were going."

"Are you still investigating the old spell books that Xanatos has?" Wedrington asked, "That's about all we've done when we're not assigned patrol."

"There is bound to be something of critical importance to the protection of our species in those books," Demona answered, "And you do not need to help if it bores you. I am quite used to working on my own."

"All the same, I've found you to be fairly pleasant company," Wedrington answered, "I'd even think you're making progress in proving to your clan that you can be trusted again."

Demona blushed at the white lion-like gargoyle's comment, "You may be right, but right now we are facing a bigger threat then humanity and its hatred or mistrust of gargoyles. I admire the goals you've set to accomplish, Wedrington, but they are ultimately futile. Goliath would never allow me to rejoin the clan and I do not truly wish to rejoin the clan."

"So long as you and Goliath aren't trying to tear out each other's throats," Wedrington answered.

The hallways were relatively empty as Goliath and Elisa walked though them. After the patrol team left, the two gargoyles were in search of a quiet room where Goliath could do some reading and Elisa could do some thinking. It wasn't much that they could do, but considering the Unseelie threat to the city, it was about all they could do. It was too dangerous to leave the castle for anything besides a patrol, they could only watch so much television, and considering how many gargoyles were once again living at Castle Wyvern, there were few rooms that were empty.

"What are you thinking about?" Goliath asked.

"I'm wondering, what should we do concerning Demona and Delilah," Elisa answered quietly, "Demona was looking rather aggressively at Delilah again tonight."

Goliath sighed in response. The clones were always a question mark that the clan had to deal with. They were created to help the first Thailog, but they were still innocent. The clan had been uneasy around them at first, but as Talon and the mutates provided them with an education and as the clones got smarter, Goliath's clan and the clones actually started to get along fairly well. Goliath noticed that Elisa and Delilah seemed to get along the best, but then, Delilah only got half of her DNA from Elisa. The other half came from Demona. Both of them had already noticed Demona's hostility toward the half-clone female and now Elisa felt she needed to protect the only female gargoyle from the Labyrinth clan.

"You know that Demona will not change her opinion of Delilah, my love," Goliath sighed.

"I know, but she still has no right to be so rude," Elisa answered, "And if the Unseelies attack the castle, they could end up relying on each other for help. The last thing we need is to have them try to kill each other when they should be working together."

"I agree with you there," Goliath nodded, "I'm still concerned as to whether or not Demona will actually listen. She can be just as stubborn as any gargoyle."

Elisa answered firmly, "I'm not going to make them be 'best of friends', but I want Demona to at least be polite."

"Do you wish me to accompany you when you figure out what your exact plan of action is?" Goliath asked.

Elisa nodded, "Yeah, I'll probably need your help. If she doesn't listen to me, maybe she'll listen to you. But, right now, I'm still trying to figure out how I'm going to handle this."

Goliath nodded and the two continued along their way, until Goliath opened a door and the two disappeared from the hallway.

"This is very good," Caroline commented as she took another fork full of meat and then turned her head to Martha Urbis, "Did you cook this?"

Lawrence's mother nodded, "I'm glad you enjoy it dear. What do you think of the salad?"

Lawrence watched as Caroline's tail twitched nervously before she decided to answer.

"I'm sure it tastes wonderful, but I can't eat it," Caroline answered weakly.

"What do you mean 'you can't eat it'?" Martha Urbis questioned.

While Caroline nervously tried to explain a gargoyle's digestive system without upsetting his mother's feelings, Lawrence moved to answer a series of knocks he had heard at the door. He found the red and silver colored Lancelot standing outside the door.

"Can I help you?" Lawrence asked.

"I would like to speak with you for a few moments, if you don't mind," Lancelot announced quietly.

"Ah, sure, but could it wait a little while?" Lawrence asked, "We're having dinner."

"I must insist that we talk now," Lancelot answered.

Lawrence only sighed, but then nodded and slipped through the door. Caroline glanced up to see the door shut and to see that Lawrence had gone out. She quickly got up to see what was going on.

"If you'll excuse me for a few minutes," Caroline said politely to Mr. and Mrs. Urbis.

"What did you want to talk to me about?" Lawrence asked the Avalon gargoyle after he had left the small dining room.

Lancelot looked noticeably nervous when he began speaking, but he managed to announce what he wanted to say in a firm voice.

"I must ask you to leave Miss Caroline alone," Lancelot announced.

"WHAT?!" Lawrence practically screamed back.

"Your presence makes it difficult for other single males to court her," Lancelot answered.

"She's not supposed to 'court single males'," Lawrence practically growled back, "She's supposed to be dating me."

"It is unfair to the other males for such a policy," Lancelot argued back, "In order for a female to make a choice, she must have a choice. You can't force yourself on her."

"I've never 'forced' myself on anybody," Lawrence yelled back, "And if she has a choice then she can choose not to be with you."

"I highly doubt that," Lancelot growled back, his eyes beginning to take a white glow.

"What the hell is going on out here?" Caroline demanded as she appeared in the hallway, tapping the middle talon on her right foot.

"He's saying I need to share you around or something!" Lawrence exclaimed with an accusing finger pointed at Lancelot.

Caroline's eyes immediately lit up with a bright scarlet light.

"What?" Caroline growled icily.

"Miss Caroline, it is only fair to everyone that you give every male a chance to..." Lancelot began to say, his voice losing its firmness.

"Have sex with me," Caroline interrupted, "I don't know what is with you people. We're fighting these even magic users that could kill us all if they wanted to, and you have nothing better to do then to try and get me in the sack! Not only is your idea stupid for focusing on something that's totally unimportant compared to defeating the Unseelie, it's doubly stupid for the fact that I am not a open female for you to hit on! Lawrence here is my boyfriend. We are dating."

"But... but... he's human!" Lancelot tried to argue.

"Just remember 'Romeo' that I was BORN human," Caroline growled again, "Just because I'm a gargoyle know doesn't mean that I'm going to give up the way I lived before. I will follow the HUMAN dating practices that Lawrence and I were raised in. Not this gargoyle free for all."

"But you have no choice with only him," Lancelot argued, "You would have to take him as your mate."

Caroline's eyes seemed to take a more blood red tone and she punched the red and silver male squarely in the face.

"I've long since chosen to be with Lawrence," Caroline growled, "It's you who's trying to force someone to do something they don't want to. Now... get out of my sight before I knee you in your manhood!"

Lancelot quickly scrambled to his feet and ran off. He was completely unsure of what to do. The human teen was nearly brought to blows and he had angered Caroline to the point where she had knocked him to the ground. She was unmated, but she reacted the way any mated female would have reacted. Lawrence meanwhile stepped back as Caroline began to relax.

"I'm sorry Lawrence," Caroline said quickly, "They've been bugging me about that sort of stuff ever since they arrived, and right now I need to go cool off."

**The Alps, Switzerland**

Garlon carefully hovered over a section of the Alps that wasn't entirely accessible to tourists, and a thick fog had been enough to deter any people that might have been nearby from scaling the mountain. Garlon carefully eyed a side of the mountain's cliff face and used his powers to sense where the energy barrier that kept the 'dragon's nest' sealed away. He then pointed to it to indicate to the various white-furred human/ape-like creatures that clung to the sides of the mountain below him.

The yeti quickly began crawling toward the barrier in preparation to break it down or wait for Garlon to release the barrier. They resembled the Unseelie that was known as Yeti, but unlike the fey Yeti, these creatures only had great strength and could not do magic. Many of them were even transformed slaves who had been transformed by magic.

Garlon sighed in an amused fashion as held his arms toward the barrier before the yeti tried to break it down and injured themselves. A portion of the mountain's rock wall shimmered and then vanished from view, revealing six sleeping winged dragons, all of which were about the same size as the gargoyle beast, Bronx.

"Awaken dragons," Garlon hissed at the sleeping creatures, "Lord Madoc has a job for you to do."

One immediately raised its head and glared at Garlon from behind fiery eyes. It let out a brief screech and then took off into the air, with the other five dragons following close behind.

"That's a good boy," Garlon smiled, "Now, we're off to the rainforest."

With that the mousey haired fey disappeared, taking both the dragons and the yeti with him. They left the mountain peak visibly different. At least a sixth of the very peak of the mountain was now missing with the six dragons awake and their 'hologramatic' chamber turned off.

**Maddox Technologies**

Maeve slowly stepped back from the office building's conference room. Garlon had just sent his progress report in threw a cellphone that he carried with him. Knowing that Madoc would wish to know this, Maeve walked quietly into the hallway to look for the Unseelie Lord. She found him walking towards the break room where the Pack usually hung out when they didn't need their services.

"Garlon has sent in his most recent report," Maeve reported as she walked up behind the Unseelie Leader, "The yeti are gathered and he has awakened the dragons you've kept asleep in the Alps. He is now on his way to Brazil."

Maddox nodded and gave a smile that indicated he was pleased with the situation.

"Very good," Maddox commented, "Has Morrigan reported what the Illuminati's supermen intend to do?"

"No," Maeve answered, "I have reason to believe that they have left the battle against us to the Seelie Court and the gargoyles."

"Pity they didn't join us," Maddox sighed, "We'll deal with immediately after the Illuminati as a whole."

"Yes, my Lord," Maeve acknowledged with a formal bow.

**Castle Wyvern**

Desdemona and Othello quietly walked along the various hallways near the outer walls. While neither were assigned a patrol, each agreed that the walk would be good exercise.

"There's that sound again," Desdemona commented.

The two had heard a strange sound occasionally as they walked along. It was a strange squishing sound that they heard in the courtyard. They only heard it because whatever was causing the noise was impacting the wall that separated the castle's interior and the courtyard outside.

"What could be making that noise?" Desdemona wondered aloud as her curiosity began to get the better of her.

"Maybe some of the clan are outside?" Othello suggested.

"What would anyone be doing out there?" Desdemona asked back, "While the cold will not bother us, most of the clan's personal hobbies are indoor activities."

Othello sighed and moved to a door that lead out to the courtyard.

"We will investigate the noise then," Othello commented as he turned the nob to open the door, only to be hit in the face by a snowball.

"Oh Othello!" exclaimed Caroline's voice, "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to do that."

Desdemona fought the urge to giggle as Othello swept the snow off of his face while the blue female came running.

"What are you doing out here?" Othello demanded.

"I was throwing snowballs to let off some steam," Caroline answered weakly, "I never meant to hit you."

"What has aggravated you?" Desdemona asked, "I thought you were dining with that Lawrence boy you like so much?"

"I was," Caroline sighed, "Until your son's brothers decided I was 'fair game' and tried to drive Lawrence away. That got me real mad, so I came out here were I couldn't damage anything or snap at someone."

Desdemona and Othello watched a Caroline scooped up another snowball in her talons and hurled it across the courtyard. It impacted against a wall with an audible splat. Each then sighed heavily as old memories came back to them.

"What is it?" Caroline asked looking back at the two older gargoyles.

"Nothing serious," Desdemona replied, "This just reminds me of what it was like before Othello and I were mates."

Caroline raised a browridge in confusion.

"As I'm sure you're aware," Othello began to explain, "a gargoyle's dating practices are usually different from those of humans. In some cases, a single male goes after a single female that he wishes to be his mate. In others multiple males may compete for a single female's attention."

Caroline nodded, " Yeah, Angela told me how the trio behaved when she first came here, but what I can't understand is that I've made it clear that my attention is solely for Lawrence and they're still trying to win my attention. And on top of this when I point that out to them they say, 'but he's human'."

"I'd think that comes from the fact that they have never come across a gargoyle/human pairing before," Desdemona guessed, "Although, you and Lawrence are he first for Othello and I as well."

"I still don't understand it," Caroline grumbled, "There's plenty of females in the Avalon Clan, why are they chasing me?"

"There are more males then females in the Avalon Clan," Desdemona guessed, "And since you are not an officially mated female, they want to make sure they have a mate of their own."

"And why the focus on all of this 'mating' stuff?" Caroline yelled out into the night, "We should be focusing on finding ways to deal with the Unseelies."

"We agree with you," Othello rumbled, "And so do Goliath and Elisa, but that doesn't mean that their hormones will quit working just because we have bigger problems to deal with."

Caroline then felt slightly shocked by what Desdemona then had to add.

"If you really want these single males to leave you alone, perhaps it would be best if you took Lawrence as your mate," Desdemona offered, "No gargoyle has ever tried court an officially mated female. That is the only thing that I can think of that will get them to stop."

Othello nodded in agreement, remembering back to his and Goliath's younger days.

**Above Manhattan**

Griff and the patrol team slowly turned around a series of apartment buildings and landed on the roof of another. Coyote hovered a few inches off of the snow while Maximus and Diana stood near the roof's ledge, observing the goings on below them. They had found very little so far with the most dangerous opponent being a common thug trying to steal a parked car.

"Not much seems to be going on tonight," Eve commented.

"Must be the weather," Brooklyn quipped as he held out a hand to catch a few snowflakes, "The Unseelies must have realized that it's too bad out to be doing evil deeds."

"I'd hope you're right," Maximus commented from the side, "I have a bad feeling that there is something they're trying to hide."

"Troubles, Legionnaire?" Julia asked.

"It could be in the future," Maximus replied, "We're just going to have to wait for it."

"Well, we've only got the southern half of the island left," Griff pointed out, "Might as well finish the patrol first and worry about the strategy later."

The others nodded and were soon off. Maximus and Diana watched the gargoyles glide off and Coyote flying with them before teleporting to the next rooftop.

"Will we need to leave Manhattan to deal with whatever trouble they're brewing, Maximus?" Diana asked.

"I wouldn't think so," Maximus answered, "Not with the Seelie Court here. But that doesn't mean that whatever Madoc is planning will be good."

**Castle Wyvern**

"She really let you have it," Ian commented as he watched Lancelot place a damp cloth over one eye.

"I'm beginning to get the feeling that she doesn't want our attention," Lancelot grumbled.

"We've got to keep trying," Elijah insisted, "The clan will need eggs in the future and for that a gargoyle will be needed."

"Why don't you try this time," Lancelot suggested, "I don't want to get socked again."

"Fine, but that means I get her first if she agrees," Elijah answered and then left.

Lancelot then dropped into a chair and muttered quietly to himself, "She'll probably punch him too."

Lex and Candy slowly made their way to the computer room that had usually been set up for Lex's amusement, but the rest of the clan also used it from time to time. Candy was predominantly using it to type up the facts she had gathered on gargoyle biology. Lex wasn't involved in much more then watching the pink female type, but he felt himself becoming more and more attached to her and was becoming less and less willing to leave her alone.

"Thanks for helping me with all this stuff," Candy commented as she began pulling up the word document where she had typed everything down.

"I'm not really doing much," Lex answered, "All I'm doing is sitting here."

"You're keeping me company and helping make sure all my notes are straight," Candy argued.

Candy had only typed a few words down when they both heard the door open and close behind them. Both pivoted in their chairs to see a very confused looking Caroline enter the room.

"I'm glad to see you two are still getting along," Caroline smiled as she walked forward.

Candy and Lex exchanged brief glances before Candy asked, "You okay?"

"I'm fine," Caroline sighed, "It's just the Avalon males again. They won't leave me alone and they won't accept that I'm dating Lawrence. I've tried telling them straight out that I'm already in a relationship, and they still think I'm on the market."

"Oh man," Lex grumbled, "Have you thought of anything new that might get them to stop?"

Caroline shook her head, "That's the problem though. You see, Othello and Desdemona caught me throwing snowballs at the castle wall to blow off steam, and they said the only thing that might get them to leave me alone is to take Lawrence as my mate."

"You don't want to be his mate?" Lex asked.

"Not now," Caroline answered, "We're both way too young to be getting married."

"Are you sure that's the only way to get them to leave you alone?" Candy asked.

"That's what Desdemona and Othello said," Caroline answered, "But Lawrence and I aren't even twenty. We're too young. And Lawrence's parents want him to go to college. Now how can he do that if we become mates?"

"You may just have to sweat it out until you're ready," Lexington sighed, "Because if they won't stop now, even after bluntly telling them 'no', they probably won't stop until you're ready."

"That's what's troubling me," Caroline sighed as she plopped into a nearby chair, "I don't know when I will be ready. When do you two think you will be ready?"

Candy and Lex exchanged surprised looks. The two web-winged gargoyles answered in unison.

"We don't think we're ready, yet," the two said.

"But my question is when will you be ready?" Caroline asked, "And don't try to dodge the question. You two are almost as inseparable as the mated gargoyles."

Lex looked at Candy. He was pretty sure he had grown to love the pink female, but he wasn't sure if he felt he was ready to ask her to be his mate.

"I don't know," Lex finally said, Candy quickly nodded in agreement.

"We'll be ready eventually, but just not now," Candy added, "Maybe you ought to talk to one of the mated gargoyles for a better answer."

Caroline only sighed, "Thanks anyway. I'll check with them."

Demona, meanwhile, was busy looking through an old spell book that had numbered among many of the books that Xanatos had collected. She was slightly disappointed to learn that many of the spells in the book were spells that she had already learned from the Mage, and most of the spells that she found that the Mage hadn't taught her, were useless in either trying to stop the Unseelies or protect gargoyles. Still the immortal gargoyle kept looking. Xanatos had to have acquired something useful.

"Anything useful?" Wedrington asked from an easy chair in a nearby corner.

Demona looked up to glance at the white lion-like gargoyle. He had simply picked up one of the library's more standard reading material. Although, Demona found it impossible to blame him for not helping. Something in her mind screamed at her that Wedrington didn't know magic and there was nothing he could do in researching magic.

"Nothing in particular," Demona sighed, "Apparently, most of the other magic books that Xanatos has collected hold merely copies of spells in Grimorum or hold spells that are next to useless in our situation."

"That bad?" Wedrington asked.

"Unfortunately, yes," Demona sighed as she shut the book she had been studying.

Using a minor spell, Demona returned the book to it's shelf and then stood up and stretched.

"I'm going to take a break and get something to eat," Demona announced and then a sudden thought hit her and before she could restrain herself, "Would you care to join me?"

"Sure," Wedrington smiled, "It's about midnight now anyway."

The two slowly made their way toward the far door, only to run into Goliath and Elisa waiting for them in the hallway.

"Is there something you wanted?" Demona asked quickly.

"Yes, to talk to you for a few minutes," Elisa answered.

"It had better not be long," Demona almost growled back, "We were about to get something to eat."

"We would like you to do a favor for us," Goliath commented, "Nothing very serious."

Demona watched as Elisa recaped her wings to sit in a soft chair that was near the door. The immortal gargoyle sighed heavily as she got the feeling that this was going to take a while.

Noticing Demona's apparent mood, Wedrington turned to the sky-blue female and said politely, "I can wait. I'm sure it won't take too long."

Demona sighed and sat down and said to Elisa, "Fine, Detective, what is it you wish to talk about?"

"It's about your treatment of Delilah," Elisa began, "We've noticed that you have not been very polite to her..."

"I shouldn't have to be," Demona growled, "She is a clone. She isn't worthy of life!"

"We understand that you and Delilah are not about to be friends, and we are not going to force you to be friends," Goliath said, "But it couldn't hurt you to be polite to her. This growling at her when she leads the clones into the dining hall to eat or suddenly volunteering to go on patrols to avoid being in the same building as her needs to stop."

Demona refrained from growling at both Goliath and Elisa.

"Why do you hate her so, anyway?" Elisa asked, "She's done nothing to you."

"She exists," Demona growled back, "That's what she's done to me, to the both of us, Detective. Remember that Thailog created her from both your DNA and mine."

"She didn't ask to be created, Demona," Elisa argued, "None of the clones did, and the others don't seem to have the problems you have with their clones."

"I am not the others," Demona snarled back, "Delilah carries my DNA and yours. I do not want someone who not only carries my DNA but also represents the betrayal that the original Thailog perpetrated around."

"Will you at least treat her with respect?" Goliath asked firmly, "She did not ask to be created and the last thing we need is for gargoyles on the same side to be fighting each other."

Demona glanced at Wedrington, who looked like he was agreeing with Goliath on this and sighed.

"I will try," Demona sighed, "But I will promise nothing."

With that, Demona and Wedrington left, leaving Goliath and Elisa in the library. The two were silent for a few moments.

"Well, that actually went better than I anticipated," Elisa commented finally.

Goliath sighed, "Well that's good. Hopefully she does behave around Delilah from now on."

Elisa nodded, "We should probably talk to Delilah too. It might help if Delilah avoided Demona as much as possible."

Caroline looked into a third empty room in search of one of the mated pairs for advice. She had to figure out a way to resolve the problems she was having to deal with concerning the Avalon males that just seemed to think she was free to 'court'. But it had to be a way that avoided her getting married. She and Lawrence were too young. Part of her mind did want to have the ceremony as soon as possible, but she knew they were too young. There had to be another way. As the blue female continued searching for someone to give her advice, she bumped into Brooklyn and Amy, who had just returned from their patrol.

"Oh," Caroline said weakly, "I'm sorry."

"No harm done," Brooklyn answered, "How are things?"

Caroline only uttered a frustrated growl.

"What have they done now?" Amy asked before Brooklyn could ask why she growled.

"They want me to dump Lawrence in favor of them," Caroline growled in a frustrated manner, "I just want them to leave me alone!"

"Who are 'they'?" Brooklyn asked confused.

"The unmated Avalon males," Amy whispered into Brooklyn's ear, "They've seen Caroline, Candy, and me as potential mates and have not tried to hide their romantic intentions. Caroline has been their chief target, partially because I don't think they want to challenge you or Lex."

"But Lawrence seems to be a fair target for them to challenge," Caroline growled.

Brooklyn sighed heavily, "It's like when Angela first came here."

"Yes, I've heard that story already," Caroline replied, "Not your best moment, but you got over it. Do you have any ideas as to how I can get them to stop?"

Brooklyn thought for a moment and then said weakly, "Have you considered taking Lawrence as your mate? They wouldn't dare challenge a mated pair and Goliath would gladly perform the ceremony."

Caroline sighed again, "Othello and Desdemona already suggested that."

Brooklyn and Amy suddenly looked hopeful. Caroline was quick to see this and then decided she need clarify her statement.

"But I don't that would be a good idea," Caroline said quickly, "Both of us are too young to consider getting married."

"Broadway and Angela were our age when they got mated," Brooklyn pointed, "Othello and Desdemona were our age when they were mated. Age is not a real concern."

"Of course it is!" Caroline argued, "What if we're not right for each other? What if we have problems?"

"You love him don't you?" Brooklyn asked.

"Of course I do," Caroline answered, "He's been my boyfriend for a few years and he has been so sweat ever since I was transformed. I don't know what I'd do without him."

"Does he love you?" Amy asked.

"I'm pretty sure he does," Caroline answered, her voice becoming more uncertain, "I don't know for sure."

"You'll need to talk to him first then," Amy said, "But I don't think you two would be wrong for each other. In fact, I've always thought you two made the perfect couple."

"Great," Caroline sighed to herself, "Everyone I've asked wants to set me and Lawrence up."

Caroline then turned to ask the two beaked gargoyles her own question.

"So where do you two stand on the whole issue?" Caroline asked, "Are you ready to get married, since everyone seems to think I am?"

Both Amy and Brooklyn paused to look at each other. It was Brooklyn who answered her.

"We haven't given it any thought," the brick red male answered.

"I don't think we're ready either," Amy added, "I mean, we've only just started dating."

Caroline nodded and then looked at a nearby clock hanging on a nearby wall and sighed again.

"It's too late to talk to Lawrence now, he's probably asleep," Caroline sighed.

"That will give you the time to make the right decision," Brooklyn told her, "In the meantime, you can hang with Amy and me. We were just going to watch a little TV."

"You don't mind me hanging out?" Caroline questioned.

"No," Amy smiled, "You're my friend I don't mind, and Brooklyn can keep the Avalon males away from you."

Caroline answered with a weak laugh while Brooklyn shook his head, fighting back the urge to chuckle.

**Amazon River Basin, Brazil**

Garlon could easily hear the grumbling that the yeti were making in protest to the tropical climate they were in. They were creatures of much colder climates and the high heat that existed in many rainforest climates only made their thick fur seem thicker. The dragons from the Alps didn't seem to mind the heat though. Garlon assumed that they were like the gargoyles, practically oblivious to the worst cold and able to tolerate extreme heat as well.

"Will you keep it down!" Garlon practically yelled at the yeti, "Our ultimate destination has more then enough snow, but we have a task that must be accomplished here."

The yeti quit their grumbling in fear of being killed by the Unseelie's magic. Garlon meanwhile approached a large fern-like plant near a small stream. The mousey haired fey imitated a croaking sound that frogs made and then stood still for a few moments. After a few moments several small creatures began hopping out of the muddy water and from under the plant. All of them were small and brightly colored. They looked like the Poison Dart Frogs that naturally lived in the Amazon rainforest, with one exception. Long snake-like fangs grew from their mouths and protruded out in front of their lower jaw. These were the Unseelie killer frogs. They were able to secrete a poison that could easily kill a man on contact from their skin and the venom that flowed through their fangs was even more potent.

Garlon quickly generated an energy sphere around the killer frogs and levitated them into the air. The killer frogs were the Unseelie's creations, but were no more then simple animals and could be dangerous to the Unseelies themselves. The yeti then began to gather around him as Garlon kept the energy sphere close to him.

"Time to get back to the fun stuff," Garlon laughed as he teleported away from the location, with the rest of the Unseelie creatures with him.

**Castle Wyvern**

"You found nothing?" Titania asked as Griff and Maximus stood before her.

"Nothing other then one or two street criminals," Griff answered, "There was no sign of the Unseelie."

Titania sighed and turned to Maximus. The Roman soldier stood at attention and was still wearing his armor.

"Have you any thoughts, Legionnaire?" Titania asked.

"I believe this entire chain of events is a lull," Maximus answered gravely, "They will return soon and probably with a good plan as well. I would recommend that all our available forces be on maximum alert for the next several nights."

"This sounds a lot like the blitz," Griff grumbled.

"All wars are the same in that regard," Maximus sighed, "It is only the methods and equipment that change."

"I'll inform my court of your suggestion," Titania nodded, "And I trust that you, Griff can inform Goliath?"

"Right-o," Griff answered, "And we'll be ready when they come."

Griff then turned and headed toward the clan's living areas, while Maximus turned and walked back toward Diana, who was waiting for him near the doors.

"Will we be ready for them, Max?" Diana asked nervously, "What if they attack the populace instead of the castle?"

"I doubt they would do that, unless they intended to draw Goliath's clan out," Maximus answered, "And at the very least you and I will be ready. You did quite well in your first battle against those past Lokis."

"They weren't expecting us to intervene then," Diana said again nervously, "They will now we are involved next time."

"I can easily take you through some extra training techniques if you do not feel you are ready," Maximus offered.

"Thanks, Max," Diana answered, still sounding nervous, "I just think that I need it."

The two then began walking down a hallway toward an exercise room.

"Did you find her?" Ian asked as Elijah entered the room in which Ian and Lancelot were waiting.

Elijah shook his head, "No. I looked all around, I couldn't find her."

"Look again," Ian insisted, "Look harder."

Elijah was about to answer when he heard a coughing sound coming from behind him. He turned to see a stern looking Gabriel and a sterner looking Angela standing in the doorway.

"Gabriel! Angela!" Lancelot exclaimed in surprise.

"Here you three are," Angela commented coldly.

"What is it?" Elijah asked, hoping their brother and sister didn't know what they were doing.

"I've just had an interesting conversation with my parents," Gabriel began, "One that interrupted my night with Ophelia."

Gabriel then focused his attention on Lancelot, "And do you know what it was about?"

Ian, Lancelot, and Elijah suddenly got a very bad feeling about the entire situation.

"They told me that their new younger sister has been harassed by certain male members of my clan," Gabriel said firmly.

The three males now new that both Gabriel and Angela knew. And from the looks of things, neither was very happy.

"We can explain," Ian said quickly.

"We're listening," Angela growled in a voice that reminded the three males of her mother.

"Well, you see," Lancelot began, "She has no mate and there are so few gargoyles left that we thought it would be fair if she were to give us a chance to court her."

"What did you do when she said 'no'?" Gabriel asked firmly.

"She never had a male that she was currently courting, so we assumed she wasn't serious," Ian answered.

"At least until she punched me," Lancelot added.

"What about this Lawrence Urbis?" Gabriel questioned, "From what I've heard and seen, she's been 'courting' him."

"He's human!" Elijah protested.

"So?" Angela growled, "I will remind you that if it weren't for the Mage, Elisa would be human and still mated to Goliath. Would you have a problem with Goliath mated to a human?"

Ian, Elijah, and Lancelot looked at each other for a moment and shook their heads very quickly. Gabriel was the largest member of the Avalon clan and Goliath was easily bigger then him. To some degree, they also feared the possibility of getting into a fight with him.

"So was alright for Goliath to love Elisa while she was human, but it's wrong for Caroline to love Lawrence now that she is a gargoyle?" Angela asked.

The three males found themselves able to answer. Either way they answered, they would be in trouble. If they said yes, they would be judged as selfish for allowing a male to love a human while demanding that a female love them. If they said no, they essentially condoned Caroline's relationship with Lawrence.

"Also remember that Caroline, along with Amy and Candy were born human," Angela pointed out, "They aren't about to blindly choose 'the gargoyle way' over the way they were raised. Caroline was dating Lawrence when she was human. Do you expect her to give that up now that she's a gargoyle?"

"No," Elijah sighed, knowing they were beat, "But it's just not fair..."

"I can't believe this!" Angela roared, interrupting Elijah's train of thought, "You're behaving exactly the way the Manhattan trio did when I first got here. You're acting like hatchlings trying to woo a female that doesn't want to be wooed."

"They were rude to you?" Lancelot asked.

"That is besides the point," Angela growled, "I had told them that you were more mature then this, and that helped get them to stop. Now you come here and prove that I was wrong to say that."

The three suddenly looked very depressed. They all looked down at the floor while Angela sighed and began to walk toward the door.

"I want you three to stay away from Caroline, unless it is directly related to helping defeat the Unseelie," Gabriel said firmly, "And tomorrow night, all three of you are to personally apologize to Mr. Urbis for your behavior. Am I clear?"

"Yes, Gabriel," the three answered quickly.

Gabriel and Angela then turned and left. They were silent as they went.

"So what were you and Ophelia doing?" Angela asked, finally breaking the silence.

"We were just talking," Gabriel answered, "Nothing super serious. I assume you were helping Broadway cook?"

Angela smiled, "Yes, but remember, he's cooking three meals a night for roughly four clans, the Manhattan, the Avalon, the London, and Guatemalan. He needs the help. Besides, I bet you couldn't even boil water."

Gabriel laughed, "Yeah, and the sad thing is that Broadway and I are pretty much equally matched for strength. He's a good friend."

Angela nodded, "Hopefully, all this business concerning our brothers chasing Caroline is now over."

Gabriel nodded, "Yeah, I don't know what I'd do if they don't listen to me. I can't banish them for wanting to find a mate."

Angela nodded back, "It's a tough pickle, alright. I better go tell Caroline that her 'pursuers' should leave her alone now. Have a good night."

"You too," Gabriel smiled as the two then parted ways, Gabriel heading back toward his mate, while Angela walked in the direction of the room where she thought Caroline was.

Ian, Elijah, and Lancelot merely sat in shame in the room they were in for the rest of the night. They never wanted their leader to be angry with them, and they certainly never wanted Angela to become angry with them.

The clones quietly left the small TV room they had been sitting in all night. The movie they had been watching was a rather long one, and was paused occasionally when one of them had to use the restroom and when Maggie returned from the patrol. As Delilah began to lead them toward the clan's dining room to get a small bite to eat, she saw Goliath and Elisa approach from another passage.

"Hello, Elisa," Delilah greeted politely.

The tan female nodded and returned the greeting, "Hello Delilah. Have you had a good night?"

"Yes," Delilah nodded, "Since we didn't patrol, we watched a movie. It was good."

"I'm glad you had fun," Elisa smiled, "Can we talk to you for a few moments?"

"Okay," Delilah answered.

The rest of the clones continued to walk toward the dinning room, leaving Delilah alone with Goliath and Elisa. Talon, Maggie, and Claw waited patiently near the door that the clones had just walked out of.

"We've talked with Demona concerning her behavior toward you," Elisa began, "And while we agree that she was being rather rude, you must remember that Demona is haunted by the first Thailog's betrayal of her."

"I didn't ask him to make me," Delilah pouted.

"We know," Goliath rumbled, "But Demona trusted that the first Thailog would be her mate and loyal to her. When he revealed that he had made you to replace her, she was very angry. It is that anger that has caused her to behave the way she has."

"We told her that she can't keep treating you the way she has," Elisa added, "She promised that she will try, but she hasn't made any promises that she will leave you alone, and I'm positive she won't apologize."

"She's mean," Delilah growled slightly.

"I know," Elisa sighed, "It would probably be best if you tried to avoid her for awhile. Keep the clones at a table far away from her and take patrols that she's not assigned to. She's less likely to be mean if she isn't near you. It isn't the best solution, but it's the only one we can manage right now. Can you do that?"

Delilah nodded, "I can do that, Elisa. I will stay away from Demona."

Elisa patted Delilah's shoulder and said, "That's good. You have a good night now."

"You too," Delilah answered as she trotted after the rest of the clones, "You too, Goliath."

Elisa and Goliath then moved to converse with the mutates to try and get a report on the night's patrol.

"How did everything go tonight?" Goliath rumbled as Maggie and the other mutates stepped forward.

"It was very quiet, Goliath," Maggie answered, "There were only a few street criminals that we apprehended. Nothing more dangerous then a street thief or mugger."

The lion-like mutate then tried to remember what Goliath and Elisa had told her earlier about the two armored humans that had come to aide them.

"The Legionnaire and his partner are concerned that the Unseelies are in the process of planning something very big," Maggie added.

"Yes," Goliath replied, "Griff has already reported the Legionnaire's theory. I'd tend to agree with him. There were times when the Vikings would ignore the castle for a while to prepare a stronger attack later."

"This whole thing makes me nervous," Talon grumbled, "I mean they all wield powerful magic. Why do they need to make extensive plans? They've got us outclassed and from what I've been told, Titania's court outnumbered."

"It is probably some attempt to try and win easily," Goliath sighed, "We will need to be ready and we will need to be able to defeat them."

"And we will," Elisa encouraged.

**Maddox Technologies**

"Are all the creatures in their containment compartments?" Maddox asked as Garlon finished his report of his mission.

"Yes, they are ready for when you plan to launch the final attack," Garlon answered.

Maddox smiled, "Very good. We must be ready to move quickly. Send for Mr. Sevarius, I would like to know the condition of the mutate slaves."

"Yes, my Lord," Garlon bowed and turned around and left the room.

Maddox then pressed a button under his desk and activated a holographic projector that showed a three-dimensional picture of the Eyrie Building and Castle Wyvern at its top. He studied the image intently and tried to see if there was any way to get through the shield from the outside.

"We will need to take out the shield generator if we are to get past the shield," came Maeve's voice from the door.

Maddox looked up to see the Unseelie Queen standing in the doorway.

"I figured you'd be studying that hologram," Maeve commented, "I've paid close attention ever since Xanatos revealed that he had the technology. None of us are powerful enough to break the shield on our own and if the entire court were to break the shield, we'd lose any surprise in our attack."

"Good thing we have the 'back up' plan then," Maddox smiled, "All we need to know is the shield generator's location."

Maddox returned his attention to the hologram, staring intently at it. Maeve looked at it for a moment and then stepped toward Maddox.

"You do realize, my Lord, that that hologram only shows the exterior of the Eyrie Building," Maeve pointed out, "We do not know the building's interior."

Maddox nodded, "I have a meeting with Jackal later. The Pack was employed various times by Xanatos Enterprises, he probably knows the shield generator's location. If that proves unsuccessful, we can still take hostages when we attack. Despite having a clan of gargoyles and an army of robots at his command, Xanatos must employ some security forces, and some of those security men must know the generator's location."

"That would tip our attack off to the Seelie Court and to Xanatos," Maeve warned.

"We will just have to risk it then," Maddox said firmly, "It will be impossible for us to sneak into the building before our attack to try and scout out the generator's location."

Maeve nodded in agreement as the two Unseelie leaders heard a knock at the office door. Both looked up to see Alex Sevarius standing in the doorway.

"You wished to see me, sir?" Alex Sevarius asked.

Maddox nodded, "Yes. I want to know the condition of the mutate slaves. Will they be ready for my future plans?"

"None are injured, if that is what you're inquiring," Alex Sevarius said nervously, "And I believe they will be perfectly healthy for whatever you have planned."

Maddox smiled, "Thank you. That will be all."

Alex Sevarius turned and quickly left.

**Castle Wyvern, After dawn**

A small emerald orb, about the size of a large marble flew through the air and hit a small cloth dummy that had been set up in the main exercise room in the castle. The dummy exploded in a ball of flame and was quickly gone.

"You're getting much better Fox," Titania commented as she watched her daughter's training session.

Fox meanwhile watched Titania extinguish the flames that had been started, panting. Despite all her pleas to try and do more then just sit around the castle taking her magic lessons with her mother or watching Alex, Fox was feeling more and more pregnant every day. She wasn't really showing yet, but somehow she could almost sense the child's location inside her. Fox also felt that her magic lessons were in some way affecting her connection to the child. It seemed to be getting stronger.

"If and when Madoc does any sort of major attack, I want you to be with Alex in the safest position you can find," Titania instructed, "I fear I will not be able to have you fully able to use your powers in time, and with your current pregnancy, I do not wish you to be in a situation where you could be harmed."

"You're starting to sound like David," Fox commented, "All concerned that I can't fight because I'm pregnant. I'm not that far along."

"True, you haven't yet completed your third month," Titania commented, "But remember that it would not take much for an Unseelie to kill the child if it were to come across you during a battle."

That made Fox gulp nervously as Titania continued.

"But don't worry," Titania said calmly, "I will do everything I can to keep you safe. And I'm sure your husband will do the same."

That eased Fox's nerves slightly.

Meanwhile, Lawrence and his family sat around a small table eating breakfast. Lawrence looked very depressed and yet frustrated about something.

"I've never seen her so angry," Lawrence commented, "And that's including all the trouble her parents caused her."

"I still can't believe they out right asked you to break up with her," his mother commented, "You two have been dating for three years."

"It made her so mad," Lawrence sighed, "I wish I could found her again before I went to bed. I just wanted to try and make her feel better."

"I don't know what could," his father commented, "after how they behaved, except for maybe an apology from them, which you can't give."

"There's got to be something I can do to help her," Lawrence commented weakly.

"Do you love her, son?" his mother asked, "I mean do you really love her?"

Lawrence looked up with a confused look on his face.

"Of course I do," Lawrence answered, "Why do you ask?"

"I was thinking, that maybe, the two of you ought to get married now," his mother suggested, "Then those other males wouldn't have any reason to bother her."

Lawrence and his father nearly spit out their food.

"But we're too young," Lawrence exclaimed, "I haven't even graduated high school yet."

"And he still has to attend college," his father added.

"She's been through a lot," his mother argued, "she's lost her humanity and any life that she could have had with it. You're about all she has left of her former life, and it's obvious that she loves you."

"I know, she's told me that several times," Lawrence answered, "But that doesn't change the fact that we're too young to be getting married."

"It's just a suggestion as a way to make her happy," his mother answered, "It's not a very good one, and it comes from the hopeless romantic in me, but it's all I have."

Lawrence was quiet for a few moments.

"Do you want to marry her?" his mother asked.

"Yeah, but I didn't think that the subject would come up now," Lawrence answered, "It's just that I don't think we're old enough."

"Your father and I were your age when we got married," his mother answered firmly, "We did wait to have you, but we did get married at your age."

"So you wouldn't forbid me from marrying her if I wanted to?" Lawrence asked.

"Only if you wait on trying to have kids and as long as you finish your schooling," his father answered.

Lawrence sighed, "I guess I'll need to think about this and possibly talk to Caroline."

"Take your time," his father cautioned as Lawrence got up to go do some thinking, "You never want to make a mistake concerning these things."

**Dusk**

It had been a long day by the time Lawrence came to stand behind Caroline's pedestal. He had done a lot of thinking and now, all that was left was to talk with the one he loved. As the sun set in the west, she broke free of her stone shell with the rest of the gargoyles and shook the snow that accumulated on her stone form off of her.

"Good evening, Caroline," Lawrence greeted.

"Good evening, Lawrence," Caroline returned the smile, "But what have I told you about being out here? You'll freeze!"

Amy, Brooklyn, Candy, and Lex waved to the two as they went in the door on their level to go inside for breakfast. The other gargoyles also made a quick departure for the interior of the castle.

"I'll be fine, Caroline," Lawrence answered, "I just came to ask if you were free to talk with me for a little while."

"What is it, Lawrence?" Caroline asked as she began to lead her boyfriend inside.

"It's about what happened last night," Lawrence sighed.

"I'm sorry I lost my temper the way I did," Caroline answered quickly, "I was wrong there."

"It wasn't your fault," Lawrence insisted.

"He's right," interrupted a new voice.

Both Caroline and Lawrence turned in surprise to see Lancelot standing on the same level as them. Caroline had to restrain herself from letting her eyes glow.

"My brothers and I have not behaved properly, and I'm afraid I've been the worst of the group," Lancelot said meekly, "And for that I apologize. If you do not wish us to be potential mates, then we shouldn't try to force you to change your mind."

"Of course," Caroline answered harshly, "Hopefully you've learned a lesson from all of this. And I do accept your apology."

Lancelot smiled weakly, and quickly went inside. Caroline looked to Lawrence, as if to ask what that was about. Lawrence only shrugged.

"Let's go inside and talk," Lawrence offered and the put on a joking grin, "before I freeze."

"Now you're using your brain," Caroline laughed back.

The two made their way into the clan's television room that Hudson normally used while Lawrence carefully tried to explain what he had been thinking about and what his parents had suggested to him. What surprised him was the shocked look on Caroline's face when he had finished.

"Everyone's trying to set us up," Caroline mumbled.

"What's that?" Lawrence asked.

"Othello and Desdemona suggested we become mates, and Candy and Lex, and Amy and Brooklyn all seemed to agree," Caroline sighed, "And now your parents gave you the same suggestion."

"So you've been thinking about this too?" Lawrence asked curiously.

Caroline nodded, "I have."

"What do you think about it?" Lawrence asked.

"I think we're too young," Caroline answered, "But recent events with Angela's brothers have made me question if I should ignore that. Just because one has apologized won't change what they're thinking. If we were mated, they wouldn't bother us."

"So you want to get married?" Lawrence asked.

"Do you?" Caroline asked back.

"Sometime," Lawrence answered non-definitively, "I'm just not sure as to when we should do it."

"Then my answer is yes," Caroline smiled, "I'll marry you."

Lawrence hugged her tightly, "When do you want the ceremony?"

"As soon as Goliath can spare the time to declare us mates," Caroline smiled back, "I'm not sure if we're ready, but I don't want to be chased until we are ready."

The two shared a brief kiss before Caroline relapsed Lawrence from her grip.

"I'd better let Goliath know what we've decided," Caroline then said.

"Yeah, and I gotta tell my folks," Lawrence answered.

The two hugged again and turned to head in opposite directions. Caroline looking for Goliath, Lawrence looking for his folks.

Caroline found the dinning hall empty as she entered. The clan must have eaten a very quick breakfast. Goliath was probably already assigning the night's patrols. She then began to wander through the clan's sections of the castle looking for the large lavender male. As she rounded a corner she was suddenly stopped by a deep voice.

"Caroline," came Goliath's voice from behind her.

Caroline turned to see the Manhattan leader standing in the hallway. To her surprise, he wasn't looking stern.

"Yes, Goliath," Caroline answered nervously, "Were you looking for me?"

"No," Goliath answered, "I was just on my way to the library when you walked by. Are you alright? You look startled."

Caroline looked rather embarrassed by Goliath's comment. She was fine, but she was also extremely nervous concerning what she had to tell the clan leader. The timing wasn't the best for a wedding and if Goliath didn't approve, she was afraid the large gargoyle would harm her in some way.

"Well, Goliath," Caroline began to answer, twirling one of her toe talons, "You know I love Lawrence correct?"

Goliath nodded.

"Well," Caroline continued nervously, "Lawrence and I want to be mated, or married, or whatever it's called."

Goliath nodded giving have a smile, "Very well. When do you wish to have the ceremony?"

"You have no problems with it?" Caroline asked.

"Elisa was human when we agreed to get married," Goliath answered, "I have no problems with gargoyle-human relationships, and you were once human yourself. It wouldn't be right for me to force you to love another."

"Thank you, Goliath," Caroline said quickly, feeling relieved and all the while shaking Goliath's hand, "We were hoping as soon as there was time to perform it. A private ceremony would be preferable."

"There must be witnesses," Goliath said, "To recognize that the mated pair."

"Lawrence's family will be there, and I'm sure Amy and Candy wouldn't mind being there," Caroline answered.

"Very well, if that is your wish," Goliath nodded, "I will inform them. You collect your mate and his family."

Caroline smiled again and ran off in search of Lawrence. Goliath meanwhile began to look for Elisa. He would need her help to get everything ready.

It didn't take much to set up the ceremony. While Goliath did have to make an announcement to the clan that Caroline and Lawrence were to take each other as mates, there was not much else that needed to be done. Amy and Candy smiled from ear to ear with excitement. Lawrence's parents looked somewhat proud and were gave Caroline a very polite smile.

"Welcome to the family," Mr. Urbis whispered in her ear.

"Thank you," Caroline smiled back.

They then moved to sit next to Candy and Amy while Caroline moved toward a central position in front of Goliath to stand with Lawrence. She wished she could have worn a wedding dress for the event, but she knew that with her wings and tail, any dress would have to be seriously altered, which she didn't have the time to do.

The ceremony itself was much shorter then Lawrence's parents expected. Goliath opened with a short speech on how the union was the first in which a gargoyle and a human would be mated together. He also explained that Elisa had already been transformed by the Mage by the time that they had been mated. He then questioned Lawrence about his choice in a female, and Lawrence firmly answered, "Yes." Goliath then questioned Caroline about her choice in a male, to which Caroline also answered, "Yes." All in all, the entire ceremony took about ten minutes. It finished with Caroline and Lawrence sharing a kiss while the blue female wrapped Lawrence in her wings.

"I love you, Lawrence," Caroline smiled.

"I love you too," Lawrence smiled back.

The two remained close for the remainder of the night. They did, however, find that the night did not go quietly. Various members of every clan searched them out to give their congratulations and wish them well. The Guatemalan and London gargoyles were very polite, while the Manhattan clan ranged from polite "congratulations" to enthusiastic pats on the back. The Avalon clan, meanwhile, was somewhat divided. The females were simply polite and a brief. The males were polite, but many of them looked somewhat jealous that Caroline had chosen Lawrence over them.

"I'm glad we're done with all of this," Caroline smiled as the last of their visitors left, "No more unwanted males will chase me, and I can have you all to myself."

"I know," Lawrence smiled, "But I'm beginning to feel pretty tired. I think all turn in for the night."

"I'll walk you to your room," Caroline offered and the two walked out.

Again Lancelot, Elijah, and Ian watched the blue female and her mate depart. This time they were silent and looked rather defeated. Slowly they turned and left the room, their conversation quickly switching from pursuing a mate to what they would have to do to defeat the Unseelie. Everything was peaceful at the castle as the remainder of the night passed.

**The End**


	18. Battles

All characters appearing in Gargoyles and Gargoyles: The Goliath Chronicles are copyrighted to Buena Vista Television/The Walt Disney Company. I've taken the idea for the Unseelie Court from the TGS. No infringement of these copyrights is intended, and is not authorized by the copyright holder. All original characters are the property of SN.

Note: I'm disregarding the events of the "Goliath Chronicles", with the exception of "The Journey" because I do not wish to use the rest of the "Goliath Chronicles" as canon to my story. This story takes place one day after "On the Home Front".

Battles

By SN/TVfan

Email: **Sam_Nary **

**Castle Wyvern**

"You are certain this can defeat the Pack's 'Dreadnought'?" Titania asked Xanatos as the two stood quietly in an interior room inside the castle.

"He stands the best chance of winning," Xanatos answered, "From what we know, magic has no effect on that thing and the clan possess no natural weapon that could tear through its armor at long range."

"What of the robots you already have?" Titania questioned as she returned her gaze to the work Owen was doing in front of them, "Your 'Steal Clan' has the advantage of numbers."

"They do, but they're nowhere's near as smart as Dreadnought appears to be, and in order to improve their speed and agility I had to lighten the amount of armor used on each one," Xanatos explained, "Bullets from a hand gun of any kind won't do much to them, but anything more powerful can destroy them. We need to match Dreadnought's armor and firepower in order to beat that thing."

Xanatos then indicated to Owen to activate the robot with one hand. Owen nodded and then began disconnecting the various wires and fuel lines from the large robot that stood in front of them. Once that was done, Owen lifted a compartment in the robot's back and inserted a programmed disk into the robot's disk drive.

As soon as the disk was inside the robot and Owen shut the compartment that he had opened, the robot came to life. Xanatos and Titania watched as the robot's optics light up with a robotic red light, closely followed by mechanical humming as the various other pieces of technology inside the robot came to life. Slowly, the robot emerged from the shadows, the room's lights revealing the mostly yellow paint job on the robot.

"Coyote 4.1 is designed and equipped to deal with Dreadnought," Xanatos finished.

Titania eyed the robot for a few minutes, "It never ceases to amaze me why you prefer to name this robot after the wild dog from which one of my Court takes his name."

"Just following the pattern I started with the Pack, even though they've remained evil and I'm at least trying to reform," Xanatos replied.

"Speaking of 'reforming'," Titania then said firmly, "As a test to see if you are and will not betray the Seelie Court's honor guard, what is the primary and secondary functions of this robot?"

Titania was then startled to hear the robot speak to her with Xanatos's voice.

"My primary function is to destroy two robots called 'Shadow' and 'Dreadnought'," Coyote 4.1 announced, "My secondary function is to insure the protection of the Wyvern Clan."

"I have always been a man of my word," Xanatos added, "When I promise to do something, I do it."

Titania watched the black furred wolf-like mutate for a few moments, nodded, and then left, leaving Xanatos, Coyote 4.1, and Owen alone in the room.

"Madoc is likely to use more then just the Pack against us," Owen spoke up as he approached his boss, "Coyote 4.1 can not defeat the entire Unseelie Court, especially since Madoc would be willing to drop the entire Eyrie Building on him."

"We're still going to have to rely on the Seelie Court and our own strengths to deal with the rest of Madoc's forces," Xanatos sighed, "Although there is something I want you to do, when the final battle comes."

"Yes, sir?" Owen acknowledged.

"I want you to lead the Steal Clan," Xanatos instructed, "They should be able to help the clan deal with the Unseelie's mutates. You can use your powers as Puck as well."

"Yes sir," Owen nodded.

"Very good," Xanatos replied, "You can take Coyote 4.1 up to his monitoring compartment."

"Yes sir," Owen answered.

**Maddox Technologies**

Maddox stood staring at the holographic projection of the Eyrie Building. Time was running short. He had followed the news broadcasts in which every meteorologist in the country was at a loss for why much of the New York City area was under a constant snow storm. Although none of them even guessed that there were 'magical beings' involved yet, but he had heard some rather strange theories. Considering that his previous battles with the Seelie Court and the gargoyle clans had made headlines, although they were greatly altered from what had actually happened, Maddox knew that the human population might begin to suspect something and he had no time to battle both the humans and Titania at th same time. He had to destroy the Seelie Court now.

"We still have no way of getting through the shield," Maeve said calmly as she came up behind the Unseelie leader.

"I believe will have to use some trickery to defeat it," Maddox answered as he shimmered behind a flash of emerald light to be replaced by Madoc, "Unfortunately, it will also be taxing since we will have to shield our presence from Titania and her followers."

"What are you planning?" Maeve questioned.

"We will sneak the Court into the Eyrie's basement while the Pack and our slaves attack the building from the outside," Madoc said coldly, "That will provide enough of a distraction that the Seelie Court will not know we are there until it's to late. We will destroy the shield's generator from the inside and then our combined forces will destroy them from two sides."

"I will send for Jackal," Maeve nodded with an evil smile.

Madoc nodded and moved to sit behind his desk. He didn't have to wait long as Jackal soon entered the room looking rather angry.

"Am I to assume you want me to attack the Eyrie Building?" Jackal demanded, unfazed by seeing Maddox in his true form.

"Yes," Madoc answered simply, "You, the rest of the Pack, and my mutate slaves are to attack the Eyrie Building just before dusk."

"Have you figured out any way to break through that shield that Xanatos has?" Jackal demanded again.

"No," Madoc answered, "But do not worry, you will not need to be concerned with the shield."

"And why not?" Jackal yelled, "Not even Dreadnought is strong enough to defeat that shield and by the time the sun sets the gargoyles will wake up and we will be defeated."

Madoc stared back at Jackal with an extremely stern look on his face.

Jackal then backed off, realizing that the Unseelie leader was determined and not wanting to be killed, Jackal sighed, "Fine, but could we get some help? A member of your Court, perhaps? We won't defeat that shield on our own."

"Unfortunately, I can not spare you anyone," Madoc answered, "But I assure you that the shield will not concern you for long."

Maddox then leaned forward and added in a stern voice, "Your forces should already be gathering on the roof of the building. Go now. The sun is getting close to setting."

Jackal nodded and turned to leave the room, although Madoc could see that the male cyborg did look nervous as he left. Madoc, however, was not concerned with that. Jackal would gain much more confidence when his Court had destroyed the shield generator from the inside of the Eyrie Building and the Pack and the mutate slaves were free to attack the castle from the outside, hopefully before the sun had set and some of the gargoyles could be killed in their sleep.

Madoc looked up when he saw Maeve enter his office a few moments after Jackal had left.

"Garlon is gathering the Court in the basement," Maeve reported, "We should be ready to leave in a few minutes."

"Excellent," Madoc answered as he turned around to look out the window, "We will finally have domination over the Third Race."

Maeve nodded as the Pack and the mutate slaves, along the creatures that Garlon had earlier collected began leaving in the direction of the Eyrie Building. Wolf and the yeti had to be carried by the rest of the Pack members and a few of the mutate slaves. Regardless, they would all prove quite useful.

"We'd better get going, before they arrive at the Eyrie Building," Madoc commented as the two Unseelies vanished in a flash of light.

**Castle Wyvern**

Owen quietly entered a small monitoring station on the inside of the castle. He had made it one of many things on a daily list of things to do ever since the Unseelies had begun causing trouble. Inside the room was a series of monitors that were connected to the Eyrie Building's radar system and a series of television screens that were connected to the various cameras that Xanatos had set up all over New York.

Owen first checked the radar monitors to see what was flying in the air. What he saw on the screens slightly frightened him. There were more then one hundred radar contacts heading toward the Eyrie Building. When he checked the television screens, he saw that it was all of the Unseelie's mutate slaves along with the Pack, and various other creatures. He immediately pressed a button that would connect him to Xanatos over the building's intercom.

"Mr. Xanatos," Owen said clearly, "Sir, we have a situation."

"What is it?" Xanatos asked back through the intercom, sounding somewhat frustrated.

"The Unseelies are sending all of their mortal allies and slaves toward the castle, sir," Owen answered.

Xanatos gave his next order quickly, leaving Owen no time to say anything else, "Start the Armageddon Lockdown System. The sun hasn't set yet!"

"Yes sir," Owen replied as he turned and pressed a single red button on another panel, "Do you have any other instructions, sir?"

"Get the Steal Clan ready," Xanatos instructed, "We're going to need numbers for this one."

"Yes sir," Owen answered.

Fox was meanwhile looking through the library at that time. It was mostly something to pass time between her magic lessons or meals or anything good on television. As she pulled one old book off of a shelf she glanced at the window to see the Eyrie Building's shield raise itself around the building itself.

"What the...?" Fox began to ask as she set the book down and walked toward the window.

Her golden mutate eyes narrowed as she gazed through the window and tried to make out what had prompted the shield to be raised. In the distance she could faintly make out several winged shapes gliding on the horizon.

Fox took a nervous step back and then, regaining her focus tried to use a trick Titania had taught her.

"Mother," Fox spoke telepathically, "I think we're about to come under attack."

"What?" Titania answered back.

"David has just had the building's shield raised," Fox replied, "And I can see several shapes gliding toward the castle in the distance. The sun hasn't set, so it can't be the gargoyles, and the mutates haven't left the castle."

There was a pause for a brief moment before Fox heard Titania's voice in her head again.

"I understand," Titania answered, "Your husband has just reported this to me over the intercom. I will need your help in rounding up my Court, if we are to repel these attackers. Once that is done, I want you to guard Alex and the clan's human friends and family."

"I understand," Fox answered weakly, silently wishing she could fight, "I'm on my way."

Madoc smiled as he watched the Eyrie Building's powerful shield go up from inside the building's basement. He had been able to just barely get the entire Unseelie Court inside the shield before Titania could have had the shield raised. It was close, but he succeed none the less.

"I've lost contact with Dreadnought and Shadow," Maeve informed him.

"Only because the shield has been raised," Madoc dismissed the comment off hand and then turned toward Garlon, "And soon, the shield will fall."

Garlon snapped to attention as Madoc turned his full attention to the mousey haired Unseelie.

"Garlon, go forth and find the shield generator," Madoc commanded, "Take one of Xanatos's employee's hostage if you must in order to gain the location. Once you've found the location destroy the generator and kill any hostage you had to take. Remember that you are to shield the presence of your powers until after the generator is destroyed."

Garlon bowed, "Yes my lord."

Madoc then watched as Garlon ran off up a flight of stairs.

"And now the final battle begins," Madoc said evilly.

The other half of the Unseelie's attack had just arrived at the Eyrie Building as the shield went up.

"We're not going to be able to blast our way through that shield," Jackal grumbled as he began using his jets to hover in mid air in front of the shield, "Dreadnought, lead the others that are carrying those of us that can not fly or glide to ground level."

The large robot's dome turned so that the optics under the dome were facing the male cyborg, and soon after a green light came from under the dome. Jackal then watched as the large robot lead Shadow and several mutates down to ground level and let Wolf and the yetis land in the alleys between the various buildings. Once they returned, Dreadnought immediately began firing on the shield with his laser weapons. The shield easily absorbed every impact.

"We might as well join them," Hyena cackled as she activated her own laser weapons.

Jackal watched as the various mutates began firing their electric blasts, and then reluctantly joined in the attack.

On the castle's battlements Xanatos stood watching the Unseelie slaves and allies attack. He noticed that some of the creatures that were attacking were more lizard-like then any mutate he knew, and as he watched them breathe fire on the shield, Xanatos could only assume that these were dragons of some sort. He was extremely thankful that so far the shield was holding.

"You wouldn't happen to have an ace up your sleeve, would you, Xanatos?" came Talon's voice from behind him.

Xanatos turned to see Talon and the other mutates approaching him. All were looking at the forces attacking them.

"We don't have the numbers to deal with that many mutates," Talon mumbled.

"And all I have right now is the Eyrie Building's shield," Xanatos sighed, "Owen is bringing Coyote 4.1 up to the battlements and preparing the Steal Clan, but that will take time."

Maggie then looked out to the west and then returned her gaze to the building's attackers.

"It's a good thing the sun has nearly set then," Maggie commented, "Things should be better once the gargoyles wake up."

Claw and Talon nodded in agreement.

"I hope so," Xanatos sighed.

The next sound that the black furred wolf-like mutate heard above the sound of the attackers attacks were the sounds of metal gears moving back and fourth in a pattern that indicated that it was moving at a steady walking pace. Xanatos turned to see Owen leading the new Coyote robot out of its compartment and into the courtyard. Xanatos immediately turned and leaped to glide down to their position.

"I didn't know you invited guests," Coyote 4.1 said in a humorous voice.

"I didn't know they were coming," Xanatos answered, "Now, Coyote, I have some very important instructions for you, so pay attention."

The large robot turned to give Xanatos its full attention.

"The castle is currently under attack by all of the Unseelie Court's slaves and allies," Xanatos explained, "Including the Pack. Right now, the main emphasis of the plan is to make sure the gargoyles live to see sunset."

Coyote 4.1 nodded and looked at the towers and battlements on which the various gargoyles rested.

"While Dreadnought and Shadow number among the attackers, you are not to engage them before sunset, unless they manage to take out the shield," Xanatos instructed, "Do you understand me, Coyote?"

"Do not attack until after dusk," Coyote 4.1 nodded while lifting one arm and giving Xanatos a thumb's up, "Roger."

Xanatos nodded and then turned his attention to Owen, who had accompanied Coyote 4.1 into the courtyard.

"What is the status on the Steal Clan?" Xanatos asked the blonde assistant.

Owen carefully rearranged his glasses and then said, "All the programming has been downloaded. They should be ready and in position within the next ten minutes."

"And the exo-frame?" Xanatos asked.

"I should have it on and ready to go in five minutes, sir," Owen answered.

Xanatos nodded and looked in the direction of the western sky, "Very good. Carry on, Owen. Time is of the essence."

"Of course, sir," Owen answered.

**Elsewhere inside the Eyrie Building**

Bruno and a member of his security team walked quietly through one of the Eyrie's hallways, a floor above ground level. The security team member paused briefly to look out a nearby window. The man barely flinched when he saw that the Eyrie Building's shield was up.

"Hey, do you think anyone notices that?" the man asked while pointing out the window.

Bruno stopped and then looked out the window himself. Like the security team member, he noticed that the few cars that were trying to struggle through the snow that was flying everywhere were not even slowing down, which would indicate that people were taking an interest in the large energy shield that surrounded the Eyrie Building and the castle at its peak.

"It's nothing," Bruno dismissed the comment off hand, "With all the snow flying around, people couldn't stop if they wanted to, and besides, most of the people that live and work near the Eyrie Building are probably used to it by now."

"Used to it?" the man asked.

"Yeah, I got a neighbor who five or six years ago was always asking me about the things that go on around here," Bruno answered, "I had to keep it all secret, so I just told 'em that it was secret. After a while he quit asking questions, and like an idiot I got curious. I asked him why, and he only answered that so many weird things went on around here that he would be wasting his time trying to pay attention to them."

"But the building is under attack," the other man said in a slightly shocked voice, "Wouldn't you be concerned if you saw a building under attack?"

"Not if it happened frequently," Bruno answered, "Those people have probably seen so much weird stuff going on around here that they don't care anymore."

Bruno then gave the man with him a very stern look, "Now quit worrying about what is going on outside. The building is under attack and we may be required to help. So keep on your alert in case Mr. Xanatos calls us to help repel the attackers."

The other man didn't have a chance to say anything before a new voice cut in.

"Unfortunately, neither of you will get the chance to 'repel the attackers'," the voice announced rather harshly.

Bruno turned to see a mousey haired man standing behind the other man. The man generated a small emerald ball of energy and knocked Bruno back several feet. The last thing he heard before he lost consciousness was his partner screaming for help.

**Great Hall**

"I've managed to contact all the members of your Court that you told me to," Fox's voice said telepathically inside Titania's head, "they are heading to the great hall now to receive your instructions."

"Very good, Fox," Titania answered, smiling inwardly at the progress she had made in teaching Fox her powers, "Now, take Alex and the clan's human friends and family and find a safe place. I don't want you to get hurt."

"Yes mother," Fox said in a depressed voice.

Titania didn't get a chance to try and answer her daughter's comment as an intercom buzzed an alarm to her. Sighing the Seelie Queen moved over to it and pressed the 'talk' button.

"This is Anastasia Renard," Titania spoke clearly, "What is it?"

"Whatever is attacking us from the outside isn't alone," came Bruno's voice, "Some mousey haired man just abducted one of my security men."

"Mousey haired man?" Titania asked.

"Yeah, threw some kind of energy at me from his hand," Bruno added.

"Garlon," Titania thought harshly, and the instructed into the intercom, "Gather any available Iron weapons that you have and get your team a safe place out of the way. These attackers are out of your league and will kill you if you just attack them."

"Yes ma'am," Bruno answered, and the line went dead.

The sound of the intercom shutting off was closely followed by the sound of boots hitting the stone floor. Titania turned, assuming it was one of her Court, but found that it was the Legionnaire's partner, Praetoria.

"Yes?" Titania asked.

"I trust you heard the security man's report," Praetoria asked.

Titania nodded.

"Good," Praetoria continued, "Maximus has sent me to guard you..."

"It is quite possible that the entire Unseelie Court has infiltrated the building," Titania said firmly, "I will not cower when my enemies threaten my family or my Court."

"You misunderstand me," Praetoria said back, "Maximus doesn't wish for you to cower. He wants you to hold nothing back."

Titania stared at the woman who had been empowered by Minerva. The woman in Greek style armor continued.

"Maximus and Macbeth have already begun to head to a position where they can head off Madoc's forces," Diana continued, "His intention is to buy you time to get your Court ready. If Madoc has invaded with his entire gang of followers, he must be stopped before they can shut down the building's shield."

"Agreed," Titania nodded.

**The Battlements**

Xanatos watched quietly as the sun continued to slowly set over the western horizon. None of the Unseelie Court's mutate slaves or their allies were able to even rattle the shield, and Xanatos felt confident that the shield could withstand these attacks for the rest of the night. He breathed a sigh of relief when he heard the sound of stone cracking, which signaled that the gargoyles were waking up.

The clan was completely startled by what they saw as each gargoyle burst free from its stone shell. Xanatos had raised the Eyrie Building's shield, and the black furred mutate was watching what looked like the Pack and the Unseelie's mutate slaves attacking the building. A large yellow robot stood beside him.

"The gargoyles are awake," Coyote 4.1 said to Xanatos, "Should I attack Dreadnought now?"

"No," Xanatos answered, "We'll wait and see if the shield can hold. If it does, we won't have to fight, and if it doesn't, they'll have to be exhausted from the effort."

"Yes, sir," Coyote 4.1 acknowledged.

"What's going on?" Candy asked on the tower, "And who's that with Xanatos?"

"The robot Coyote," Goliath rumbled as he and Elisa leaped down from the top level of the tower, "Xanatos has rebuilt him to deal with the Dreadnought robot."

"What should we do?" Gabriel asked, "The Unseelies appear to have sent all their slaves against us."

"We will wait until we know more," Goliath answered the Avalon leader, "Forcing a battle now would be unwise, especially while the shield is still holding."

The leaders of the London and Guatemalan clans quickly agreed. They turned to find Talon and Maggie standing behind them.

"Good, you're still here," Talon panted, showing that he had been running to get to them, "As you can see, we're under attack."

"Yes, by the Unseelie Court's slaves, it appears," Griff said.

"Yes, and the Pack as well," Maggie added.

"Xanatos's shield is holding easily under their attack," Talon said, indicating with a hand to the shield that had been erected around the Eyrie Building, "Xanatos wants to see how long the shield will hold before doing anything to fight them."

"He hopes to wear them down," Octavia guessed.

"That's what I think, yeah," Talon nodded.

"We should split up," Goliath then instructed, "Spread out around various portions of the battlements and the courtyard. There are enough of them that if we stay in one spot, we will be an easy target, if and when the shield falls."

The others nodded and the gargoyles quickly scattered, gliding in different directions and landing on different sections of the battlements. Demona and Wedrington slowly made their way to a small watchtower on the eastern most section of the castle. Wedrington gulped nervously as he looked at the mutates gliding around the outside of the shield.

"You will do fine," Demona encouraged, "They will be weak when they eventually break through."

"You don't think Xanatos's shield will hold?" Wedrington asked.

"I know it won't hold," Demona said in a growling voice, "It's been defeated before, and even though it was done by much more powerful foes, Xanatos's track record indicates that the shield will fall."

"You had better hope it holds," came a trio of voices speaking in unison.

Both gargoyles turned to see the Weird Sisters hovering behind them.

"Demona is required to come with us," Selene spoke first.

"The Unseelies have hatched a very devious plan," Luna continued.

"And her strength in magic will be essential in defeating them," Phoebe added.

"She is to come with us," the Sisters then finished in unison.

Demona looked at Wedrington and seeing that the white English gargoyle was nervous said, "Don't worry. I'll be fine."

Wedrington then watched as Demona began to follow the Weird Sisters inside the castle.

"I hope so," Wedrington sighed weakly.

Merlin meanwhile headed to a portion of the battlements on the castle's western most section. The blue griffon-like gargoyle watched through the shield with a focused intensity.

"They represent a great battle to come," came a voice from behind him.

Merlin turned to see the Lady of the Lake.

"Yes," Merlin nodded, "Hopefully we will be able to defeat their attack."

"I hope so also," the Lady of the Lake agreed, "But you will not be able to aid them in their fight."

"What?" Merlin interrupted.

"The Unseelies have divided their forces, Merlin," the Lady of the Lake continued, "Their slaves are attacking the castle from the outside while their Court appears to be attacking from the basement up. Your powers will be needed to help defeat them. Their slaves are, for the moment, the least of our worries."

Merlin glanced at the attacking mutates and then returned his gaze to the English fey before him.

"Very well," Merlin sighed, "What is Arthur's status, if I may ask?"

"Arthur guards the clan's human friends and family," the Lady of the Lake replied, "Macbeth has joined the Legionnaire in an attempt to buy us time."

The Lady of the Lake then turned and began to head into the castle. Merlin sighed and slowly followed her.

Goliath and Elisa, meanwhile glided down to a position next to Xanatos.

"We've got one hell of a party started, don't we?" Coyote 4.1 asked in a slightly humorous voice as the two gargoyles landed.

"Indeed," Goliath rumbled, unfazed by the fact that robot Coyote's voice was still identical to Xanatos's.

"Do you have anything that might help us out?" Elisa asked, "There aren't enough of us to take on all of those mutates and the Pack as well."

"Owen should be bringing the Steal Clan up to help us and Titania and her Court can't be far behind," Xanatos answered, "At least that's what I hope."

As Xanatos said 'hope', Owen, wearing Xanatos's exo-frame entered the courtyard with the Steal Clan robots following him. He placed the Steal Clan units in the center of the Courtyard and then walked up a flight of stairs to join Xanatos on the battlements.

"The Steal Clan is ready, sir," Owen announced.

"Very good," Xanatos answered.

"Their lasers aren't set to 'kill' are they?" Elisa asked, "The mutates are enslaved and it wouldn't be fair to kill them."

"I will mind my power settings," Coyote 4.1 said, "After I have defeated Dreadnought."

"I can easily make sure that none of the Unseelie's mutate slaves are fatally wounded," Owen answered, "I have linked the Steal Clan's laser settings to the exo-frame's."

"Excellent, Owen, we have a chance," Xanatos answered, "What's Titania's status?"

"That's the other thing, sir," Owen sighed, "Apparently the Unseelie Court, or at least Garlon, have managed to sneak into the building's basement. She and the Court are now moving to intercept them. The Legionnaire, Praetoria, Macbeth, Demona, and Merlin are with them. Arthur is aiding your wife in protecting the clan's human friends and family."

Xanatos sighed heavily and then said, "It just got a lot more important that we defeat these attackers first."

Garlon meanwhile had managed to 'persuade' the man he had captured to reveal the exact location within the Eyrie Building where the generator to the building's shield was. The mousey haired Unseelie grinned as he looked at the giant device. It was humming away as it generated power and sent it to the shield projectors.

"Please, let me go!" his prisoner begged.

"All right," Garlon smiled as he lifted the poor security man up and physically threw him into the gears of the turbines that were part of the shield generators.

Garlon grinned evilly as he listened to the man scream for a few moments and as the turbines tore the man to pieces. It did nothing to shut off the generator, which continued on as if nothing was wrong.

"Now for the real damage," Garlon chuckled as he generated an orb of emerald energy in his palm.

Garlon teleported out of the room at the same moment that he threw the orb of energy at the generator. The impact of the emerald sphere against the shield generator resulted in what Garlon hoped for, a massive explosion. Garlon, himself, worked to keep himself from laughing as he watched the walls and ceiling shake in the next room as the generator was destroyed.

"Better meet back up with Lord Madoc," Garlon chuckled to himself.

Madoc, meanwhile, smiled as he watched the shield go down from his group in the basement. Madoc then turned to the rest of his Court.

"It is time for our Court to avenge the defeat we suffered at the hands of Oberon!" Madoc announced, "Now, Oberon is dead, and it is my turn to rule! The Seelie are weak and can not win. Advance up to the Castle. Destroy the Usurper's followers. The Usurper, herself, is to be reserved for Maeve and myself."

There were several great cheers that rose up out the crowd of Unseelies. Soon after, they all began rushing for various stairs or elevators, anything that would lead up. Madoc and Maeve slowly followed behind. After a few minutes and going up two flights of stairs, they came across Garlon, who came running up to them.

"My Lord and Lady," Garlon said with a bow, "The shield generator has been destroyed. The shield should be down."

"I knew you would succeed," Madoc smiled, "I have another chore for you."

"Name it, my Lord," Garlon bowed.

"The gargoyle clan's human friends and family are probably taking shelter somewhere in the castle," Madoc instructed, "They are to be killed. I intrust you with this task."

"It will be done," Garlon bowed.

**Outside**

Wolf crouched in the shadows with the yetis cowering close behind him in an alley across from the Eyrie Building. It had been boring while the building's shield held, Wolf's eyes suddenly bulged open when he saw the shield suddenly collapse.

The wingless wolf-like mutate turned to the yetis behind him and said in a growling voice, "All rrrrright, now's ourrrr chance. Let's go!"

Wolf then sprinted out across the street, ignoring the honking of car horns as they tried to avoid hitting the mutated member of the Pack. The yetis roared in agreement with Wolf and ran after him. Many of them hurdling cars as they did so. They found Wolf looking frantically for a flight of stairs, his furry tail slowly twitching.

"Need stairrrrrs," Wolf growled, "Kill Goliath."

Wolf suddenly saw what he was looking for and bolted straight ahead. The yetis ran after him as hard as they could.

**The Battlements**

"Damn," Brooklyn growled as the shields fell.

"Did they overwhelm the shield?"Amy asked as she clenched her own fists.

"No," Brooklyn growled again, "From what I remember of the last time the shield was taken out, it sputtered for a few moments. It didn't just shut off. Someone must have damaged it from the inside."

Brooklyn and Amy watched as both sides prepared to do battle with each other. Owen activated his jet packs and lead the Steal Clan into the air, and they took up positions between the mutates and the gargoyles. Coyote 4.1 began to hover over his section of the battlements and clearly looking as if he was going to attack Dreadnought and Shadow. The mutates were all preparing to dive down on the gargoyles and the Pack looked ready to blow up the entire castle. Brooklyn gulped at the impending chaos that was about envelop the castle and turned to Amy. The yellow female looked almost as nervous as he did.

"Amy, whatever happens tonight," Brooklyn said slowly, "I just want to say... I love you."

Amy turned her head in surprise, not expecting Brooklyn to say anything like that.

"What did you say?" Amy asked.

Brooklyn didn't a chance to repeat his statement as an electric blast landed between the two of them, forcing them to leap from the tower they were on. Both began gliding through the air as three mutates pursued them. One was cat-like and covered in jaguar-like spots. The second was canine in appearance, but it didn't look like any wild or even domesticated dogs that Brooklyn or Amy could recognize. It was mostly black but it also had several large patches of tan brown and white fur. The third was also a cat-like mutate, although it too was hard to identify. It was covered in mostly dark grey fur, but it did have black stripes that seemed to wrap around its body.

"What did you say?" Amy called out to Brooklyn.

"Never mind that now," Brooklyn answered as they dodged another set of electric blasts, "Let's see how well these guys can glide."

"I'm right with you," Amy nodded.

Coyote 4.1, meanwhile, lunged forward after the shield went down. The semi-sentient robot had Dreadnought in his sights and had every intention of destroying the Pack's larger robot. The Coyote robot watched as Dreadnought prepared its own weapons for a fight, while Shadow charged for the castle battlements. Activating a few minor laser cannons on his shoulders, Coyote 4.1 fired at Shadow. The shots hit the smaller robot, but succeeded in only throwing it into Jackal. He then fired his main lasers at Dreadnought, which only pushed the large Pack robot back to the roof of another building.

Hyena meanwhile watched as the large yellow robot charged, knocked Shadow and Jackal back and fired on Dreadnought.

"Coyote?" Hyena gasped.

"That is my name," Coyote 4.1 answered, never taking his attention away from Dreadnought, "The new model."

"Coyote, it's me, Hyena!" Hyena ignored the growing battle around the castle's battlements and flew after the large robot as it continued to attack Dreadnought.

Coyote 4.1 finally glanced over his shoulder to look at Hyena for a moment.

"Any previous attraction that my previous incarnations had for you was purely accidental," Coyote 4.1 said firmly, "and my computer wiring has been repaired."

"What!?" Hyena growled, "You don't..."

Hyena then extended the metallic claws on her hands and charged forward screaming, "I'll kill you!"

Hyena didn't do well in her attempt to try and get even for the new Coyote not caring for her. Without even looking away from the Dreadnought robot that he was fighting with, Coyote 4.1 backhanded the female cyborg, sending Hyena flying down onto the roof of a nearby building. She slowly pulled herself up and shook the cobwebs out of her head.

"Are you quite finished with your ideas of romantic adventure?" came Jackal's voice from beside her.

"He doesn't love me," Hyena said angrily.

"Of course it doesn't," Jackal growled back, "One, it's a robot. An intelligent robot, mind you, but still a robot. It has no true concept of emotion. Two, it was built by Xanatos, and we've been fighting him and his gargoyles of late haven't we. You didn't think he'd build a new Coyote robot that would want to help us topple him?"

Hyena only growled back, "I'll kill him for his betrayal."

"Xanatos?" Jackal asked.

"No!" Hyena screamed, "Coyote!"

"No," Jackal insisted, "It knocked you about three hundred feet away from it and didn't feel a thing. Let Dreadnought and Shadow deal with Coyote. We have gargoyles to deal with."

Hyena only grumbled, "Fine, but I get to kill Xanatos then."

"Fine by me," Jackal answered as the two cyborgs took off into the sky toward the Eyrie Building and its castle.

Caroline tensed up as the shield went down. The Unseelie's mutates were now free to attack them, and they dove down on the castle's defenders. Caroline dodged as two electric blasts hit the castle bricks around her feet, but only dodged into another set of electric blasts that were fired shortly after. The blue female roared with pain and fell into the courtyard.

"So this is where the disrespectful child calls home," came her father's voice as Caroline struggled to pull herself back up to her feet.

"I'm not your 'child' anymore," Caroline growled, her eyes glowing red as she faced the two mutates, "You abandoned me and I don't want to live under your 'authority' ever again!"

"Maybe so," her father growled, "But a child must always obey and respect his or her parents. You haven't obeyed or respected us, so now we will have our revenge. And our masters want you dead anyway, so it's a bonus."

Caroline roared and lunged forward and punched her father in the face, knocking him back about three feet. She then turned to face her mother, not noticing that when she turned she whacked her father again, this time with her tail. Her mind was battling between two conflicting thoughts. One was angry thoughts that took some joy in being able to release some of the pent up rage that her parents had left her with over the years. The other was regretful because she had to come to blows with her parents. Despite all her anger aimed at them, Caroline really didn't want to fight them. She just wanted them to leave her alone. But while they were still Madoc's slaves, Caroline had no choice. They would fight until the spell that Madoc used could be undone. She had to fight.

Caroline slowly advanced on her mother, while her father was still recovering on the ground. She ignored the fact that her eyes were still glowing red and a low growl was escaping her throat. The grey fox mutate only snarled in response and fired an electric blast at her, which brought her to the ground.

"Such disrespectful behavior," her mother shock her head, "I think we will enjoy this."

**Maddox Technologies**

Alex Sevarius carefully moved about the lab that Maddox had provided him. Although, since all the Unseelie Court's human slaves had been mutated, there was really little need for him. He was thankful that he hadn't been enslaved, but the clone of Anton Sevarius was now beginning to look for a possible escape from the Maddox's employ. His thoughts were interrupted by several voices, one of which he recognized.

"This is where you found him?" one voice asked another.

"It was a few floors down, but yes," answered the voice he did recognize, it was Fang.

"So why are we here?" a female voice asked, "This is where those guys that Goliath and his clan are all worried about hang out."

"Have you seen anyone around here?" the first voice questioned.

"No," the female voice sighed.

Alex Sevarius was just about to open the door to the lab when it opened to admit Fang and a few gargoyles. He carefully looked over each one. One was a large black male that looked exactly like Goliath, except for the different coloring, medieval/modern armor, red eyes, and white hair. The next was a red female in 'punk' style clothing. He also noticed that she was carrying a rather thick book. She was followed by a large grey male, almost as large as the black male the lead the group. The next male was somewhat interesting. It had two horns growing through its hair that leaned forward and looked slightly like insect antennae, and its tail was very thick, and growing thicker as it got toward the end, resembling a wasp's abdomen. The male was colored yellow and black. It was followed by another red gargoyle, although this one was a male and lacked any horns. He was followed by a black and grey, mostly lack male with short devil-like horns growing from his forehead.

"Alex Sevarius, I presume?" the large black male with red eyes asked with a slight grin.

Alex Sevarius nodded.

"I am Thailog," Thailog announced, "Not the original that the one you are cloned from created, but I am Thailog none the less."

Thailog then gestured to each of his followers, "You know Fang already, and this is Holly, Butch, Buzz, Rage, and Lucifer."

"Anton told me about you..." Alex Sevarius began.

"Yes," Thailog nodded, "Are the Unseelies here?"

Alex Sevarius shook his head, "No, they've all gone to attack the Eyrie Building."

"My brother must be having lots of fun," Thailog laughed to Holly before returning his gaze to Alex Sevarius, "You do know that the Unseelies will probably enslave you before too long?"

The human clone nodded, "I assume they will do something like that before too long."

"I have a proposition for you," Thailog answered him, "You can join us. You will of course serve me, but you won't be enslaved and free to leave whenever you wish."

"You can defeat the Unseelies?" Alex Sevarius asked skeptically.

"I will need your help," Thailog replied.

"Fine," Alex Sevarius agreed with a sigh, not wanting to be Maddox's slave.

Thailog smiled, "Very well. You will realize that have a strict 'no humans' policy. Miss Holly here can fix that problem, however."

"Him?!" Holly suddenly blurted while pointing a talon at Alex Sevarius, "He doesn't look like he could even take Carrot Top!"

"I hate those commercials," Lucifer grumbled in the background.

"Maybe so," Thailog answered, "But he is intelligent. We will need him."

"You won't back down on this?" Holly asked.

Thailog nodded.

"What are you doing?" Alex Sevarius demanded as Holly sighed and opened the book she was carrying.

"Relax, Mr. Sevarius," Holly instructed, "You're about to get a pair of wings, although I will warn you, this will hurt."

The blood red female then began to chant in Latin and point at Alex Sevarius with one hand. Alex Sevarius watched as emerald energy then shot up from the book that Holly was holding to a crystal on a necklace she was wearing to her outstretched hand. He then screamed with pain as the energy shot from her hand to wrap itself around him.

**Eyrie Building**

"Do you think we should have waited for the others?" Macbeth asked calmly as he and Maximus moved down another flight of stairs.

Maximus had brought his javelin, pilum, and square shield, scutum, with him in addition to his gladius. Macbeth was only armed with an electric blaster and a broadsword. Both men moved slowly, as if expecting danger at any moment.

"No," Maximus answered, "This 'mousey haired fey' came in and abducted one security guard and left a witness. If you're intending something to be secret, you don't leave witnesses to warn others that there has been an attack. And you don't send a single soldier on missions that aren't secret. They've brought their whole Court here."

They rounded a corner. Maximus raised his shield in a defensive manner and readied his javelin to repel an attacker, while Macbeth aimed his electric blaster down the hallway. Seeing that it was empty, the two men continued.

"All the more reason to have waited for the others," Macbeth argued.

"And give them more time to get closer to the castle?" Maximus countered, "No. If the sun has not already set, the gargoyles are asleep, which reduces our numbers. There are many passageways that lead from the castle to the Eyrie Building below. It will take time for Titania to martial her Court to defend each and every passage. If we do not force a battle here, where Madoc doesn't expect it, they might be able to get large numbers of their forces into the castle, which would mean defeat."

Macbeth sighed, "And defeat is not an option."

The two then heard voices ahead of them as they approached another corner. Judging by the names being used and the abundance of boasting that they heard, they could only assume they were Unseelies.

"We wait for them to round the corner, and then we ambush them," Maximus whispered.

Macbeth patiently nodded. They waited. After a few minutes three fey came running past, with the footsteps of more being heard behind them. One was moving on eight legs and held a long segmented tail, with a stinger on the end, growing behind it. A human-like body grew out of where the head should be and it had two pincers for arms. The second was ghost-like, but it was not intangible or even fully invisible. The third looked much like Loki, but appeared to be covered entirely in ice.

Maximus struck first, thrusting his pilum through the icy fey and bending the metal portion of the weapon so that it was stuck in the Unseelie's side. The Unseelie screamed with pain and fell to their feet at the floor. This caused the others to turn around in surprise and look to their fallen comrade. They didn't get much of a chance to do anything as Macbeth fired his electric blaster at the large scorpion-like Unseelie, and temporarily stunning it. The ghost-like fey attempted to charge Macbeth, but was beheaded as Maximus drew his gladius and swung it in a high arch to cut off the Unseelie's head. Macbeth then drew his sword and advanced on the fallen Unseelie that he had shot.

"Cut off his head!" Maximus instructed, "That's the fastest way to kill them."

Macbeth moved forward and hung his electric blaster in its holster, and then put his other hand on the handle of his sword. The Unseelie moved to raise one pincer to block the attack and readied its tail to strike at Macbeth as he approached. Macbeth swung his sword in an upward fashion and cut off the end of the fey's right pincer and then leaped onto its back. He then cut the last segment of the fey's tail off. Pushing himself to the extreme end of his limits, Macbeth swung his sword again and managed to cut off the Unseelie's head.

"Only three?" Macbeth asked as he breathed deeply, "I thought there would be more."

"There are," Maximus answered, "I can hear the footsteps. They are following the standard battle tactic used by all the barbarian tribes Rome conquered. Run as hard as you can in a disorganized mob. These three were merely faster then the others."

Three more Unseelie suddenly rounded the corner. One looking like the 'human torch' from the comic books. The second was human-like with two black bat wings growing from its back. The third was dressed in bear skins.

"You!" Loki cursed when he saw the Legionnaire, "Inferno, Nosferatu, you can take the old one. The Roman is mine."

Madoc and Maeve, meanwhile continued their own slow assent toward the castle at the top of the Eyrie Building. They personally had not encountered an resistance so far, and Madoc felt quite confident that he would win.

Titania meanwhile listened to the telepathic reports given by various members of the Seelie Court. Various members were in monitoring stations to observe where the Unseelies were in the building. Most were about three fourths of th way up the Eyrie Building. One section of the Unseelie army was only half way up the Eyrie Building as the Legionnaire and Macbeth had intercepted them.

"We are ready to engage the Unseelies, my Queen," came the three voices of the Weird Sisters in unison.

"Good," Titania answered, "Praetoria and I will join you shortly."

Anubis lead a small group of Seelie Fey down a series of hallways and stairs. They had long since discovered that Garlon's destroying the shield generator had also made all the elevators inoperable. They made it down a few floors before Raven appeared with several Unseelies with him.

"Hah!" Raven laughed, "The ultimate old timer!"

"Traitor," Anubis growled in a low voice.

Raven growled and launched a barrage of sharp feathers at the Egyptian fey. Anubis gathered the stylized scepters that many ancient pharaohs held and easily deflected the younger fey's attacks. The feathers fell to the ground doing nothing.

"It is not yet my time to die, traitor," Anubis said coldly, eyes glowing an eyrie color, "However, yours is fast approaching."

Anubis then crossed the two Egyptian scepters that he held and launched a wave of emerald energy at the younger fey. The blast knocked Raven into the other Unseelies behind him.

"And yet you had so much to learn," Anubis taunted, "Like respect for your elders."

Raven launched himself up and roared furiously, hating that the Egyptian had knocked him down so easily. He quickly tackled Anubis and attempted to try and wrestle the older fey down.

"Attack you fools!" Raven yelled at the other Unseelies behind him, "We must not dally."

The Unseelies that were with Raven picked themselves up an charged forward at Raven's yell. Many quietly frustrated that they were taking orders from a Seelie traitor. The Seelie fey rushed forward to meet their enemies while leaving Anubis to deal with Raven.

**The Battlements**

Owen rocketed forward while still wearing the standard red and black exo-frame that Xanatos used to wear. He couldn't wear the black iron coated armor, because it would prohibit his use of his own magic. He quickly stunned another Unseelie mutate that came gliding toward him. While the success or failure of the Steal Clan was not Owen's main interest, he did have to marvel at the gargoyle robot's usefulness against the mutates. Their electric blasts had so far proved useless against the Steal Clan's armor and the lack of gliding ability or free will on the part of the mutates, made the Steal Clan the better flyers by far. The only thing that had slowed Owen and the Steal Clan down was that they had to fly the unconscious mutate slaves down to the courtyard and restrain them.

"What's your status, Owen?" Xanatos's voice asked over the radio.

"We are making steady progress against the mutate slaves, sir," Owen answered, "Their lack of gliding ability is so far proving to be the major difference. And those that have forced the battle to the ground are only able to maintain a stalemate."

"I now wish the Pack was just as ineffective as these mutates," Xanatos sighed, "I've got my hands full with Jackal and Hyena."

"I'll be there as soon as I can, sir," Owen answered.

Lucius growled at the two gargoyles that glided ahead of him. One was a brick red male and the other was a yellow female. Both moved up and down and side to side through the air. Their constant dodging made Lucius wish they had the freedom to try and learn how to glide. Like the other mutate slaves he found it difficult to really aim his shots while trying to glide.

Inside his mind he cursed everything. He cursed the fact that Madoc had taken his freedom. Now he cursed the fact that Madoc had gone so far as to remove his humanity and had a clone of a geneticist turn him into what he called a bat-winged mutate with an 'African-Wild Dog' as the base animal.

Lucius again fired an electric blast at the two gargoyles. Again they easily dodged. He watched the male say something to the female. The female suddenly twitched her wings and moved higher in altitude while the male continued to glide on ahead. Lucius decided to continue after the male. Partially because he had been the tougher one to target, and if ignored could trouble him later, and partially because he couldn't perform the necessary maneuver needed to chase the female.

Lucius was only able to go about twelve more feet through the air before the yellow female suddenly dove into his back from above. Lucius cursed silently. The female wasn't retreating. She simply looped up high to get above him. He looked down to see that the gargoyle intended to slam him into the stonework of the castle's courtyard.

"Don't worry," Amy said to the mutate, "You'll be free of Madoc's enslavement after we defeat him."

"Free?" Lucius asked inside his mind, "They intend to free me?"

Lucius continued to mentally ask these questions, jumping at any chance to gain his free will back, even while the spell that Madoc had enslaved him with held him firmly in the Unseelie's pocket.

"You will not defeat Lord Madoc," Lucius growled.

"Yeah, well," Amy shrugged, "I beat you."

Amy then released the mutate and let him fall the final ten feet into the castle's courtyard. While the fallen snow catch the mutate's fall, it was not enough to prevent Lucius from falling unconscious. Amy, meanwhile landed softly a few feet away. Brooklyn was quick to join her.

"Well, that takes care of another one," Brooklyn commented.

Amy nodded as a Steal Clan robot landed and opened what was normally a laser compartment in its left arm and fired a powerful restraining net at the unconscious mutate. The net carried a slight electric charge that would keep the mutate from trying to break the net's hold on the ground.

Goliath ducked under another punch thrown at him by a large white tiger mutate. The mutate, like many of the others was quiet as it fought, and like the others, Goliath saw that it depended almost entirely on its ability to fire electric blasts and had virtually no other training. While the mutate attempted to charge up its fists for another electric blast, Goliath reached out with his tail and knocked the mutate's feet out from under it. It landed hard on the ground and was knocked out by an electric blast from Claw.

"Thanks," Goliath called to the Labyrinth mutate, "Come, we must get Jackal and Hyena away from Xanatos."

Xanatos meanwhile twisted in a tight somersault to avoid being impaled on Hyena's sharp metallic claws. Jackal then however hit him with a laser blast and sent the black furred wolf-like mutate to the ground.

"Oh how the mighty have fallen!" Jackal teased, "Your head will look good over a mantle somewhere."

Hyena meanwhile prepared to attack again. She pulled herself to her feet and launched herself at the Xanatos Enterprises CEO. Xanatos dropped to his back and used his feet to push Hyena forward into a nearby wall. It didn't knock her out, but she was fairly slow to get up. Jackal, meanwhile, began to slowly advance on him.

"You're just making things hard on yourself," Jackal laughed as he aimed his lasers squarely at Xanatos's chest.

Jackal was then suddenly hit by a powerful electric blast. The blast did nothing to harm Jackal, thanks to previous upgrades, but the male cyborg was surprised by the sound of his electricity channeling devices activating and his laser shot went wild hitting Hyena.

"Electricity doesn't harm me," Jackal said with a smile as he turned to face his attackers.

He caught Goliath's fist slamming directly into his face. He staggered back to be tripped by Xanatos. The male cyborg looked around to see that most of the mutates were now unconscious. They had attacked with more mutates then there were available gargoyles, and with both of the robots they figured they were on their way to an easy victory. But, Jackal quickly became disgusted by how Madoc prepared the mutate slaves. None really knew how to glide and any gargoyle that got airborne easily defeated several opponents.

Other factors had gone against them. Xanatos's Steal Clan had taken out the dragons that Garlon had earlier collected and were also assisting in the rapid defeat of the Unseelie's mutate slaves. On top of this, the new Coyote robot was able to maintain an easy stalemate with Dreadnought and Shadow.

Hyena had just gotten to her feet when Elisa and Desdemona landed on the roof of the small tower that she had been thrown into. She looked to see the two mutates that were not enslaved by the Unseelies and the three gargoyles that surrounded her and Jackal. She then looked to see the other gargoyles and Seelie allied mutates either finishing off their opponents or already converging on members of the Pack.

"Jackal, bro, I don't think we can win this one," Hyena yelled as she dove to avoid Desdemona landing on her.

Jackal looked at the same things that Hyena looked at and quickly fired a wide barrage of laser blasts, knocking his nearest attackers back.

"I agree," Jackal nodded, "I think it's time we got out of here."

Jackal and Hyena then activated their jet packs and blasted off into the night sky, abandoning the castle and the battle that was going on.

"Those two really are cowards," Desdemona commented as she watched the two cyborgs fly off.

"They're not cowards," Xanatos corrected, "they just won't fight when it looks like they won't win. Jackal is almost strategic that way."

"Should we go after them?" Elisa asked.

"No," Goliath rumbled, "We should focus on our foes that are still here."

A red light was continuously illuminated under Dreadnought's dome as he battled with the Coyote robot.

"You know, you've been awfully quiet," Coyote 4.1 commented, "Don't you have anything to say?"

Dreadnought activated all his laser cannons and fired on the yellow robot. Coyote 4.1 managed to dodge the main laser blasts and allowed the weaker blasts to bounce off of his armor. He then noticed that the Shadow robot was just returning to the battle after being blasted off the roof by Coyote 4.1's lasers. The smaller robot extended a sword from a sheath in one forearm and blasted forward on its rockets.

Coyote 4.1 easily dodged the smaller robot's attack and watched as Shadow crashed headlong into Dreadnought. He soon saw that the smaller robot's sword was now embedded in the larger robot's torso.

"That had to hurt," Coyote 4.1 commented.

Hyena and Jackal suddenly appeared overhead. Coyote prepared to fire his lasers on them, until he heard them talk to Dreadnought and Shadow.

"Come on you two," Jackal called, "It's time to go. Leave that toy of Xanatos's."

A red light illuminated under Dreadnought's dome.

"You've been damaged by your own partner," Jackal argued, "You're in no shape to continue. Let's go now and we can repair the two of you."

Coyote 4.1 watched as there was a brief pause for a moment before a green light illuminated under Dreadnought's dome and the massive robot lifted into the air, carrying Shadow with him as he left.

"I guess that takes care of that," Coyote 4.1 sighed as he activated his own jets to return to he castle.

Summer and the other Seelie fey named for the seasons cringed as Banshee continued to unleash painful screams and wails. Two other Seelie fey had already been killed by the Unseelies that accompanied the other Seelie traitor. Summer dropped to the ground, her hands covering her ears, as Banshee came closer. The four Seelie fey could see the other Unseelies laughing as Banshee continued her wail.

Summer prepared to try and shield herself from being killed by whatever attack was to follow as Banshee passed a closed door to the hallway they were in. Banshee continued her wail as she stood over Summer, and raised her hands above her head. That was all Banshee had time to do, however as she suddenly felt a powerful blast of energy hit her squarely in the back, throwing the Seelie traitor face first into the far wall. Her wailing stopped.

Banshee began to pick herself up and looked to see two people had entered the hallway. One was a human woman in Greek style armor. The other was Titania.

"What do you want done with her?" the human asked, pointing a short sword at Banshee.

"She is to stand trial for her treachery in the previous Unseelie attack," Titania answered firmly, and then extending on hand in Banshee's direction, "The traitor will not escape this time."

Banshee tried to move to get out of the way of whatever spell Titania was about to unleash, but found herself quickly wrapped in thick vines which she could not break. Titania then turned to the other Unseelies who had shrunk back when the Seelie Queen appeared. One tried to generate a fireball to throw at Titania, but was hit by another sphere of light thrown by Diana.

The other Unseelie then charged forward, aiming at Diana and not Titania. Winter however managed to wrap the Unseelie's legs in ice and brought it to a complete standstill. Diana then thrust the point of her sword through the Unseelie's chest before it could break free.

"We must keep moving forward," Titania urged, "Very few of them will be this easy to defeat."

Merlin slowly left one hallway and was surprised to find out the door he opened lead to the pool room that was underneath the castle. The blue griffon-like gargoyle slowly advanced over the tile floor, the Lady of the Lake following closely behind. Once she was completely in the room, the Lady of the Lake moved to hover over the pool that Xanatos had placed in the center of the room.

Merlin had just reached the far door, when the door suddenly shattered, knocking him to the ground and covering his clothes, arms, and legs with splinters. The Lady of the Lake moved toward the wounded wizard for a moment only to stop when she heard cackling come from the doorway.

"I only did that for the sake of giving Xanatos's heir some financial woes," came the Morrigan's voice as she strode into the room, with two more Unseelies following, "Who would have thought I'd get a shot at the 'greatest' magic user in history."

Merlin growled at the Unseelie and pulled himself to his feet.

"I won't let you win," Merlin growled.

"A pity," Morrigan smiled, "You're going to lose anyway."

Morrigan then commanded the two Unseelies with her, "Defeat the Lady. The bird is mine."

The two other Unseelies nodded and leaped at the Lady of the Lake. The English Seelie made a motion with her hand, imitating a punch. At the same time, the waters in the pool rushed up and formed a massive fist, and knocked both the Unseelies to the ground.

Morrigan opened with a fireball thrown at Merlin. The wizard managed to dodge, but the fireball hit some plants that Xanatos had placed around the pool for decoration and set fire to the room. Merlin then charged forward and managed to land a powerful punch on Morrigan's temple. The blow, however, did little to Morrigan. It knocked her back a few feet, but she suffered no injury from a blow that would normally knock out a human being.

"You know that won't harm me," Morrigan laughed, "Or have you been in that form for so long that you've forgotten all you know about magic?"

Merlin growled again and fired a lightning bolt that knocked Morrigan across the room. The female Unseelie landed amongst the broken remnants of the door that she had earlier shattered.

"Better," Morrigan smiled as she pulled herself to her feet.

Garlon meanwhile crept through the shadows as he got closer and closer to the levels on which the building changed from the Eyrie Building to Castle Wyvern. Apparently the shock of the attack had worn off quickly, because Garlon noted that the Seelie Court had so far managed a determined defense of the castle and a few Unseelies already lay dead.

This, however, was not Garlon's concern. He had been sent to destroy the Seelie Court's mortal friends and family. It was likely to be a diversionary tactic to distract the Seelies from the real battle, but even if it was, Garlon didn't care. It was a mission in which he hoped to spread death and destruction, and considering that none of the human friends and family had any real power, Garlon was completely confident in victory.

He stopped short as he neared a corner. He heard Demona's voice shout, "Fulmenos Venite!" and then saw a minor Unseelie be flung down the hall past him. Garlon watched as the stricken Unseelie slumped to the ground, wounded, if not dead.

"It will take too long if I try and get around her the other way," Garlon whispered to himself, "I better change tactics."

Demona slashed her talons through the neck of another of Sekhmet's werecheetah slaves as it leaped at her. The Egyptian Unseelie meanwhile stood to a side while her werecheetahs and few minor Unseelies attacked her.

"At last I will have my revenge," Sekhmet gloated, "I will kill you, and I'll take back the slave you stole from me!"

Demona's eyes blazed red at the Unseelie's threat and grabbed one werecheetah by its shoulders had swung it like a club and knocked Sekhmet to the ground.

"You will not touch Wedrington," Demona growled slowly, "Ever again!"

"Afraid to lose a mate?" Sekhmet teased, noticing the defensiveness and anger in Demona's voice and the red in her eyes.

Demona paused for a moment, the glow in her eyes fading away. She looked at the lion-like Unseelie with a slight look of surprise. Sekhmet smiled and slashed at Demona with her own claws. She could curse the immortal gargoyle, but she did succeed in drawing blood and knocking Demona back.

"I was right," Sekhmet laughed again.

In the midst of the battle between the two females, no one noticed a small brown mouse run along the wall and away from the battle scene. After it rounded another corner, the mouse was engulfed in a flash of green light to be replaced by Garlon. He then looked around the corner to see both females wrestling on the ground, clawing at each other.

"Heh, heh," Garlon chuckled, "I'd pay to watch that."

Garlon then continued on his way through the maze of hallways and stairs with a slight grin on his face. The sounds of battle were echoing throughout the lower levels of the castle as Garlon walked. He began to reach out with his powers to look for the clan's human friends and family. He could sense two fey halflings about three floors up and down a long hallway. There were also several humans with them. Garlon's smile got larger when he didn't sense another Seelie fey between him and the location of the clan's human friends.

Garlon quickly made it to the location that the Seelies had hoped was hidden. Garlon laughed evilly to himself and generated a ball of energy in his hand and shattered the door with one attempt.

Wedrington tried to gasp for breath as two mutates were attempting to use him as a punching bag. The white lion-like gargoyle was lucky for the most part that they hadn't used their electric blasts on him. While Wedrington, thanks to Demona, was by far the better glider, he still lacked a lot of confidence in his fighting skills.

The former human archeologist threw a punch at one of the mutates and succeeded in knocking it back. He didn't get the time to relish in his victory as the other mutate leaded and put him in a full nelson.

"Get off of me!" Wedrington yelled as hard as he good and tried to kick the first mutate back as it came charging at him.

Wedrington tried desperately to wriggle out of the grasp the mutate had him in. He ended up backing into a nearby wall, which much to his surprise, knocked the mutate out.

"Well, I'll be..." Wedrington said with slight surprise.

"You won't stop Lord Madoc," the first mutate growled in front of him as he build up an electric charge in his fists.

Wedrington gulped, knowing that there was not enough room to dodge the electric blast that was sure to come. His eyes snapped open again when he heard voice with a strong English accent speak to the mutate.

"I think you over estimate his chances," Leo growled as he landed on the mutate's shoulders.

The blow of the male lion-like gargoyle from the London Clan landing on the attacking mutate was successful in knocking the mutate out.

"You alright?" Leo asked as Una landed nearby and prepared to restrain the two mutates.

"Nothing is permanently injured," Wedrington sighed, "How are things?"

"The Unseelie's slaves are on their last legs," Una answered, "Most are going inside to provide some aide to the Seelie Court."

Wedrington immediately found himself thinking about his promise to Demona. She was inside and he had promised to protect her. He had to go, despite all his troubles in fighting.

"I guess I'll go in too," Wedrington said, "I promised Demona I'd protect her. I can't abandon her."

Leo and Una nodded.

"Merlin will certainly need our help as well," Una added, "We intend to check on Chloe first. Besides young Alexander, she is the most vulnerable to an Unseelie attack. It'd be best if we went together."

Wedrington nodded and turned to follow Leo and Una into the castle.

Caroline panted heavily as she dodged another set of electric blasts that came flying at her. Unlike many of the other gargoyles, she had never had the chance to get airborne and use her wings to her advantage, and it was taking all she could to maintain a draw with her own parents. They had managed to drive her inside the castle and she was now attempting to keep them from driving her into where she thought Lawrence was.

"Why do you fight us?" her mother taunted, "You should bow down to us out of respect. We are your parents."

"Parents who didn't care," Caroline growled back as her father threw another electric blast at her, "You seriously FLUNKED any class in which they taught people who to be a family. What was that? Parenting 101?"

Her mother growled and hit Caroline with a strong electric blast, knocking the blue gargoyle to the ground. Caroline picked herself up slowly and prepared to face them again. Her mother charged toward a nearby wall, leaped toward it and then used the wall itself as thing to propel her directly at Caroline's head. Caroline prepared to catch and throw her mother back at her father when she was hit by another electric blast which forced her to take a step back. Her mother tackled her to the ground while she was trying to recover.

Her mother used superior leverage to hold Caroline down. Her hands holding down Caroline's shoulders while her knees pressed against Caroline's stomach. Her father stood a few feet away.

"I'll give you 'flunking parenting 101'," her mother growled and electrified her hands.

Caroline screamed with pain and brought her knees up quickly, partially in reflex, partially in a desperate move to stop the electric charge from running into her body. In doing so, Caroline's knee spurs cut through her mothers pierced her fur and skin and sunk into the flesh. Her mother howled in surprise and pain and immediately let her electric powers go away.

The female mutate pushed herself forward to get Caroline's knee spurs out of her. Caroline mentally shuddered as she felt some blood trickle down the sides of her knees. Her mother tried to make another attempt to electrocute Caroline, but the gargoyle's use of her knee spurs had freed up Caroline's shoulders. Caroline quickly sat up and hit her mother with a strong right cross. The mutate was unprepared to dodge this and was knocked off of Caroline.

Caroline then watched as her mother fell unconscious. The snapping of sound of electricity brought her back from her gaze as her father now approached. His eyes glowing and his hands sparkling with electricity.

"You're going to pay for that you disrespectful child," her father growled as he approached.

"I'm not child," Caroline growled back, "I'm nearly eighteen!"

Caroline mentally whacked herself for that comment, even as she tried to crawl away. One her parents never listened or cared about anything she said, and two, they were still enslaved by the Unseelies. Even if they did care for her, the fact that they were enslaved made it impossible for them to do anything against the will of their masters.

Her father ignored her and put his foot on his stomach, and strengthened the electric charge in his fists and said, "You're still a child to me."

Caroline gulped, fearing she was about to be electrocuted. Her father never had the chance, however, to fire his electric blast at her. Candy and Lexington suddenly burst in from behind him and tackled the male mutate. Caroline watched as the two web winged gargoyles slammed her father's head into a nearby wall and knocked him out.

"Caroline!" Candy exclaimed as the male mutate slumped to the floor, "Are you alright?"

"Yeah, I'm fine," Caroline sighed as she dusted off her clothes after getting up.

"The Unseelie's mutates are pretty much beaten," Lexington said, "We're now making our way to join the Seelie Court and give them a hand."

Caroline nodded and turned to head down a different corridor when she suddenly heard a fierce explosion come from a room a few floors down.

"What the devil...?" Candy exclaimed.

"I guess we know where to go first," Lexington mumbled as the three began to run in the direction that the sounds of battle were coming from.

Garlon throw another energy ball forward, it exploded harmlessly against an emerald shield. He snarled at the figure of the mutate inside the shield that seemed to be sustaining the shield.

"Shouldn't we take him?" Abigail Wexmand asked, "We've got him outnumbered."

"No," Fox shook her head, "That's a full fledged fey. I'm only a halfling, and I'm not fully trained. This shield is at the very edge of my training. Alex is better trained then I am, but he's a quarterling and too young. If I were to lower my shield to allow you to attack him, we'd be destroyed."

"You don't look like you can hold out much longer though, Mrs. Xanatos," Lawrence's father argued, "And we do have Iron, and we can harm him."

"Let's leave that as a last resort," Fox said weakly through gritted teeth, "Try and keep out of his line of sight, just in case he breaks through my shield."

The others nodded and quickly dashed behind anything that might block Garlon's view of them. Fox meanwhile, continued to try and power the shield she had raised, but she knew that Lawrence's father was correct. She couldn't hold out much longer. Mostly because of one the reasons she gave for why they couldn't attack Garlon. She was only a halfling. He was a full fledged fey. His power reserves were far higher then hers, and hers were nearly empty.

"You can't hold out much longer mutate," Garlon snarled from the outside.

"She held out long enough," came a new voice, sounding completely different from voices of the people in the room with Fox and Garlon's voice.

Garlon turned, only to be suddenly caught in a massive mouse trap.

"Aw," Puck laughed as he suddenly came into view, floating in mid-air, "Is Mickey hurt?"

Garlon growled and released a torrent of energy from himself, destroying the mouse trap that Puck had got him in.

"Quit it with the mouse jokes," Garlon snarled and threw a fireball at Puck.

Puck managed to dodge Garlon's attack, and put himself between the Unseelie and the clan's human friends and family.

"Then maybe you should leave," Puck suggested.

"Why you..." Garlon growled and began to advance on the white haired elf.

Garlon didn't get very far as an electric blast hit him from the same direction that Puck had first come from.

"I agree," Xanatos growled slowly as he came to stand by Puck.

Garlon looked up to be hit by a ball of energy thrown by Puck. The blast knocked him back and against a far wall of the hallway he was in. He threw two fire balls at Puck and Xanatos before he tried to pull himself up. Puck and Xanatos dodged the attack, but the fire balls hit Fox's shield behind them and Fox finally couldn't maintain her shield anymore. Her shield dropped and the red furred mutate dropped to the floor in a nearly unconscious state.

"Fox!" Xanatos yelled as he ran to his wife's side.

"I'm exhausted," Fox panted, "I can't move."

Garlon charged forward, knocked Puck aside with one punch and made it into the room.

"And I'm going to kill you both!" Garlon exclaimed, his eyes glowing green.

Xanatos fired an electric blast at the Unseelie, but it did nothing. Garlon flinched with some pain, but quickly recovered and knocked Xanatos back into the far wall with a powerful punch. He then stood over the weakened Fox with an evil grin on his face.

"Ah, the usurper's halfling child," Garlon chuckled, "Helpless before me. I don't even think I'll give you the pleasure of watching your family die."

What was heard next startled Garlon. From a small corner of the room, Alex stood up from behind a large trunk which Fox had hidden him behind.

"No!" Alex yelled as loud as he could as he shook his hand at Garlon.

The child then launched a small beam of energy that knocked Garlon back three feet. It didn't do the Unseelie serious harm, but it did hurt, and being magical in nature, Garlon felt the pain for a little while after Alex had launched is attack.

"You're going to pay for that, you little bastard," Garlon growled, angered that a child had attacked him.

"I think not," came another voice.

Garlon turned to see a woman with blonde hair swing a sword at him. Garlon tried to block the weapon with one arm, but the woman had swung the weapon with both hands, and as the blade made contact with Garlon's skin, Garlon learned that it was made of Iron. Garlon screamed with pain as the blade cut through his arm and gasped as he saw his hand drop to the ground. He then turned to see that Puck had recovered and now blocked him from getting at either Fox or Alex. Xanatos was already recovering and there were several other humans holding weapons, probably made of iron. Garlon decided he had only one option, to run.

Garlon ran out of the room and Puck followed to see that the wounded Unseelie was headed directly for a nearby wall and left the building.

"Why's he running?" Xanatos asked.

"He's wounded and outnumbered," Puck answered, "It'd be better then being dead."

"Where's the armor?" Fox panted from her spot on the floor.

"I took it off," Puck answered, "It's safely stored away."

Xanatos slowly lifted up his wife in his arms and carried her to a corner of the room that Garlon had not damaged while he was trying to break through her shield.

"I'm fine," Fox said weakly, "The baby is fine."

"I know," Xanatos nodded, "Just rest."

Xanatos then turned to Puck and said, "I think it would be best if we remained here. Garlon surely won't be the only one that they send after the clan's friends"

"Agreed," Puck answered, with some of Owen slipping into his voice.

Macbeth dove to the ground to avoid another fireball thrown at him by the Unseelie that had decided he was a worthy target. He had already managed to kill one Unseelie that attacked him, but of course another took his place. Many others had passed the battle going on that floor and continued on toward the castle above them.

"Human fall down, go boom!" the Unseelie laughed, and threw another fireball at Macbeth.

The fireball hit the back of Macbeth's jacket and immediately set the fabric on fire. Macbeth rolled over and smothered the flames with his back, his eyes clenched to try and withstand the heat from the fire against his back. The immortal Scotsman then swung his sword in a low arch at the Unseelie's legs. He managed to cut off one of the fey's feet, but it managed to avoid losing both feet by moving to a position above Macbeth and hovered there.

"That was very naughty, Mr. Macbeth," the Unseelie shook his finger at him, "Now I'm going to have to punish you."

The Unseelie then wrapped Macbeth in emerald energy and lifted the immortal man into the air. He then, using magic, threw Macbeth down the hallway. The man crashed through a wooden door and lay on top of the door's fragments. Macbeth peeked carefully through one eye to see what the Unseelie was up to. He was slowly hovering toward him, probably to check to see if he was unconscious.

Macbeth waited while the fey hovered toward him. The Unseelie came fairly close and nudged Macbeth's left foot to see if the man was conscious. Macbeth, in a flashed reached out and grabbed his sword, which only a lay a few inches away, and thrust it into the Unseelie's chest.

The Unseelie dropped to the ground, screaming with pain, and frantically trying to pull the sword out of himself. This gave Macbeth the time to pull himself up. Once on his feet, Macbeth walked over to the convulsing Unseelie and held the iron sword in place.

"I believe I will not be the one being punished," Macbeth said coldly as the Unseelie slowly died.

Maximus was meanwhile embroiled with Loki in a different section of the hallway. The Norse Unseelie had not learned much from their previous encounter, and repeatedly charged the Roman soldier, swinging his battle axe wildly, and launching fireballs from the axe's blade all the while. Maximus was forced to use his shield to try and block most of the fey's energy shots while dodging the axe's physical blows.

"You're going to pay for what you did to me, last time," Loki growled as he raised his axe above his head.

The Norse Unseelie then swung the weapon down, digging the axe blade in the floor of the hallway. Unfortunately for Loki, he had cut through so deep, that the axe blade cut through power lines that ran under the floor. The resulting surge of electricity sent him flying backward.

Maximus then saw his chance and dropped his shield and threw a fireball of his own at the fallen fey. It hit Loki in the back while he was recovering from the electrical shock. The Unseelie burst into flame and screamed with pain. Maximus, meanwhile, calmly advanced, sword in hand.

Maximus moved behind the Unseelie and raised his gladius over Loki's neck, intending to drive the point of his weapon down into the Unseelie's rib cage. Loki glanced back and saw the sword point getting ready to come down on him. He turned and threw a fireball at Maximus as he brought his sword down. Loki's turning meant that his blade had missed his target. Instead of sending down into the Unseelie's rib cage, it went straight through Loki's skull, killing the Unseelie almost instantly. Loki's fireball only grazed Maximus's armor, but it had sufficient force to knock the Legionnaire back into the wall.

Macbeth then appeared in the hallway to find Loki dead, and Maximus picking himself off the floor. The Ancient Roman wasn't seriously harmed, but he could see that Loki had given him a good fight. His cape and the wolf skin that hung around his shoulders was mostly burnt off, and what remained was in tatters. He also had a few minor cuts on his arms, but nothing that wouldn't heal.

"The others that followed have moved on toward the castle," Macbeth reported.

"We will follow them," Maximus answered as he picked up his shield, "There is little we can do here."

Wolf lead many of the yeti away from the real fighting as they made their way through the castle. He had long since fell into a feral rage and was only controlled by very primal instincts. His instincts told him that the Seelie fey were far too dangerous for him to even risk engaging. Meanwhile, he had caught a familiar scent. A scent worth investigating.

The yetis followed as Wolf entered a narrow stairway that led into an open room. The mutated member of the Pack practically moved on all fours. The room, as it turned out to be, was Castle Wyvern's dungeon. Wolf could now easily see several cells were occupied and an energy field held the prisoners in. Two of the prisoners looked like the human forms of David and Fox Xanatos. One was a grey furred lynx mutate that was pacing his cell endlessly. The final two cells held Canis and Vulpine.

"Wolf!" Vulpine cried out, being the first to notice the mutate, "You came for us!"

Wolf let out a gasp that sounded much like a feral snarl and leaped Vulpine's cell, attempting to break her out. The yetis were then surprised to see the shield repel the wingless wolf-like mutate back at them. Wolf only shook the affects of he barrier off and snarled at it. He was then interrupted by a new voice.

"I see you've had further upgrades," the voice said.

Wolf turned his face to the sound of the voice that spoke. It came from the lynx mutate in one of the other cells.

Wolf tried to speak, but only feral sounding growls came out. The mutate chuckled for a few brief moments while Wolf wrestled with his tongue, trying to speak.

"What?" Wolf finally managed to ask.

"I said, 'I see you've had further upgrades'," the mutate answered again with a smirk.

"Who arrrrre you?" Wolf growled.

"I am Anton Sevarius," the mutate said slowly, "This is what the clan and their allies did to me after the fall of Nightstone."

Wolf stared at him, almost like an animal that had been confused by its owner.

"You can not simply open these cells by running at them," Anton Sevarius continued, "The energy field is more then enough to stop you."

Wolf slowly got up and looked at the energy field.

"Then how do they go down?" Wolf asked in a snarling voice.

"Come to my cell," Sevarius instructed.

Wolf slowly walked over to Sevarius's cell.

"Now, do you see the small panel to the right of my cell?" Sevarius asked.

Wolf slowly nodded.

"Press the button," Sevarius instructed.

Wolf slowly pressed the button, and the light behind the button changed from red to green and the newly freed Sevarius stepped out.

"I'm free!" Sevarius exclaimed, "I'm free!"

"Frrrree otherrrrs," Wolf growled, pointing at Canis and Vulpine's cells.

"Of course," Sevarius nodded.

The lynx mutate then carefully walked over to Vulpine and Canis's cells and released the two mutate clones.

"Free!" the mutates cheered, "Free!"

"Yes, free," Sevarius answered, "And to stay that way, we must leave."

"No!" Wolf roared, "Fight! Fight Goliath!"

"Wolf, the entire Manhattan clan and the Seelie Court are here," Sevarius pointed out, "You're more likely to run into Titania and be killed then to run into Goliath. And even if you did, by the time you've won the battle, you'd be dead anyway."

Wolf looked down and then slowly agreed. He turned to Canis.

"You must carrrrrrrry me," Wolf said slowly.

Canis nodded, and the four mutates left the dungeon in a hurry. The yetis remained there, looking extremely confused.

"Fulmenos Venite!" Demona screamed.

Demona's lightning spell flew slightly over Sekhmet's left shoulder, and the lion-like Unseelie lunged at Demona, knocking the gargoyle to the ground. Sekhmet then hit Demona with a fire ball.

"You may have defeated my pets, again," Sekhmet growled, "But you have lost and I will defeat you. I will have my revenge."

"I'm immortal," Demona growled, "You need Macbeth to kill me."

Demona tried to kick the Unseelie off of her, but Sekhmet turned intangible, and the kick did nothing. Sekhmet then hit her with another fireball. Demona cringed through the pain and was silently glad that Macbeth wasn't nearby and still cursed to feel her pain. Sekhmet couldn't trick him into killing her if he were in pain far away and unable to move.

"Unlike you, I do not need to speak to cast my spells," Sekhmet smile and raised an emerald green sphere around her hand.

Large wooden stakes raised themselves from the castle floor and stabbed through Demona's wings, arms, and legs. Demona screamed with pain and struggled to free herself, but the stakes held her in place.

"Don't worry," Sekhmet said, "It is possible for you to escape from them, but it will hurt and you will be extremely weak."

Demona stared at the Unseelie with an angry look on her face.

"I will enjoy watching you struggle," Sekhmet smiled.

"Shouldn't you be more concerned with the Seelie Court?" Demona growled, "They are your master's enemies."

"I am concerned," Sekhmet shrugged, "But you are far more interesting to me."

Sekhmet then came closer to Demona and watched the gargoyle struggle to free herself.

"I will laugh when you die," Sekhmet laughed evilly.

What Demona heard next startled her.

"NO!" a voice screamed.

Demona turned to see Wedrington come up and dive at Sekhmet. Wedrington drove the Egyptian Unseelie into the stakes below Demona. The stakes snapped, and the wounded Demona landed on top of Sekhmet and Wedrington.

"You won't harm her anymore!" Wedrington growled.

"My pet returns to me," Sekhmet laughed evilly while Demona struggled to prepare a spell.

Demona, now worried that Sekhmet would kill Wedrington before her, struggled to speak in Latin, "Stakes of wood change to chains of Iron!"

The wooden stakes suddenly glowed green and shifted from wood to cold Iron chains, and quickly wrapped themselves around Sekhmet. As the chains locked together, Sekhmet screamed and struggled to free herself, but the Iron chains held.

"Sleep, Unseelie," Demona commanded weakly.

Sekhmet, unable to resist the Iron chains that wrapped around her, suddenly fell into a deep sleep. After that, Demona collapsed to the floor of the hallway, a few pieces of the wooden stakes still inside her.

"Demona!" Wedrington exclaimed as he got up, "Are you alright?"

"I'm alright," Demona answered faintly, making Wedrington strain his hears to hear her, "I just need to rest."

Wedrington watched as the immortal gargoyle fell unconscious and let the magic that made her immortal do its work.

Madoc and Maeve found things were getting far more difficult as they neared the upper levels of the Eyrie Building and the lower levels of the castle. A few of the lower ranking members of both the Seelie and Unseelie Courts lay dead or wounded in the hallways as they passed. While Madoc did expect casualties, he did not believe that they would be as bad as what he saw.

"Titania has put up a good fight," Maeve commented.

Madoc nodded, "Yes, she has. But she will still lose. We are driving them towards the courtyard, where our mutate slaves and the Pack should be finishing off the gargoyle clan."

Maeve agreed and moved ahead of Madoc, intending to announce his presence. What she did not to see was another minor member of the Unseelie Court be flung through a nearby door with a long javelin type weapon protruding from its stomach.

"What's this?" Madoc demanded in surprise.

A human woman in dark colored, mostly black and purple, Greek styled armor stepped into the hallway, holding a gladius.

"A dead member of your Court," Diana answered, "To go shortly before you."

Both the Unseelies were then surprised to see that Titania came closely behind the human woman.

"Titania?" Madoc exclaimed, "I expected you to be hiding nearby that useless halfling you had."

Titania growled at the Unseelie and threw a sphere of energy at Madoc, knocking him back.

"Do not talk about Fox that way," Titania warned.

"Very well," Maeve shrugged before Madoc could answered, "And who is this weakling you've called as your champion."

"I am Diana Britannia Heartsis," Diana answered firmly, "Praetoria."

Maeve conjured a long broadsword and pointed at Diana and said confidently, "Well, Praetoria, I will enjoy running this blade through that poor excuse for armor."

"Bring it," Diana challenged, lunging forward and swinging her gladius upwardly to meet Maeve's broadsword.

Madoc sent a blast of energy at Titania, knocking the Seelie Queen back a few feet.

"I guess it's just you and me," Madoc smiled.

Titania jumped forward and energized her fists and delivered a few minor punches to Madoc's face.

"I wouldn't have it any other way," Titania answered.

Raven lunged forward and tackled Anubis before the older fey could hit him again with another blast from the ornate scepters that the Egyptian fey held. He laughed as he held the Seelie down.

"So much for your predictions about people's death," Raven laughed

Raven prepared to peck out Anubis's eyes upon saying this. Anubis struggled to free himself, but looked utterly confident. Just as he was about to slam his beak down on the Seelie fey he had tackled, he heard an angry roar and looked up, only to see an aquamarine fist slam into his face.

Broadway's punch knocked the Seelie traitor off of his feet and back into a nearby wall. Angela meanwhile moved to help Anubis to his feet.

"Shouldn't you be dealing with the mutates?" Anubis asked.

"We've beaten them all," Angela answered, "We're now filtering down into the castle to try and give as much help as we can to you guys."

"Duck!" Anubis shouted as he pushed Angela aside.

Broadway rushed to his mate's side and saw that three sharp black feathers were sticking out of the wall that Angela was standing in front of. He then growled as he turned to face Raven.

"My," Raven laughed, looking at Broadway's reaction, "I guess I struck more then stone with that shot. You do know that you can't save Anubis, right, Fatty?"

Broadway growled angrily at the insult and launched himself at the Unseelie and attempted to knock Raven out, but the Seelie traitor only made himself intangible and then slammed Broadway into a nearby wall. Raven laughed as the large gargoyle fell unconscious.

"Broadway!" Angela screamed.

"Oh don't worry," Raven cackled, "He isn't dead, yet. You and Anubis are currently at the top of my list. You and the other travelers that were with you will pay for defeating me before."

Angela growled at Raven's comment. The fey was obviously still wanting revenge for what had happened during the 'World Tour'.

"Unfortunately, traitor, it is you who will pay!" Anubis said as he stepped forward and crossed his scepters again.

The blast knocked Raven through the wall that he had just slammed Broadway into. Even before the dust settled, Angela rushed to help her mate.

"Get him to a safer place," Anubis said weakly as he came forward, "I will finish him."

Angela watched as the Egyptian fey slowly began to move towards Raven.

"What about you?" Angela asked.

"The attack I just launched him only temporarily drained me," Anubis answered, "I will b fine."

Raven, meanwhile, found himself slumped against a wall in a fairly cramped room which he assumed was only a closet. The blast that Anubis had hit him with was powerful and he was still trying to martial the strength to stand up as Anubis walked through the hole in the wall that Raven's body had made when it crashed through the wall. Raven noticed that the Egyptian's scepters were glowing.

"You have reached your time," Anubis said firmly, "And you have failed in all your tests of honor. You are a traitor and no better then the worst of the Unseelie."

"At least they have more fun!" Raven answered back, "We're more powerful then these mortals. We should rule over them, not pretend to by guardians and guides."

Raven tried to throw another barrage of feathers at Anubis. Anubis, still being slightly tired from blasting Raven through the wall couldn't dodge the Seelie traitor's attack. However, Raven had been exhausted by the battle too, and he was still smarting from being knocked through a wall. Most of the Raven's feathers nicked Anubis's shoulders. Only one made direct contact, and it did not result in a mortal wound. Anubis merely removed the feather through magic.

"Desperate measures," Anubis sighed, "And now it is time you meet your fate."

With that, Anubis stabbed one of his scepters into Raven's chest. The Seelie traitor flinched with pain for a moment and then screamed when he was suddenly overtaken by a powerful beam of emerald light from with in scepter. Anubis watched as Raven slowly withered away into dust.

"My predictions about death are rarely wrong," Anubis said firmly.

Selene dodged another energy bolt thrown at her by the Unseelie that had challenged her and the rest of the Weird Sisters. Most of the Unseelies that they had faced were minor, and through their combined power, the Sisters had already defeated many of them. This one, however, proved to be exceptionally fast and hard to hit or even trap. After missing Selene, the Unseelie leaped towards a wall, ricocheted off it and hit Phoebe with energized fists. Phoebe fell to the floor while the Unseelie then leaped and narrowly missed hitting Luna with another punch. The Sisters then moved down and back away from him to regroup.

"This one is fast," Luna commented as the Unseelie landed before them.

"But not powerful," Selene added, "We should be able to beat him."

"We must get him to stop moving first," Phoebe said, "Before he exhausts us with these tactics."

The Unseelie leaped forward again at the Weird Sisters before they could do anything more. Selene, Luna, and Phoebe prepared to dodge and get out of the Unseelie's way and blast it from three sides when it landed at their previous spot when they heard two roars echo through the hallway. The Weird Sisters then watched as Goliath and Elisa tackled the Unseelie from a different corridor. The large lavender male grabbed one of the Unseelie's arms, and held it back while the tan female grabbed the other.

The Unseelie struggled strongly and fiercely to try and break free, but caught by surprise, it didn't think to use its powers. Elisa then kneed the Unseelie in the hip, her eyes glowing scarlet as her knee spur went through the fey's pelvic bone.

"He has stopped moving," Goliath shouted, "Take care of him!"

The Weird Sisters didn't stop to ask questions, and floated in the air to form a triangle. Goliath and Elisa watched as the area between the three Seelie fey began to fill with emerald green energy. Once that area was filled, the energy blasted forward, maintaining its triangle form and blasted the surprised Unseelie that the two gargoyles were holding. Elisa and Goliath then found themselves holding the Unseelie's arms.

"Can we assume that the mutate slaves have been defeated?" Luna asked.

Goliath and Elisa looked down and back at the now dead Unseelie, not answering the question.

"You killed him," Elisa spoke finally, "I thought you were just going to knock him out."

"We did what had to be done," Phoebe answered, "All the Unseelies are dangerous, and to let them live will only cause more problems later."

"But he was restrained," Goliath argued, "If he were to be knocked out, he could have been imprisoned."

"Imprisoned where, Goliath?" Selene answered, "The mortal police forces do not have the technology to even consider trying to restrain a fey, and while Xanatos has the opportunity to try, it is doubtful that he will succeed."

"Besides Goliath," Luna added, "Why should you be so concerned with the death of an enemy? It is not like you haven't seen death before."

Goliath closed his eyes, remembering the Wyvern massacre and the bloody battles with the Vikings before it.

"He couldn't or wasn't fighting back," Goliath said weekly, "I can't condone killing someone like that. Killing in the heat of battle is different. That Unseelie was restrained."

"But for how long?" Phoebe asked, "He was startled by your appearance and didn't use his magic. If he had more time he might have fought and defiantly would have killed you and your mate."

Goliath and Elisa looked down, knowing they could never win.

"He was our enemy anyway," Selene finished, "Remember that and always. The Unseelie are evil and enemies of the freedom you enjoy today. And Madoc has made his private feud into a war. A war where it will be kill or be killed."

"And no amount of arguing can change the fact that he is dead," Luna added, "Leave it alone for now, and answer my earlier question. Are the Unseelie slaves defeated?"

"Yes," Goliath rumbled slowly, "They have been rendered unconscious, and Xanatos, the Steal Clan, and Coyote 4.1 are making sure that they can not escape."

"Very good," Phoebe nodded, "We must go now. There are still many other Unseelie in the building that must be defeated."

Morrigan dodged as the Lady of the Lake slammed the two giant watery fists that she had created from the pool she hovered over into the wall that Morrigan was standing in front of. The fire that the Unseelie had started still burned furiously, and neither Merlin nor the Lady of the Lake had done anything to stop it. Merlin tried to hit the female Unseelie with a lightning spell, but it only grazed her and did nothing to slow Morrigan down.

"You both are pathetic!" Morrigan laughed, and then used her magic to rip several bricks out of the wall, and flung them telekenetically at Merlin and the Lady of the Lake.

One hit the Seelie fey squarely in the chest, knocking her away from the pool and through the glass windows that covered the pool room. The other brick hit Merlin squarely in the face, knocking him to the ground. Morrigan only laughed.

The Unseelie then lunged forward at Merlin, her fists energized. She landed two punches, one in Merlin's gut and the other in his face. The energy in her fists sent the wizard into a far wall. The Lady of the Lake had by now returned and flew back into the room.

"Leave him alone!" the Seelie fey yelled and threw a small sphere of energy at Morrigan.

The energy sphere only knocked Morrigan back a few steps. The female Unseelie only chuckled at the Lady of the Lake's efforts. Morrigan also began drawing power to her fists.

"You really ought to rest, my Lady," Morrigan said in a confident voice, "You tired yourself dealing with the other Unseelies that were with me and you are in no condition to fight with me. You really ought to sit down!"

With that, Morrigan threw the power she had gathered at the Lady of the Lake. The blast hit the Lady of the Lake hard and knocked her through the fire that Morrigan had earlier started. Merlin gasped in horror as he heard the Lady of the Lake scream with pain. He quickly summoned an iron dagger with his own magic and lunged at Morrigan. The Unseelie sensed him in time to move enough so that Merlin's attack only grazed her. She screamed with pain at the use of iron, but was not injured enough to consider retreat or surrender. She then threw a fire ball at Merlin that nearly knocked him into the fire.

Merlin got up quickly and dove at Morrigan. The Unseelie merely moved to a side, and Merlin ended up in the pool. Morrigan was laughing at him as he pulled himself out. Merlin growled and threw a lightning bolt from each hand at the Unseelie. Morrigan was unable to dodge both, and one of the Merlin's attacks sent her into the far wall. Merlin then rushed forward, dagger in hand and tried to stab the Unseelie with it. Morrigan began to roll away as he reached her, and he was only able to get the Iron blade into her shoulder.

Morrigan screamed with pain and limped away from where Merlin had landed, clutching her shoulder. The dagger was still stuck in her flesh.

"You...," Morrigan began to growl in anger as she tried to pull the dagger out.

Morrigan was interrupted as an arrow flew through the air from behind her and hit her other shoulder. The arrowhead was made of Iron, like Merlin's dagger, and caused the Unseelie to double over with pain. Merlin then looked past Morrigan to see that Gabriel, Ophelia, armed with her bow and quiver of arrows, Una, Leo, and Griff had arrived and had gotten past the fire. Ophelia was already preparing to fire a second arrow.

"Missed the heart," Ophelia grumbled.

Morrigan screamed with pain and immediately moved toward the window. She couldn't hold out any longer. With the dagger in one shoulder and an arrow in the other, she wouldn't last much longer, especially now with six gargoyles to deal with, one of which was a powerful wizard, and the another that at least knew some magic.

"You'll pay for this!" Morrigan roared as she flew out of the shattered window and into the night.

While the others watched Morrigan flee, Merlin turned the pool and used his magic to move the pool's water to put the fire out. As the flames died away, they saw how incredibly burnt everything around the fire zone was burned. And laying in the middle of the burned area was a very weak looking Lady of the Lake.

"Lady...," Merlin gasped as the group approached the wounded fey.

"Are you alright?" Una asked.

The Lady of the Lake looked up at the faces of the gargoyles around her.

"Is Morrigan defeated?" the Lady of the Lake asked weakly.

"Yes," Merlin answered just as weakly.

"Good," the Lady of the Lake choked out, "Then we've done our duty... Merlin..."

"Yes?" Merlin asked.

"What... over... Arthur... Merlin," the Lady of the Lake said slowly, her voice getting weaker with each word, "Guide... him... Britain's... greatest... hour... still... lies... ahead..."

With that, the Seelie fey's head fell onto its side, and the Lady of the Lake's eyes closed. Griff put a hand down on the Lady of the Lake's wrist and tried to check her pulse. He looked back at the others and shook his head.

"I'm sorry, guys," Griff said weakly.

Maeve meanwhile found Diana to be a much tougher opponent then she had originally thought. The woman had summoned a fairly large oval shield, which, like the Legionnaire's was ornately painted. In the center of the shield was a bubbled out bronze circle which had Minerva's face carved into it. Two yellow painted rectangles ran from that circle to the side edge of the shield, while two yellow painted eagle's wings pointed toward the top and bottom of the shield. All of this was on a black background. Maeve quickly found that the shield was made out of far harder wood then she thought. In addition, Diana was apparently fairly well trained in sword play. The human woman did not give the Unseelie Queen the opportunity to try and crush her shield by keeping the battle at fairly close quarters and attacked with her gladius.

"You fight well, for a mortal," Maeve commented with a grin, "Has the Legionnaire let you out of whatever harem he's kept you in?"

Diana clenched her teeth, keeping silent and raised her shield to block an attack that Maeve had launched at her with her broadsword. Maeve growled at the fact that her attempt to anger the woman in front of her. She then leaped backward and threw a fireball at Diana. Diana ducked behind her shield again and let the fire ball bounce off it and hit the stone wall to the right of her.

While the woman as temporarily behind her shield, Maeve charged forward and landed a strong kick against the wooden shield, knocking it from Diana's hand and knocking Diana to the ground.

"Not everyone is made for war," Maeve chuckled as she looked down at Diana, who now looked nervous at the absence of her shield in her hands.

Maeve then attempted to ram the point of her broadsword through the chest of Diana's armor, but Minerva's chosen one rolled away and the weapon's point ended up partially embedded in the stone floor. Maeve still felt confident however.

"Obviously not you," Maeve chuckled again.

"You'll find I'm more then you bargained for, evil one," Diana growled.

Diana then swung her gladius out and caught Maeve's ankle. Her blade wasn't made of Iron, but like all the Legionnaire's weapons, Praetoria's gladius was empowered by forces that were stronger then the fey, and easily capable of causing pain. Her weapon didn't cut through the Unseelie's ankle, Maeve's own armor prevented that, the Unseelie stumbled back from the human woman, crying in pain and limping because of the wound to her ankle.

Diana got up and picked up her shield and turned to face Maeve, who now could not move fast enough to perform the same trick that she had used to knock Diana down.

"You were saying something about people being made for war?" Diana asked coldly.

Maeve growled and threw an energy blast at the woman. Diana merely raised her shield, now that she had recovered it, and blocked the attack and began to advance on the wounded Unseelie. Maeve now found herself in a great problem. Titania and Madoc were still battling nearby and she could not retreat unless ordered by him, but with her wounded ankle she couldn't really fight. Not while the human still hand that shield in her hand. Maeve immediately began to blast away at Diana with all her powers in an attempt to hobble to Madoc or at least get to where the woman would be at a disadvantage.

Diana meanwhile dodged the attacks or blocked those she couldn't dodge with her shield. She was thankful that she had the shield in her hand once again. Maximus had told her that the armor they wore on their person was only as strong as the armor used in the days of Rome's Empire. It was the large shields that they held with their hands, which Maximus called a scutum, that were practically indestructible.

She watched Maeve continue to hobble away from her. The wound she had inflicted on her ankle made it incredibly difficult for the Unseelie to even move. Remembering one her lessons from Maximus in strategy and tactics, Diana fired a sphere of light through the blade of her gladius and knocked the Unseelie fey into the wall.

Maeve suddenly sensing that she was trapped, began swinging her broadsword wildly. Diana found the attacks easy to deflect with her gladius, as Maeve could only attack on one leg. As Diana finally got close the moved quickly and cut off Maeve's right hand, before the Unseelie used it to bring her sword down on Diana's shoulder. Maeve again screamed with pain and dropped her weapon.

"I'll kill you!" Maeve raged and prepared to blast away at Diana with her free hand.

Maeve never got the chance, however, as Diana thrust her gladius into the Unseelie's chest before she could fully charge her fist with power.

"I think not," Diana said back calmly.

Maeve slowly fell into Diana's arms, her hands clutching the human's neck, trying in vain to strangle her. Diana watched as the female Unseelie fell to the floor, dead. She quickly removed her gladius and moved in search of Titania. She would surely need help against Madoc.

Titania dodged as Madoc threw blaze of energy past her, shattering the wall behind her. The emerald skinned fey returned with a blast of her own, that only forced Madoc to take a step or two backward, mostly because the armor that he was wearing absorbed most of her blow.

"Still afraid of hitting someone in the head?" Madoc asked in a teasing voice.

Madoc then focused his own powers to create five moderately sized circular saw blades. He then threw them at the Seelie Queen, intending for them to cut off her head. Titania simply used her own powers to deflect the saw blades away from her, and once they hit the stone walls, Madoc's constructs shattered into tiny pieces.

"I prefer to fight with honor," Titania answered as she jumped up and kicked the Unseelie leader in the collar bone.

Titania's kick knocked Madoc to the ground and the Seelie Queen landed in front of him. Madoc rubbed the spot where Titania had kicked him and threw a sphere of energy at the emerald skinned fey, forcing Titania to take a step back. He still felt confident in victory, but he knew he needed to act quickly. He was powerful, but Titania was by far more powerful. Madoc, in fact, felt like his energies were being slowly used up by each move he made to try and defeat Titania.

Once Madoc got to his feet, he brought his fists together and fired a massive energy blast at Titania, intending to knock the living daylights out of her. Titania attempted to dodge the attack, but didn't get far enough away and the attack damaged her clothing around her shoulder and knocked her back several steps.

"Hold still!" Madoc growled as Titania dodged another attack.

Titania then charged forward with her fists energized again. She landed one punch on his chest and quickly added another one to his head. She then followed with a spinning kick that knocked the Unseelie back and to the ground.

"Not if it means harm coming to myself," Titania answered.

Titania then threw a powerful energy blast at Madoc while he was on the ground. Madoc raised an energy shield of his own in an attempt to block the attack from reaching him. His was successful in blocking the blast, but Titania kept the attack going, and Madoc continued to feel his strength wain as he sent more and more of his power to keep the shield going. Finally after a minute or two, Madoc's strength failed and Titania's attack blasted through his shield and slammed him into the wall behind him.

Madoc quickly got up and leaped forward, intending to physically pummel the Seelie Queen into oblivion. Titania only hit him with an energy sphere that knocked him back against the wall before he covered even half the distance. Madoc managed to get to his knees and threw an energy blast at Titania. The Seelie Queen only blocked it with her hand.

"You're exhausted Madoc," Titania said.

"You'll never beat me," Madoc snarled, "I'll find a way to win. The throne is rightfully mine."

Titania remained silent.

"You'll never beat me!" Madoc screamed again.

It was at that time that Madoc felt something cold touch his neck. He turned to see that it was the Legionnaire's gladius.

"She already has," Maximus answered, "Surrender."

"Never," Madoc growled as he shook away the Legionnaire's blade and tried to lunge at Titania again.

Maximus, however, caught him with one hand and held Madoc in a kneeling position close to him. He could hear Madoc choking slightly as Maximus's forearm was right under the Unseelie leader's chin. The soldier of Ancient Rome then looked to Titania.

"That honor is yours," Titania sighed.

Maximus then brought the point of his gladius to a section of Madoc's shoulder, slightly behind his head.

Before the Legionnaire brought the point of his sword down he said in a firm voice, "Ave Caesar, nos moriturus consalutas tu*."

Madoc struggled, sensing what was coming, but in vain. Maximus brought his gladius through the back of Madoc's shoulder into Madoc's rib cage and striking the heart. The Unseelie leader quickly fell to the ground, dead.

With the death of Madoc, strange things began to happen. On the battlements, a strange emerald glow engulfed the unconscious mutates and then faded away. The incident left Coyote 4.1 scratching his metallic head.

"What was that?" Coyote 4.1 asked.

"I don't know," Xanatos answered the robot, "We will wait for Titania, or another Seelie Fey before we try to investigate this further."

Inside the castle, many of the Unseelie fey that were still battling, now began retreating at full speed toward anything they could escape through. Those that didn't outright blast through walls went through windows. The Seelie fey that were battling them moved to their points of exit.

"Should we go after them?" a small pixie-like Seelie fey asked.

"No," Coyote answered, "It'll be dawn soon and they may only be regrouping. We'd better get to Titania."

**Maddox Technologies**

Garlon and every other surviving Unseelie gathered on the roof of the Maddox Technologies building. Many were hoping to make it until the next day. Some were too enraged to do anything besides growl at anything. The fact that the building's rooftop entrance didn't open for them only angered them further.

"Why won't this damn thing open?!" Garlon roared as he beat the computer panel from which he was trying to open the secret entrance.

A red light suddenly came on on the panel and a computerized voice announced, "Unauthorized fey attacking premises..."

"What!" Garlon roared, "It's OUR building!"

"...and must be terminated," the computerized voice finished.

The Unseelies watched as several lasers, powered by special magic stones activated and began firing on them. A few of the smaller or weakened Unseelie were killed outright by the weapons, while many others were wounded further.

"Damn," Garlon growled, knowing that the lasers were designed for attack fey in mind, "We got out of here!"

They then began fleeing their base in a large group, leaving the dead behind. Inside a computer monitoring room, inside the building, two gargoyles stood smiling. One a blood red female and another a large black male.

"I will thank you again for changing their security codes," Thailog commented.

"You should be thankful for Sevarius's knowledge of some of the lower codes," Holly shrugged, "And I had to use my magic to really do it. Should they be able to get in, they could easily undo the changes."

"They won't," Thailog shrugged off, "From what Fang has told me, they thought their defenses were invincible. If you believe something is invincible you won't attack it."

Holly nodded.

"Come, we must inspect the other's progress," Thailog continued.

**Castle Wyvern**

"What do you mean they're already free?" Xanatos asked.

"Just as I said," Titania answered, "Apparently Madoc's death freed them from whatever enslavement spell he had used."

"And most of them are still unconscious," Arthur pointed out, "We can't do anything until they wake up. One of my enemies is among their numbers, and until they wake up, we can't identify them."

The others slowly nodded.

"Better to be safe then sorry," Xanatos commented.

Suddenly Coyote 4.1 came flying into their section of the courtyard from another region of the battlements.

"Mr. Xanatos," Coyote 4.1 announced, "We have a problem."

Xanatos gave a growling sigh, "What is it?"

"Some of the mutates have escaped," Coyote 4.1 reported and then held out a hand holding the chains that had been used to restrain one of the mutates, "I found twelve of these throughout various sections of battlement's east end."

"Great," Xanatos grumbled.

"Should I go after them?" Coyote 4.1 offered.

"No," Xanatos commanded, "It'll be dawn soon. We'll worry about those mutates later."

"Yes sir," Coyote 4.1 answered.

Above them on the tower, the gargoyles were already gathering to wait for the sun to rise and to begin their normal period of stone sleep. Amy found Brooklyn crouching on his perch looking blankly into western horizon.

"Hey," Amy said politely.

"Hey," Brooklyn answered with a weak smile, turning his head to see her.

"My folks are doing okay," Amy reported, "And Candy's mom cut off an Unseelie's hand."

"That's good to hear," Brooklyn answered with a slight chuckle, "Uh, Amy, about what I said earlier..."

"You said you loved me," Amy interrupted, "Why did you say that?"

Brooklyn became visibly nervous, "Well, I thought that one of us was going to die, and I didn't want to lose you or you to lose me with you knowing how I feel."

Amy raised a browridge and chuckled.

"It's not funny," Brooklyn insisted, "I was seriously frightened that you wouldn't know..."

Amy put a talon to Brooklyn's beak, indicating for him to be quiet.

"It's all right," Amy smiled, "I just thought your timing was wrong. I love you, too. Must be the beak."

Brooklyn's heart skipped a beat. Did she? Had he really won a female's heart?

"Hello, Brooklyn," Amy said waving a hand in his face, "I said I love you, too."

Brooklyn found himself at a loss for words and as the sun rose was only able to say, "Thanks."

**The End **

*** Latin translation(may have errors) - Hail Caesar, we who are about to die, salute you.**


	19. Aftermath

All characters appearing in Gargoyles and Gargoyles: The Goliath Chronicles are copyrighted to Buena Vista Television/The Walt Disney Company. I've taken the idea for the Unseelie Court from the TGS. No infringement of these copyrights is intended, and is not authorized by the copyright holder. All original characters are the property of SN.

Note: I'm disregarding the events of the "Goliath Chronicles", with the exception of "The Journey" because I do not wish to use the rest of the "Goliath Chronicles" as canon to my story. This story takes place immediately after "Battles".

Aftermath

By SN/TVfan

Email: **Sam_Nary **

**Castle Wyvern**

"You need to be more careful, sir," Beth Maza warned the man sitting in the plastic chair as she bandaged several cuts, "Some of these are fairly deep and could have done more damage then they actually did."

"It's only a flesh wound, miss," Maximus grunted back.

He now silently wished that Diana hadn't seen him so soon after the battle. He had not yet told her about some of the 'extras' that came along with their 'immortality'. She saw some of the cuts that Loki's axe had made and demanded that he have a doctor look at them. Not wanting to anger the woman he loved, Maximus agreed to let Beth look him over. So he sat there, wearing only his pants and boots. His armor and tunic had been taken off to give Beth an easier time at checking his wounds.

"Even the smallest flesh wounds can become infected very quickly," Beth answered, "Don't decide you can tough it out next time. Don't wait until your girlfriend gets worried about you to get medical attention."

Beth then noticed something on the man's right arm.

"And be more careful around hot objects," Beth said, "You've got something burned into your right arm."

Maximus looked down at the arm she mentioned and then said, "I trust your sister told you who I am?"

Beth paused, remembering what Elisa had told her and the picture she showed her.

"Yes," Beth answered, "She told me you're also called the Legionnaire and was a soldier in the Ancient Roman army."

Maximus nodded, "And here is a piece of information that you can remember."

He then indicated with a free hand to the spot on his right arm where the letters 'SPQR' stood out in bold fashion.

"This is a brand," Maximus explained, "This was burned into my flesh to identify me as a Roman solider. This was done to every man who entered the army. It made the army's job easier when it came to hunting down deserters, because this mark would be burned into their flesh."

Beth cringed.

"I do however thank you for treating my wounds," Maximus then added, "You have behaved most honorably."

Titania carefully laid Fox to rest on her bed. The red furred fox mutate was utterly exhausted from Garlon's attack. Xanatos and Owen were busy preparing a believable story for the police should the most recent battle with the Unseelie Court be noticed by those outside the Eyrie Building, and that these people reported the battle.

"My Lady," Phoebe said to her from the doorway.

Titania slowly turned, "Yes?"

"The court is beginning the repair the damage done to the castle and the Eyrie Building that the Unseelies caused," Phoebe answered.

"Good," Titania answered, "Any news on the yeti creatures that the Unseelies smuggled in? And the former mutate slaves?"

"They are for the moment incarcerated in the castle's dungeon," Phoebe answered, "The former slaves are resting in the great hall."

Titania sighed and hoped that Fox would recover by the time the former mutate slaves woke up. The Seelie Court's mutate allies would be needed desperately to help them adjust to what was likely to be their new life. Titania, meanwhile, had other matters to attend to.

**Abandoned Warehouse**

"What do you mean, 'continue the war'?" a low ranking Unseelie screamed, "We lost, AGAIN, and this time things are worse. We weren't simply banished from Avalon this time, Garlon. Madoc and Maeve are probably dead along with most of the court. And many of those who weren't killed were taken prisoner."

"Not to mention that we lost all our slaves, the Pack, and even an easy means of escape through our gate at Maddox Technologies," another Unseelie spoke up.

"And of the survivors, only you and Morrigan are really strong enough to risk a battle with the Seelies," the first Unseelie spoke up, "And their court is bound to be hunting us now. To make sure that we never threaten them again."

"That's why we must continue to fight," Garlon argued, "If they hunt us, we'll be stronger as a group and it is the only way to get revenge."

"And revenge for who?" another asked, "Madoc's death or the loss of Maddox Technologies?"

"What does it matter," a rather overweight Unseelie grumbled as he pushed his way through the crowd, "Mouse has been Madoc's lap dog for centuries. Now that Madoc's dead, he wants to take over. I, for one, am not going to follow him."

Several other Unseelies cheered the most recent Unseelie who spoke.

"Morrigan, help me here," Garlon demanded.

"I too, would like to know who you wish to avenge, Garlon," Morrigan spoke calmly, "I'll also say that I don't want to follow you, either."

"But I'm the most powerful here!" Garlon screamed, "And I was Madoc's chief aide. If Maeve was the second in command, I am the third."

"That remains to be seen," Morrigan cackled, "And besides, I have no wish to remain here. The Unseelie Court is through, Garlon. We've lost and if we stay here, we're going to be a target, and if we follow you, we're sure to be killed."

"Yeah," a small pixie Unseelie spoke up, "You may have been 'third in command', but you were nothing more then an errand boy. You got loyalty coming out of every pore in your skin for Madoc, and that's why he named you his aide. He knew you'd never betray him."

"You all never betrayed him," Garlon argued.

"Because we knew he'd kill us if we did," Morrigan pointed out, "But we didn't entirely want to follow him. We followed Madoc because it is FUN to torment humanity and the gargoyles of this world. Madoc would have allowed that while Oberon would not. You followed Madoc because you believed that Madoc truly was the rightful heir to the throne. Now that Madoc is dead, YOU have no real purpose. You can't stop until Madoc is the ruler. The rest of us are free to do as we please."

There was silence in the warehouse for a few moments before Morrigan began speaking again.

"And while it was fun seeing everyone again," Morrigan began, "I would prefer to use my new freedom to return to England. Macbeth and Arthur are sure to return there soon and I'll be able to deal with them."

Many Unseelie cheered at Morrigan's comments and quickly agreed that they wished to go to there areas of interest. Garlon only answered this by sitting down hard on an old crate that was in the warehouse.

**Long Island**

"There," Jackal sighed as he finished installing a large metal plate over the area in Dreadnought's armor that Shadow had damaged.

Jackal then looked around at the Pack and those that had joined them after the battle at the Eyrie Building. They had fled to Long Island and were now resting in the back yard of a condemned mansion. Hyena was busy pacing elsewhere in the yard. Wolf, Canis, and Vulpine were all asleep in various rooms of th building. The now mutate Anton Sevarius sat on the back steps looking at the sky. Dreadnought and Shadow lay offline at Jackal's feet.

"Are they fixed yet?" Hyena demanded.

Jackal shrugged, "I've repaired the damage that Shadow did to Dreadnought, but I haven't even begun to understand why they've gone offline."

"You'd need to capture an Unseelie," Anton Sevarius suggested from his location, "If what you've said is true about who created those robots, I have no doubt that 'Mr. Maddox' built those things to be truly independent. You'll need an Unseelie to undo whatever spell that was put on them."

"And where are we to find an Unseelie?" Hyena demanded.

"I don't know," Sevarius answered, "But it is surely better then replacing the programming that was lost when the robots went offline."

"Fine," Jackal agreed, "We'll go tonight."

He then turned to his sister, "Go wake up Wolf and the others. We'll need them to move Dreadnought and Shadow inside."

**Castle Wyvern**

Xanatos sighed as he dropped into a couch in an empty living room. He was now thoroughly exhausted. The battle the previous night had worn him out, and he had just spent much of the morning working with Owen to keep the police from running a full scale investigation of Xanatos Enterprises and Castle Wyvern. Man's discovery of gargoyles had caused more then enough trouble. Xanatos couldn't imagine what would happen if the fey were revealed to the world. Thankfully the reports that people gave to the police only indicated strange noises and debris falling to the sidewalk. It was easy enough for Xanatos and Owen to explain that the circuitry in the Eyrie Building's generators had shorted out and exploded. The black furred mutate lay back on the couch, silently thankful that Owen was able to hide his mutate form through his powers as Puck, and began to doze off.

"Excuse me, Mr. Xanatos," Owen's voice woke Xanatos up before he could even go to sleep.

Xanatos groaned and pulled himself up.

"What is it Owen?" Xanatos asked, making no effort to hide his exhaustion.

"Queen Titania requests that you come to the Great Hall to witness the trial," Owen answered.

Xanatos sighed, "I'm too tired to stand on ceremony. Besides, it was Titania's victory."

"There will be a Council meeting to decide what is done next, sir," Owen answered, "As one of the Seelie Court's allies, you are a member of the Council."

"Shouldn't that wait until after sunset, when the gargoyles wake up?" Xanatos asked.

"The gargoyles will do what is best for their protectorates," Owen answered, "The Council meeting is to determine what those of us without the instinct to protect will do."

Xanatos sighed and slowly got up, "Alright, I'm coming."

Mrs. Nexus was the first of the mutates slaves that hadn't escaped earlier to wake up. She felt as though a she had just come out of a very thick fog and had no clue as to where she was.

"Where... where am I?" she asked aloud, mostly to herself.

"Castle Wyvern," came a strong male voice.

She sat up and looked in the direction of where the voice came from. Once she saw who talked the tried to shuffle back until she felt her back touch the stone wall of the castle. She saw a large winged panther standing on two legs and looking down at her.

"Who... who... who are you?" Mrs. Nexus asked fearfully.

"I'm called Talon," Talon answered, "And are you?"

Mrs. Nexus barely struggled through her fear to say her name to the panther mutate. Talon only raised an eyebrow at the mention of the name.

"You don't need to be afraid," Talon said politely, "I can help you."

"Like I need help from a cat with wings," Mrs. Nexus snorted, "You leave me alone!"

"Speak for yourself," Talon answered.

Mrs. Nexus blinked for a few moments and then raised her hand to look at it. What she saw horrified her. Her hand was covered in grey and tan fur. Thick pads protected her fingertips and part of palm, and she could see faint claw like nubs that were growing from her fingertips. She looked down at her nose and saw her grey furred muzzle. She ran her tongue along her teeth and quickly found out that her teeth practically identical to a dog's. She then looked behind herself to see two bat-like wings growing behind her.

She screamed bloody murder.

"AHHHHH!" Mrs. Nexus screamed, "What's happened to me?"

"You've been..." Talon began to answer.

"Darling, what is it?" a voice from beside Mrs. Nexus spoke.

Mrs. Nexus turned to see a bobcat mutate just awakening from its own sleep to the sound of her screaming.

"Justin!?" Mrs. Nexus shrieked.

"What happened to us?" Mr. Nexus mumbled as he pulled himself up to his knees.

"A scientist in the employ of the Unseelie Court of the Fey turned you into mutates," Talon explained.

"Unseelie Court?" Mrs. Nexus asked.

"Mutates?" Mr. Nexus added.

Talon raised one finger to the front of his own muzzle.

"What is the last thing you remember?" Talon asked.

"We were sitting down to eat dinner when these strange elf creatures came crashing through the window and took us prisoner," Mr. Nexus answered.

"They asked us a lot of questions about our daughter," Mrs. Nexus answered.

Talon sighed and then began to explain the recent conflict with the Unseelie Court. It was difficult for the panther mutate, because both asked him many questions about some information that went along with his story. Much of it had to deal with the nature of mutates and how Talon himself transformed from Derek Maza to Talon, although there were some questions that had to deal with the history of the Fey race and the nature of magic.

"So magic really exists?" Mr. Nexus asked.

"Yes," Talon answered, "But what was done to you was done by science, not magic."

"Why would people who know magic hire a scientist?" Mrs. Nexus asked.

"I don't know," Talon shrugged, "Probably because they didn't want to do something that might endanger the spell they used to enslave you. The Unseelies had you work for them in their recent war."

Their next question was the one that Talon had been expecting from the beginning.

"Can we be human again?" Mrs. Nexus asked.

"I don't know," Talon answered, "Mr. Xanatos has been working on a cure, but he hasn't been able to find one."

Talon then sighed heavily as the two mutates began to look hopeful, "But I'm beginning to think it's impossible now."

"What about magic and these fey things?" Mr. Nexus asked quickly.

Talon shook his head, "That can't be an option. The formula that Anton Sevarius used on me and Alex Sevarius used on you is so complex that if any fey tried to undo it by magic there is a thirty percent chance it would work, a thirty percent chance that it would do nothing, and forty percent chance we would end up worse then before."

"And who told you this?" Mrs. Nexus demanded.

"A fey known as Puck," Talon answered, "He told the original batch of mutates, myself included, that magic, while powerful can not do everything we think it can do. Stuff that the fey or sorcerers have made 'appear' out of thin air was likely teleported from someplace else, changed in route, and replaced with something else."

"And you trust him?" Mr. Nexus screamed, "We can't go anywhere like this!"

"I know that, no mutate can go anywhere in the open," Talon growled slowly, "Neither can the gargoyles. All any mutate can do right now is try to adjust to what they are and hope that a cure is found."

"That doesn't sound very optimistic," Mrs. Nexus grumbled.

"I'm sorry, but that's the way it is," Talon answered.

Meanwhile in the Great Hall, the Seelie Court gathered around several square boxes that stood in the center of the room. They were made of wood, but Titania had insured that none of the Unseelie's could escape from them. The wood used to construct the boxes actually formed a wall that left their center open and had no roof to them. This would allow one Unseelie fey to stand in each box.

Xanatos and Owen had arrived to represent Xanatos Enterprises and Vogel was there to represent Cyberbiotics, the two companies that had suffered directly more than any other business in New York from the Second Unseelie War. Xanatos was also there to represent his wife and son. Maximus and Diana were still there to represent the Olympian Court. Amy and Candy's parents were there along with Beth Maza to represent the Manhattan Clan. Arthur, Chloe, and Macbeth were present to represent the London clan. The Guatemalan clan were the only gargoyles there. Each looked exhausted and ready to fall asleep and then stone sleep. Maggie, her mother, and Claw were there to represent the Labyrinth clan. They looked just as exhausted as the Guatemalans.

"We had best begin," Titania sighed, "Bring in the yetis."

The Weird Sisters, hovering in front of Titania's throne bowed and then used their magic open the far doors to the Great Hall. Then, walking in, as if in a trance, came the furry yetis that had attacked the Eyrie Building along with Wolf. After Wolf had fled, they were left confused and disoriented, and many were apprehended by Xanatos's security forces. Each yeti was also chained each other. They then stood in a loose circle around the 'defendant's boxes' that had been created. All of them were making low grumbling noises.

Titania then began to speak to the yetis gathered before them.

"Yetis of the Himalayas," Titania began, "You are not guilty of any formal crime. The Unseelies took you from your mountain homes and to some extent enslaved you. But while under that enslavement, you fought against the Seelie Court, and since the 'enslavement' was not against your will I am afraid that I can not permit you to journey to Avalon when my Court returns there. You are to return to your mountain homes in the Himalayas and you are to remain there."

Titania then motioned to the Sisters. The Sisters then raised their arms and teleported the yetis out of the room and off to Himalayan Mountains Titania then sighed as the yetis disappeared from sight.

"Bring in the next Unseelie," Titania sighed.

**Abandoned Warehouse**

Garlon sat alone in the warehouse. Most of the Unseelies were still there, but the Court had divided into various circles of groups of Unseelie planning to return to their 'mythical' homeland. Morrigan had in fact, already left for England. Of course she had disguised herself as a human, but she was gone, none the less.

"I hate them," Garlon thought angrily in reference to the Seelie Court and its allies, "And I will have my revenge."

The mousey haired fey was interrupted by the voice of another fey nearby.

"Garlon," the voice called.

Garlon looked up to see a small Unseelie that held the form of an anthromorphic rat. It wore only a pair of jeans that were noticeably faded and with one of the knees worn out. His fur was wild and a few parts of it stood up. Garlon could easily see his teeth, all of which looked sharper then what people would think of when thinking about rats, and the Unseelie looked at him through two bright red eyes.

"Yes, Vermin, what is it?" Garlon sighed.

"The others may not wish to serve you, but they all have places to go," Vermin answered, "Me, I prefer to go wherever there is a city, and New York is one of the world's largest cities. Plenty of rats. So I think I'd prefer to stay here. And if we're both here, I might as well serve you."

"You'd serve me?" Garlon questioned suspiciously.

"I've got nothing against you, and as I said, I'm probably going to stay here anyway," Vermin answered, "So I might as well serve you. You were Madoc's 'third in command' after all."

"Two fey do not make a Court," Garlon growled, "The rest of these traitors aren't following Madoc's dream."

"I'm sure I can persuade a few others to join you," Vermin said, "And maybe you could make your own dreams."

"What?" Garlon demanded.

"If I may say so, most of the others don't want to follow you because you were far too loyal to Madoc," Vermin answered, "If Madoc asked you to brush his teeth, you might have done it for him. They feel you're not independent enough."

"But it was Madoc's goal to rule the world," Garlon argued, "We all want that."

"Then don't conquer it in Madoc's name," Vermin advised, "Just think of some reason besides avenging Madoc to conquer the world."

Garlon sat in thought and then sighed, "Very well, just find those who would be willing to remain here under my command."

"Yes, sir," Vermin bowed.

**Castle Wyvern**

The sentencing of many of the captured Unseelie proceeded slowly. Most were to be imprisoned in Castle Wyvern's dungeon until it was safe for the Seelie Court to return to Avalon. From there, they would be transferred to prisons on the mystical isle. That however changed as they got to the more important members of the Unseelie Court, things changed. Banshee was the first of them. Titania's eyes focused on her entirely.

"You, Banshee, are guilty of far greater crimes then those that preceded you," Titania began, "You have betrayed the Seelie Court to Madoc and attacked its members. This counts as treason."

A few Seelie fey gave out harsh jeers. Banshee stood still with defiance in her face. She would have tried to escape, if it weren't for the iron chains that held her in place.

"For this, you are to be exiled and in a position where you can not betray us again," Titania continued, "You are to be stripped of your powers and left to live among the mortals. Your immortality will be weakened so that it only prevents you from aging and leaves you vulnerable to all other ways a person can be killed."

Banshee opened her mouth in shock, but could do nothing to protest the decision. Such a punishment had never been given before. The fey had always respected the other's powers, regardless of their strength. Exile wasn't an uncommon punishment, but to be exiled with no power was totally unheard of.

"You may carry out the sentence," Titania said to the Weird Sisters.

The Sisters bowed and moved to hover over the chained Seelie traitor, and soon the people in the room could hear their three voices speak in unison.

"Traitor to her court,

we place on you a curse of a powerful sort.

Ageless you will remain,

but your powers are to permanently wain."

With that, Banshee felt the Weird Sisters's far stronger her powers pull her own away from her. Her iron chains prevented her from fighting and the Seelie traitor screamed with pain as the Sisters took her powers from her. She then watched as her power flew through the air into a small ring box that sat on the arm rest of the throne Titania was sitting on. When it had all disappeared, Banshee no longer entirely felt the effects of the Iron. She could still sense some of her power within her, but not enough for her to use a spell, it was only enough to keep her from ever growing old. If she avoided being killed in any other fashion, she was now doomed to live the rest of her life as a powerless fool.

The Weird Sisters then ushered the now powerless Banshee from the room. Titania, meanwhile, had turned her attention to the next remaining major Unseelie. Sekhmet was now led into the room to stand trail.

"You Sekhmet are charged with much more serious crimes," Titania said directly, "In addition to rejoining your Unseelie comrades in a second war against me, you have committed various murders as well as enslaving mortals to your wishes, in addition to other violations of Oberon's Law."

"It's only a 'Law' to those that follow him," Sekhmet snarled defiantly.

"It is a Law for all the fey to follow," Titania answered the Unseelie's comment firmly, "Laws are not something that individuals pick and chose."

Sekhmet only grumbled something that the people in the room couldn't hear.

"Because of you are to dangerous to exile, and evil enough that you would still cause problems, even if your powers were removed," Titania then said, "I have determined a different fate for you."

Sekhmet glared at the Unseelie ruler, expecting something extremely simple to endure.

"In addition to losing your powers," Titania stated, "And given your enjoyment of the African Lion, you are to spend the rest of your immortal life as one and as a private pet of the Seelie Court."

Sekhmet gasped at the sentence. Not only would she be powerless, but she would be her enemy's pet.

"Is this wise, my Queen?" Selene asked, breaking away from the rest of the Weird Sisters, "Lions are dangerous animals."

"And easily caged," Titania said firmly and waved her hand at the captured Unseelie.

Sekhmet then found a large heavy leather vest was now around her shoulders. There was a small loop in the front that was attached to a heavy chain that ran to the floor. The Egyptian Unseelie found herself unable to break the chain or the vest.

"You may continue," Titania commanded to the Sisters.

"As you wish, my Queen," the Weird Sisters answered in unison.

The Sisters again chanted their spell, draining Sekhmet of all her power, except the little that was needed to prevent the Unseelie from aging and sent it to the ring box on Titania's throne. They then collectively waved their hands in a ritual like motion at the captive Unseelie before them.

Sekhmet then cringed in pain as the rest of Titania's chosen punishment began. Her hands slowly scrunched up as her bones moved and reformed to become paws, this change did not affect her legs or feet since they were already lion-like. Then she found herself unable to stand on her legs alone. Her hips and spine had painfully changed their alignment, making it impossible for her to stand erect. She roared with pain as a furry tail, tipped with an extra furry tuft of fur, grew out and swayed slowly near the ground. Sekhmet had quickly been reduced to the form of a female African Lion.

Sekhmet roared angrily at Titania and lunged at the emerald skinned fey, but was caught by the chain that was connected to the vest that she still wore.

"We'll keep her in the dungeon for now," Titania said calmly.

The Sisters nodded and began using their powers to move Sekhmet to the dungeon.

"Is that all?" Lawrence's father asked with a yawn, "I'd like to get some rest."

"There is still the question of what is to be done next," Titania answered, "Once we have decided, then a much needed rest will be available for everyone."

"But isn't it obvious what we do next?" Mrs. Axel asked, "Get on with our lives. You guys and the clan beat the Unseelies."

"To some degree, that is what everyone will do," Titania answered, "But I think it would be wise if we all knew what the others were doing."

"Why do you think that?" Arthur asked.

"Because many Unseelies did escape capture and will most likely cause problems later," Titania answered, "While I intend for my Court to return to Avalon, with Avalon's magic, my Court may need to intervene in stopping several outbreaks of Unseelie related violence."

"You don't intend to hunt them down after all the damage they caused?" Mrs. Wexmand asked.

"If you're going back to Avalon, aren't you worried about the Unseelies following you there?" Talon added, "And stealing the island's magic? Since they know how to get there now."

"To answer the first question," Titania began, "The defeat and death of Madoc and Maeve has most likely split the Unseelie Court. Mostly because very many of them were only loyal to Madoc because of his power and the fact that he would not hesitate to punish anyone who disagreed with him harshly. Without his shadow over them, the Unseelie Court will most likely disband as its members go off on their own paths. They will also be extremely difficult to find until they decide to unleash whatever mayhem they are planning. My Court can remain here in order to deal with that threat, mainly because very few will actually remain in New York. On Avalon, we can use Avalon's magic to send members of our Court to any portion of the world where they may cause serious trouble."

"Diana and I will also be able to hunt them down more easily from Elysium," Maximus said to Titania, knowing that only the present fey would truly remember his presence.

Titania nodded, "And remember that should they cause trouble here, the gargoyles and Puck should be more then capable of handling whatever they decide to do. Especially since Demona is a powerful sorceress herself. They are more likely to hide right now then to do anything else."

Titania then turned to answer Talon's question, "As for the ability to take Avalon's magic, that point is no longer a question. Ever since Avalon was created, long before Oberon was even born, magic seemed to naturally exist on the island, and aside from mortals, like Katherine's Magus, the only fey that has been able to wield its power has been the Seelie Monarch. Madoc, because he was Oberon's brother, and I, as Oberon's widow, are the only ones who can use the island's power. With Madoc dead, I am now the only one who can use that power, which makes Avalon's magic useless to the Unseelies."

"Well, if ye're planning to coordinate what is done next," Macbeth began, "I will say that Arthur, the London Clan, and I will probably be returning to London fairly soon."

"Yes, we've left London unguarded against its own criminal element for far to long," Arthur added, "It's also likely that Morrigan will return to England as well. We will need to deal with her."

Katherine stepped forward next, "If ye're returning to Avalon, should Tom and I prepare the clan to return?"

"You do not wish to remain here?" Titania asked.

"We donnae fit into this world," Katherine answered, "It has been good to see the original clan again, but this world is too loud for me."

"My Court will wait for you and the Honor Guard then if you wish to return," Titania said with a nod.

"Diana and I must also be leaving," Maximus said calmly, "With the Unseelies defeated, we must return to Elysium to deal with other evils. We can not focus on solely one area."

The Manhattan's clan's human family said that they intended to return to their lives and hope that the Unseelie's war hadn't cost them much. Maggie reported that the mutates and the clones intended to return and reopen the Labyrinth as a homeless shelter. Xanatos merely wished to get his business back to its 'normal' routine. After Xanatos had finished speaking, the fey Coyote steeped forward.

"Queen Titania," Coyote said quietly as most of the others began to depart the room, "If it does not trouble you, I would actually prefer to remain on Earth."

Titania glanced from Coyote to the young Beth Maza, who had not moved.

"Am I to presume that this has something to do with the sister of one of the Honor Guard?" Titania asked.

"Yes, it has to do with Elisa Maza's sister," Coyote answered, sounding slightly embarrassed.

"You love her?" Titania asked again.

Coyote looked down again and slowly said, "Yes."

"I have never had a problem with whom you've chosen to love, Coyote," Titania replied, "That is why I did not force you to return to Avalon when I learned that you had left for Arizona."

Coyote slowly nodded as Beth approached nervously.

"You may remain outside of Avalon with her," Titania said politely, "You do not need to return, unless she wishes...?"

"No, ma'am," Beth said slowly, "As I said earlier, I need to get back to my work."

"Very well," Titania answered, "Do not forget us, Coyote."

"I won't, my Queen," Coyote bowed.

Titania then turned to leave the Great Hall as well, as Coyote put his arm around Beth's shoulders, and the two began walking out toward the Clan's wing of the castle. Coyote whistled softly as the two walked.

Talon meanwhile was trying to get the former Unseelie slaves under control. Mrs. Nexus's screaming managed to wake the other mutates and Talon now found himself dealing with several mutates, all on the verge of panic. Many were almost as shocked to find that they were in New York in addition to their mutation.

"I can't go to work like this!" Talon heard one complain.

"It was that man ranting about the Romans," another said with a strong English accent, "He did this."

Talon listened to them argue over what happened for a few minutes before he finally had enough of listening to the confused and frightened noises they were making. The black furred panther mutate then made a loud whistling sound to try and get the attention of all the present mutates. He was successful in getting a few to pay attention, but many of the others continued with their own complaints and conversations.

"QUIET!" Talon finally roared.

Talon's yell finally got the others to pay attention.

"Thank you," Talon said once everything had quieted down, "My name is Talon and I am here to help."

"If you want to help, you can turn us all back," one of the mutates said.

"I can't do that," Talon sighed, "What was done to you was done by science, not magic. I am not even a geneticist, I do not know the first thing about trying to undo what has been done to you."

"So, you've made us all into permanent freaks?" the other mutate screamed, while bringing up an electrical charge in his fists, "Thanks a lot, pal."

"No, I didn't do this to you," Talon insisted.

"Then WHO did?" the mutate roared.

"It was a man named Alex Sevarius," Talon answered, "He's actually the clone of a geneticist named Anton Sevarius..."

"Cloning is illegal, though," another mutate interrupted, "You can't clone people."

"Neither Sevarius is well known for their code of ethics," Talon answered, "He did this to me and three others a few years ago."

"Why did he do this to you?" a third mutate asked.

"It's a long and complicated story," Talon answered, "One we don't have time for now."

"Why did the clone do this to us then?" the first mutate growled.

"Most likely because he was commanded to by a very powerful being named Madoc," Talon answered, and then began to explain, "Madoc was the leader of a group of fey known as the Unseelie Court. He was at war with the Seelie Court for the throne of mythical island called Avalon. One of his tactics was to use enslaved mortals as cannon fodder against his enemies, and since Sevarius's mutate formula is capable of making humans stronger then they are normally, Madoc probably had you all mutated to give himself a stronger slave army."

"Was?" the other mutate asked, "What is he now? A hamster?"

"He's dead now," Talon answered, "He was killed trying to destroy the Seelie Court, and that is why you all are free of his influence now."

"Is there any possible way we can be human again?" a third mutate asked, "Forget all this stuff about fey and courts."

"There might be," Talon replied, "Xanatos's geneticists are working as hard as they can to find a cure, but they haven't had any luck."

There were several sighs of depression.

"So what happens now?" the first mutate asked.

"That's up to you," Talon said, "Although a mutate's appearance won't allow you to have a 'normal' life, no one here is going to force you to do anything. You can either remain here at Castle Wyvern. You can join my clan in the Labyrinth. Or you can journey out on your own. No one is going to stop you."

There was a sudden raise in commotion as none of the mutates there had no real clue what they were going to do. Talon heard 'London' mentioned several times and assumed that there were several former Unseelie slaves that were from the London area.

"I'm going to need a lot of help," Talon yawned as he tried keep from dropping to the ground from exhaustion.

**Elsewhere**

Lucius meanwhile sat in a hidden spot underneath a bridge that separated Manhattan island from Long Island. The other mutates that escaped with him were still nearby.

"What do we do now, boss?" one of the mutates asked.

Lucius stood up slowly and sighed heavily. What he wanted was revenge on Maddox for what he had done to the man who aspired to become the next Roman Emperor. But, since he and his few followers were free, that meant that Maddox had to be dead.

"Maddox is dead, so we can't have our revenge on him for his crimes," Lucius answered, "So for now, we will return to the business of conquest. We must defeat Arthur and Macbeth."

"They have been hanging around the Eyrie Building and the castle that's at the top of it," one of the other mutates with him answered.

"Yeah," another added, "I saw Arthur there when we escaped."

"We are to begin shadowing the gargoyles there," Lucius commanded, "Arthur or Macbeth are sure to be with them. Once we can isolate our Medieval kings, we can kill them."

Lucius's followers paid close attention to the now African Wild Dog mutate. Lucius smiled.

"And once Macbeth and Arthur are out of the way, we will return to the Old World," Lucius smiled, "There, we will find conquest to be easy and quick."

The others cheered loudly at Lucius's words. Lucius silenced them when he heard the sound of several adults coming in their direction.

"This is officer Gronti," one of the people said, "We are moving in to investigate a few people standing under the Manhattan Bridge. They may have witnessed or have connections to the robbery."

"Great, cops," one of Lucius's followers snarled.

"We can take them," another of Lucius's followers said with a menacing grin.

Lucius looked to see the shadows of the approaching people and saw that while there were only three people, all of them were armed with hand guns and had their weapons drawn. If he forced a battle here, it would only cause him trouble.

"No," Lucius commanded, "They have guns. The last thing we need to arouse the attention of our enemies. Let's get out of here."

Lucius then turned and ran in the opposite direction. His followers turned and ran after him. The group leaped up onto the top of a fence that was designed to keep people from going under the bridge and began to glide away. The three officers meanwhile found themselves scratching their heads about finding no one under the bridge.

"I swore I heard someone talking," officer Gronti said.

"You're hearing things," another officer commented, "Come on."

**Castle Wyvern, Dusk**

The various gargoyles all threw their stone skins off with very triumphant roars as the sun sank beneath the western horizon. Each also smiled when they saw that it had at last stopped snowing. They then made their way back into the castle to have their breakfast.

"I think with the Unseelies defeated that we can return to our normal patrol routes," Goliath rumbled slowly, "and as much as I'm sure we'd all like some time to enjoy our victory, we need to get back to our patrol routes."

Elisa slowly nodded but added, "Let's see what Titania thinks first. If there is still a danger, it might not be wise to go back to 'normal'."

"Of course, my love," Goliath smiled as he placed a hand on Elisa's shoulder.

Brooklyn and Amy were also involved in their own conversation as they entered the castle. Although it was mostly flirtation as Brooklyn felt overjoyed that Amy said that she loved him as well. Amy felt glad that the two of them had survived the Unseelie attack. Not all of the gargoyles were enjoying such a pleasant conversation, however.

"Why did you go after Sekhmet?" Demona demanded, "You could have been seriously hurt, if not killed."

"You didn't look like you were doing much better," Wedrington answered nervously, "I thought you needed the help."

"You keep forgetting that I'm immortal," Demona said firmly, "I do not need help."

"She drove wooden stakes through you," Wedrington exclaimed.

"I'll admit it was painful," Demona replied, "But my immortality can not be ended by anyone besides Macbeth. Despite all her torture, I would have beaten Sekhmet in the end. You are mortal and could have been killed if I didn't get her wrapped in Iron chains so quickly."

"I promised I'd guard you before we came to New York," Wedrington argued, "I couldn't stand by and let her hurt you. I can not break a promise."

Demona then paused for a moment and looked at the white lion-like gargoyle and remembered what he had said.

"You promised to protect me during the day," Demona pointed out, "When you were still human."

Wedrington frowned and was about to say something when Demona continued.

"I do not want you engaging such dangerous foes again," Demona commanded, "Do you understand me. She was talking about enslaving you again. And that is something I will not tolerate."

"Why?" Wedrington asked, "Why can't I help?"

Demona sighed again and then said weakly, "I care about you."

"Hm? I didn't hear you," Wedrington said, "Speak up."

"I said I care about you," Demona repeated, "You have learned about my past have not condemned me for it. You have remained by my side. It's more then I probably deserve, and I must admit that it has aroused feelings that I have not felt in years."

Wedrington looked at the immortal gargoyle, and noticed that she had quickly become embarrassed.

"Thank you for caring," Wedrington said politely, "I'll admit that I've grown to care for you as well."

Demona gave a smile and continued to walk into the castle. It was awhile before she spoke again.

"I'm going to try and get in contact with a construction company soon," Demona said calmly, "We'll need them once all this snow melts."

"What for?" Wedrington asked.

"This is still my clan's home," Demona answered gesturing at the walls of the hallway they were in, "Not mine, not ours. Our home is Destine Mansion, which thanks to the Unseelies needs to be rebuilt. I can easily use my magic to show that I am Dominique Destine, the 'owner' of Destine Mansion."

"You'll still keep your truce with Goliath if we move back?" Wedrington asked.

"His clan is no longer my enemy," Demona answered, "I have no intentions of fighting them."

While most of the gargoyles went for breakfast, a few did not go immediately to the dinning hall. Gabriel and Ophelia were intercepted by Tom and Katherine before they could get close to the doors to the dinning hall, and the London clan, along with Merlin, went searching for Arthur, Macbeth, and Chloe.

"What do you wish to talk with us about, Princess?" Gabriel asked after Katherine had finished speaking to get the Avalon leader's attention.

"We came to tell ye what has happened during the day," Katherine answered politely, "If we could find a place to sit in private."

"Would you mind if we ate breakfast first?" Gabriel asked.

"Nay," Katherine answered, "We can even talk about this over 'breakfast'."

"Thank you," Gabriel said and then opened the door, leading Katherine, Tom, and Ophelia inside.

Once inside, Gabriel and Ophelia quickly found an empty table and allowed Katherine and Tom to sit at it. After a few minutes, Broadway came through the same doors pushing a large cart with plates of food on it. While Broadway served plates of scrambled eggs with sides of ham, Katherine and Tom began to explain what they intended to do.

"Queen Titania and 'er Court intend to return to Avalon now that Madoc is dead and Avalon's magic cannae be stolen," Katherine explained.

Gabriel and Ophelia nodded.

"When do they intend to leave?" Ophelia then asked.

"We and the Seelie Court intend to return as soon as possible," Tom answered.

Gabriel and Ophelia nodded again.

"I'll gather the others and we'll discuss about who wants to stay here and who wishes to return to Avalon," Gabriel replied.

"Some ye might wish to remain with Goliath's clan?" Katherine asked.

"It's possible, Princess," Ophelia answered, "Gabriel and I have heard several members of our clan talk about this new world. Although, they mostly sounded curious."

"Do ye wish to remain?" Tom asked.

Gabriel glanced at Ophelia and blinked. He then looked at Angela and Broadway and the other members of Goliath's clan.

"Our place is with you," Gabriel answered, "It was great seeing Goliath and his clan again. It was great seeing Angela again, but it was you, Guardian Tom, and the Magus who raised us. It's our responsibility to aide and protect you."

"And for that we're very grateful," Katherine responded.

The London clan meanwhile found Macbeth and Arthur packing their things in the quarters that Xanatos had provided them. Chloe sat on Macbeth's bed with a small duffel bag next to her.

"I assume we are to be returning to London soon?" Merlin asked as he looked at the two Medieval kings packing their own duffel bags.

"Yes," Arthur answered, "Our prime mission is there."

"Our protectorate is there as well," Griff added, "And the Unseelies have succeeded in keeping us from protecting London for a while."

"We're almost ready," Chloe said, "They only need to pack their clothes and then we can leave."

"There's something else that needs to be done before we return," Merlin commented as he stepped towards Chloe.

The woman still had the cast over the shoulder that had been injured, but Chloe had been improving quite well in recent days. Merlin used his magic to examine the bones in Chloe's shoulder. He found that the bones had healed enough that the cast was no longer necessary and that she would survive the transformation back into her gargoyle form.

"What are you going to do?" Chloe asked nervously.

"I believe your shoulder is healed," Merlin answered, "We can switch back."

Chloe's grin went from ear to ear, "Go ahead."

Merlin then stepped closer to Chloe and spoke clearly in Latin, "Switched forms reverse back their norm."

An emerald glow took over both Merlin and Chloe as soon as Merlin finished. The two screamed as the two began to switch forms once more. Merlin's skin slowly began to return to a more peach color as Chloe slowly turned forest green. At the same time Chloe seemed to be getting younger while Merlin was getting older. Merlin's tail shrunk back into him while a long snake-like forest green tail grew out from behind Chloe. Merlin shrank down to an average human's height, while Chloe began to grow taller as the arches of her feet grew longer. Finally, Merlin's wings disappeared as Chloe's bat-like wings grew out behind her.

"There," Merlin gasped as he waved his arms again, clothing himself in his robes and Chloe in her tunic.

"I'm a gargoyle again," Chloe smiled.

"How much longer before we leave?" Leo asked.

"In a few minutes hopefully," Macbeth answered.

"Could you wait a few minutes, I would like to talk with the male that Demona is always with?" Leo asked.

"What is this about, my love?" Una asked coming up behind Leo.

"He told us he was human once," Leo answered, "I'm wondering if he has told his family yet."

**Maddox Technologies**

"Yes, this will be nice," Thailog mused as he carefully sat himself down in Maddox's desk.

"It is nice digs, but I don't understand how this helps us," Fang said as he stormed in, "Our old base was hidden. Goliath and his clan couldn't find us there."

"And it's still a fall back spot," Thailog countered, "But for now, the Unseelie Court's business is quite promising."

"It won't do well if no new money comes in," Fang commented.

"That will be for Sevarius and Holly to determine," Thailog answered, "I have them working on getting into the Unseelie's bank accounts as we speak."

Thailog paused to marvel at what was Maddox's desk once more for a few moments before he returned his gaze to Fang.

"Did you inform the employees that there is a new CEO?" Thailog asked.

"Yeah, had to use the intercom," Fang answered, "But it's done. It also turns out the Unseelies only employed a small number of people that weren't either members of the Unseelie Court or enslaved to the Unseelie Court."

"We'll need to hire more then," Thailog grumbled, "A minor matter. It just means that we'll have to lay low and wait for the paperwork to clear."

"Paperwork?" Fang asked.

"And Holly will need to master an illusion spell," Thailog mused, "One that will allow 'me' to appear to announce the change in ownership."

"Paperwork?" Fang asked again.

Thailog looked up, somewhat surprised to see that Fang was still there. He sighed before answering.

"Hiring people will take time and will require that a lot of paper be used," Thailog explained, "Resumes, insurance forms, company records of employees, and payroll records. All of which will require very complicated paperwork."

Alex Sevarius meanwhile tapped frantically trying to break the codes that would allow him to get into the Unseelie Court's bank accounts. Two things were holding him back. One was that he had no real experience with computer hacking, and he was relying on Holly's spells to try and break the code. Second, he was still trying to adjust to what the blood red female had done to him the previous night.

Alex Sevarius glanced down at what were now four fingered navy blue talons. He found it difficult to type on the computer's keyboard because of the fact that his fingers were now larger, and that there were fewer of them. He sighed heavily about being turned into a navy blue gargoyle. In comparison to the rest of Thailog's thugs, he was thinner and didn't appear to have as much muscle mass. Alex Sevarius assumed that he now only lacked the bulk that many of the others had, but that he still had the great strength that all gargoyles seemed to have. He had a long tail that had a large spiked club, like a mace, at the end. He also had two large bat-like wings that had grown from his back. At the same time he had four horns growing from his browridge. All four were on sides of his browridge closest to his ears. Two, which sat closer to the top of his browridge, were moderately sized and curved upward, while a lower pair were smaller and curved downward.

"Come on," Holly demanded, "Haven't you cracked that code yet?"

"No, I haven't," Alex Sevarius answered, "This one is far harder then the one they put on the security system."

"You better break it soon," Holly growled, "I've run out of spells that will help. Thailog wants that money in his pocket before the Unseelies can secure it."

"Don't worry!" Alex Sevarius answered back, "I'll have it down in a minute."

"You better," Holly growled.

The transformed clone then carefully hit a few buttons he hadn't hit yet and smiled a green box came up, indicating that he had given the right response.

"There, see," Alex Sevarius boasted, pointing to the screen, "It just took a little time."

**Warehouse**

Garlon watched as several Unseelie began leaving the warehouse they had been hiding in. He was silently enraged that so many decided to abandon the Unseelie Court. Vermin had only managed to collect a handful of Unseelie that were 'willing' to serve him. Most of these were only staying because they were afraid of being hunted down on their own or were intending to remain in the New York area anyway. Garlon sensed that none of them were truly loyal to him in any way.

"Traitors, all of them," Garlon growled silently to himself, "I am the third in command after Maeve. I should be the ruler now, and you have the nerve to abandon me?"

Garlon's eyes blazed green, "I will have my revenge."

Among the Unseelies to leave the warehouse was a small elf, who was only about as tall as a five year old human child. He was dressed in torn medieval chain mail armor. Known only as 'Troll', he intended to return to England, specifically near York. There he intended to hide out and scope out any possible mischief.

The problem was that he needed a gate to get to England easily. The snowstorm that Madoc had created during his war had greatly delayed, if not outright cancelled all flights out of New York, and there was only one ship that made crossings of the Atlantic with passengers on it, and it wasn't the 'cruise' season at this time, so that ship wouldn't be coming in to New York for a while. What made these matters worse, was that the only gates that the Unseelies had in New York had been localized at the Maddox Technologies building. Since the security system no longer admitted the Unseelies to enter the building, they now had to go elsewhere.

Troll intended to go south toward Washington DC and use a gate there. It was the nearest gate he could think of. However, Troll was so lost in his own plans for escape and private mayhem that he failed to notice the group of beings above him.

"Elf," Canis said pointing.

"Yes," Jackal smiled, while motioning for the mutate to keep it down, "An elf."

The male cyborg then turned to Anton Sevarius, who was still trying to master gliding.

"You're certain that these chains will hold that thing?" Jackal demanded of the lynx-like mutate.

"They're Iron," Anton Sevarius answered, "And from what I've learned from listening through my cell door, Iron is the only thing that we 'mortals' can use to injure those things."

Jackal nodded with a laugh, "Well our intention is to capture him, so I guess we can't be too rough."

Jackal then turned to the rest of the present Pack members. Only Wolf was absent, as they had left him behind to guard Dreadnought and Shadow's offline shells.

"Hyena, stay here and make sure the professor don't try and go anywhere," Jackal instructed pointing at Sevarius, "Canis, Vulpine, on my signal I want you to blast away at that thing with as much electricity as you can throw. Got it?"

Hyena nodded and maneuvered her jets so that she was next to Sevarius, insuring that he wouldn't try anything to escape or leave. Canis and Vulpine then nodded and built up an electric charge in their hands.

Troll had only just begun to make a turn in the air when he was suddenly hit by a massive dose of electricity. It did little damage to the Unseelie, but it distracted him enough for Jackal to dive behind him and begin to place the Iron chain around him.

"Jackal!" Troll exclaimed, "What is the meaning of this? You're Madoc's ally."

"Yeah, but he's dead," Jackal laughed as he used his wrist lasers to weld the two ends of the Iron chain together, "and at the same time he left us with quite a problem."

Once the Iron chains were welded together tight enough so that they wouldn't fall off, Jackal released the small Unseelie.

"Alright, now you're going to pay for attacking me!" Troll raged with his eyes glowing green.

"You won't strike anyone," Jackal said authoritatively.

Troll tried to throw a punch at the male cyborg, but as soon as the 'man' spoke, his fist stopped suddenly, less then three inches away from Jackal's face.

"You will place your hand by your side," Jackal commanded.

Troll's hand dropped to his side.

"How..." Troll began to curse.

"Iron chains," Jackal smiled, "Now you're going to help us, right?"

Unable to fight against the Iron, Troll answered, "Right."

**Castle Wyvern**

"We're going back to Avalon?" David asked.

"As soon as Katherine and Tom are ready," Gabriel asked.

"We gathered you all together to see who wishes to return to Avalon and who will remain here," Ophelia added.

Lancelot and Gawain were the first to step forward.

"We were actually curious about joining King Arthur and his companions," Lancelot said slowly.

"You do?" Gabriel asked.

Lancelot and Gawain nodded. Guinevere then stepped forward. Gabriel and Ophelia turned their attention to her.

"If Lancelot is going then I am going," Guinevere stated.

"You want to come with us?" Lancelot asked.

Guinevere nodded, "Yes."

"You'd best hurry to find Macbeth and Arthur then," Gabriel advised, "They're planning to leave soon."

"Thank you," Lancelot said quickly, "Come on."

The three gargoyles then ran off quite quickly. Sarah, Ian, Ethan, and Eve then stepped forward.

"Are you wishing to remain here?" Ophelia asked.

"Yes," Sarah answered, "This new world is quite amazing. I'm curious about exploring it."

The other three nodded in agreement.

"Okay," Gabriel replied, "I wish you all the best of luck."

Leo found Demona and Wedrington sitting at a table in the library. Wedrington was reading through a magazine about some archeological discovery. Demona was looking through another magical text that Xanatos had collected. It was Demona who looked up first.

"Yes," Demona said slowly, "Is there something you need?"

Leo addressed Wedrington when he spoke.

"Yes," Leo answered, "Your friend Wedrington needs to come with my clan back to London..."

Demona shot up immediately.

"You will not steal him from me," Demona growled, her eyes beginning to glow.

"You said that he was human at one time, correct?" Leo asked, and waited for Demona and Wedrington to nod before trying to explain what he had said earlier, "And, Wedrington, is your family still alive?"

"Yes," Wedrington answered.

"Do they know what's happened to you?" Leo asked.

Wedrington looked down for a moment and then said, "I told them over the phone that I'm staying in New York."

"So they don't know you're a gargoyle?" Leo asked again.

"No," Wedrington said looking down.

"That's why he needs to come with us," Leo explained, "His family should know what happened to him."

"You're as bad as Goliath," Demona growled, "Why can't you let us handle our OWN affairs?"

"I'm just trying to help," Leo protested, "And since Wedrington is ENGLISH, I feel I need to help him."

Demona was about to attack the English gargoyle when Wedrington put a hand on her shoulder.

"He's right though, Demona," Wedrington said, "We should tell them what happened. Especially if they decide to come here looking for me."

Demona looked back at Wedrington for a moment and then turned to Leo.

"Alright, we'll come," Demona said icily, "but we will handle this on our own and you will remain in London."

Leo was about saw something when Demona summoned a tremendous amount of magical energy to her fists.

"Or I'll give your mate a very sad birthday gift," Demona growled, her eyes glowing red.

Leo gulped, "Fine. But, we are leaving soon, so could you please come with me."

Leo then turned and began walking out the door. Wedrington put down his magazine and waited for Demona to slam her book down and begin to angrily stalk after Leo.

"It should be safe for you all to resume your normal patrols," Titania said to Goliath and Elisa as they stood calmly before the Seelie Queen.

"Will we start patrols tonight, Goliath?" Brooklyn asked from the background.

Goliath turned back to his second and sighed, "Not tonight. We'll let everyone recuperate from the Unseelie War."

Brooklyn nodded and then walked off towards the end of the Great Hall.

"When you be returning to Avalon?" Elisa asked.

"Shortly," Titania answered, "As soon as Katherine and Tom can gather all of Avalon gargoyles that will be returning with my Court."

"He said he loves you?" Caroline asked as she Amy and Candy played a friendly game of darts.

"Yes," Amy answered, "Bad timing, but he said he loves me."

"So I guess you and Brooklyn will be the next to get married the 'gargoyle way', huh?" Candy commented humorously.

Amy then threw her dart toward the dartboard and shrugged.

"Who knows," Amy answered, "But it's got me feeling as giddy as a school girl."

"It wasn't that long since we were 'school girls'," Caroline laughed, "And since everyone pushed me and Lawrence to declare ourselves as mates, maybe I should push you and Brooklyn to be mates."

"You and Lawrence still haven't gone all the way, yet," Amy shot back.

"We're still too young for that," Caroline answered, "And that doesn't mean I can't push you and Brooklyn to at least declare yourselves as mates."

"Why don't you let us take our own pace?" Amy asked.

"Come on, your pace can't be going that slow," Caroline commented, "Otherwise you wouldn't bringing it up with Candy and me."

Amy looked rather embarrassed and said, "Fine, go ahead and push. We'll go at our own pace anyway."

The three laughed as they continued with their game.

**Long Island**

Hyena dropped Troll unceremoniously on the ground in front of the offline Shadow and Dreadnought as they landed inside the abandoned home they had occupied. Wolf, who looked rather bored from standing guard over the robots burst out laughing as Anton Sevarius tried his best to land.

"I'd like to see you try," Sevarius growled at Wolf.

"When I grrrrrow wings, I will," Wolf laughed.

"Quiet down, children," Jackal commanded, "Our little fey friend here has some work to undo on Shadow and Dreadnought."

Troll looked at the two offline robots.

"You want them disassembled?" Troll asked.

"No," Jackal answered, "We want them to work. Sometime while you and your Court were fighting Goliath's clan, both of them shut down. And now they won't come back online."

"You assume they're broken, then?" Troll asked.

"They have to be broken," Hyena snarled, "They're not working."

Troll then laughed, "Lord Madoc connected their programming to himself. If they shut down, that means that Madoc is dead and their programming is now gone. They aren't broken, they just don't have anything to act as a guide."

"Then undo it," Jackal commanded, while shaking the Unseelie by the Iron chains that wrapped around him, "Give him his programming back."

"I can't do that," Troll answered honestly, "Madoc's spell was mixed in with the programming he installed. Only Madoc himself can give these two the ability to operate under the programming that was first installed, but since Madoc would have to DIE in order to produce results like the one you've shown me, it's now impossible to activate the programming that was originally installed, no matter how much magical manipulation I try."

"Damn," Jackal cursed.

"You'll just have install NEW programming into these two, if you want them to work," Troll laughed again.

"Can I eat him?" Wolf growled as he licked his muzzle.

Canis and Vulpine also began to eye the fey predatorily.

"No!" Jackal said quickly, "Our little friend here will help us create the programming needed to get Dreadnought and Shadow back online."

**Over the Atlantic**

Demona and Wedrington sat quietly in the back of Macbeth's airplane as it flew back towards London. Taking off had taken longer then Demona would have preferred, but she didn't comment on it. Wedrington sat beside and tried to think of something that would lighten the immortal gargoyle's mood. Macbeth and Arthur were busy in the cockpit, with Merlin and Chloe close by, while the rest of the London clan, as well as the Avalon gargoyles that joined them, also sat in the main cabin of the aircraft.

"Thanks for coming with me," Wedrington said softly to Demona.

Demona looked back at Wedrington and tried to hide a sheepish smile.

"Just making sure that you come to no harm," Demona answered.

The rest of the flight went quietly as the jet flew eastward over the North Atlantic.

**Avalon**

The island immediately resumed its beautiful form as Titania returned the island's magic to the island itself. The castle was still damaged from the Unseelie invasion, but could easily be fixed. Titania watched as the Avalon gargoyles that returned with them begin to move toward their perches, to make sure everything was still there and in place. After that they headed inside.

"What do you wish to be done with the prisoners?" the Weird Sisters asked in unison, drawing Titania's attention.

Titania then turned to look at the Sisters as they used their magic to hold all of the Unseelie prisoners in a close circle.

"Imprison them in the volcano's dungeon," Titania commanded, "The cells there are strong enough to hold them."

"As you wish, my Queen," the Sisters said in unison.

Titania then began to walk into the castle itself. Katherine and Tom followed close behind.

"It looks like nothing has changed since it was evacuated," Katherine commented.

"When I removed Avalon's magic from the island, everything that the magic had generated was preserved in its exact condition as when it was removed," Titania sighed, "The stranger thing is that no one 'discovered' the island while its protective magic wasn't there."

"People probably assumed it was just another one of the Channel Islands," Tom suggested, "There are several of them."

"A possibility," Titania nodded, "But one I'm not going to dwell on. The war is over and my Court has returned to its home. For now, that is all that matters."

**Castle Wyvern**

Angela sighed heavily as the portal that took Titania and the Seelie Court, as well as Tom and Katherine, and her brothers and sisters back to Avalon closed.

"It was good seeing your rookery siblings," Broadway commented from beside her, "I hope they can come back and visit."

"So do I," Angela smiled, "But gargoyles can not travel through mirrors the way the fey can, and Titania did not leave a special portal for them to travel through."

"I guess we'll just have to wait then," Broadway answered.

"Yes, we will," Angela smiled.

Sarah and Eve then approached the two of them.

"You must show us more of this world, sister," Sarah said, half in awe, "It is amazing."

Eve quickly nodded in agreement, "Such lights and colors. We never even saw such things on Avalon."

"Of course Broadway and I can give you a real tour," Angela smiled the whole clan will, "I hope you enjoy living here."

Fox meanwhile had now awakened and found herself in the room that she shared with Xanatos. She felt like she had been put through a cement truck, but she knew she would get better. She somehow felt that she would get better.

"How are you feeling?" she heard her husband's voice ask.

Fox turned to see Xanatos sitting in a chair beside the bed.

"Okay, considering everything," Fox sighed, "How long was I out?"

"All day and a good portion of the night," Xanatos answered, "Titania, her Court, and most of the Avalon clan have returned to Avalon. Macbeth and Arthur are on their way back to London and the clan is taking the night off from patrols. Things are getting closer to normal."

"Titania's gone?" Fox asked, looking depressed that her mother had left.

Xanatos nodded, "Yes, but she said she would return from time to time to continue with your lessons, should you wish they continue."

Fox smiled at that, "That's good."

Xanatos nodded before Fox asked another question.

"Is there anything else?" Fox asked.

"Yes, there is, actually," Xanatos shrugged, "Apparently when Madoc was killed, the spell he used to enslave the mortals he had captured was undone. Talon and the others have been trying to get them to cope with things, but it's all a big shock to them."

"They're still here, aren't they?" Fox questioned.

"Yes," Xanatos answered, looking down.

"Things are getting back to normal," Fox then shook her head with a laugh.

**The End**


	20. A Tragic Reunion

All characters appearing in Gargoyles and Gargoyles: The Goliath Chronicles are copyrighted to Buena Vista Television/The Walt Disney Company. I've taken the idea for the Unseelie Court from the TGS. No infringement of these copyrights is intended, and is not authorized by the copyright holder. All original characters are the property of SN.

Note: I'm disregarding the events of the "Goliath Chronicles", with the exception of "The Journey" because I do not wish to use the rest of the "Goliath Chronicles" as canon to my story. This story takes place one week after "Aftermath".

A Tragic Reunion

By SN/TVfan

Email: **Sam_Nary **

**Newark, New Jersey**

A large Boeing 747 made a slow landing at the Newark's large international airport. The airplane was one that would normally only land at JFK International Airport, but the recent snows had not melted enough in New York for that airport to begin accepting business again. This forced many of the largest airports in the nearby area to pick up much of the slack that JFK International Airportlost.

"And you say these Unseelies shut everything down with their snowstorm?" a male voice asked the plane's passengers began to disembark from the plane.

Slowly, Diane and Peter Maza emerged from the tunnel with two guests behind them.

"Yes," Diane answered, "They created a whole snow storm to try and keep themselves hidden."

"Although I don't know why they only had the snowstorm occur in New York City alone," Peter commented under his breath, "New Jersey, Connecticut, and the parts of New York State that weren't part of New York City got little if anything."

"Well, it's apparently remained secret anyway," the female that was with them said, "So no one will be worried about being attacked by those guys."

"And if Derek's phone call was accurate, no one should have to worry any more," Diane added, "They've been beaten."

"May I ask where we're going first?" the male voice asked.

"The Eyrie Building and Castle Wyvern," Diane answered, "Derek said that he and the others are still there, including Beth and Coyote."

"By 'others' you mean…" the female voice began.

"Elisa and the gargoyle clan will be there as well," Diane sighed looking down.

**Long Island**

Troll was quickly becoming tired of the life he found himself in. The Pack's prior lives as television stars and corporate mercenaries had left them with an attitude that only wanted things that the Unseelie thought to be rather extravagant. They had originally captured him to try and get the two robots that Madoc had made, Shadow and Dreadnought, back online again. Then, once they found out that the robot would have to be completely reprogrammed, it became clear to Troll that the Pack had no intention of freeing him.

So far they had him repair the abandoned house that they had taken shelter in to a point where it would not be bulldozed over to make room for something that wasn't condemned. He had also been required to make the building look like a mansion with very expensive looking furnishings. The lynx-like mutate had also demanded a separate space set aside for a laboratory. Unable to fight against the Iron chains wrapped around him, Troll did everything that the Pack demanded of him.

"So, how goes the creation of new programming?" Jackal asked as the male cyborg walked into the small basement room where the Pack was storing Shadow and Dreadnought.

"I told you before that I'm only a fey," Troll said back firmly, "And a technologically ignorant one at that. Computer programming is beyond me."

"You can still do magic," Jackal growled, "Use it."

"Even if I did," Troll argued, "I would need some basic computer knowledge to carry out your requests. Without it, you'd only get most of the raw materials needed to program a robot like Shadow and Dreadnought, and they wouldn't be of high caliber either."

"I want new programming for those robots!" Jackal shouted pointing at Shadow and Dreadnought.

"And I told you I can't give you the programming," Troll answered, "You'll need to find other ways to get it."

"And how, would you suggest I do that?" Jackal demanded, "Since you, as the prisoner, seem to know so much."

"Perhaps we could check the building of his former employer," came Anton Sevarius's voice from behind the male cyborg.

Jackal turned to watch the lynx-like mutate approach him.

"He already told us that Madoc is dead," Jackal pointed out.

"Yet Maddox Technologies, the company Madoc started as a cover organization for his war, is still in operation," Sevarius argued, "And is focusing much of its energies on robotics."

"Yes!" Jackal stated with a grin, "We'll get the programming from them!"

"Or at least the tools we need," Sevarius pointed out, "Programming robots will take time."

Jackal activated one of his lasers, turned and fired on the mutate.

"You will help him once we get the programming," Jackal growled slowly in Sevarius's ear, "I am the Pack's leader, and I don't recall asking for an advisor."

**Castle Wyvern**

Talon slumped heavily into a chair in what was the clan's recreation room. Dealing with Madoc's former slaves over the past week had been tough. Many continued to ask many of the same questions over and over again, hoping that the answer would be, 'yes there is a cure and we're going to give it to you shortly'. To some extent Talon understood why they were asking these questions. Their lives had been destroyed and they wanted to hear anything that would inspire hope.

They were not the real problem however. Most of the people who had accepted that there probably wasn't a cure all wanted to leave, mostly back to England. It made Talon wish that Macbeth and Arthur hadn't already left, and then they wouldn't be so much of a problem for him.

"How are you feeling?" a voice asked.

Talon looked up to see Maggie standing in the doorway. She looked just as tired as he did.

"I'm fine, I guess," Talon sighed looking down, "I'd be better if we weren't still picking up the pieces from the Unseelie War a week after it ended."

"At least your family will be back today," Maggie offered, "Things are getting closer to normal."

Talon looked up as Maggie shrugged.

"At leas as normal as we're going to get," Maggie continued, "Xanatos, Owen, and Claw have taken over managing the other mutates for now."

Talon nodded, "Good, I could use some sleep."

"So, what's the status, Owen?" Xanatos asked off hand.

"For the time being, sir, I have only been able to get some basic numbers from the entire group," Owen answered as he lifted a spiral notebook to show his employer, "All of them wish to be cured, that much is obvious."

"I assumed that," Xanatos sighed, "But it doesn't look like that's going to happen anytime soon."

Owen nodded before continuing, "Of those that didn't escape after Madoc's death, at least half are from England and specifically the counties of Greater London, Essex, Kent, and East Sussex. The rest are all from the New York area. All of those from England wish to return there."

"I'm sure we can arrange the transportation," Xanatos answered, "That should be no problem, once they've adapted."

Owen nodded, "Yes. Until then, Talon wishes to take them to the Labyrinth."

"Hopefully they'll agree," Xanatos replied back.

Owen nodded again and the two resumed walking around the large room that the mutates had camped themselves in. All still had questions that they wanted answered and Owen and Xanatos worked as hard as they could to answer them as truthfully as possible. The majority of their work however, was focused on helping each adapt to their new forms. Possible gliding lessons were offered to help them get used to their wings, but for the most part, they were rejected for fear of losing their humanity. This made things extra tough on those trying to get them to adjust to what had happened.

"What's going to happen to us?" a grey fox mutate, who Talon had explained to be Caroline's mother, asked.

Xanatos then sighed, "Once all of you have fully gotten over the shock of what's happened, Talon will lead you and the clones to the Labyrinth. It's an underground facility where you will all be safe."

"What about those of us that wish to return to England, since you haven't bothered to look for a cure?" a voice with a very strong English accent demanded, making no effort to hide a sign of anger.

Xanatos turned to regard the mutate who had just spoken. While most of the Unseelie's mutates were based off of various wild dog or cat species, this canine based mutate looked like it had more in common with the English Bulldog than any wild breed. Xanatos narrowed his eyes and slowly stepped closer.

"First of all," Xanatos answered, "I have tried to find a cure for myself and the others. It's been one of my top priorities."

The other mutate snorted, not believing a word.

"But, I can't make much progress when the geneticist who designed the mutate formula won't work to give a cure," Xanatos continued, "Those currently working on it are still trying to understand the original mutation formula, without which they can not begin to hypothesize on what a cure should be like."

"Never mind that," another English sounding voice cut in as a Ocelot mutate stepped between Xanatos and the Bulldog mutate, "What about those of us who are British? New York would be an interesting place to visit, maybe, but I have no intentions of living here. I'd like to return to London and figure out what I'm going to do with my life."

Xanatos quickly nodded, "I will try to get everyone who wishes to go back to England when it is possible…"

"And when is that?" the Bulldog mutate demanded angrily.

"In case you didn't notice," Xanatos argued back, "The Unseelies dumped a lot of snow on New York. It will take time to for it all to melt. Once it melts and JFK opens again, I can easily arrange for all the London mutates to return to London on my private jet."

"Thank you," the Ocelot mutate responded and then turned and began to push the larger Bulldog mutate back.

**The Great Hall**

Beth paced nervously in front of the elevator doors. Her folks had told Derek in a phone conversation that they would be returning today and that they would have guests. This, however, is not what made the youngest Maza nervous. It was really the potential fact that she might have to help explain why her brother was a panther with wings and why her sister was a gargoyle.

"Relax," Coyote called to her from his chair, "You'll live longer."

"How can you be so calm?" Beth asked, "My folks are returning and all they told Derek was that they're bringing guests. What if we have to explain to them about the rest of my family? Or hide them?"

Coyote shrugged and then said, "First of all, the Unseelies destroyed your parent's old apartment and didn't allow them to get a new one. They would have to return here before looking for a new home, if they want to find one. The clan is not going to simply leave because they are bringing guests, and your folks know this. Odds are that their guests know about the gargoyles. Two, if your parents bring their guests here, knowing that the gargoyle clan lives here, it is likely that they already know and understand about your brother and sister."

"That doesn't make me feel any better," Beth sighed.

"I'm here to help, you know," Coyote offered.

Beth looked back at the southwestern fey. He was in a reclining position while floating in midair.

"Thanks," Beth answered, "And do you need to float like that? What if they don't know about the fey?"

Beth practically jumped when she heard her mother's voice answer her before Coyote did.

"Relax, honey, they know about the fey," Diane Maza interrupted.

Coyote brought himself down to ground level while Beth turned around to see that her mother and father were indeed back. The guests they had brought with them where still standing in the elevator, so Beth couldn't make them out very easily.

"Mom! Dad!" Beth shouted as she moved to hug each parent.

"Welcome back, Mr. and Mrs. Maza," Coyote said politely.

"Thanks, it's good to be back," Peter answered.

"So who did you bring with you?" Beth asked, "Derek told me that you were bringing back guests with you."

"Yes, we did bring back guests," Diane answered and stepped aside and quickly gestured to the elevator with her free arm.

A man in and a woman, both wearing jeans and a jacket bought at the airport stepped out of the elevator.

"Beth, Coyote, I would like you to meet Tea and Fara Maku," Diane introduced the two people, "They were the people who Peter and I stayed with. Tea, Fara, I'd like you to meet our other daughter, Beth, and her date, Kachina Coyote."

"A pleasure to meet you both," Tea said politely shaking Beth and Coyote's hands.

"So what prompted the sudden visit to cold and dreary New York?" Coyote asked.

Tea and Fara suddenly looked to Diane, who looked down. It was eventually Fara who spoke.

"We are here as a personal favor to Mrs. Maza and to see portions of the world that we are not normally exposed to," Fara explained, "Neither of us knew how cold it was, however."

"But neither of us have seen snow either," Tea added, "So this will perhaps be a very enlightening vacation for the both of us."

"Ah ha," Coyote answered.

"Where's Derek?" Peter asked, changing the subject.

"He's resting after dealing with all the stuff that's been going on here for the last week," Beth answered, "And Elisa is currently asleep."

"Your parents have already informed us of what this 'Mage' has done to your sister," Fara interrupted, "You do not need to hide her from us."

"Right now, all we need is a room set up for us to stay in," Tea added.

"Okay then," Beth nodded and turned to Coyote, "I'm sure the Xanatoses wouldn't mind if we set you up in the clan's wing."

"What's been going on for the past week?" Diane asked, "Derek only told us that the Unseelies were defeated and that it was safe for us to return home."

Beth sighed as she and Coyote now began to slowly explain what had been going on since the fall of the Unseelie Court.

**Elsewhere**

"This is one of Maddox Technologies Robotics centers?" Jackal asked as the Pack looked down on relatively small building on the south side of Manhattan Island.

"If what I've learned in the past week is correct, yes," Anton Sevarius answered.

"Okay," Jackal nodded, "Wolf, Canis, and Vulpine, you are to deal with the guards. Hyena, you're with me to help make sure that Sevarius grabs the right parts to program the robots."

"I wanted a chance to get some action," Hyena complained, extending her metallic claws.

"We probably will," Jackal said, "If Madoc was running this place, then there are bound to be guards who know what they're doing."

"There better be," Hyena then said.

Canis and Vulpine then lifted up Wolf and descended on the sidewalk below while Jackal and Hyena blasted off to head for the roof of the building. Sevarius followed shakily behind the two cyborgs. Both cyborg twins landed easily on the roof to the small robotics building and both laughed as Sevarius crashed into a snow bank. The lynx-like mutate slowly picked himself up and shock the snow off of him.

"Very funny," Sevarius grumbled.

Jackal and Hyena shrugged and then ripped a roof mounted air-conditioning unit free of the roof and jumped into the now open air shaft. Their weight then broke a hole at the end of the vertical part of the air shaft and the two landed inside a hallway with four or five people walking in and out of offices. All of which began screaming at the sight of the two cyborgs and the mutate following close behind.

Jackal immediately grabbed one man and lifted him off his feet.

"Where are your core programming offices?" Jackal demanded.

"Down one level, third door from the left," the man said quickly in a frightened voice.

Jackal then threw the man down, knocking him out as he made contact with the wall.

"Come on everyone," Jackal announced, "We got a job to do."

**Maddox Technologies Building**

"Yes," Fang groaned when he picked up the ringing phone.

"Is this Mr. Thailog?" a voice asked nervously.

"No," Fang answered, "This is one of his assistants. Mr. Thailog is in a meeting right now, may I take a message?"

Fang inwardly complained to himself. This was probably some secretary complaining about a lack of staff to do their assigned tasks. To some degree, he hated being involved in all the work that went along with Thailog's take over of Maddox Technologies. But then the others were asleep for the time being, so he had to do it.

"Yes, take a message," the voice on the other line said very quickly, "Tell Mr. Thailog that the Pack just assaulted our main robotics firm in southern Manhattan. They've stolen up to a million dollars in computer programming equipment and injured about seventeen people. Some of them are seriously injured."

"Have you called the police?" Fang asked.

"Not yet, sir," the voice answered, "We have kept with Mr. Thailog's instructions that he is to be notified first in matters that will concern law enforcement agencies."

Fang nodded, remembering a recent edict that Thailog gave over the building's intercom system.

"Good," Fang said, "Contact the police and tell them what happened. If they ask, tell them that Mr. Thailog will be available for any questions this evening."

"Yes sir," the other man answered and hung up.

Fang sighed and then looked back into what was now Thailog's office. Thailog's stone form stood in a corner of the office so that he looked like an office decoration.

"Thailog isn't going to like this," Fang thought as the returned to his desk and prepared to call the building's front desk to deliver another of Thailog's orders.

**Castle Wyvern**

"Hey, Derek," Beth said, poking Talon in the shoulder, "Wake up."

Talon shook himself awake as he heard Beth repeat those words and felt her poking him in the shoulder. The panther mutate then looked to see that he had fallen asleep in the chair he had dropped into earlier. Maggie had also left the room.

"What's going on?" Talon asked stretching, "Is it my turn to try and help the other mutates again?"

"No," Beth sighed, "Maggie volunteered to take them down to the Labyrinth with Claw, and Xanatos offered to help some too."

"Then why'd you wake me up?" Talon demanded.

"Mom and Dad are back," Beth answered, "They brought the werepanthers from Nigeria with them for some reason. My orders are to collect you before going to see Elisa wake up."

"What?" Talon asked.

"Mom and Dad brought the werepanthers from Nigeria back with them," Beth repeated more slowly, "I don't know why. I suppose they needed a vacation or something."

Talon slowly got up and stretched.

"Where's Coyote?" Talon asked.

"He's gone with Maggie, just in case anything in the Labyrinth needs fixing," Beth answered, "This is going to be nothing but a family reunion."

"And two guests," Talon added while trying to imitate and old time actor's voice.

"Just leave the Marx brothers out of this," Beth chuckled.

Diane and Peter were quietly talking with Fara and Tea when the door behind them opened to reveal Talon and Beth. Diane and Peter merely stopped talking, while Fara and Tea looked completely shocked at the sight of Talon.

"They all told you about mutates, right?" Talon asked nervously at the silence.

Fara answered slowly, "They did, but I would say it is still quite a shock."

"I can imagine," Talon sighed, "So, you're Fara…" Talon then turned to Tea, "and you're Tea, right?"

Both nodded. Diane then sat up straight.

"Fara, Tea, this is my son," Diane said slowly, "Derek."

"A pleasure to meet you," Tea and Fara said politely.

Talon nodded, "Yeah, I'm sure you've probably heard this more then you'd care to hear, but why did you decide to visit New York? Especially after the recent weather we've had. Manhattannever was a big vacation spot and all the snow only lowered the city's chances at attracting tourists."

"We guessed that," Fara answered glancing at the window, "But your mother has visited our home in Nigeria once or twice, and we felt we needed to return the favor."

"We've also offered to help your father and mother look for a new place to stay," Tea added, "We are on vacation yes, but not exactly a vacation as you would think."

Talon looked at Beth, who only shrugged. He then turned his gaze to Diane who only looked down. Peter meanwhile glanced at the window and saw that the sun was slowly setting along the western horizon.

"It's nearing dusk right now," Peter pointed interrupting the slight tension in the room, "We'd better get out there and we can let Elisa know that we're back."

"Yes!" Diane exclaimed quickly, "Let's let Elisa know we're back."

Beth and Talon both blinked at how quickly their mother had responded to that comment. To them it sounded like she was trying to change the subject as much as she probably wanted to see Elisa. Both Talon and Beth silently agreed to let it go for now. There couldn't be anything wrong with why their parents had brought back guests, so it shouldn't be a major concern that they did bring guests.

"Yeah, let's go see Elisa," Beth agreed.

Shortly thereafter, the group found themselves standing on top of Castle Wyvern's tallest tower watching the last rays of sunlight fall on two gargoyle statues. Fara and Tea were the most awestruck of the group. They remembered seeing Goliath, Angela, and Bronx in their stone forms before the Avalon travelers left on the next leg of their journey, but this was the first time they had actually seen Elisa's gargoyle form and the first time they would see any gargoyle wake up.

Elisa had taken a frightening pose for the day, with her tail and wings stretched out behind her and her arms raised in a fighting position. Both Fara and Tea backed away slightly when they noticed that the female gargoyle's mouth was open revealing sharp fangs.

"Relax," Talon encouraged, "They all take that sort of pose from time to time."

"But she was human at one point," Tea argued, "Like you."

"Elisa and I are quite different," Talon sighed, "I've merely gained a new form. Elisa has completely changed species and runs a different set of instincts."

"But wouldn't her human intelligence combat the gargoyle's instinct?" Fara asked curiously.

"That's a bit more difficult to explain," Talon answered, "It might be better to ask her that."

Then, almost as if on cue, the sounds of cracking stone echoed over the castle's battlements. They all turned to watch as thin fractures appeared in the two gargoyle's stone skins, and then watched as the cracks grew thicker under they watched Goliath and Elisa stretch their limbs and thrash their wings and tails, throwing the stone off of them. Their roars startled both Fara and Tea.

Both Goliath and Elisa quickly turned as they sensed that there were others on the tower with them. Elisa immediately smiled upon seeing her parents there and didn't notice Fara and Tea at first.

"Mom! Dad! You're back!" Elisa smiled as she hopped down from her pedestal and wrapped both up in a hug, "You came back safe and sound."

"Did you ever doubt that we'd keep our promise to return?" Peter asked back.

Elisa smiled as she let them go, "No."

"It is good to see that you have returned, Mr. and Mrs. Maza," Goliath rumbled from his pedestal, "May I ask why you have brought Fara and Tea back with you?"

"Fara and Tea?" Elisa asked, just then realizing that her parents were not the only people who were there.

Elisa turned to see both Fara Maku and Tea standing near the stairs that led down into the castle. She was surprised to see them, to say the least and found herself speechless.

"Uh, hi," Elisa said to the two native Nigerians.

"Much has changed since we last saw each other, hasn't it, Ms. Maza," Fara said with a weak chuckle, "You needn't worry. Diane has already filled us in on what happened with this… Mage."

Elisa slowly nodded, "So, what brings you here?"

"A vacation," Tea answered, "Let's leave it at that."

A brief breeze came up and Goliath and Elisa watched as everyone there but Talon shiver slightly.

"Why don't we go inside," Goliath offered, "The Unseelie's storm may have ended with the death of Madoc, but it appears that we will not be experiencing summer highs any time soon."

"A good idea," Beth said quickly, adding another visible shiver for effect, "Tea and Fara can meet the rest of the clan inside."

**Maddox Technologies**

"The Pack, you say?" Thailog asked, somewhat aggravated that the first news he heard after awakening from his stonesleep was bad news.

"Yeah," Fang answered, "And they did a pretty penny's worth of damage."

"Damage or thievery?" Thailog questioned.

"Probably both," Fang answered, "The guy was rambling about robotics."

"They must have needed upgrades if they were stealing robotics," Thailog mused, "Did he have any idea as to where they went?"

Fang shook his head.

"Take Holly with you to that building," Thailog instructed, "Perhaps her magic can help us find them."

"You intend to hire them now?" Fang asked.

"As freelance agents," Thailog answered, "Much of Maddox Technologies earlier success was due to magical manipulation, which Holly can not duplicate at this time. We have funds, but not enough to fully employ the Pack for a long period of time."

"Gotcha," Fang answered and turned and left Thailog's office, looking for the room that Holly used each night to practice her spells.

**Castle Wyvern**

Meeting the rest of the clan brought about mixed reactions from both sides. Fara and Tea were somewhat happy to see Angela and Bronx again, and were curious about the rest of Goliath's clan. They were somewhat shocked to learn that Caroline, Candy, and Amy were once human, but showed little visible reaction to that revelation. On the other side, Angela and Bronx seemed pleasantly surprised that Fara and Tea had decided to visit, but where curious as to why they had decided to come. The rest of the clan, including the four who had recently joined from the Avalon clan seemed curious about the two werepanthers. The questions that were asked by both sides were predominantly asked over dinner as the clan ate what was for them, breakfast.

Conversation remained fairly pleasant as Diane and Peter asked about things the clan had been doing since they had left. In asking these questions they got a very wide range of answers. They learned of the battle between the gargoyles and Madoc's mutate slaves and of the various developments in the personal lives of some of the clan. It hit a snag however as Elisa finally managed to ask a question.

"So, how was Nigeria?" Elisa asked, "Much more peaceful then Manhattan, I presume?"

Diane was suddenly quiet and it was actually Tea who answered the question.

"It is not as active as things were apparently here, but we have had our fair share of excitement," Tea answered, "Dealing with poachers and so forth."

"But everyone stayed safe, right?" Elisa asked.

"Yes," Tea answered slowly.

"That's good," Elisa answered, "So what do you intend to do now that you're here?"

"We hope to show Fara and Tea some of New York's sights and tomorrow, Peter and I will start looking for a new apartment," Diane answered.

"You're not going to stay here?" Goliath asked, "The clan's home is your home."

There was a brief silence before Peter answered.

"It's nice of you to offer us a place to stay, but this castle isn't really home to us," Peter sighed, "I don't really see Diane or myself living in a place like this. And despite the fact that Xanatos truly seems to have changed, I don't see Diane or myself living under the same roof with the man who was responsible for so much of the trouble that's happened to our family. It would just be uncomfortable. For both us and them."

Goliath sighed. He was right there. While the Maza family's near hatred of the billionaire had ended, it was still obvious to Goliath that there was still a lot of tension that ran between the Mazas and Xanatos. They got along, and even seemed to be quite friendly toward one another at times, but there were some things that just couldn't be forgotten.

"We understand," Goliath slowly rumbled, placing his talon's over Elisa's hoping to keep her calm. He was relieved when he saw that Elisa was nodding in agreement with him.

"We'll still visit," Diane added, "But we feel it would be best if we had our own place to stay."

"So what are you looking forward to seeing in New York?" Amy asked from her seat.

Both Fara and Tea were slow to answer, but eventually Fara did speak up.

"Like most tourists, we'll probably go and see nearly everything that is 'important' to see," Fara answered carefully.

**Elsewhere**

"You got anything?" Fang asked impatiently.

Holly snarled and closed her book and shook her head.

"They were here," Holly answered, "But the basic tracking spells that I've managed so far can only track someone on the ground. Tracking someone through the air is somewhat beyond my ability at the moment."

"We should get back to base, then," Fang commented.

"Like HELL we are," Holly answered, "Thailog sent us out here to make contact with them."

"Your magic can't find them at the moment," Fang interrupted.

"There are other ways to find people," Holly answered, "We'll just go a gliding until we spot them."

Fang was about to protest the blood red female's comment.

"Or I will tell Thailog about your lack of ambition," Holly threatened.

"Fine," Fang grumbled and took off after Holly.

**Labyrinth, Later that night**

It was relatively late when Talon made his way into the Labyrinth. Maggie and her mother, Claw, and Coyote were waiting for him.

"So, how did everything go?" Talon asked.

"All the new mutates are moved in, and Coyote has repaired the damage that the Pack caused when they attacked," Maggie answered, and then sighed, "Many of them don't like the fact that they're living in a sewer, but it's the only available place where they can stay."

"Any of them want to help run the shelter down here?" Talon asked.

"I haven't asked," Maggie replied, "It'd be best to let them continue to adjust then to try and force them to take on responsibilities like this."

"How did things go with your folks?" Mrs. Reed asked.

"Fine," Talon sighed, "Something seems to be a little off, but everything is fine."

"A little off?" Maggie asked.

"I don't know," Talon shrugged, "Fara Maku and Tea, the werepanthers from Nigeria they told us about, came with them, and they never gave any real definitive reason as to why they were visiting New York. It's probably just jetlag or something like that."

"That's probably it," Maggie agreed, "Come on, let's get some sleep. It's going to be a long day, tomorrow."

Talon nodded and said his goodbyes to Coyote as the fey teleported out to return to Castle Wyvern.

**Maddox Technologies**

"Did you find them?" Thailog asked as Holly and Fang landed on the roof.

Fang, looking smug said nothing, leaving Holly to make the report.

"No," Holly answered, "I have not yet mastered a tracking spell that can track someone through the air and they did not appear to be anywhere in Manhattan. They could be in one of the other boroughs though."

"I see," Thailog answered, and then shrugged, "Oh well. Getting the Pack is not important. They can be helpful, but in the long run, they are not important."

"I will return to practicing then," Holly replied and walked inside.

Thailog turned to follow the female inside when he noticed the look on Fang's face.

"What?" Thailog growled.

"If finding them isn't important, why did you send us to find them?" Fang demanded.

"Possibly to keep this business from going bankrupt," Thailog growled again, "If their robbery cost 'Maddox Technologies' money then it runs the risk of driving us into bankruptcy, and if that happens, I doubt you would save my stone form or the stone form of the others and we would be killed and you would be on your own."

"Sometimes I wish I could be on my own, I'd at least have some fun then," Fang thought to himself before answering, "Fine."

**Long Island**

Anton Sevarius sat miserably in the basement of the Pack's hideout. It was bad enough to have lost his humanity to the Seelie Queen while he was imprisoned in Castle Wyvern's dungeon, but now he was both a wanted felon by the regular law enforcement agencies and by the clan and he was hiding with another group of wanted felons. What made this worse was that he was Jackal's subordinate now. Sevarius could remember when he was in charge and commanded the Pack. How the tables had turned.

"Hey fuzzy, pay attention!" Troll yelled at him as Sevarius nearly got one of his toes burned to a crisp while the captured Unseelie continued to set up the equipment that the Pack had stolen the day before.

Sevarius sighed moved so that Troll could finish the welding needed to set up all the equipment that they had stolen. After several minutes, Troll laid the welding torch down and wiped his had across his forehead.

"There, done," Troll announced.

Sevarius blinked, "What? That's only the equipment to set it up. There are no microchips or anything to program."

"There were, but they all went into the equipment we set up," Troll answered, "I just did as you told me."

"Blast," Sevarius cursed.

The Pack didn't steal enough of the parts needed to reprogram Shadow and Dreadnought, which still lay offline a few feet away from them. Troll snickered to himself as Sevarius grumbled his way up the stairs. While the Unseelie took no pleasure in being a prisoner himself, he did find several members of the Pack to be quite amusing.

**Streets of Manhattan, the next day**

Peter and Diane slowly made their way along one of Manhattan's many sidewalks. Fara and Tea followed closely behind them. They had spent most of the morning looking for a new apartment to stay in, but most either had nothing available for rent or were well out of their price range. Of course finding an apartment was not only thing that was being discussed.

"You should have told her," Tea said calmly.

"It's nothing serious," Diane said back, "I just couldn't bring myself then. I'll do it when the time is right."

"The best time would be sooner rather then later," Fara pointed out.

"I'd want to get settled in first," Diane answered, "Everyone else is rebuilding their lives after the Unseelie attack. We can't just take a break from that."

"We aren't saying you should," Tea argued, "But she is your daughter. She and the rest of your family deserve to know."

"I'll try tonight," Diane sighed.

"It's getting close to lunch, we should be getting back to the castle to eat," Peter spoke up.

"You go ahead," Diane said weakly, "There's an old house out in Queens that I'd like to check."

Peter reluctantly nodded and lead Fara and Tea down a different street that would lead them back to the Eyrie Building, while Diane continued ahead toward a subway station, where she could get a ride to Queens.

**Long Island**

"I'm going to murder that stupid little troll," Jackal growled.

"We'll need to acquire more programming chips," Anton Sevarius said, "Cursing the fey isn't going to help."

Jackal whirled around to face the mutate while he listened to Hyena laughing in the background.

"Listen, doc," Jackal growled, "You lost your bid to be 'leader' when Goliath and his clan took out Nightstone. Keep up trying to boss me around and I'll decide we didn't need to free you, and you'll be lucky to end up in Xanatos's dungeon, again."

Sevarius gulped and backed down, "Fine."

"When are we going to toast that mean Coyote?" Hyena asked from her chair across the room.

"Our revenge on Xanatos will have to wait a little while," Jackal told the female cyborg, "We have another mission to run at Maddox Technologies. We need more programming chips for Shadow and Dreadnought."

"If you're looking to get revenge on Xanatos, why not steal the parts from him?" Sevarius, who had not left the room, offered.

Jackal smiled, "And Xanatos has more offices and warehouses full of robotics stuff then Maddox Technologies does."

"I'll get Wolf then," Hyena smiled.

Ten minutes later, Jackal, Hyena, Sevarius, while Jackal was also carrying Wolf, were gliding over island of Long Island headed for the borough of Brooklyn, where Xanatos had a large warehouse full of robotics equipment. Canis and Vulpine were left behind to guard Troll, although they were forbidden to be in the same room as the Unseelie to prevent the fey from tricking the two mutates.

"We'll go through the roof together," Jackal said in a commanding voice, "Hyena, Wolf, and I will provide enough cover for Sevarius to make off with enough of the robotics parts to reprogram the robots."

"Right," Hyena nodded, "We get the fun part."

Jackal then dropped Wolf onto the roof, and together with Hyena began blasting away at the concrete surface with his blasters until the two cyborgs and blasted a ten foot wide hole in the roof of the building.

"One entrance, coming up," Jackal announced, "Or is that blowing up?"

**Castle Wyvern, Noon**

Xanatos frowned at the television news screen as he saw two cyborgs and two mutates flee on foot from one of his warehouses in Brooklyn. The winged mutate was carrying a large crate, which Xanatos could only assume was something from inside the warehouse. The Pack was now stealing from him as well, although Xanatos half expected them to steal things they needed for upgrades and so forth. He had Owen on the phone trying to confirm what was stolen and to deal with the police.

The black furred wolf-like mutate sat up in his chair as his assistant came in.

"They stole up to three hundred thousand dollars worth of computer programming chips and other supplies," Owen reported, without waiting to be asked, "And caused a further thirty thousand dollars worth of damages."

"And they did worse damage to Maddox Technologies yesterday," Xanatos added, "Any idea as to what they're up to?"

"It could be anything from upgrades to some scheme of Sevarius's, since the winged mutate on film is Sevarius," Owen answered.

Xanatos nodded, "We'll need to keep an eye out for any more activity from the Pack. Hyena didn't sound too pleased to have Coyote attack her."

"Yes, sir," Owen nodded.

"Also, seeing this reminds me of the news report from yesterday," Xanatos began, "Am I correct to assume that they attacked offices related to 'Maddox Technologies'?"

Owen nodded.

"Am I also correct to assume that Madoc was the CEO of Maddox Technologies?" Xanatos asked.

Owen nodded again.

"How is it that Maddox Technologies is still open, despite the fact that its CEO and board or representatives are either dead, captured, or on the run?" Xanatos asked, "We haven't seen heads or tails of the Unseelie since they attacked and there has been no news report of a management change at Maddox Technologies."

"I can not be certain, sir," Owen answered with a sigh that indicated that he was embarrassed not to know something, "It could be possible that an Unseelie with business sense is simply lying low for the moment or one of Madoc's employees has assumed leadership of the company."

"He employed people that he didn't enslave?" Xanatos asked.

"Mostly secretaries and security guards for various sections of Madoc's intended cover," Owen answered, "Although, none of them would be a suitable candidate to run a business as big as Madoc created Maddox Technologies."

Xanatos nodded, "We'll need to keep an eye on that, too. I want to know who is in charge over there. Make sure he's not dangerous."

"Of course, sir," Owen agreed.

Xanatos then sighed and got up and headed towards one of his offices, he had more work to do.

**Queens**

Diane looked over the house again as the landlord stood next to her explaining the about the past tenants. It was small, while it was a two story house; it only had two rooms that could be used as bedrooms, a kitchen, a living room, one bathroom, which was upstairs, and a laundry room. It had an extremely small front yard and a practically non-existent backyard. A small one car garage took up most of the backyard space, but since neither Diane nor Peter owned a car, and Elisa's Farlaine had been sold, they could store things in there. Although considering that the Unseelies had burned everything that was in their old home, it was not like they had to worry about fitting stuff into the building. And despite the fact that it was so small, it only barely fit inside Peter and Diane's price range.

Diane, however, was not entirely focused on the landlord.

"So, lady, are ya gonna take the place or not?" the man asked, "I got six other people lined up and I ain't gonna wait all day."

Diane was brought out of her thoughts with the landlord's statement.

"Huh, sure, yeah," Diane mumbled.

The landlord nodded, "Okay, lemme go inside and get the paperwork. You and your husband can move in tomorrow."

Diane waited patiently and signed the man's paperwork, and left a check to pay for the first month's rent and slowly made her way back toward the subway station she had left earlier, with her copy of the paperwork in hand. Her mind however, quickly returned the earlier discussion that had gone on between her and the others, as well as remembering how much Elisa thought and argued that she would be safer at the castle. She knew Elisa wasn't going to like this, and that only added to her frustration.

**Elsewhere**

Jackal and Hyena fired their lasers at a pursuing police car as they ran from block to block. The lasers destroyed the engine and all the present Pack members heard the police officers that were inside the car climb out, coughing from the smoke.

"How the hell did they react so quickly?" Jackal demanded as he looked behind the group to see one cop car stop to aide the 'downed comrade' while another two continued the chase, "We were halfway home by the time they showed up at the Maddox Technologies heist."

"They must have been watching for us to strike somewhere," Hyena growled as a bullet ricocheted off of her armor, "We get more fun though."

"Not if they decide the only way to get us down is to aim for our heads rather then a shoulder or hip," Jackal commented, "And we can't afford to get away without the programming. We need to get out of here."

Jackal then whirled his torso around again and fired his lasers again. This time the laser shot took out the closest police car's front tires. Hyena laughed as the car skidded on its front rims and came to a halt behind them.

"Now to get out of here," Jackal sighed.

"There's a subway station up ahead," Sevarius suggested, "We can use the tunnels to avoid detection."

"It'll have to do until the cops cool off, let's go!" Jackal yelled and turned toward the entrance to the subway station.

**The Subway**

Diane looked up as the subway car she was on came to a sudden stop. Her troubled mind barely registered it, but it was enough to get her attention. She looked out a side window behind her and saw that they were no where near the subway car's next stop. Several people had asked what was going on when the front doors to the car that Diane was in was blasted off buy high powered lasers and the Pack ran through the car, knocking people that were in their way over.

When they came past her, the male cyborg of the group stopped and looked at her. Diane curled back in fear as a wicked smile spread across the cyborg's face. The cyborg grabbed her by the neck and pulled her in front of him as he began to follow his mutate and female cyborg companion out of the car.

"No one follow us or the lady get's it!" Jackal yelled.

Jackal then activated his lasers and blew a hole in the roof of the subway car to prove his point. Once they were back in the empty tunnel, Sevarius turned back to Jackal as the cyborg began to push the hostage forward.

"Why the hell did you grab her?" Sevarius demanded, "The last thing we need is a hostage."

"Relax," Jackal growled, "We'll dump her in some quiet section of the tunnels. The cops are bound to follow us on foot now that we're down here, and with this hostage, they'll have to stop to question the other people on that train and the will have to follow much slower then they are, because they don't want to risk the hostage being killed."

"But why her?" Sevarius questioned, "She can't run fast enough to keep up. We'll have to slow down too."

"I don't know," Jackal shrugged, "I recognized her from one of Xanatos's photos."

"Please let me go," Diane pleaded as she began to shake in Jackal's grasp.

"Yeah, let her go," Sevarius added, "We don't have the time or ability at the moment to be dealing with hostages. Besides, they can't see us now."

"Fine!" Jackal growled as he threw Diane down to the ground.

Diane continued to lie there, shaking uncontrollably as the Pack members ran off down the subway tunnel.

**Castle Wyvern, Near Dusk**

Peter sat quietly in the clan's TV room watching the evening news. The report had him so fixed on the television that he did not notice Fara or Tea enter the room.

"What's going on?" Fara asked.

Peter blinked when he heard the voice and turned to face Fara and Tea.

"Something big," Peter answered after a moment, "Apparently the Pack has stolen some stuff from one of Mr. Xanatos's warehouses and have been leading police on a merry chase throughBrooklyn."

Peter then turned his head back to the television screen to see a reporter standing near a uniformed police officer and what appeared to be animal control personnel.

"Sir, would you mind updating us on what is going on here?" the reporter on the screen asked.

The entire operation has been a mess," the policeman answered, "The Pack has succeeded in damaging multiple police cars and then fled into the subway behind us. Once inside they stopped and crippled a subway train and took a passenger hostage. Then it got worse. As officers and hostage negotiators made their way through the tunnels to try and get the hostage released, a lose panther, believe it or not, jumped in front of them and scared them back out here. Animal control is now attempting to go in and capture the animal."

"Has anyone been hurt?" the reporter asked.

"Thankfully no," the policemen responded, "That's all I can tell you at this time."

"Come on," Tea insisted quickly before anyone could answer, "We need to get down there."

Fara quickly nodded and moved to follow her.

"No," Peter interrupted, "We need to get Derek first. This is going on underground, he knows it best."

Fara and Tea nodded as the three then left the room, leaving the television on.

Ten minutes later, Goliath, Elisa, and Hudson made their way into the same room before getting dinner. Hudson was there to catch a bit of a good game show that he liked, while Goliath and Elisa were simply looking for Peter, Diane, and the guests. They then stumbled onto the left on television.

"For those of you just tuning in, a panther has been discovered lose in the Brooklyn/Queens area subway tunnels after police had chased members of the Pack into the same tunnel," the reporter repeated.

"What in the world?" Hudson asked, "What would a panther be doing in the subway?"

"Escaped from a zoo?" Goliath offered.

"The only zoo in this area that HAS a panther is the Central Park Zoo," Elisa pointed out, "And I doubt one could have escaped and gotten all the way to Queens. We would have come across it at night and there are enough police in Manhattan that it would have been captured by them during the day."

"Then where could it have come from, lass?" Hudson asked turning to face Elisa.

Elisa was silent for a moment and then remembered who was visiting.

"Fara or Tea," Elisa and Goliath said in a shocked voice.

Hudson only blinked in surprise, "What?"

"It could be Fara or Tea," Elisa explained, "They're werepanthers. They can change between a human and feline form."

"I understand what a were is, lass," Hudson answered, "But ye also told us that they have control over when they change. Why would they come all this way to cause trouble in our subways?"

"They don't have COMPLETE control," Elisa answered, thinking back to the visit to Nigeria during the 'World Tour'.

'Loved me? The day I left Abuja I was attacked by a panther. I wasn't hurt, but it marked me. Living in the big city was hard, full of frustration. And every time I got angry I turned into a panther.'

"Strong feelings of anger or frustration could trigger a transformation," Elisa continued to explain.

Goliath sighed heavily, "Elisa and I will go to investigate this. If it turns out to be Fara or Tea, we will make sure they get back here and to human form safely. If it is just a normal panther we will get it back to the zoo that it came from. Hudson, I want you to inform Brooklyn of what is going on and tell him to take command of patrols for tonight."

"Right, lad," Hudson nodded and turned around and headed towards the dinning room where the rest of the clan had gathered, while Goliath and Elisa headed toward the battlements.

It took Goliath and Elisa ten minutes to glide from the Eyrie Building to the site of the subway station. Police, animal control officers, and news reporters were still at the site as they landed on a rooftop nearby.

"They must not have caught the panther if they're all still here," Goliath sighed.

"Yeah, but we're going to need to find another way into the subway system," Elisa pointed out, "They're not going to appreciate two gargoyles deciding to join the chase."

"We'll need to use a sewer entrance," Goliath sighed and took off into the night air, Elisa close behind him.

In the tunnels below, the panther meanwhile moved slowly and cautiously. Once it had frightened off the policemen that might have shot it, it quickly began to roam freely through the subway tunnels, but quickly found that they were not entirely safe, as it crossed two lines where the trains were still running, and narrowly avoided being run over by one of the trains. After several confused twists and turns, the panther had finally made it out of the subway tunnels and into the connected sewer tunnels to rest.

It lifted its head to hear the sound of dogs barking and people shouting.

"You sure he has the scent?" a voice asked, "That's a sewer tunnel entrance."

"Bruno has the scent, and I have my tranquilizer rifle," another voice answered, "It's in there, and that panther will be back in the zoo and we'll be at home before supper is put on the table."

The panther then hissed at the sound a dog pawing at the ground and pulled itself up to its feet and began walking again. It needed to escape from all this attention.

Goliath and Elisa moved carefully as they moved through the sewer tunnels, knowing full well that it would be by chance if they came across the panther. Each was listening intently to any and all sounds that could be heard. Mostly it was dripping noises as water moved through the various pipes that were above their heads. After a while of making several turns in the hopes of finding an entrance to the subway tunnels a new sound caught their ears. Mostly it was the sound of a dog barking, and both gargoyles could faintly make out a small headlamp in the distance. As the got closer, they began to overhear what the people were saying.

"Bruno's really excited about something up ahead," a person commented.

"Yeah, but we're at a 'T' intersection here in the tunnel, and he already howled that the panther went down that tunnel," the other person said, "There's something else down here."

"They're hunting the panther as well," Goliath whispered quietly.

"They're animal control," Elisa whispered back.

"I have an idea," Goliath whispered again, "Hide by the wall and keep your eyes covered so no light reflects off of them. I will distract them and their dog while you follow the panther."

Elisa slowly nodded and moved as close to the wall as she could get and covered her head with her wings. Goliath meanwhile brought his eyes to their full white glow and advanced on all fours towards the two men and their dog. Elisa listened patiently as the dog began to bark harder. After a few seconds Goliath gave out a low growl which made the dog go absolutely nuts.

"Shoot it!" one of the men screamed, "The damn thing's come back from a different tunnel."

"I can't see it to shoot it," the other man answered, "All I can see are the eyes and rules say you can't shoot an animal in the eye with a tranquilizer dart."

Goliath growled again, further frustrating the dog.

"Shoot it!" the first man screamed.

"As soon as I can see its neck or shoulder," the first man answered when another growl from Goliath caused the first man to lose control of the dog.

The animal broke free of the first man's grasp and bolted toward the two glowing eyes and source of the strange new scent that it had detected and decided was much more dangerous to its two human companions then the panther was.

"Bruno!" the first man shouted, "Heel! Damn dog."

Elisa peeked out from behind her wings to see Goliath run back on all fours in the direction from which they had came earlier and then watched as a large bloodhound ran after him. A few seconds later, two animal control officers, both wearing hardhats with specially designed flashlights attached to them, came running after the dog. Neither of them bothered to notice Elisa, and the tan gargoyle didn't move until she was sure that they were far enough away that they wouldn't be alarmed by the sound of her footsteps.

The panther had meanwhile stopped at an intersection of several large pipes. On top of this, the pipes had an echoing affect that allowed it to hear everything that was going on elsewhere and it was somewhat startled by the screaming and the dog's barking. The noise continued to frustrate the panther as it seemed to try and make up its mind concerning which tunnel to take.

Elisa quietly maneuvered through the pipe until she got close enough to see where the panther was, and judging from its behavior, it was definitely not a normal panther. It was standing in the middle of several intersecting pipes looking like it was deciding where to go.

"Fara? Tea?" Elisa asked, hoping she could calm the panther down.

The panther turned suddenly when it heard the voice speak out. It wasn't the voice of the men and their dog it was a feminine voice. It looked up to see a tan colored creature standing on two large three toed feet. Two wings grew out of it's back, the wing bones and the small three taloned 'hands' at the apex of the wing were tan, but the lining on the inside of the wing was red while the back of the wing was black. A long tan tail moved slowly from side to side behind it while the creature wore a black shirt and a sky blue loin cloth. Once it recognized the creature it began to back away.

"No!" Elisa exclaimed as panther began to back away from her, "I'm not going to hurt you. I'm here to help."

The panther looked like it was beginning to calm down and Elisa watched as it began to slowly change back to human form.

"Fara? Tea?" Elisa asked hoping to get an answer, and then shrieked as the panther took human form, "Mother!"

"I can explain," Diane said weakly before collapsing to the ground in tears.

"I need to get you out of here, first," Elisa said firmly as she scooped her mother up and began to retrace her steps toward the entrance that she and Goliath had found.

**Castle Wyvern, Hours later**

Diane sat, embarrassed on a couch as the clan had gathered around to hear the story. Everyone had been shocked to learn that the werepanther in the subway was not Fara or Tea, and thus, wanted to know what happened. Peter, Fara, and Tea were also there, to lend some light to the explanation, but it had taken a while for Goliath to both escape his pursuers and make sure that Elisa had found the panther and then to stumble across the other rescue party. Talon and Maggie also decided to come and get the full story and Beth had been woken up. It made for a fairly impressive gathering.

"Now," Elisa spoke up, "Would you mind explaining how this happened?"

"This is all very embarrassing," Diane whimpered.

"You can tell us though," Elisa encouraged, "How did this happen?"

"It all began the day we arrived," Diane sad weakly…

**One Week, Four Days ago**

"Diane!" Tea exclaimed as she opened the door to her and Fara's home, "What are you doing here?"

"It's a long story," Diane sighed back, "May we come in for a moment?"

"Of course," Tea nodded and stepped aside to let Diane and Peter in, "And may I ask who is your friend?"

Diane turned around, and said, "Oh, that is my husband, Peter."

"Pleasure to meet you," Tea said while shaking Peter's hand and shutting the door, "Fara is out on a routine patrol to make sure everything in sanctuary is safe, but he'll be back shortly."

"Uh, anything happen recently?" Peter asked nervously, "Diane's told me that you and your husband have been working for the government to help combat poaching and such in this area."

"We're working with the government, but not for the government," Tea answered, "But yes, we are working to help fight poaching. And we were fairly busy a few weeks ago. A man from some European country, I can't tell you where, came here and was picking off both panthers and regular leopards for some lodge back in his homeland."

"Regular leopards?" Peter asked.

"Panthers in this part of the world are really leopards," Tea explained, "The only difference between a panther and a regular leopard is that panther is completely covered in black fur and on a regular leopard, only its spots are black."

"So what happened to the man?" Diane asked.

"Fara and I spent a week on the other side of the sanctuary tracking him down, but we brought him in, and he's awaiting trial as we speak," Tea answered.

Fara arrived home a few minutes later and was surprised to see who his guests were and was equally interested in finding out why they had come to Nigeria.

"And you say they burned your apartment down?" Fara asked after Diane and Peter had explained everything.

"Not just ours, but the entire building," Diane sighed weakly, "We were so afraid that they might have managed to get to us if got into the castle."

"Well, we'll make sure you're as comfortable as possible," Fara said standing up, "You can tell us more tomorrow. I'll help you get settled in for the night."

Fara then led Peter and Diane to a spare hut-like dwelling that was used by most people who visited the village. Peter was less then impressed, but didn't comment on it. Meanwhile, two yellow eyes watched them go into the hut and then watched Fara emerge to return to his own from the bushes.

The next two days were relatively light, as Peter and Diane settled in to what was a means of escape from much greater evils and Fara and Tea continued their work to protect the wildlife sanctuary near the village. On the third day, however, Diane began worrying heavily about Elisa and those still fighting the Unseelie and Tea offered to take her on a hike and show parts of the sanctuary, to get her mind off of her fears.

"It's really nice of you to be doing this," Diane said weakly as the two walked down a path.

"It is of no trouble," Tea answered, "Fara and I hope to have a family of our own someday, and I'm sure we'd worry about our children, and I know my mother worried about me."

"I doubt they'd have to face anything like what Elisa and Derek are facing now," Diane said back, "It just makes want to wonder if the 'good guys' are even going to win when its all over."

"I'm sure they'll do okay," Tea offered, "You just need to think about other things. Think positively."

It was then that a large panther leaped from the bushes and lunged at Diane and Tea. Tea managed to duck under the animal's attack, but gravity had pulled the animal down low enough that it was able to rake its claws across Diane's back. Diane screamed with pain while Tea shifted to drive this animal off. Strangely, the first panther fled at the sight of another big cat.

Tea then nudged Diane with her muzzle and began to return to her human form.

"Are you okay?" Tea asked.

"It stings," Diane answered.

Tea looked at Diane's back. The wound wasn't life threatening, but the panther's claws had torn through the back of Diane's clothing and left deep gashes in her skin.

"We'll need to get you to a doctor," Tea said quickly.

Diane cringed as a doctor from a nearby city that was larger then Fara's little village injected another needle filled with the Rabies vaccine. Peter, Fara, and Tea looked on nervously.

"Are you sure this is necessary?" Peter asked.

"Without the animal that attacked her, we have to do this," the doctor answered, "It's a precautionary measure. If the animal was rabid, you don't want wait. Rabies is fatal to all animals, humans included, that contract it."

"The government will probably want the animal found and observed for a while," Fara sighed from the background, "I doubt it's rabies, but if there is a panther out there that is attacking people, it will be important to find out why."

"There, that'll do it," the doctor said as he withdrew the last needle.

The next three days went by slowly. Fara and Tea had both left to try and track down the panther. Peter spent much of his time reading, or going for short walks around the village. Diane, meanwhile felt anxious. Like there was something she needed to do, but she couldn't quite place it. On top of this she also felt itchy, like she'd been swimming in poison ivy.

It had gotten especially bad by the third night. Diane stood staring at a small mirror scratching her arms constantly.

"You keep scratching like that, and you're gonna tear your skin out," Peter cautioned from the small bathroom.

"I'm sorry, but I don't know where this itch came from and it will not go away," Diane answered, "I've tried everything there… OUCH!"

"Are you okay?" Peter asked.

"I'm fine," Diane answered as she looked down at her hands.

She silently gasped in horror at what she saw. Her fingernails had extended into sharp and curved claws, while thousands of black hairs and begun to grow out of her arms. In the bathroom, Peter heard what began like a scream of sheer terror, but was horrified to hear the roar of what had to be a leopard's soon replace it. He rushed out of the bathroom to find a panther pacing in the room and Diane was nowhere in sight.

The panther gave of what Peter decided sounded like a scream of terror and then jumped out through a nearby window, shattering the glass as it went. Thinking that this was the panther that had attacked Diane earlier, Peter rushed out of the house and then down a trail in search of wherever Fara and Tea had camped.

Running along the trail in middle of the night was not the smartest thing Peter had done in his life. The trail he was on was very different from the trails his father had taken him on in Arizona. The animals that lived here were very different and Peter didn't know which were dangerous, besides the small number of leopards that lived in the sanctuary. Any wrong turn or snake or spider bite could spell disaster.

He barely made it a hundred yards away from the village when he heard a great roar echo through the jungle and then a cry of pain. It sounded like two lions in a fight. He carefully followed the sound until he saw two panthers fighting in the underbrush. One was attacking the other viciously, while the victim of the attack looked like it was just trying to run away. Peter began to back away when two more panthers came out of nowhere and leaped upon the first two. One immediately went to the ground and looked very submissive, while the other struggled for a few moments. Once the second had stopped struggling, Peter watched as all four panthers began to change back, although one looked like it could no longer maintain its panther form.

"Diane?" Tea shrieked as she looked down at the 'panther' she thought she was subduing.

Before Diane could even answer an angry cry came from Fara's direction.

"What is this some awe struck man you brain washed into following you?" an angry looking woman shouted at Tea, even as Fara kneeled over her, holding her shoulders down.

"Kira?" Tea asked.

"Good of you to remember who I am," the woman growled.

"What is going on?" Fara and Peter asked, confused.

"Years ago, when Tea was still living in the big city, I was her next door neighbor," the woman Tea called 'Kira' answered, "For several nights I heard the sounds of something rustling around inside her apartment and when I told her about it and said it might be a burglar of some sort, I was told that it was nothing. Then one night, while I was out for a walk, I decided I'd drop in on her to see how she was doing. When I got to the door I heard a scream from inside and I rushed to investigate. I couldn't let my friend be killed by some criminal. And what do I find, but my neighbor turning into some jungle cat, and then attacked me. She attacked me for no reason whatsoever."

Fara backed off for a moment and gasped in shock. Tea's own face mirrored a look of sheer terror. The woman stood up angrily and lifted the bottom of her shirt up enough so that they could see the five claw marks on her side.

"And I have the claw marks to prove it," Kira growled angrily.

"Would it help if I said, I'm sorry about this?" Tea said weakly.

"NO!" Kira screamed, "Because soon after I found myself turning in a jungle cat at times and when another neighbor asked if I was being burgled, I did the sensible thing and left. I didn't stay to attack my 'friends'."

"I didn't mean to…" Tea began.

"Oh yes you did," Kira yelled back, "If you didn't, you would have left the city and taken your CURSE with you!"

Tea looked down, looking incredibly guilty.

"I take it you do not want to be a werepanther?" Fara asked.

"Thank you, Mr. Obvious," Kira snarled, "Why don't you and your friends run off. This is between the betrayer and me."

"I can't do that," Fara said firmly.

"You can't do that?" Kira gasped, "She attacked me for no reason. Do you realize how long I had to hide out here, learning how to control this?"

"Why are you doing all this, then?" Peter asked from the sidelines, "Why did you attack my wife?"

"I wasn't trying to get her," Kira answered, "I was trying to kill the one who did this to me."

"Killing me wouldn't help you," Tea said weakly, remembering how much the situation was beginning to resemble what happened after she had first been cursed.

"And how is that?" Kira demanded, "It would make me feel better, and it would mean that no one else will be marked by your curse."

"I had no control when it all started for me," Tea tried to argue, "And as you've learned, Kira, strong emotions can trigger the change, no matter what the emotion, but usually anger or frustration. I was angry at something that had happened during work and I didn't know you were coming…"

"And that makes it right?" Kira screamed, "You having no control over yourself is no excuse for attacking other people. If you had no control, you should have gone somewhere where you could gain that 'control' and not attack people."

"Killing her in revenge won't change what's already happened," Peter spoke up again, "And as for no one else being 'marked', you've already marked my wife in your attempt to kill someone you say is your friend."

"Shut up!" Kira roared back, "She's cost me a normal life and I intend to see that she pays the price. You can't possibly know what I'm going through."

"One of my wife and my daughters and my only son have already lost their humanity to forces that neither I nor they could control," Peter answered angrily, "Don't tell me that I don't know what losing a 'normal' life is. You're the exact same monster you accuse Tea of being."

"I want to be normal," Kira said firmly, "And killing the betrayer is a good start."

"As was said before, it wouldn't help you," Fara answered.

"And how do you know?" Kira demanded.

"Because the fey that created the werepanther curse is dead, and even if he were alive, I doubt he would give you back your humanity," Fara answered.

"How do you know it was a 'fey' or whatever that created this curse?" Kira demanded, "How do you know she isn't some spawn of the devil?"

Fara restrained himself from punching this woman for that comment before answering, "Because I am the first one that the fey 'marked' with this curse, at least the first in the modern era."

Kira stumbled back in shock and almost horror.

"There is much that needs to be explained," Fara continued, "On both sides. My wife has already apologized for what she has done to you. It was an accident."

What followed was another hour's worth of explanations as both the legend of the 'Panther Queen' and the whole incident relating to Fara and Tea that happened years before. Tea also added some parts about the frustration that she had endured in the city and that she didn't think she could pass the werepanther curse on to others. The story of Demona's arrival on her quest to regain her gargoyle form was also added. At the end of the story, Kira was not very impressed.

"So I can never be human again?" Kira asked angrily.

"Not a normal human," Fara answered.

"And I should let you live because of that?" Kira demanded, "I've lost a normal life! I lost my job because I was out trying to gain control over this. And even if it was an 'accident' it is still your wife's fault!"

"And I'm not about to let you harm her," Fara growled, his eyes already shifting to a golden yellow color.

Kira finally backed down, knowing she couldn't beat at least two other werepanthers at once. Fara alone was larger and stronger then her in either form.

"Fine," Kira growled, "I'll let you have your little love nest. But I do not want to see or hear from you ever again."

"Fine," Tea said weakly, nearly in tears.

Kira then ran off into the jungle, leaving them all alone. Peter slowly helped Diane get up, while Fara moved to comfort Tea. The group was silent as they slowly made their way back toward the village. As they neared the village, Peter stumbled over something that he assumed to be a rock or something. He looked back to see a human arm lying across the path.

"My God!" Peter exclaimed as he saw the arm.

"It's Kira!" Tea exclaimed as she and the others turned around to see it too, "But how did this happen?"

Fara's eyes flashed yellow for a moment as he looked through the long grass that surrounded the path they were on.

"I can see why," Fara commented, "There is a large viper in a defensive posture about one hundred feet away. She must have come too close for the snake's comfort and it bit her."

Peter and Fara rushed to get her body out of the grass and found out not only had Kira been bitten, but she had been bitten twice as there were two obvious snake bites that went through her fabric of the pants she was wearing just above her ankle.

When Kira awakened, she found her self in a large sterile white room with several IV's attached to both of her arms.

"Don't try to move too much," a voice advised, "You don't want to put any more strain on yourself."

Kira looked over to see who was talking to her. To her own surprise it was Tea.

"Where am I?" Kira asked.

"The main hospital in the big city," Tea answered, "What's the last thing you remember?"

"I was storming away from you, when all of a sudden I felt this stinging pain in my ankle," Kira answered, "I turned to try and see what it was only to feel the same pain again, and that's when I found the snake."

Tea nodded.

"You brought me here?" Kira asked.

"Fara, Peter, and I did," Tea answered, "Despite everything that's happened, I wasn't about to let you die. If you don't believe me that's fine, but I'll say again, I'm sorry for what's happened and that I didn't mean to mark you."

"You're forgiven," Kira said weakly as she faded back to sleep.

**Present**

"What happened to 'Kira' after that?" Angela asked.

"As far as we know, she's still in the hospital," Tea sighed, "The snake that bit her was not only extremely venomous but it also injected a fairly large dose. The doctors want to keep her under watch until they're confident that she will be alright."

"And she is the one who marked you?" Beth asked.

"Yes," Diane asked looking down.

There was a short silence for a moment.

"I'm really sorry about all of this," Diane spoke up again, "Especially after how I said we would be safe there."

"I don't hold you or Tea at fault, mom," Elisa answered, "You did what you thought was right. And shoot, Derek and I have wings that we weren't born with. We have no room to criticize what's happened. My only question is why didn't you tell us this when you got back?"

"I was embarrassed," Diane replied weakly, "I thought you might be mad at me over this."

"As Elisa said, she and I have at least two new appendages we weren't born with," Talon answered, "We couldn't be mad at you for this. Besides, you're still human. While you're not a 'normal' human, you're still human. And if you weren't, you're our mother. We'd love you anyway."

Beth and Elisa nodded in agreement. Diane only sat there, practically in tears.

Finally she managed to say something weakly.

"Thank you."

**The End**


	21. Snake in the Grass

All characters appearing in Gargoyles and Gargoyles: The Goliath Chronicles are copyrighted to Buena Vista Television/TheWalt Disney Company. I've taken the idea for the Unseelie Court from the TGS. No infringement of these copyrights is intended, and is not authorized by the copyright holder. All original characters are the property of SN.

Note: I'm disregarding the events of the"Goliath Chronicles", with the exception of "The Journey" because I do not wish to use the rest of the "Goliath Chronicles" as canon to my story. This story takes place three days after "A Tragic Reunion".

Snake in the Grass

BySN/TVfan

Email: **Sam_Nary **

**Castle Wyvern**

Fox sighed as she completed her magic practice for the day. She said little about it when they were together, but Fox was glad that her mother did come from time to time. The fact that her visits were to teach her magic were beside the point. The Unseelies and robbed her of her chance at fully reconciling with her father, but in a strange way, they had brought her closer to her mother, even if they were for magic lessons.

The red furred fox mutate quietly made her way out of the castle's gym, which she and Titania had now begun to use as a training room for her powers, and began to walk through the castle's hallways. She found Xanatos in his office looking over the daily paperwork.

"How are things going?" Fox asked as she walked in.

Xanatos looked up from the work he was doing to see Fox come in and sit down. He sighed lightly with frustration before answering.

"Tiring at best," Xanatos sighed, "Talon's trying his best down in the Labyrinth to get all the former slavesused to what's happened, but at the same time he can't open the shelter until they are fully able to cope."

"What's the problem with that?" Fox asked, raising an eyebrow.

Xanatos held up the papers to show his wife.

"The paperwork," Xanatos growled at the papers in his hand, "Most of the money he received was as a donation from Xanatos Enterprises to the 'Labyrinth Shelter for the Homeless'. And since the shelter isn't open yet, I can't simply give him the equipment and supplies he needs as a 'donation'."

"What about money?" Fox asked.

"I've already got Owen down in the accounting department working on that," Xanatos sighed, "But in the big picture of everything, money is the least of their problems. They can't just go into a store and buy something, which makes having money practically useless."

Fox sighed for a moment before she heard her husband growl again.

"If only we could get our hands on one of the Sevariuses," Xanatos growled a slight glow coming to his eyes.

"Neither of them would give us a cure for our condition, even if they already had one produced," Fox answered.

"Maybe," Xanatos sighed, "But Anton Sevarius is free now, and he'll probably try to cure himself."

"Even if he found a cure for himself, my mother's spell would over power it," Fox sighed, "She made that quite clear to me in our lessons."

"How so?" Xanatos asked, curious about his wife's progress in magic.

"Remember when the whole city turned to stone over the day?" Fox asked.

Xanatos added, "Yes."

"It's kind of like that," Fox answered, "It's the terms of the spell. In the case of Demona's attack on the city, the term was until the sky was 'on fire'. In the case of my mother's spell, it will last until Sevarius gives us a cure that will cure not only you and me, but Talon and the other mutates."

"I suppose that will probably also include the former slaves now?" Xanatos asked.

"I don't know," Fox shrugged, "Mother didn't tell me."

"Regardless, we need to find where Sevarius is," Xanatos said firmly, "And since he's with the Pack, it shouldn't be too hard to find him."

**Labyrinth**

Claw sat reading from one of the few books that survived the battle that occurred between the Labyrinth clan and the Pack and the looting that occurred while the Labyrinth was abandoned. The mute tiger mutate was for the time being taking a break from helping the new mutates adjust to their new feet and taking small groups above ground at night for gliding lessons. For the time being, that was Maggie's job for now, and Talon would take the next shift.

Claw only looked up as Talon walked in grumbling about something. Claw set his book down and signed something.

"Xanatos is still trying to get through his own bureaucratic system to try and get us supplies," Talon grumbled, "Said something about his own company coming back to bite him."

"His company had to be designed the way it is for tax purposes," Claw signed back, "If not, the government would take whatever it felt was due, and Xanatos would be arrested and tried for tax

evasion. Like how they got Al Capone."

Talon sighed after he watched Claw finish the gestures that made up sign language, and was completely thankful that he and Elisa had been taught basic sign language on the force in order to deal with deaf/mute witnesses.

"Yeah, but it gets frustrating," Talon sighed again, "It's hard for them to get used to everything, and it will take us a while. And Maggie's mom can't go the grocery thirty times a day to collect food for everyone, even WITH Xanatos providing the money."

Claw was about answer back when he heard a soft coughing sound. He turned his head to see a female Ocelot mutate standing with a female Fennec Fox mutate standing nearby.

"Yes?" Talon asked.

"Um," the Ocelot mutate said quietly, her English accent evident with every word she spoke, "We found something you should see."

"What is it?" Talon asked.

"We think you should see for yourselves," the Fennec Fox mutate said, "It's very important."

Claw and Talon shrugged and proceeded to follow the two female mutates. They led them through the maze of small passageways that either existed when the original mutates moved in or constructed after they had moved and stopped a door that was next to a bathroom. The doorknob to the room was missing.

"I tripped coming out of the bathroom and took out the doorknob on this door," the Ocelot mutate said embarrassed, "and when the door opened this is what I saw…"

The mutate slowly opened the door allowing Talon and Claw to see. Both mutate's were horrified by what they saw.

**Old Quarrymen Warehouse**

Tony Dracon relaxed comfortably in a large easy chair in what was once Jon Canmore's private office. While it wasn't the luxurious hotel suites that the gangster used to occupy, it was decent. And more importantly, with the Quarrymen disbanded, no one was going to bother to look there. It was left all to Dracon and his gang. Most of the furniture was stolen, since the police confiscated everything that the Quarrymen used.

"Progress at getting control over the city again has hit a snag," Glasses reported from the doorway.

"What?" Dracon gasped sitting back up again.

"That blizzard, whatever caused it, slowed everything down," Glass sighed, "We had to take a lot of stuff underground because it was the only way we could get stuff around quickly."

"Yeah you told me that," Dracon growled, "How is that slowing things down now?"

"Well, we stashed a shipment of weapons that we were gonna sell on the street and buy some loyalty with," Glasses began to explain, "But the place where we stashed the stuff has been occupied by some strange creatures."

"Strange creatures?" Dracon asked, "Don't you mean the gargoyles?"

Glasses shook his head, "Naw, gargoyles have tails. What the boys saw definitely lacked that specific appendage."

"So, what where they?" Dracon asked.

"Looked like giant cats and dogs with wings," Glasses answered, "At least, that's what the boys told me."

"I want my stuff back," Dracon said slowly, "Do what you can to get it back, and I don't care if you have to lead the whole gang in there shooting. I want those guns back."

"You got it boss," Glasses nodded and turned to leave.

While Dracon leaned back in his chair, Glasses walked out into the main part of the office to gather the men who were lower ranking bosses in Dracon's organization.

"What are the boss's orders?" one of the goons asked as he hopped down from a crate.

"Gather all you men for some action," Glasses instructed, "Boss wants his stuff back. And you've been given the clear to go in shooting against these guys."

The various groups of thugs smiled. Making a bloody mess of the strange creatures that had captured their stuff was going to be fun as far as they were concerned. It was a chance for them to try and show who was 'in charge' in New York, and the gangsters were determined to prove it was them.

**Castle Wyvern, Shortly after Dusk**

"We need to get going for patrol," Brooklyn said as he and Amy left the dinning hall, the yellow female's tail grasping brick red male's, "Goliath and Elisa are expecting us to help them patrol around Long Island for any sign of the Pack."

Amy kissed Brooklyn on the check and slowly released his tail.

"So long as we're together," Amy answered with a slight smile.

The two continued out into the courtyard to meet up with Goliath and Elisa while Hudson and the rest of the clan came out into the hallway. The elderly male let a slight chuckle escape as he watched the two beaked gargoyles walk toward the courtyard.

"What do you find so funny?" came Othello's voice as he and Desdemona came out behind him.

"It's just young love," Hudson said back, "I don't think it will be too long before Brooklyn and young Amy declare themselves as mates. The lad and lass spend much of their time together."

"Remember it is their choice to decide," Othello warned, "Not ours."

"Of course I know that," Hudson grumbled, "Come on now. I believe Goliath told us to patrol the northern sector of Manhattan."

Othello looked over at Desdemona before turning back and saying, "Yes, he did."

The three then made their way out into the courtyard.

Outside in the courtyard, Goliath and Elisa stood quietly on the battlements. Both were simply gazing out over the horizon of tall buildings. The Guatemalans had already left to patrol through

Central Park and Angela, Broadway, Sarah, Ian, Ethan, and Eve had left to patrol the southern

sector of Manhattan. Candy, Caroline, and Lexington had already headed toward the Bronx. Goliath and Elisa were merely waiting for Brooklyn and Amy to finish their breakfast.

"Sorry we're late," came Brooklyn's voice as the two beaked gargoyles approached Goliath and

Elisa.

"You're not late," Goliath answered, "The other groups were merely early."

Brooklyn spared Amy a brief glance and said, "We weren't entirely focused on breakfast."

Goliath and Elisa shared a slight chuckle.

"We have noticed," Goliath rumbled, "Can I ask when you wish to declare yourselves as mates, my second? You and Amy have been very close over the past several days."

"You noticed?" Amy asked, becoming embarrassed.

"It's nothing to be ashamed of," Elisa answered, "Everyone can get distracted at times when they're in love."

"Even you two?" Amy asked, still embarrassed.

"I had to fall off a water fall first, but yes," Elisa chuckled.

"We haven't decided on when yet," Brooklyn answered.

Goliath nodded, "Very well. We must be off now."

Brooklyn and Amy nodded and followed Goliath and Elisa as they took off into the night. The four quietly glided south from the Eyrie Building headed towards Long Island.

"Although our protectorate is Manhattan," Goliath explained, running down his plans again, "the Pack have raided various sectors of Manhattan and retreated to Long Island. We're mostly out to find their base and shut down any crime they seem to be committing when we find them."

"We gotcha, Goliath," Brooklyn nodded.

"Find them and beat them up," Amy added.

The group then continued quietly.

Zafiro and his clan slowly glided over the trees in Central Park. Most of them were still lacking any leaves due to the snows that the Unseelies had caused, and those that didn't were a few small pine and spruce trees that had been transplanted there.

"It doesn't seem like there is much out tonight," Jade commented from his spot.

The four quietly landed on top of a bridge that no was near, at least no one that they thought was near. As they looked over the quiet section of the park they suddenly heard voices coming from under the bridge.

"It's the boss's orders," one voice said, "We attack from the back entrance we found. We go in, kill any that fight, get the stash back, and get out of there."

The four Guatemalans heard muffled voices of agreement.

"All right," the first voice announced, "Let's go the nearest manhole. We'll get to them that way. Everyone have their flashlight?"

Again the Guatemalans heard muffled voices of agreement and then they saw about six men carrying guns and flash lights walk out from under the bridge.

"Mobsters," Turquesa growled as she watched the group of men.

"Yes," Zafiro nodded quietly, "We must take them out quickly before they kill someone."

The four gargoyles then glided forward as quickly as possible. Zafiro caught one from behind and knocked him out before he could draw his weapon. Turquesa landed on the backs of two more and knocked them to the ground. Both men fell unconscious. The remaining three turned in time to see Obsidiana punch one of them and Jade punch another. The third managed to duck before being knocked out himself.

"Blasted gargoyles," the man grumbled always messing with our plans.

He then fired several shots into the air after Obsidiana and Jade. Both of whom had already gained the altitude they needed to avoid being shot. Zafiro, seeing that the mobster was firing on his mate in particular was about to dive down on him when Turquesa appeared behind the man and knocked him out with one hand. He fell to the ground in a lump, his gun firing off one last time sending a bullet skidding along the snow covered ground. Turquesa crushed the weapon with her foot.

"Blasted mobster," Turquesa growled slowly.

"We'd best get them tied up and leave them for the police," Obsidiana advised as she and Jade landed.

Zafiro nodded and began to look for something they could use to restrain the crooks they had just apprehended.

**The Labyrinth**

"And you say you found all this?" Matt asked as he looked at what was in the storage closet that the mutates had found.

"It was one of the former slaves actually," Talon answered the detective, "But yeah, this is where we found them."

Flariaty took another look at the closet. Inside was a weapons cache that could probably fully arm several companies of soldiers. There were a few particle beam pistols, but many of the weapons were of older designs. Most were various handguns that resembled the Colt brand that Flariaty carried. There were a few revolvers. But the handguns were not the most powerful weapons there to say the least. The female detective also saw a sawed-off shotgun, two bolt action hunting rifles, and various assault rifles, mostly old Russian AK-47s, which were most likely smuggled into the country, but there were one or two American M-16s among them. She couldn't identify the various clips and assorted loose ammunition that lay amongst the weapons.

"We'll need to ask the ones who found this a few questions," Flariaty stated, "To take their statements."

"They're mutates," Matt sighed, "They'd have to reveal themselves if we take statements."

"They've supposedly found a closet with enough guns to satisfy Patton," Flariaty growled, "The guns will have to be checked to see which are actually built by their respective company and which are merely counterfeited. We're going to need to take their statements to prove they aren't the ones who stashed these guns here. We especially need to take their statement because I'm certain that these guns are not here legally."

"No mutate brought these guns here," Talon said, "I was there when we brought them back here."

"And it would take more then one of you to convince a jury that you aren't lying," Flariaty growled, unafraid of the dark furred mutate, "We have a job to do concerning the upholding of law and order…"

"I know," Talon growled icily, "I was cop before 'this' happened to me. Don't go preaching to me about 'law and order'."

"And even if he wasn't," Matt added, "Talon and the mutates can't go on the stand in a trial, if there even is one. We've only found the weapons. We don't know who owns them"

Flariaty sighed heavily, "Fine. We'll take a written statement here to collaborate your story and Matt and I will return in an hour with gloves to deal with the weaponry."

"Couldn't we just destroy them?" Talon asked, "Even with prints, it's unlikely you'd get anyone for longer then a night in jail, especially without anyone who knows who owns these weapons."

Matt was the one who answered, "Unfortunately that wouldn't stop whoever owns these weapons from trying again, and judging by the size of the stash and the fact that there are some different types of weaponry, it has to be the mafia. Whether it's Dracon or some of Brode's men or one of the other major families, it doesn't matter. It's organized crime, and stopping them is a lot tougher than the common mugger."

Talon shrugged, "Whatever. I just want these weapons gone."

Talon was about to leave when Brentwood came running up to him, obviously panicked by something.

"What is it?" Talon asked.

"Evil men!" Brentwood screamed, "Shot Delilah."

Talon didn't evil bother to try and get an explanation. He began running for the main entrance. Someone was attacking there. By the time he got there, he found that Claw and Maggie had shut the doors. He also found the rest of the clones clustered around Delilah. They backed away as Talon walked over. The black furred mutate looked down at hybrid gargoyle, and sighed in relief when he saw that the bullet had only hit her leg.

"Can you walk?" Talon asked.

"I don't know," Delilah answered, "My leg hurts."

"We need to get you to a safer spot," Talon said as he lifted the hybrid clone up, "Even though the main entrance is shut, there are a few others that those people could use."

Outside the main doors, Glasses stared angrily at the two metal doors that had just closed in front of them. Several of Dracon's goons stood behind them. The mission was intended to be a cakewalk. They were to go in, kill whoever fought them, and recover their weapons. This place had been abandoned when they found it, and while it obviously wasn't abandoned anymore, Glasses didn't think that there was any mechanism inside there that could shut those doors or that

these people knew how to operate them.

They had just begun to approach the entrance when a voice came out of the darkness demanding to know who was there. When the brought their flashlights up, they saw it was a dull tan skinned gargoyle that bore a striking resemblance to the detective Elisa Maza, that the mobsters knew. Glasses got one shot off, but the shock as seeing that the gargoyle looked so familiar threw off his aim and he hit it in the leg. The gargoyle crawled back inside the Labyrinth screaming the words 'attack'. By the time that Glasses and the other mobsters got there, the doors had shut.

"What do we do now?" one of thugs behind Glasses demanded.

Glasses turned and began to walk toward a nearby ladder in the system.

"We're gonna need to take the back way to get in there," Glasses answered, "The place is built into the existing sewer system. There are a few back entrances that can be used in case a sewer line breaks. They're tricky to find, but they're there."

**Maddox Technologies**

"I told you, no!" Holly growled angrily.

The gargoyle that stood before her didn't budge.

"Come on," Buzz demanded, "You have the power to do it."

"But not the orders," Holly growled back, "You want your little girlfriend to join us, you discuss it with Thailog. And when you do, don't sound like you're just looking for a little action. You need to persuade him that she is strong enough to be acceptable."

"But you and Thailog have," Buzz began to protest.

Holly turned, grabbed her book and threw a small lightning spell, knocking the male back before he could even finish.

"What I do with Thailog is none of your concern," Holly growled, "It isn't your wants or needs that are being taken care of."

Buzz was about to say something when the blood red female growled at him again.

"And stop whining to me about it," Holly growled in an angry voice.

"Fine," Buzz grumbled as he turned and walked out of the room, "I'll talk to Thailog."

"Finally," Holly said giving an irritated sigh and returned her attention to the book she had been studying.

**Elsewhere**

Broadway's patrol group moved slowly over the southern sectors of Manhattan. The group hadn't encountered much along their patrol route, other than the occasional mugger or low level street crime.

"It still strikes me as odd how such a city could have to put up with such activities," Ian commented, "What these criminals do is wrong. Why do they keep doing what they're doing?"

"No one's perfect," Broadway sighed, "and the city does all it can to fight crime. Policemen like Elisa's friend Matt, and Elisa too, before the Mage transformed her, work hard both day and night to arrest criminals and make sure they stay there."

"It's still odd that so much evil can exist in a place that seems so interesting," Ian retorted.

"It is an interesting place," Angela commented with a slight smile, "but not every place is a paradise like Avalon. You'll find in time that while we deal with some fairly dark parts of society, there are a lot of good and beautiful things that make living here wonderful."

"I think the fact that not every season here is summer makes it interesting," Sarah commented.

Ethan and Eve quickly nodded in agreement with Sarah's comment.

"I think well will grow to like it here," Eve said confidently.

"That's good," Broadway smiled, before he looked down and saw some activity going down in a nearby alley and muttered, "Uh-oh."

"What is it?" Ethan asked.

"I saw several guys gathered in the back of that alley," Broadway said as looped into the air and headed back towards the alley, "We better check this out."

Too their surprise they found several men in attire that they didn't think was truly suited to a dark alley. Most were dressed in business suit jackets and pants, but were strangely wearing tee-shirts underneath. A few were wearing all out suits.

"I can't believe he calls us to go crawling through these sewers," one of the men grumbled.

"Hey, Glasses said this is important," another answered, "Now help me get this lid open."

The men began to wrestle with a long crowbar as they attempted to open a manhole cover.

"Mobsters," Broadway growled and leaped from the roof of the building.

Angela and the others followed closely after him. Broadway landed first, slamming the manhole cover down and sending the crowbar flying into the air. He then knocked his first challenger senseless. Angela defeated one of the mobsters as she landed on his back, and then tripped another with her tail. Her brothers and sisters that had just joined the Manhattan Clan from Avalon managed similar successes, but many of the remaining crooks had regained their senses and had pulled back.

"Damn creatures are hunting us now," one of the thugs sneered, "First they steal our stash, and then they start hunting us."

"Hunting?" Ethan asked before one of the thugs fired a shot.

Fortunately the shot was wild and missed the group of gargoyles, but the sound of the gunshot irritated Broadway to no end. He crouched down and prepared to leap at the remaining three criminals.

"I'll give you hunting," Broadway growled as his eyes began to glow.

The large gargoyle then leaped forward, tackling one of the crooks and knocking the remaining two back. The man Broadway tackled tried to draw his gun on the gargoyle, but it was easily knocked away. The man tried to look to his comrades, but saw that they had already lost their nerve.

"Let's get out of here!" one yelled as they ran off, "Glasses can get his weapons by himself."

The other man nodded and they both ran off. The man that Broadway had tackled was about yell at them when he was suddenly jerked up and held in the air.

"Forget them," Broadway growled in a low voice as he held the man above his head, "Who do you work for?"

"Dracon," the man gulped as he looked into the gargoyle's glowing eyes.

Broadway tightened his grip on the thug.

"What is this stash you were talking about earlier?" Angela asked from her spot in the alley.

The man gulped again, "It's guns. We got a stash of guns hidden in some abandoned complex, but now some creatures have moved in and we need to get our guns back."

Broadway threw the man against the wall of the building and knocked him out.

"It's the Labyrinth," Broadway growled, "These gun toting lunatics are attacking the Labyrinth."

Angela then turned and pulled a small communicator out of the pouch on her belt and added, "We better warn Talon before we do anything."

**Long Island**

Goliath's group hadn't found anything that would lead them to the Pack's supposed hideout. There were a few street level crimes that needed stopping, but nothing that indicated the Pack was there or would be there. Goliath sighed heavily at the fact that they had been unable to find the super powered criminals.

"I don't think they're out tonight," Brooklyn grumbled as he and Amy glided back towards Goliath and Elisa.

"We might as well return to the castle," Goliath sighed, "They may simply be waiting for us to land at dawn to smash us."

"We can look again tomorrow night," Brooklyn offered, "Those guys are sick and I doubt that the police can take them without killing them."

"They could take them," Elisa huffed from above them as she tried to defend her former profession, "But I'll agree that the Pack is dangerous, and more importantly, they're all wanted felons. Since Fox was the only one to finish her prison sentence, the rest still have time to serve. Wolf for taking that model hostage. Jackal and Hyena for their attempted robbery in the diamond

district."

"Yes, we all agree that they are dangerous," Goliath sighed, "But they are also not out at the moment."

The large gargoyle then gave a frustrated growl.

"Let's return home," Goliath sighed and angled back toward the Eyrie Building.

Below them and hidden in shadows, two sets of eyes watched the four gargoyles glided off.

"We coulda taken 'em," Fang grumbled as he and Thailog walked out to watch Goliath's patrol group head back toward the Eyrie.

Thailog shook his head, "No we couldn't have. There were four of them and only two of us. And besides, they weren't out here looking for us. They were looking for the Pack."

The black skinned clone was quiet for a moment, but he began speaking again before Fang could argue.

"And for the moment, Goliath and I have a truce going," Thailog continued, "And knowing Goliath's honor, he won't attack me without provocation."

"He's got to know your truce is over by now," Fang grumbled.

Thailog smiled and nodded, "I'm sure he does, but he won't take action against me until I do something that threatens his beloved protectorate."

"Why do I get the feeling that you're not going to let me have any fun with them?" Fang grumbled again.

"We don't have the numbers to risk a fight with them right now," Thailog reminded Fang, "We need more then just you, me, and the few others that Holly has transformed. Especially considering that it appears that Goliath's clan did not suffer any casualties in the war with the Unseelie."

"So is that why we're out here?" Fang demanded, "To watch Goliath's clan?"

"That was only a secondary objective," Thailog answered, "Our primary objective is to gain suitable numbers to deal with Goliath's clan."

"You're gonna order Holly to give the others their 'dates', eh?" Fang chuckled.

"That may be a possibility," Thailog answered seriously, "The more gargoyle hatchlings that are hatched means the fewer humans we have to change into gargoyles. But we are here to find the Pack. At least to tell them that Maddox Technologies is under new management. I can't have them bankrupting me, and I'm sure they wouldn't mind working in some way with us."

"You said you didn't want to hire them?" Fang said, sounding somewhat surprised.

"I don't," Thailog nodded, "It'd cost too much to pay them, but they may cooperate and not interfere with my strategy. That is what I intend to accomplish by this meeting."

"So we're looking for the Pack to tell them to stay out of Manhattan?" Fang said, "You know they won't accept that."

Thailog sighed, "No. I'm talking about telling them to ignore places that I have an intense interest in. Maddox Technologies facilities are chief among them. I can't have them ruining my field of operations. Now come, it's still a while till dawn and I'm sure they're around this island

somewhere."

With that, Thailog leaped from the roof and began gliding in an eastward direction. Fang sighed heavily before following the clone.

**The Pack's Hideout**

Wolf greedily tore through large hunks of meat that he held in his paws, his fuzzy tail wagging behind him.

"I don't know why we can't have any fun," Wolf grumbled between bites.

"Sevarius and Troll haven't finished the programming for Dreadnought and Shadow yet," Jackal answered as he reclined in a nearby chair, "And until they're ready we're in no shape to risk an all out battle with Goliath's clan. Especially while Coyote is helping them."

Wolf growled at the mention of Xanatos's robot.

"And besides, with that muzzle, we can only take you out on a leash!" Hyena laughed, "That is, if you don't eat it first!"

Wolf growled again but did nothing else.

"Fight Goliath," Wolf grumbled, "That's all I want to do."

"I know that's all you want to do," Jackal answered, "That's all you seem to want to do, but the problem is there's more then one gargoyle up there and all of them are bound to help their leader when you attack him. We need Dreadnought and Shadow to help us. They individually can take on multiple gargoyles while the rest of us can pick off the ones that don't attack the robots."

"You could at least let us get some excerrrrrcise," Wolf growled, "Chase some cops around."

Vulpine and Canis quickly nodded, as both had been kept from joining the Pack's most recent endeavors.

"You can use that gym you had Troll create out of the attic," Jackal shrugged, "You don't need to go around the city chasing things."

"Fido," Hyena added and laughed.

Meanwhile, in the building's basement, Sevarius and the captured Troll were busy with other work. Troll was only using his magic however to insert the finished programming chips that Sevarius made for the two large robots. Sevarius largely ignored the captured Unseelie and focused himself on his work.

"You know this plan of yours won't work," Troll commented, "Jackal will certainly do something to test the robot to make sure it obeys his commands."

"Then I'll secretly activate them down here, tell them to obey Jackal's commands unless I counter them by saying a codeword," Sevarius answered, "I'm working the programming fairly simple. They're not going to be like any of Xanatos's versions of the Coyote robot. We're at best going to get an advanced Steal Clan member."

"It's still not going to work," Troll said, "Jackal wants those robots to follow him without question…"

"I'm tired of having to do everything that lunatic cyborg says," Sevarius growled softly at the fey, "If it weren't for me, he wouldn't even have the power he has. I am the employer. Not him."

"Jackal seems to have gone into self-employment at this point," Troll argued, "This plan of yours will fail."

"No it won't," Sevarius growled, "You can't do anything because of the Iron, and I'd doubt you'd even stay here if Jackal removed it. And I can take Wolf easily with…"

Sevarius paused to look at his mutate hands.

"With my electric blasts," Sevarius finished, "and both of these robots will take care of the rest, including Jackal and Hyena. I will use sheer force to regain my rightful position of respect as leader."

"I still think your plan will fail," Troll snorted as he moved the next piece of programming into the large Dreadnought robot.

"We'll see who fails when Jackal and his Pack are following me once more," Sevarius answered, "I'll also grant you your freedom if you keep quiet about all this."

"You'll free me?" Troll asked looking up.

"Once Jackal remembers that I am in command of everything," Sevarius answered, "I'm tired of being a mere 'thug' to that cyborg."

"You have an easy deal, Mister," Troll nodded and went back to his work of moving the programmed pieces of computer chips into the Dreadnought robot with renewed vigor and in some cases rearranging some of the chips he had already installed so that they were installed correctly.

**The Labyrinth**

Matt and Flariaty moved as fast as they could to catch up to where Talon had run to, but many of the former mutate slaves had been attracted to the sound of Talon's yells and the various sounds of confusion coming from the clones.

"I wish I knew where he ran off to," Flariaty grumbled, "Some clone tells him that someone's been shot and he runs off."

"I think we found the owners of those weapons," Matt smiled slightly, "Or they found us, trying to get them back."

"How would they know we are here?" Flariaty demanded.

"More then likely they only knew that the mutates were here and that they were just going to get their stuff back before the mutates profit from it," Matt answered as he and Flariaty moved around the head of a mutate that peaked out from its room.

A thought then came to Flariaty's head and she then had to ask, "How are we going to get paramedics down here to help this 'Delilah'? I doubt they'd treat a mutate without a pretty long explanation."

"Delilah's one of the clones actually," Matt corrected, "Half clone really, half of her DNA is from Elisa and the other half is from Demona, but if she can make it till morning, stonesleep will cure her."

"Ever consider giving up police work and being an 'expert' on these gargoyles?" Flariaty asked, "You seem to know as much about them as they do."

"They've explained a lot to me, and I've known them for awhile," Matt answered, "Take your time to get to know them."

"Right now I want to arrest whoever is attacking us," Flariaty growled as she drew her weapon, "I'll worry about gargoyle's civil rights later."

They arrived in the main entrance area to find that the main doors were shut. Talon and Maggie were just joining Claw and the clones near the door as well.

"How's Delilah?" Matt asked as he and Flariaty walked up.

"She'll be fine," Talon answered, "They got her in the leg, fortunately. She's resting comfortably right now until sunrise."

"Can those guys get in?" Flariaty asked.

"Probably," Talon sighed heavily, "If they stashed weapons here, they've probably figured out all the entrances and exits to the Labyrinth. Many of the smaller ones are hidden, but they're there, and unfortunately can not be locked. They were designed as fire escapes while Cyberbiotics was using this place as a lab."

"Do you have anything to fight those guys off?" Matt asked.

"Our electric blasts, but Maggie, Claw, and I seem to be the only ones who know how to use them," Talon answered, "Madoc's former slaves seem to have forgotten how to use that ability. The clones don't carry anything."

"Great," Matt grumbled, "And these crooks are coming for their weapons stash, which is right amongst your living quarters."

Glasses and about ten other members of Dracon's gang quietly maneuvered through the maze of passages that made up vast sections of the Labyrinth. So far they had encountered no resistance, but then Glasses doubted that whoever these 'people' were actually intelligent enough to check for back doors.

"Keep your eyes sharp," Glasses ordered, "We may come across one of them creatures."

The other mob members readied their pistols and a few even went as far as to point them down empty hallways as they passed them.

"Now the stash should be this way," Glasses said as he turned down a hallway that was much straighter then the other hallways they had been traveling down.

The group then walked toward a small broom closet door and found that the doorknob had come off.

"The freaks are hard on doorknobs aren't?" one of mobsters chuckled.

"Better check to make sure all the guns are there," Glasses said aloud, "Or Dracon will want one of their heads, and I'm not lugging some freak's head around Manhattan."

Glasses got his fingertips on the side of the door that normally would have been too close to the door jam to even consider gripping and slowly opened the door. Dracon's second in command smiled when he saw that all of the weapons were still there.

"Alright, you four, start carrying the stuff out and get it to a new hideout spot," Glasses ordered four of the thugs with him, "The rest of you are to cover their butts."

The four ordered to carry the weapons quickly grabbed everything in the closet and the group began walking calmly out of the Labyrinth. Glasses was beginning to think he wouldn't have any problems until he passed a hallway and saw at least three of the strange creatures coming toward them, with a few gargoyles and two humans with them.

"Freeze! Police!" the human woman among the approaching group shouted holding out an automatic pistol and a badge.

"Damn," Glasses cursed and fired a wild shot into the group.

Talon, Malibu, Matt, Claw, and Flariaty all dove down as Glasses shot flew over their heads.

"This is why I don't like the idea of us splitting up," Flariaty growled as she tried to return fire on the fleeing mobsters, although she was unprepared to fire from the ground and all of her shots missed.

"No," Talon insisted, "Maggie can slow them down before they can fire, and Hollywood and Burbank can make the battle too close for them to use their guns."

Claw meanwhile moved forward, and while crouching low, he fired his electric blasts at two of the fleeing thugs who where guarding the thugs that were carrying the stolen guns. He was fortunate to hit both and both fell unconscious. Glasses and the rest of Dracon's men quickly headed down a different hallway and disappeared from view.

"Come on, we gotta get after them," Matt said as he ran forward to the hallway that the crooks had disappeared down.

"Right," Talon nodded as he helped Flariaty up, "Malibu, take those two down to the cells. I don't want them awake and loose while we're chasing the rest of these guys."

The clone nodded and quickly moved and grabbed both men by the collar and began dragging them off.

Glasses and the rest of Dracon's men kept running along the maze of passages as fast as they could. As they rounded a corner they turned to see another group of creatures trying to block them. One female cat-like creature with wings and two gargoyles. Glasses jumped in surprise and fear and fired at the mutate.

Maggie ducked as the mobster shot at her. Fortunately for the lioness mutate, the shot missed, at least at missed penetrating her skin, as Maggie felt it go through her hair before she heard the bullet impact against the floor behind her. The fear of being shot triggered a release of adrenaline, and Maggie fired a powerful electric blast at the thugs, hitting two of them, including

Glasses. Both the thug and Glasses fell back into the far wall.

"Attackers!" Hollywood yelled and charged forward, barreling into the various thugs ahead of them.

Burbank charged closely behind the other clone and closed quickly with the thugs. At that range, Dracon's men found themselves unable to get a clear shot at any of the gargoyles without risking that they would hit of their own partners. Maggie began picking off various men with her electric blasts that were farther away before they could ready their weapons.

Talon and his group arrived to find many of Dracon's men down and out as Burbank and

Hollywood flung several of them across the hallway, making the men drop the weapons they were carrying. Talon quickly fired an electric blast at the remaining men who were trying to get a clear shot at either one of the clones or Maggie. Both screamed with pain and then fell unconscious.

Glasses opened his eyes to see Talon's group arrive and quietly watched as both groups of pursuers capture the remaining members of his group. A few shots were fired, but they were in surprise more than intention and the bullets flew up into the ceiling of the hallway. Cursing to himself, Dracon's second in command slowly crawled toward the end of the hallway, hoping that while the others were distracted, he could get away. He gave off a heavy sigh of relief as he made it around the corner into the next hallway and got up.

"Now to get out of here," Glasses whispered to himself, "Boss isn't going to like this."

"Is this all of them?" Flariaty asked as both the gathered mutates and clones began gathering up the unconscious criminals.

"I think so," Talon grumbled as he took two of Dracon's thugs over his shoulder.

Matt looked around at the thugs that were being carried out and at the thugs still on the ground.

"Wasn't Glasses with them?" Matt asked.

Maggie then looked around, "I think he was. Fairly big guy with glasses?"

Matt and Flariaty nodded.

"Then he was," Maggie confirmed, "Tried to take shot at me, but fortunately missed."

"Where now?" Malibu asked.

"Blast he's gone," Talon growled.

"Let's worry about the guys we've captured first," Matt said to the aggravated mutate, "He probably won't go too far in order to see if we leave these weapons unguarded."

Talon sighed heavily, "You're right. We can look for Glasses later. You and Flariaty can deal with the guns right?"

"Yes," Flariaty nodded firmly, "We can deal with them, especially since we know that they belong to Dracon."

Talon nodded and began heading back towards the main entrance with the two unconscious thugs. Malibu, Hollywood, Burbank, and Claw carried the rest of the mobsters. Maggie meanwhile walked up to Matt and Flariaty as they began picking up the weapons that the mobsters had dropped in their attempts to escape.

"Do you need any help with those?" Maggie offered, "I can help."

"We'll probably need it," Matt shrugged, "They had four men carrying them and we're one short of their number. Just gather as many as you can and take them up to the main entrance. Flariaty and I will put them in evidence bags there."

Maggie nodded and began picking up the various pieces of dropped weaponry and began gathering them in her arms.

**Bronx**

Lexington helped clamber up on to the top of the roof of an old apartment building in the Bronx.

Caroline meanwhile stood at a different edge of building and looked down at the group of unconscious men that they had tied to a nearby lamp post by the street.

"Thanks," Candy smile at Lex once she had gotten onto the roof.

The pink webwing then looked at the group of unconscious thugs.

"And another evil bites the dust," Candy chuckled.

"Yup," Lex nodded, "Mafia guys too."

"That probably explains the suits," Caroline commented from her position, "I mean it's one of the few things that has amazed me since I've become a gargoyle is how your enemies dress. Most street thieves and low level gangs dress the closest to normal, although all of them try to hide their identity. The Quarrymen all wore matching uniforms to look like some neo-fascist

organization. And these guys were suits."

"Don't forget the Unseelie who were all into the medieval stuff," Candy pointed out.

"I think that's about all we should do for tonight," Lex sighed, "We've stopped a few low level crimes and those guys trying to get into the sewers…"

"I still want to know why they were sneaking into the sewers," Caroline commented, "Planting a bomb or something? And if so, where are their explosives? They only had handguns with them."

"We also didn't search them that closely," Lexington sighed, "That'll be for the police to do. They might have some explosives on them, somewhere. But again, all we found were these guys and some low level criminals. No sign of Thailog or Fang, or the Pack. We'd best get back to the

Eyrie and make our report."

The two females sighed and leaped from the roof to begin gliding back to the Eyrie Building.

**Castle Wyvern**

Goliath's group landed quietly to find that both Hudson's group and the Guatemalans had already returned.

"How did things go?" Hudson asked.

Goliath sighed heavily, "There was no sign of the Pack. We only stopped a few low level street crimes. Did you have similar luck, old friend?"

"A few members of Dracon's gang," Hudson shrugged, "They seemed to be complaining about us interrupting some sort of 'stash' hunt or something."

"Stash?" Elisa asked.

Hudson nodded, "Why do ye ask?"

"It's jargon for either drugs or a collection of weapons," Elisa answered.

"Should we return to site then, clan sister?" Desdemona asked, "Make sure this 'stash' is destroyed."

"It'd be easier to call Matt and get him on the case," Elisa answered, "It'd probably be easier for him to figure out where this stash is."

Elisa then departed for the interior of the castle to do what she had said. Goliath watched after her and then turned his head back to Hudson's patrol group and sighed heavily again.

"It is still amazing to me that we find all sorts of trouble when we're not looking for it," Goliath commented, "and find practically none when we are trying to find the cause of that trouble."

"We may be running into different causes of different troubles, amigo," Zafiro spoke up, "My clan also ran into a group of mobsters looking for a stash of some sort. They were trying to get underground for it."

"And they were probably from the same gang that you found?" Goliath asked to Hudson, Othello, and Desdemona.

"We can not be certain, brother," Othello said to Goliath, "But you are probably right."

"I'd better tell this to Elisa before she contacts Matt," Goliath rumbled as he began to walk after his mate.

**Labyrinth**

Flariaty sighed as she placed another of the captured pieces of weaponry in one of the plastic evidence bags. The rifles and similar weapons had to be placed in duffel bags because of their size, but the handguns, whether they were projectile or non-projectile, could fit in the larger evidence bags that were in her car. Several of the former mutate slaves had now appeared to watch Flariaty and Matt work.

"You'd best get the clones and ALL of the mutates to secluded spot," Flariaty suggested to Talon, who stood nearby, "Matt and I will need other officers to get these guys up to ground level, and I doubt we can explain all of you."

"I understand," Talon nodded, "What's going to be your story regarding all of this anyway?"

Flariaty glared at the black furred panther mutate.

"Just asking," Talon shrugged.

"That we were tailing some suspicious characters and followed them here," Flariaty answered, "Where we found them unconscious because of exposure to electrical wiring while carrying illegal weaponry. If they ask about calling for repair men, we'll lie and say we already did."

"Thanks," Talon answered.

"Don't thank me," Flariaty replied, "Thank Bluestone. He's the one that deserves the credit."

Matt worked quietly as he finished placing the remaining handguns in the plastic evidence bags. As he finished he looked up to see a mutate standing by a far hallway entrance, watching him intently. It looked almost like a lynx in terms of its build design of its ears, but Matt wasn't quite sure what feline species Madoc had used since the animal's fur was more of a reddish brown rather then the dull gray or faded black that most lynx were. After a few moments, Matt noticed that the mutate was motioning to him. Sighing, Matt decided to approach the mutate and figure out what it wanted.

"You do know that you will need to hide soon before the others get here," Matt pointed out, "We can't talk too long."

"I understand perfectly, Matthew," the mutate answered.

Matt gasped at the voice.

"Hacker?" Matt gasped, "You're supposed to be the guy who's a step ahead of everything. How did Madoc enslave you?"

"Even the best of us trip occasionally," Hacker chuckled, "And when I tripped, I ended up a bat-winged, tailless, Caracal."

"Caracal?" Matt asked.

"A lynx-like wildcat native to Africa and the Middle East and is also known as the Desert Lynx or African Lynx, while it is not actually related to the Lynx in any way," Hacker answered, "And before you ask, I know these things the Illuminati has made a point at educating many of its members in all manners of knowledge, including the scientific world."

Not wanting the science lecture, Matt only sighed.

"Fine, fine," Matt grumbled, "What do you want?"

Hacker reached out with his furry hand and dropped a folded up piece of paper into Matt's hand.

"On that piece of paper is a telephone number," Hacker instructed, "When you get home tonight, or should I say this morning since dawn is only a few hours away, I want you to call that phone number. Tell whoever answers that you found this…"

Hacker then opened his other hand revealing a crushed cyanide capsule.

"Cyanide?" Matt asked, "What's this?"

"I obviously can not go back to work, for either the FBI or the Illuminati," Hacker answered, "And I've been on fairly thin ice with the council ever since I failed in my attempt to kill you. If I were to report that Madoc had captured and enslaved me, they would have killed me anyway. If they believe I've committed suicide rather then give Madoc any aide, I might gain some semblance of respect."

"So what are you going to do after you fake your own death, if the Illuminati even believe it?" Matt asked.

"I doubt they will," Hacker answered, "But they will consider me dead. I might as well get used to life down here."

"So you're just going to live down here?" Matt asked, not believing a word, "Help the helpless."

"I don't see many other job options opening for mutates, Matthew," Hacker retorted back, "I can't do my duty like this, so it would be best for me to disappear. Just deliver my message."

Matt sighed heavily and was about to say more when he noticed that Hacker's pointed ears twitched for a moment.

"Someone's coming," Hacker commented, "I'll be seeing you, Matthew."

Matt looked to see Hacker disappear down the hallway he had come from. He sighed quietly, before hearing the sound of boots clunking against the brick. He turned to see several more uniformed officers, including Morgan come in.

"Man," Morgan commented looking at the unconscious criminals and at their surroundings, "You found all of them down here?"

"Yes," Flariaty answered flatly, "As well as the weapons they had with them, but Matt and I should be able to transport them. We need your help with the mobsters themselves."

"Right," another officer nodded, "What do you think we should do down here?"

"After getting the guns and crooks down to the station?" Matt questioned back, "Nothing. Flariaty and I looked it over, this place is abandoned."

"It was only by chance that we followed the crooks here in the first place," Flariaty added, "And they were probably only using it because the recent snowfall up above made it too difficult for them to move this stuff above ground."

"Homeless people could use this place as a shelter," Morgan commented, "Maybe we should leave someone down here to make sure that no one comes back."

"To guard an abandoned facility?" Matt asked, "It'd be a waste of officers, who could be better suited to finding criminals. We can't find any more here, and if they do decide to come back to this place, it may be months or more before someone returns."

"Alright," Morgan sighed, "Let's go people, we got work to do."

**Old Quarrymen Warehouse, Dracon's Base**

Dracon looked up to see Glasses stumble into his 'office' looking both dirty and exuasted. The mobster ignored his second in command's appearance, and motioned for him to take a seat.

"So, how did it go?" Dracon asked quietly.

"Not good, boss," Glasses wheezed out as he cleaned his glasses, "Those freaks were tougher then expected and they had cops with 'em. I barely got out, and had to sprint the whole way here because I heard more of them coming from outside the 'hiding spot'."

"Where are my guns?" Dracon asked with a bit more anger in his voice.

"The cops got 'em," Glasses answered, "And the best we could do is wound one of the creatures that was living down there."

"That was the best you could do?" Dracon asked.

Glasses cringed, but didn't back down, "Yes. Whatever they were, they're like them gargoyles that always pal with Maza. They're tougher then they look."

"Great," Dracon grumbled, "We have to be careful to keep everything hidden from the cops, and we can't keep it hidden from those flying freaks."

"We can avoid them," Glasses suggested.

"How?" Dracon growled, "They can fly and have the uncanny luck of being right where we need to be. We need to get rid of them, then we can profit the way we always did."

"We're going to take up the Quarrymen's cause, then, boss?" Glasses asked.

"No," Dracon answered, "I got nothing 'personal' against them, but they keep getting in my way, and since they are costing my organization money and men, they need to go."

Glasses slowly nodded.

"I want you to contact every family in New York," Dracon ordered, "Including what's left of Brode's men. Tell them I'm calling a 'hit' on any and all gargoyles brought here dead. I'll have to pay them out of my lawyer's retainer, but with them gone, the city will be ours again."

"I'll get on it, boss," Glasses nodded and got up.

Dracon slumped back into his chair as Glasses left, knowing full well that his power among New York's organized crime syndicates would take a serious fall from his calling of a 'hit' on all gargoyles.

**Castle Wyvern**

Brooklyn and Amy sat quietly on their pedestals, letting their feet dangle over the edge. The two simply made small talk as they watched out over New York's skyline.

"I can't believe how easy it was for practically everyone to see that we were in love," Brooklyn commented, "I mean, if I wanted to keep something hidden, I could."

Amy leaned over and hugged him, "We didn't exactly do anything to try and hide it."

Brooklyn only sighed back and allowed a short silence to go between them. After a few seconds, Amy broke the silence.

"Brooklyn," Amy said quietly, "You know I love you, right?"

Brooklyn paused, loving the words that she spoke. After a few seconds he nodded.

"Can I ask a question?" Amy asked.

"Yes?" Brooklyn replied, looking at the beaked female curiously.

"Would you want to marry me?" Amy asked, "I know we're young, and it doesn't have to be this instant, but do you think we'll be married some day?"

Brooklyn nodded again, "For gargoyles we're actually not very young. Broadway and Angela were both younger then we are now when they were mated. Why do you ask?"

"I don't know," Amy sighed, "Caroline's made the joke that since I encouraged her to marry Lawrence, she's going to encourage us to get married in return. I fell it's all going too fast, but at the same time I feel like I can't be without you."

"Are you trying to say you're ready?" Brooklyn asked, a goofy grin coming over his face.

"Are you?" Amy asked back.

Brooklyn looked up to see that Goliath and Elisa had arrived at their perches, both looking very close. He turned to see Caroline saying her 'good nights' to Lawrence. He then looked back at Amy and noticed how close the two of them had actually come.

"I think we are," Brooklyn answered, "I know I don't want to be apart from you. Ever."

"When will we do it then?" Amy asked, "Get married I mean?"

"Depends on whether you want a big or small wedding," Brooklyn answered, "All that would be required for a basic clan 'wedding' would be the leader, a few witnesses, and the 'mates to be'. That wouldn't be too hard, but to coordinate something larger take time."

"My folks will probably want something bigger," Amy answered and was about to continue when the sun rose, trapping both gargoyles in stone sleep.

**Tibet**

A particle beam blast flew over a man's head he ran through several large scientific labs as he tried escape his pursuers. As he frantically and tried to find an exit to the complex that he had worked in, when one hand caught him by the neck and from the side.

"Please, let me go!" the man screamed.

His attacker gave no answer and threw him through the glass walls of two nearby cloning tanks. The glass shattered, and the man was cut by various shards and had some pieces stuck in his flesh. He whimpered in pain as he saw two men in commando type uniforms stand in front of him, with dark grins on their faces. He was about to speak again when a new voice was heard.

"I'm afraid that I can not let you go," the voice said in an aristocratic tone, "because then your masters will learn what has happened hear."

"They probably already know," the man mumbled.

"From what I've read about that beloved organization, I wouldn't imagine that they didn't," the aristocratic voice replied, "but pictures from hidden cameras and a report from a living witness are very different things."

The man's eyes widened as a man, who was slightly taller and more muscular then the other two stepped into view. His relatively long black hair held back in a pony-tail. He was dressed in a more ornate version of the commando's uniforms.

"The Illuminati will stop you," the man tried to speak defiantly.

"I'm afraid not," the man smiled, "My plans are perfect and your council is lead by a ghost."

With that the man produced a pistol and aimed it at the lab worker.

"And by the way," the man continued, "Thank you for the lovely lab. We will grow a fine army."

The men then fired his weapon.

**The End…**


	22. Love or Lust

All characters appearing in Gargoyles and Gargoyles: The Goliath Chronicles are copyrighted to Buena Vista Television/The Walt Disney Company. I've taken the idea for the Unseelie Court from the TGS. No infringement of these copyrights is intended, and is not authorized by the copyright holder. All original characters are the property of SN.

Note: I'm disregarding the events of the "Goliath Chronicles", with the exception of "The Journey" because I do not wish to use the rest of the "Goliath Chronicles" as canon to my story. This story takes place one day after "Snake in the Grass".

Love or Lust?

By SN/TVfan

Email: Sam_Nary

**Castle Wyvern**

"You wish to what?" Mr. Axel asked curiously.

Brooklyn backed away nervously, afraid the man was going to attack him.

"Um, I wish to take Amy as my mate," Brooklyn said weakly, prepared to shield himself if Amy's father threw a punch.

"Not until she's eighteen," Mr. Axel answered, "Then she'll be an adult and what the two of you do in bed isn't my business."

"Huh?" Brooklyn asked, not quite sure what the man meant.

Mr. Axel rubbed his face. He was trying to be a responsible parent without trying to drive off the boyfriend. The brick red gargoyle had been overwhelmly nervous around him, after all.

"You can't have sex with my daughter until after she turns eighteen, then she is legally an adult and there isn't anything the law can do to stop you," Mr. Axel answered, "And I'm going to say that this is the strangest conversation I've ever had."

Brooklyn became even more nervous.

"Um, I'm not sure you're entirely understanding what I'm asking," Brooklyn replied.

"Isn't that what you normally do when you 'mate' with someone?" Mr. Axel asked.

Brooklyn didn't quite know how to answer that. He paused for a few moments trying to think of a way to explain what he meant.

"Well… uh… in theory, yes… but what I'm asking… its uh… more like I want to spend the rest of my life with her," Brooklyn stuttered, "Um… like you and your wife do."

Mr. Axel finally felt like they were getting somewhere. He looked over at the red beaked gargoyle that had asked him the question. Brooklyn seemed like a reasonable guy to him. From what Amy had told him and his wife, the gargoyle seemed to be like superman, so it was obvious to him, at least, that his daughter seemed to return Brooklyn's attention. He was glad that the two liked each other. The one thing that bugged him was that Brooklyn always seemed to be afraid of him. He tried his best to be friendly to the gargoyle, and Brooklyn continued to act as if he was going to try and fight him.

"You want to marry my daughter?" Mr. Axel asked, a slight smile beginning, "Is that what you're asking?"

"Yes," Brooklyn answered, "I've grown to love her incredibly."

Mr. Axel smiled widely, "Amy seems to hold the same opinion of you, or so I've heard. It was awfully noble of you to ask me permission."

"I just didn't want to do anything wrong, sir," Brooklyn replied.

"You haven't done anything wrong," Mr. Axel answered, "I'd still like you to wait until Amy turns eighteen before you marry her, but that shouldn't be a problem. There's just one more thing you can do before that."

"What's that?" Brooklyn asked, somewhat curiously.

"Stop calling me 'sir'," Mr. Axel laughed, "I'm not a knight, nor will I ever be. Since you want to be my 'son-in-law', you can call me Dad or Brian."

"Okay," Brooklyn nodded, and then finished slowly, "Brian. Thank your for your consent."

"No problem," Mr. Axel smiled back, "Have a good night."

With that, Mr. Axel departed to join his wife for the night. Brooklyn meanwhile nodded and turned and headed toward where he figured Lexington and Broadway were probably waiting for him.

Meanwhile, Candy, Caroline, and Amy were seated in a different sector of the castle.

"So he asked you?" Candy asked, obviously curious.

"Yes," Amy answered, looking a little embarrassed, "He's talking with my dad now. He'll probably want me to wait until I'm eighteen, but that won't be too bad. It's only a month away and then Brooklyn and I can get married."

"Be careful not to day dream the month away then," Caroline warned with a slight laugh.

Amy shook her head as she realized that she had been grinning in a somewhat goofy manner as she told her friends about her current situation with Brooklyn. She slowly looked down and let her smile fade.

"I won't," Amy answered carefully, "But Brooklyn's been so nice to me. I really love him."

"I know you do," Caroline laughed again, "And I think you too look good together and you both get along well. I'm happy for you both."

"Thanks," Amy sighed, "You don't have any problems with all this?"

"Me?" Caroline shrugged, "No. It's a little quick, but I have no problem with it. You and Brooklyn look good together."

"When are you thinking about holding the ceremony?" Candy asked.

"I'd assume sometime after my eighteenth birthday, but we haven't discussed much further than that we want to get married," Amy answered the pink web-wing.

"So, what's tonight's schedule?" Caroline asked, taking the subject away from Amy's relationship with the second in command.

"Well, right now we're waiting for Goliath to give out the patrol assignments," Candy answered, "Lex told me that he was going with Brooklyn and Broadway tonight."

"So I guess we'll be together tonight," Amy commented.

"Yeah, a regular 'girls night out', filled with exciting chases and the occasional fist fight," Caroline sighed shaking her head.

The other two gargoyles chuckled at Caroline's joke. It was then that Goliath arrived at their location. Elisa, Othello, and Desdemona were with him.

"Good evening," Goliath greeted the female trio politely.

"Good evening, Goliath," the three young females answered, "What's up?"

Goliath was quit for a few moments, as much of New York's modern uses of language had always caught him off guard.

"Only tonight's patrol schedule," Elisa answered for Goliath, "The three of you will be working together tonight?"

Caroline nodded, "Yes."

Goliath then nodded, "Very well, I want you three to take the west side of Manhattan. Keep an eye out for the Pack, but any criminal activity is to be stopped."

"Of course," Amy nodded, "We won't let you down."

Goliath nodded and left the three, in search of the next group that he would need to give a patrol route to. Caroline, Amy, and Candy watched them leave then got up to head out themselves.

**Maddox Technologies**

"I must protest this," Holly grumbled.

"May I ask why?" Thailog questioned from his end of the table with a very serious look on his face.

"You want to rule the world, I want power," Holly said counting the two items off on her talons, "Those are the goals you set when we started this. This does nothing to meet those goals."

"Maybe not now," Thailog sighed, "but if the others want females, it might be best to keep them happy. A happy soldier is an obedient soldier. Unless you'd prefer that I share you with the rest of them?"

Holly immediately looked disgusted.

"I thought so," Thailog smiled and then continued with his original thought, "Besides, I will require more if I am to take over the world or at least battle Goliath's clan. We can consider them to be new recruits."

"Fine," Holly sighed sounding fairly reluctant all the while, "But they can not simply go and grab someone off the street. It has to be someone who would willingly serve."

"Of course," Thailog nodded, "We will need all the 'help' we can get."

The room was silent for a few moments before Thailog spoke again.

"You will comply with my orders?" Thailog asked.

"Yes," Holly answered.

"You understand that my orders are to provide our current male 'clan' with females?" Thailog continued.

"Yes," Holly grumbled, "You can go give them the good news, I'll get my book ready."

"Excellent," Thailog smiled as he got up to leave the room, "Now that that has been cleared up I will continue with what must be done tonight."

Holly grumbled something silently as Thailog left, but shortly got up and headed to the room she used as a study and where the copy of the Grimorum, which Thailog and Fang had stolen from Demona, was sitting.

**Motel Room, Hoboken, New Jersey**

"Why have you asked me to meet you here?" a middle aged man with a heavy eastern European accent asked.

Glasses sat back in the small chair that he had sat in, while making the other man sit on the edge of the nearby bed.

"We're avoiding the police this way," Glasses answered with a slight shrug.

"I can understand the tactics in terms of avoiding the law," the east European answered, "Why are we having this meeting. Mr. Brode will not be 'fleeing' back to Prague when his time of incarceration is up."

Glasses nodded, "Mr. Dracon knows that, and we will be waiting for him, should Brode try anything when he is released."

The eastern European eyed the African-American mobster with a degree of suspicion.

"You're not planning on killing me, are you?" the eastern European questioned almost nervously.

"No," Glasses shook his head, "As per our agreement, I am unarmed. This meeting has nothing to do with what is likely to happen when your boss is released from prison. It's more to deal with something that has been a bigger thorn in Mr. Dracon's side then your boss."

"The great Tony Dracon is asking for a favor?" the eastern European asked, somewhat intrigued.

Glasses sighed, knowing that he would have to promise that Dracon would return the 'favor', but quickly agreed.

"Yes," Glasses sighed, "Mr. Dracon is asking for a favor. And it's certainly one that you would want to do."

"What's the favor?" the eastern European asked, becoming curious.

"Mr. Dracon is calling a hit every gargoyle that can be found in New York," Glasses answered, "He is willing to even pay a bounty on each gargoyle that is brought in."

"He wants the bodies?" the eastern European asked.

"To prove that their dead," Glasses answered, "Mr. Dracon does not want some hooligan claiming to have killed one, when in reality all he did was fire a gun in the air."

The eastern European nodded. It was common that the person who called the hit would expect some form of evidence that proved that the attempt was successful.

"Is there any limit on this hit or any specific ones you want dead?" the eastern European asked.

"No," Glasses answered, "Mr. Dracon wants every gargoyle in Manhattan dead."

"I see," the eastern European replied, "You do understand, that even with payment, Mr. Dracon will be obligated to perform a favor for Mr. Brode in return. No questions asked. And no payment to Mr. Dracon."

"Yes, I understand," Glasses said slowly, "But these gargoyles have given him more trouble then they're worth. Mr. Dracon wants them gone."

"Very well," the eastern European answered, "I'll call you when Mr. Brode has made his decision."

**Over Manhattan**

"So, you're gonna tie the knot, eh?" Broadway asked in a somewhat teasing voice. Brooklyn nodded as he, Broadway, and Lexington patrolled. They hadn't found any major incidents, other then the usual street criminal.

"Yeah," Brooklyn answered, "Amy and I have agreed that it's what we want to do."

"When are you going to have the ceremony?" Lexington asked curiously.

"Sometime after Amy's eighteenth birthday," Brooklyn sighed, "That's about as far as we've planned."

"Don't worry too much about it," Broadway commented from above the other two gargoyles, "Everything will be fine. You'll see. Angela hadn't planned all that much we decided to take each other as mates."

"I'm glad you're still the optimist among the three of us," Brooklyn answered sarcastically, "This whole thing has me nervous. There's Amy's family to consider. Our mating ceremonies aren't going to cut it for them."

"You can still work something out that can please them," Broadway offered, "Maybe something like Goliath and Elisa's ceremony."

"Maybe," Brooklyn sighed, "But I'm still going to be nervous for awhile. This is a big step after all."

"I don't mean to interrupt anything, but I think there's something we need to check out," Lex suddenly interrupted.

"What is it?" Brooklyn asked as he looked down at the male web-wing.

"I thought I saw something move on that rooftop over there," Lex answered, "We oughta check it out."

The three gargoyles then turned and dove down toward the rooftop where Lex had spotted the movement. There was no sign of anyone or anything as they began to look around.

"I don't think anyone's here," Broadway commented as he began walking toward a series of large metal air-conditioning units that were mounted on the roof.

Lex began to slowly follow the larger aquamarine male.

"I could have sworn I seen something move down here," Lex commented.

"Where on the roof did you see it?" Brooklyn asked, "If it was the Pack or Thailog, they could have leaped over the side and escaped."

"I know it was on this roof," Lex repeated his point.

Lex and Brooklyn rounded a corner of the air-conditioning units when they were suddenly met with Broadway flying backward at them at high speed. The three gargoyles skidded along the roof until the hit the edge of the roof. Before any of them had a chance to comment on whatever the attacking force was, twelve shadows appeared from behind the air-conditioning units that Broadway had moved toward earlier. They were lead by an African Wild Dog mutate. Each gargoyle looked nervous as the mutate gave them an evil smile as he and his followers advanced on them.

**Elsewhere**

Liz Wrench slowly walked down a dark portion of Central Park looking around every bush and tree, looking for any sign of movement. She had received a call from her 'current' boyfriend, although the term never really fit Darrel 'Buzz' Zipstien. They went out from time to time, but it was never anything serious. As far as she knew, 'Buzz' spent most of his time with one of the street gangs on the southern edge of Manhattan. She largely didn't care what he did with his friends so long as their activities didn't interrupt her life.

Now, she had received a call from him to meet him in Central Park, and she was out here looking for him. Although she hadn't had much of a night anyway. She had spent most of it so far watching television. Then as she moved under a small bridge that went over the path she was on, she heard the rustle of wind on wings and then a fairly heavy sounding 'thump'. Something had landed on the ground nearby. She turned around to see that there was no one there.

"Hello?" Liz called out, hoping it wasn't a gargoyle or cop or something, since she knew that Darrel had several bad run-ins with them and didn't want a fight to break out before she could figure out what it was that Darrel wanted.

"Is there anyone there?" Liz asked again, as she only heard silence after asking her first question.

"Yes, it's me," came Darrel's voice from behind several tall bushes that were next to the bridge.

Liz tried to get a look at him, but couldn't see through the bushes, and his form was hidden in the shadows anyway.

"Where are you?" Liz asked suspiciously, "Come out where I can see you. This better not be your gang's sick idea of a joke."

"It isn't," 'Darrel' answered slowly, "But I can't come out just yet. You'll just have to trust me."

"You better make this quick," Liz then lied, trying to make herself sound more important, "I've been rather busy."

"Something was good on television?" Darrel questioned, stifling a chuckle.

"How did…" Liz nearly blurted.

"It's a secret that if you listen, will hear," Darrel answered slowly.

"Fine," Liz groaned knowing that somehow he'd caught her ploy, "How's gang life?"

"Actually, I wouldn't know," Darrel answered, "We got beat up by this tan gargoyle and her lavender mate one night. I was apparently the last one they knocked out and when I woke up I was looking at a different gargoyle in an underground bunker. I had no idea what happened to the rest of the gang."

"Wait, you were face to face with another gargoyle?" Liz asked.

"Yes, one who's much better then the others that seem to be patrolling this city," Darrel answered, "He offered me a choice. He knew of my fight with the other two gargoyles and promised to give me the ability to be able to fight back. In exchange, I am to follow his orders."

"Sounds like you've been duped again," Liz snorted.

"I wasn't going live my life as a pick-pocket," Darrel answered, "Especially when I had so many better opportunities, but the gang couldn't deal with those gargoyles, so now I got an even better opportunity."

"Licking some gargoyle's boots no doubt," Liz answered.

"He doesn't wear boots," Darrel answered.

"Whatever," Liz sighed, "You're still his lackey."

"Maybe," Darrel answered, "But no gargoyle will be an easy match for me now."

"What? How?" Liz asked.

"Maybe I should just show you," Darrel sighed and stepped out from behind the bushes and into the moonlight where Liz could see him.

Liz gasped in shock and practically fell over as she watched what stepped out and stood not more than three feet in front of her.

**Maddox Technologies**

"You could go out and gain yourself your own female," Thailog commented as Fang slowly and obviously brought in the mail and the newspapers that arrived at the Maddox Technologies executive mail slots that were on the top floors that Thailog, his thugs, Fang, and Holly used.

"I don't want a gargoyle," Fang answered, "All I want is to do something besides sit around this building. There's got to be some fun that we can have."

"Certainly," Thailog chuckled, "But we still lack the numbers to deal directly with Goliath's clan right now, especially with Xanatos backing him."

"We could nab some of their patrol groups," Fang offered.

Thailog nodded, "An option, especially with the prison facilities you saw in the basement, but we'll let that wait for now. Goliath likely believes our truce during the Unseelie conflict still stands and won't do anything to stop our more minor moves and operations, so we should be safe, for now. I don't need a full fledged battle while we're still in the recruitment phase."

Fang sighed, knowing he couldn't win this fight.

"How goes the search for someone who could represent our interests to the world?" Thailog asked, "Maddox Technologies stocks have been dropping ever since we took over."

The black skinned gargoyle clone then gestured to the business section of the newspaper he was looking at before continuing.

"All the experts are pointing to the lack of an appearance by the CEO," Thailog continued, "And we both know I can't make an appearance."

"Holly could cast a spell that would make you appear human," Fang suggested.

"Those are unreliable," Thailog waved him off, "The spell could wear off. If we were to play the magic card, we would need something that would be more reliable."

"Good luck then," Fang sighed.

"Holly only needs to do the research to find that answer," Thailog replied, "I know I remember something that Demona told my previous incarnation. I'm just a little foggy on some of the details. I know that in the end she was able to take both human and gargoyle forms."

"Yeah, I saw that," Fang laughed as he remembered Demona's brief period of incarceration in the Labyrinth, "Strange, but I saw it."

"Yes, but until I can duplicate those measures while making sure that my life span is not cut in half, I will need a human to perform those tasks for me," Thailog smiled, "How goes the work in finding that human?"

"Not good," Fang sighed, "Perhaps we should have left Alex Sevarius human when we took over. He would do the job for us."

"He is a clone of the original Sevarius," Thailog answered, "From what I remember before my first death and from what you've told me about what happened before my 'resurrection', that no Sevarius is to be fully trusted. The Sevarius clone would surely find some way to betray us if he were human, but as a gargoyle, he would share in our downfall if he were to betray us."

"That must be why he's the only one of the ones you had transformed that is whining for a mate," Fang laughed.

Thailog laughed and then asked another question, "Have you had any luck in locating the Pack?"

"I haven't gone looking yet," Fang answered, "I assume that is my next mission?"

Thailog nodded, "If they won't fight for us that is fine. But, I can not allow them to attack my warehouses. They can attack anyone but me."

Fang nodded and then left the office.

**Rooftop**

"Where is Pendragon?" the African Wild Dog mutate demanded of Lexington, Broadway, and Brooklyn.

"Could we get the honor of knowing who you are before you are before you go randomly demanding people?" Brooklyn asked back, trying to sound confident.

The mutate then fired an electric blast at the three gargoyles, forcing them to dive away. When they landed they were now spread out and separated from the other two. The also looked on in shock as the other eleven mutates surrounded their positions while the lead mutate moved into a central position.

"You are no position to make demands of me, gargoyle," the African Wild Dog mutate growled, "And you can not glide away. Cooperate, and I might consider sparing you."

"'Consider'?" Lex growled back.

The lead mutate looked over at the olive green gargoyle and then nodded to the two mutates that were standing closest to him. The slowly walked up behind Lex, grabbed him by his shoulders and electrified their fists. Lex screamed with pain and then crumpled to the ground. The lead mutate gave a toothy grin and returned his attention to the other two gargoyles.

"Will you cooperate?" the African Wild Dog mutate asked.

Brooklyn looked around at the situation. Eleven mutates had surrounded Lex, Broadway, and himself, while a twelfth stood in the middle. They had his patrol team outnumbered, and none of them were close to the edge of the building, so they couldn't simply leap off and see how well these mutates had learned to glide on their own. They were beaten.

"Fine," Brooklyn sighed, "What do you want?"

"You will tell me where Arthur Pendragon is," the African Wild Dog asked.

"King Arthur?" Broadway asked from the background.

The mutate snarled in a fashion that indicated that he didn't like referring to 'Once and Future King' as 'King Arthur'.

"Yes," the mutate snarled angrily, "'King' Arthur. Where is he?"

"He's not here," Brooklyn answered, "He and his allies returned to London when you and the Unseelies were defeated."

The mutate fired an electric blast at Brooklyn and although Brooklyn dodged the attack, the mutate was able to get a powerful punch in that knocked the brick red gargoyle to the ground.

"Do not mention them in my presence," the mutate screamed, "They were treacherous and do not know the meaning of the term 'alliance'."

"You allied with them?" Broadway gasped, "We thought you were their slaves."

"That was the reality," the mutate answered, "The proclaimed alliance and enslaved us. But since they're dead and gone, I'm free. I'm going to do as much as I can with my freakish life as I can."

The mutate then began gesturing to the others around him.

"And since I have been robbed of the pleasure of killing Arthur," the mutate continued, "I will console myself with killing you."

All of the other mutates then lunged forward at the three gargoyles, while the lead mutate leaped out of the way, almost as if to watch the coming carnage.

**Central Park**

"Darrel?" Liz gasped at the sight of what came out of the bushes, "You're… you're a… you're a gargoyle!?"

Darrel nodded slowly as let Liz look him over. Her face soon became skeptical.

"Okay, nice joke," Liz answered, "Now what have you done with Darrel?"

"Liz, I am Darrel," Darrel answered, "I called you here."

"Prove it," Liz growled as she backed away, and snapped a tree branch off of a nearby tree. She quickly held the branch up as an improvised weapon.

"You have a tattoo shaped like a dolphin leaping into the air on your left…" Darrel began.

"OKAY!" Liz screamed, not wanting this gargoyle to continue describing things that she had on her body, "You're Darrel. Why the hell are you a gargoyle?"

"I told you before, I was given an opportunity to get even with always beat up the gang," Darrel answered.

"You became a gargoyle after you told me once that life would be easier without them?" Liz demanded, sounding angry.

"I was never a Quarryman," Darrel answered.

"There are many who agree with their ideology, but weren't members of the organization," Liz answered.

"That doesn't matter," Darrel cut her off before she could continue, "I'm just as strong as they are now and I can get my vengeance on them for beating me up for years."

"So why have you drug me out into Central Park to show me all this," Liz demanded, "Or thought I would want to see this."

"I need you," Darrel answered sounding slightly nervous.

"You need me to do what?" Liz asked back.

"No, you don't understand," Darrel answered again, "I need YOU."

"You drag me out here in the middle of the night because you want sex?!" Liz yelled angrily.

Darrel began gesturing with his hands indicating for her to keep in down.

"Keep the volume low!" Darrel exclaimed, "This area maybe somewhat quiet right now, but that doesn't mean there's a cop nearby who could hear us."

"Answer my question," Liz growled angrily, "Did you call me out here to have sex?"

"Not this instant," Darrel said defensively, while also stepping back.

"You better start explaining," Liz ordered, "Or I'm going home."

Darrel looked down nervously before beginning.

"Well, you see, I can get even with those other gargoyles like this," Darrel began, "But apparently gargoyles have very strong desires."

"You had strong 'desires' before this happened," Liz growled.

"It's gotten stronger since this happened," Darrel answered, "There are many nights when the only thing I can think of was having a female to myself."

"So you get yourself turned into that and all of a sudden you 'need' a woman?" Liz questioned.

"Yes," Darrel answered.

"I'm not having sex with you," Liz answered, "You can go find someone else."

"You couldn't have sex with me as you are now," Darrel replied, "at least not physically."

"What?" Liz asked, confused by what he had said.

"You would need to become a gargoyle in order for it to be physically possible for us to have sex," Darrel answered, "Our leader's commands. We are not combining our genes with those of humans."

"You want me to become a gargoyle!" Liz gasped in shock.

"Yes," Darrel replied simply.

"You can forget it," Liz answered, "I already told you that I'm not having sex with you while you're like that and I'm not giving up my humanity to hide in Central Park."

"You're not exactly living that great a life already," Darrel argued, knowing full well that he was beginning to sound desperate.

"And what do you have to offer?" Liz growled back, insulted, "Some sewer tunnel? Hiding? It doesn't sound any better."

"We don't live in a sewer," Darrel answered, leaving out that Thailog's last base was in a sewer, "Our leader is running Maddox Technologies."

"The company?" Liz asked.

Darrel nodded.

"But some man named Maddox was running that company," Liz pointed out, "Not a gargoyle."

"Our leader recently took over the job," Darrel informed her.

"I see," Liz said back.

"He is also willing to take on new employees," Darrel continued.

"I don't do well in companies," Liz interrupted.

"We aren't involved in 'company' work," Darrel answered, "He plans to deal with the other gargoyles and we help him. The company is a cover."

"I see," Liz nodded.

"Please reconsider," Darrel pleaded, "Join me."

"Why should I?" Liz demanded.

"Because I love you," Darrel said weakly, "You've covered for me and done many things to help."

"Then why didn't you fight your leaders when I tried to join your gang?" Liz asked, "You needed someone with brains and you sided with the idiot that thought I wasn't strong enough."

"I couldn't fight him," Darrel whimpered, "Then. I can now. You join me, and you could easily be his match."

"I don't want to be a gargoyle," Liz whimpered, sounding weak.

"Please," Darrel pleaded, "Join me, and we can show every thug that thought you were too weak that they were wrong."

Liz looked at him for a moment and studied his yellow and black features. Darrel looked very much like a wasp, except for his dragon-like wings, and the fact that he only had four limbs that could be used to carry his body overland, since wasps being insects have six legs. His appearance was shocking for her, to say the least.

The larger thing that she was thinking over was that he was asking her to become something similar. She hated the idea, but then, gargoyles were very strong creatures. From what she had seen on the news, even the smallest gargoyle was physically able to take a car by its bumper, and eventually get the car upside-down. Liz had always felt that she dealt with chauvinistic men that wouldn't let her join.

When she was five, a neighbor boy founded a fan club for a cartoon that she loved. He wouldn't let her join because the show was about 'soldiers' and 'girls don't like soldiers'. When she was ten, a boy picked on her at school to the point where a fight broke out. The boy was clearly the one who started the fight, a fight that she won, but received no punishment for, while she was suspended from school for a week. Throughout middle school during recess, the boys would form teams for basketball games, and Liz always wanted to play. The team captains always made sure she was either last picked or the odd 'man' out. After she dropped out of high school, Liz had been viewed by men as nothing more than someone to fool around with, and never as someone who could help. Now she was getting the chance to get even.

"I get to beat them up?" Liz asked.

Darrel nodded.

"Fine," Liz sighed, "I'll join you, Darrel."

"Buzz," Darrel answered, "My name is Buzz."

"Okay…" Liz sighed again, "Buzz."

**Elsewhere**

"Don't you have females of your own in this little gang of yours already?" the woman asked deliberately.

"We have one," Rage answered, "But she is our leaders and will not touch anyone but him in a sensual manner. So I, and the other males, need to find a female from a different location."

"And you chose me?" the woman smirked, "What luck."

"Excuse me?" Rage asked back.

"Nothing," the woman answered, "Tell me about this though before I make my decision. Gargoyle females, are they hot?"

Rage swallowed the lump that suddenly appeared in his throat. The only female gargoyle that he and the other males in Thailog's clan had met was Holly. Of course, all of them were attracted to her, but when they first tried, Holly growled and Butch received several deep scratches across his tail for trying harder. They had seen pictures of all of the gargoyles that were part of Goliath's clan, including their females. Rage and his comrades agreed that they were attractive too, but Thailog knew that at least three of the females were already mated, and possibly more.

"Most of the females that I have 'seen' were in photographs taken by the Unseelies to identify their enemies," Rage answered carefully, "But all of them had physically attractive bodies, yes."

Meanwhile, as Rage talked with the woman, three sets of eyes now spotted the conversation going on at ground level.

"Who's that?" Candy asked as she, Amy, and Caroline landed on the roof of the building behind the two below them.

"Looks like a prostitute," Caroline snorted, half growling.

"EWW!" Amy announced.

"It's not my fault that's what she looks like," Caroline answered, "No one should dress like that."

"I was actually thinking about the gargoyle," Candy pointed out, "He doesn't look like anyone from the Avalon clan."

"I don't know who he is," Amy said, "Maybe Demona's back. Transforming people?"

Caroline shook her head, "No, it can't be Demona. She didn't look too pleased with herself when she learned she transformed us and Trixie, remember?"

Amy and Candy thought back to the night they were all transformed, albeit by accident. Seeing the human form of Demona, known as Dominique Destine, and the somewhat angry scowl that was clearly visible when she learned that the three of them had once been human and that Trixie was once a dog was clear in their minds.

"It could be that red gargoyle that transformed her friend Wedrington though," Caroline commented.

"Or maybe there's another clan out there we don't know about," Candy shrugged, "From what Hudson told us of Goliath and Elisa's 'World Tour' they found clans in other parts of the world but they were rarely on the North American continent, and they never discovered a new clan anywhere."

"Well," Amy commented to the other two females, "Only one way to find out…"

The beaked female then leaped from the roof and opened her wings to parachute down.

"Hey you!" Amy called down, hoping to get the male gargoyle's attention as Caroline and Candy leaped after her.

**Rooftop**

Three of the mutates lunged at Broadway, as the gargoyle and his patrol team tried to react. Broadway managed to grab and flip two his attackers over him and dump them onto the roof, but the third managed to tackle the large gargoyle to ground. It electrified its fists and threw a series of wild punches that would have knocked Broadway off the roof if he had been standing up.

Fighting back the pain, Broadway managed to kick his opponent off him. The attempt sent the attacking mutate into a fourth that was coming up to help its comrade.

"We're gonna need help, Brooklyn," Broadway warned quickly as he dodged a series of electric blasts thrown at him by the mutates he had thrown earlier.

"I know," Brooklyn muttered, as he threw an uppercut at one mutate that had tried to clobber him quickly, "And if anyone can get the time to get out a communicator and call for help, I would be greatly appreciate it."

Lex meanwhile was busy dodging multiple electric blasts and a few punches. The olive green web-winged gargoyle attracted the fewest attackers, but each of them were bigger than he was and weren't that bad at aiming their electric blasts, and it was only his nimbleness that allowed him to escape. He quickly scrambled on all fours amongst the air-conditioning units again in an attempt to get his attackers spread out where he might be able to get them in a one on one match up.

It failed. All three of his pursuers charged after him and seemed to keep him in clear sight. All three fired a series of electric blasts at him, which pinned him against one of the air-conditioning units. The mutates laughed evilly as they approached the cornered gargoyle.

Lex leaped forward and landed one blow on the closest mutate, and used his back to propel himself up onto the top of one of the air-conditioning units. He quickly pulled out his communicator from his belt pouch. He ran back toward the far edge as he did so.

"This is Lexington out there to anyone still on patrol," Lex screamed into it, "Anybody out there?"

There was relative quiet for a moment, as the pursuing three mutates came running, firing electric blasts as they went. Finally a voice came through that Lex could hear.

"This is Hudson, lad, what be yer problem?" came Hudson's voice.

"About all the twelve mutates that escaped after the battle with the Unseelie," Lex answered as he dove to avoid being knocked back by one of his pursuers, "Do you need us to tell you where we are exactly or would our general patrol area do?"

"Judgin' by the sounds I can hear over the radio, I don't think finding ye will be that hard," Hudson answered through the radio, "I have the Avalon males with me. We'll be there as soon as we can."

Lex muttered a quick thanks and put his communicator away. As he did so, he found himself at the building's edge.

"Let's see how well you can glide!" Lex challenged and leaped off the edge, knowing that he could easily out maneuver them.

Brooklyn dodged another electric blast as the various mutates that were attacking him kept coming. He had managed to knock one out, but with more of them coming, it wasn't a victory he could celebrate. Unlike the mutates that went after Lex, the ones fighting Brooklyn also seemed to have the sense to keep him focused in one specific area. They kept the brick red male surrounded. He charged one quickly, and after knocking him over, threw the mutate at one of the others that were attacking him. It didn't help him much as the other mutates quickly positioned themselves to keep him surrounded.

Brooklyn then spotted the mutate's leader lurking by the far roof edge, even as the mutates around him began firing electric blasts at him again.

"I gotta figure out who he is," Brooklyn thought to himself.

Brooklyn then quickly dodged two more electric blasts and then charged forward. He dodged several electric blasts along the way before he was able to grab one of the mutates and slam his head into the side of the air-conditioning unit, knocking the mutate out. Then before the other mutates could attack, Brooklyn climbed up onto the top of the air-conditioning unit and jumped toward where the lead mutate was. He came down close to where the lead mutate was standing and quickly knocked the African Wild Dog mutate down with a powerful punch to his head.

"Who are you?" Brooklyn growled, "Why are you doing this?"

"I'm doing this because my soldiers need their training," the African Wild Dog mutate growled, throwing an electric blast that knocked Brooklyn back, "As for my name, I am Lucius Severus. Future Caesar of the Terran Empire."

"Terran?" Brooklyn asked, quickly deducing that this Lucius was another being out for world conquest.

"Latin for Earth," Lucius answered.

"Fine," Brooklyn muttered.

The first of the of the mutates that had earlier been battling Brooklyn began to arrive and surrounded Brooklyn once more. Lucius stood back to watch. Two of the mutates fired their electric blasts at Brooklyn in an attempt to deal with him quickly. The brick red gargoyle successfully dodged the attacks and was surprised to see both of the mutates that had attack fall to the roof. Apparently when Brooklyn dodged their electric blasts, the blasts passed each other in midair and hit the other mutate.

"Hopefully I can get some more luck like this," Brooklyn muttered to himself as the remaining mutates tried physical attacks.

Broadway dodged under another mutate's attack and punched his attacker in the side, knocking him to the ground. The other remaining mutate that was facing him that was conscious then hit him with an electric blast, forcing him to a knee. The mutate couldn't seem to stop laughing.

"Go laugh at something else!" came Lex's voice from behind him.

Broadway turned his head to see Lex tackle the mutate from behind.

"It's not like I'm ungrateful or anything," Broadway began, "But weren't there three of them chasing you?"

"There were," Lex grinned, "But gliding is still not their strong point. I just dove down toward the next building's roof and pulled up at the last minute. They crashed into the roof and knocked themselves out."

"Any way that works," Broadway smiled and glanced up to see that Hudson, Ian, and Ethan approaching from above, "And reinforcements have arrived!"

The mutates saw this and quickly broke off their respective fights.

"Come on," one yelled, "Let's get out of here."

They fled, gathering those that had been knocked out and glided off, albeit, not well. Brooklyn, Broadway, and Lex regrouped in the center of the roof they were on to let Hudson's group landed.

"It appears you didn't need our help," Ethan commented as he landed.

"They had us on the ropes," Brooklyn answered, "They simply decided to run because they didn't outnumber their opponents four to one. It was good that you showed up."

"What happened here?" Hudson asked as he looked to see that Brooklyn, Broadway, and Lexington were all sporting some bruises and minor electrical burns.

"Do you remember the twelve mutates that escaped from castle after Madoc was killed?" Brooklyn asked, and waited for his elder to nod, "Well, apparently their lead by some nut named Lucius Severus. Like most nuts we've faced, he's out for world conquest, but his focus is on King Arthur. He attacked us trying to find out where Arthur is."

"He's gone back to England with Macbeth," Hudson replied.

"That's what we told him," Broadway grunted, "He then decided kill us for the fun of it."

"Should we go after them?" Ian asked looking at both Hudson and Brooklyn, "Prevent them from giving Arthur trouble?"

"That might work, if they weren't already gone," Lex answered as he looked over the far edge, seeing that event the three mutates that he had tricked into crashing into the roof of the nearby building weren't there, "They got away."

"I don't think they'll get far," Brooklyn commented, "They can't glide to England in day or night and the only way they could get there by gliding would be a rather long route. They'd either have to go through Canada and Greenland and go over the North Pole or go across the Bering Strait."

"Both ways would take awhile," Broadway agreed.

"And cold," Lex added.

"We should get back," Brooklyn said, "There's nothing more we can do tonight and Goliath will need to know."

The group nodded and slowly leapt off the roof to begin gliding back to Eyrie Building. Meanwhile a few blocks away, on a building that was taller then the one on which the fight took place, Lucius watched as the gargoyles left the battle site. The mutates that had been knocked unconscious lay on the roof behind him with the others.

"Why did you run?" Lucius growled.

"That little green one out maneuvered three of us," one answered, "The red one knocked out two more, the bluish-green one took out another two, and two knocked themselves out firing on the red one. Plus they had reinforcements coming. We were in no position to fight all them."

"Plus you said the primary objective was getting even with Arthur," another added, "Why spend time fighting here with these gargoyles if a man across the ocean is the target?"

Lucius thought for a moment and then sighed.

"Perhaps," Lucius sighed, "But Arthur is not alone. He has gargoyles, a sorcerer, and an immortal human to help him. We all need training to get used to these bodies."

The other mutates were then quiet as Lucius continued to watch the gargoyles glide back toward their castle, lost in thought.

**Elsewhere**

Rage and the woman he had approached watched the three female gargoyles land behind them. The woman looked somewhat curious, while Rage was somewhat surprised that he had been found.

"Who are you?" the yellow beaked female that led the group down asked.

"Uh… Rage," Rage answered, not really knowing what to do.

And he truly didn't. Thailog had given him orders not to fight with any of Goliath's clan, but gave no instructions on what to do if he had run into them.

"Sounds very aggressive," the blue one in the back commented.

"I've always had a bad temper," Rage shrugged, not trying to sound offensive.

"Say," a pink colored gargoyle that had a thick layer of skin growing between each arm and each leg like a flying squirrel, "Where's the crook?"

"What crook?" Rage asked, confused.

"The crook that was bothering this woman," the blue one pointed out.

"No one was bothering me," the woman answered, "Rage contacted me himself. I don't suppose you'd be willing to give us your names?"

The three females blinked for a moment and then shrugged.

"Amy," the yellow one stated.

"Caroline," the blue one said shortly after that.

"Candy," the pink one finished.

"Very interesting," the woman answered, "Anyway, Rage here contacted me on his own. No one was bothering me."

"He didn't rescue you from someone?" Caroline asked.

"No," the woman answered.

"So why did he contact you?" Amy asked, "Are you two friends?"

The woman turned her head to Rage, who was looking excessively nervous. They had only met a little while ago, and she knew that Rage wouldn't want to reveal the real reason why he was meeting with the woman.

"Yes, we're friends," Rage answered nervously, "And we were having a private conversation."

The woman watched as each of the three females looked at the other and then at her directly.

"May I ask a question before we let you finish your conversation?" Caroline then asked.

"One question," Rage said.

Caroline nodded, "You'll have to forgive me if this sounds weird to you, but were you human at one point? Or did you hatch a gargoyle?"

"That is weird," Rage barely managed to chuckle, "Of course I hatched a gargoyle. Now will you please leave?"

"Do you have a clan?" Amy immediately asked.

Rage managed to stifle a growl at the situation. These females were interrupting his attempt to gain a mate, and they wouldn't leave. He couldn't disobey Thailog's orders and attack them, but if they didn't leave, he wouldn't have much of a choice.

"No, I don't have a clan," Rage lied, "And before anyone says 'we have a clan you could join' I'm also going to say that I do not WANT to join a clan. I WANT to be left alone. Will you LEAVE now?"

"Uh… okay," Amy sighed, "Have a good night,"

Rage then watched in silence as the three females went to the nearby wall and climbed up to the roof before gliding away. He did not say another word until they were too far away to hear him.

"Finally," Rage mumbled as the three females disappeared over the horizon of skyscrapers.

"You know you lied to them, right?" the woman asked from behind him.

"Yes, but my leader doesn't want an all out fight with them, yet," Rage answered, "If I told them the truth, it would at least make them view me and the others as the enemy rather than as some lost gargoyle."

"I'm not complaining," the woman replied, "In fact they helped your cause. They were all hot."

"You're willing?" Rage asked.

"More than willing," the woman responded, "If you're as good as you claim."

"We'd better get going," Rage then said quickly, "I don't want another group of Goliath's clan to come by and ask questions."

Caroline, Amy, and Candy meanwhile continued gliding back toward the castle. Like most of the other patrol teams they hadn't found anything more serious than a mugger or two, but the scene they had just left weighed heavily on their minds.

"Man that male was rude," Caroline growled slightly, "We try to figure out what's going on and he just screams at us."

"We did apparently interrupt his night," Candy pointed out.

"Yeah, but I don't think he and that girl were friends," Amy shuddered, "I think both of them had something they wanted to hide."

"The woman couldn't hide much with what she was wearing," Caroline snorted.

"Okay, that's the last I want to hear about that," Candy answered, "That's gross."

"Should we tell Goliath about this?" Amy asked.

"That there's some gargoyle out there that is probably more than he appears to be?" Caroline answered, "Of course we tell him. What if he's another Thailog?"

"Right," Amy and Candy nodded in agreement.

**Dracon's Hideout**

"Well, I've finished contacting everyone," Glasses sighed as he made his report to Dracon, who sat nervously behind a desk.

"What did they say?" Dracon asked back.

"Nearly everyone is willing to accept the hit call," Glasses answered, "None have stated what the return favor will be yet."

"Nearly everyone?" Dracon asked.

"Brode's gang has said they will wait until they can converse with Brode on the subject," Glasses answered, "Although I think they will agree to take you up on the hit."

"Now all we have to do is wait for them to bring me the bodies," Dracon gave a half smile.

"True, but we'll also owe all of them a favor," Glasses warned, "And you know that they will be favors that weaken our position."

"That's how the business works," Dracon sighed, "And the gargoyles have made it too hard for us to run business. We need to get rid of 'em by any and all means. I'll take my chances against the other gangs when the gargoyles are gone."

Glasses nodded, "I'll make sure the boys are ready when the time comes."

"Good," Dracon nodded, "And I want OUR best hit men on this job too."

Glasses looked up after his boss had finished speaking.

"Thought of it while you were out," Dracon smiled, "It'll be a free for all. The other gangs will take their shots at the gargoyles. Our best will take their shots at the gargoyles, and if our guys take down a plurality of the gargoyles, then the other gangs can't demand that big of a favor. They know we aren't going to do a big favor for someone who brings in one gargoyle body over someone who brings in multiple bodies."

Glasses chuckled and nodded in agreement.

**Maddox Technologies**

Liz looked around the offices that Buzz led her through after they had landed on the roof of the Maddox Technologies building. Many were extremely well decorated.

"Well, I'll say this," Liz commented, "Your boss chose a nice place."

"That I did," came Thailog's voice as he and Holly stepped out into the hallway that Buzz and Liz were standing in.

Liz gulped nervously at the sight of the other two gargoyles, neither of which looked like Buzz in any way.

"This is the female you've chosen?" Thailog asked Buzz directly.

"We've chosen each other," Buzz answered.

"I see," Thailog answered, "Well, you are the first one to return, so your choice will be transformed first. I trust she will cooperate?"

"I'm here to show all the chauvinists out there that I am good enough," Liz answered, "I'll do anything to prove that."

Thailog smiled at the woman's answer, even though he was expecting Buzz to answer him. He nodded and turned to Holly.

"Very well," Thailog said simply, "Miss Holly, you may proceed."

The blood red female nodded and opened a large leather covered book that she held in her hand and approached Liz.

"This will hurt at first," Holly warned and then began chanting in Latin.

Liz then became even more nervous as Buzz stepped away from both her and Holly, and the book that the red female was holding began to glow with a green light. Liz began to back away when the light that enveloped the book shot up to jeweled necklace that hung around Holly's neck and then shot to her outstretched hand and then flew through the air to wrap itself around Liz.

Liz screamed with pain even as the green glow faded into her skin. She looked down at herself to see what was happening to her and saw that her skin was slowly changing colors, shifting from a peach-like color to a faded light blue color. She continued to scream through the pain as she watched her pinky and ring fingers slowly, and painfully, merge together. Despite knowing what was happening and what she had earlier agreed to, Liz then watched in horror as her now eight fingers sharpened into talons.

A sharp ripping sound made her look farther down to see that three large toes, tipped with sharp talons had ripped through the front of her shoes. Liz also felt something pressing against the heel of her shoe. She could also tell that she was beginning to get slightly taller as she felt the arches of her feet lengthen.

Liz's eyes squeezed shut as the level of pain increased. A sharp heel spur final destroyed what was left of her shoes, and she felt her jeans become somewhat tight as the muscles in her legs became larger and stronger. She also felt intense pressure at the end of her spine, her back, and on the top of her head. She brought her hands up to her head, as it felt like it was going to explode, and through her pain failed to notice that her voice was changing. He screams were beginning to sound less and less human, more like a roar.

Suddenly it all ended, almost as quickly as it began. She heard a sharp crack on her skull and the pain in her head stopped. She heard a loud ripping sound as something grew out of her back and out of the base of her spine. Almost in relief that the pain was over, Liz clenched her fists, stepped forward, and with blazing red eyes, roared.

Holly shut the book she was holding as she watched the end of Liz's transformation. Buzz just stared at the new gargoyle.

"You might want to let her adjust before you decide to make a 'night' of it," Holly warned the wasp-like gargoyle, "Oh, and Thailog has a mirror set up in our sleeping room, should you wish to examine yourself."

Holly then turned and disappeared down a different hallway.

"Sleeping room?" Liz asked absent mindedly.

"Gargoyles sleep away the day incased in stone," Buzz answered from behind her, "We stay in one room so that we are easily defended."

"Who keeps us safe?" Liz asked.

She was nervous about the situation. Stone could be broken. She had seen several small statues broken by vandals. She occasionally managed to participate from time to time when she could sneak in with them. The last thing she wanted was to be smashed while she was… encased in stone.

"Thailog has jury rigged an electronic shield that protects us from all attackers," Buzz answered, while placing a hand on her shoulder, "A mutate called Fang guards the room to make sure no one gets the chance to jury rig the code to the shield."

"You trust him?" Liz asked.

"Yes," Buzz answered, "Thailog pays him enough and has promised him some power when everything is over."

Liz sighed, obviously not liking the situation, "Well, let's go see what I've become."

She then slowly and tentatively took steps on her new feet and followed Buzz to the 'sleeping' room. She found it to be a moderately sized circular room that had a single door and a keypad next to the door. On the far side of the room she saw the mirror that was set up and she slowly walked toward it.

What she saw was an interesting change from what she remembered her refection looking like. A moderate brow-ridge had formed over her eyes and had grown two horns from the top of her head. They didn't look like the horns that Buzz had or that Holly had, they in fact reminded her of toy insect antennae that could be bought in any store. Each horn was built around a single thin shaft that grew out at a forty-five degree angle from the top of her head, and each horn ended not in a point, but in a round bulb that had a diameter that was twice that of the shaft. She also noticed that her ears had become fan shaped.

She removed the denim jacket that she almost always wore, as it now felt too constrictive on her shoulders and arms. She smiled as she saw that her muscles there were visibly larger and stronger. She then looked into the mirror to examine what she had felt earlier grown out of her back. It was a set of wings, and an interesting set of wings at that. The wings were identical in style and shape to those of a butterfly, she even had two sets of wings. On the upper set, a single curved bone, covered in skin had grown out to provide support for the rest of the wing below it. The lower set had no such support structure and apparently relied on the fact that they overlapped the upper set of wings. She quickly found that she could flap her wings back and forth, but also found that she couldn't cape her wings in the same manner that the large black male that Buzz had described as Thailog had done.

Looking further down, she saw the tail that she had grown. Strangely, it resembled a butterfly's abdomen. She also saw that her entire body was colored the same faded light blue tone that she had seen her hands change to. Only her wings were different. Except for the skin that covered the bone that provided support for her wings, her wings were colored a bright red-violet color.

"I look like a bug," Liz snorted out loud.

"You still look pretty," Buzz commented and then laughed, "You're a good looking bug."

She turned, as if to scold him, but remembered that he wasn't that much different, while she resembled a butterfly, he resembled a wasp.

"Thanks, I guess," Liz muttered as they stood alone together in the room.

**Castle Wyvern**

Goliath sighed heavily as both Brooklyn's patrol team and Caroline's patrol team gave their reports about how the patrols went. His group had only just returned after finding nothing more dangerous then a few minor crooks and had now only learned of what could be potentially bigger problems.

"This Lucius could cause problems," Goliath rumbled to Brooklyn first, "We will have to have teams patrol the various airports in the New York area. He is more likely to try and stow away on one of them then he is to try some trek around the world."

"Should we at least warn Arthur that he's still loose?" Brooklyn asked.

Goliath nodded, "Lexington can do that."

Goliath then turned to Caroline, who was standing and waiting patiently.

"And I believe your suspicions were correct," Goliath said calmly, "He had to have been human at one point and that he has to have a clan. I also agree that he had alternative reasons for being with the woman you encountered."

"Any ideas as to who he was with?" Brooklyn asked from the other side.

"I'd suspect it would be Thailog," Goliath rumbled, "If he had someone transform Wedrington, it's not impossible that he had someone transformed to aide him."

"What should we do?" Caroline asked.

"We can't do anything," Goliath sighed, "If the woman was with him willingly, then he has technically done nothing wrong and if he was transformed willingly, Thailog has done nothing to upset our truce. We can monitor his actions if we can find him, but has not been a 'serious' threat at this time."

"We'll stop him when he does do something to break the truce," Brooklyn encouraged, "Don't worry."

Goliath smiled, "I don't intend to. Enjoy the rest of your night."

They all nodded. Broadway, Lex, Candy, and Caroline then departed in their own directions. Only Brooklyn and Amy remained. The two beaked gargoyles looked at each other before addressing Goliath again.

"Um, Goliath, if you could spare a moment…" Brooklyn began.

"What is it, Brooklyn?" Goliath asked, sounding curious.

"Well you see, I know you told Lex and me that we weren't to chase Amy, Candy, and Caroline the way we chased Angela when they joined the clan," Brooklyn began, "But I've grown to love Amy greatly."

"I have seen that," Goliath smiled, "I have rarely seen either of you apart."

"Yes," Amy nodded, "What Brooklyn is trying to ask is you would be willing to marry us after I turn eighteen."

Goliath raised a brow-ridge in question.

"Her father told me that the law won't recognize her as an adult until she turns eighteen," Brooklyn explained, "He wants us to wait until then to have the ceremony, but Amy is right, that's what I'm trying to ask."

Goliath then smiled again, "I see. I would be more than happy to perform your mating ceremony, my Second, Ms. Amy. Please let me know what you've planned when you're ready."

"Right, Goliath," Brooklyn nodded.

**Illuminati Headquarters**

"We must send a team to investigate," Three growled from his seat in the Illuminati Council chambers.

"We don't know what happened," Five agreed, "We must investigate."

"Agreed," One nodded, "What we saw on those cameras were quite disturbing. A team will be sent as soon as possible."

"What makes this whole thing worse is that we haven't had any contact from the base since we discovered the images from the security cameras," Six said in a frustrated voice.

"Do you think the supermen have betrayed us?" Three asked.

"I don't think so," Six sighed, "But we have no idea what happened there. They might have. what's why we need to investigate the situation."

"We've already agreed to send a team to the Tibet base," One pointed out, "We just need to send a team from the nearest base."

Four pressed a button that was near his spot at the table. A holographic image of the Earth appeared above the center of the table. A small red dot appeared on the planet's surface.

"The closet operational base with which we could send an investigation team is in Nepal," Four answered, "And there are various agents in many parts of Tibet as well."

"Inform the Nepal base that an investigation team is to head up to the Tibet base," One ordered, "We are going to find out exactly what happened up there. I doubt we've been betrayed, but the circumstances there are far too bizarre to ignore."

**The End…**


	23. Hunting

All characters appearing in Gargoyles and Gargoyles: The Goliath Chronicles are copyrighted to Buena Vista Television/The Walt Disney Company. I've taken the idea for the Unseelie Court from the TGS. No infringement of these copyrights is intended, and is not authorized by the copyright holder. All original characters are the property of SN.

Note: I'm disregarding the events of the "Goliath Chronicles", with the exception of "The Journey" because I do not wish to use the rest of the "Goliath Chronicles" as canon to my story. This story takes place one week after "Love or Lust?".

Hunting

By SN/TVfan

Email: Sam_Nary

**Castle Wyvern**

"There," Candy commented as she finished typing out a sentence on the computer that the clan had to use, although most of the time it was Lexington who used it.

"Is that all you're going to type for tonight?" Lex asked from beside her.

"It's all I can write for tonight," Candy sighed as she leaned back and stretched, "Besides there isn't that much left that I need to put in. All that's left that I need to research is everything that relates to the creation of little baby gargoyles."

Lex watched the pink web-wing explain her reasoning silently.

"Which we haven't experienced, yet, so I don't have that information ready," Candy continued, "And I'm not going to go ask Goliath, Othello, or Desdemona how they had their kids. That would be embarrassing."

"I guess it would," Lex agreed, "So what are you wanting to do for the rest of the night?"

"I don't know," Candy answered, "I can't stare at any sort of screen for a while, so movies and TV are out. We could play a board game or something."

"Whatever you want to do," Lex answered.

In another section of the castle, Goliath sat deep in thought, looking over the city as he did so. So intense where his thoughts that he didn't notice the sound of footsteps coming up behind him.

"What are you thinking about, Big Guy?" came Elisa's voice from behind him.

Goliath jumped slightly when he heard Elisa's voice and quickly turned to face his mate. He sighed shortly afterward.

"Caroline's report that Thailog and the witch that transformed Demona's friend Wedrington are deliberately transforming more people is frustrating me," Goliath sighed, "He intends to fight us, Elisa. I'm certain of that."

"I know," Elisa sighed back, "We've even seen a few of the other members of Thailog's gang, but don't let that make you think he can win."

"That is what concerns me, Elisa," Goliath rumbled back, "We're unsure as to where his base is. As far as we know its underground somewhere, but we don't know the exact location is."

Goliath then clenched one fist tightly, "And on top of this, if he is transforming humans to serve him, these transformations have to be voluntary."

"They wanted to be gargoyles?" Elisa asked.

"That has to be it," Goliath nodded, "Would you have served the Mage when he transformed you, since he did that against your will?"

The tan female nodded, seeing Goliath's point. If these people were transformed against their will, they wouldn't have stayed with the people that transformed them. She didn't follow the Mage after her transformation. Wedrington didn't follow Thailog after his. These people had to be transformed willingly.

"Because these people wanted to be gargoyles, Thailog has done nothing that warrants us hunting him down," Goliath finished.

"He's done plenty of things like that before," Elisa pointed out.

"True," Goliath sighed, "But he asked for a truce during the war against the Unseelies. He needs to break that truce before I can do anything."

"As Brooklyn told you the night Caroline made the report," Elisa said, while placing a hand on Goliath's shoulder, "We'll be ready for him. We haven't lost before."

"We haven't truly won, either," Goliath commented sounding nervous.

**Maddox Technologies**

Thailog, Holly, and Fang sat quietly as a conference table inside the building. The black skinned clone shuffled a few papers before bringing the meeting to order.

"I guess I should first say that I'm glad you all were able to come," Thailog chuckled and opened a folder that he had brought with him, "I will first say that company management is going along well as Maddox Technologies is beginning to recover from the serious losses it suffered with the untimely departure of Lord Madoc. On that front, I would like to know what progress has been made on securing a human representative to be the face of the company."

It was Fang who answered.

"Tough," the cougar mutate grumbled, "When the Unseelies started this business, they obviously only wanted people they could control when they hired humans to prove them with cover that they needed. As a result I haven't seen anyone within the company that would be willing to work as 'face' for the company."

Thailog sighed heavily.

"And on top of this, I can't go and spy on other companies for obvious reasons," Fang added, "Although I'd say that the robotics division has come up with some ideas that might work, and you can always ask your little friend here for some 'magical' help."

"What are you getting at, fur-ball?" Holly growled, not liking the fact that she had been called 'little'.

"You could use your magic to give the company a 'face'," Fang answered.

"Enslaving someone is a little beyond me at the moment," Holly replied, "And from what I've studied, mortal spells that are designed to enslave someone would generally make it obvious to anyone that person comes across that he is not in control of his own faculties."

"Fang is actually suggesting something more along the lines of transformation," Thailog interrupted, before the two came to blows, "That however, can only be accomplished by a fey, which we do not have access to..."

"You've had me turning people into gargoyles and you want me to turn you into a human?" Holly asked.

Thailog quickly shook his head, "No, not entirely. It would be something like what happened to my former mate before I met her. She was able to become human during the day, but would retain her true form at night."

"I can see why a fey would be needed for the spell," Holly commented, "That sounds a little too complex for me."

"I'm not particularly looking into it," Thailog nodded, "My former mate was immortal and I am not. If I were to accept such 'gift' my lifespan would be cut in half. What intrigues me though, is this idea from the robotics division."

"I've been taking some calls over the past couple of days," Fang explained, "Apparently they think they are making progress in developing a sort of artificial intelligence program."

"Xanatos has already developed such technology with his Coyote robots," Thailog pointed out.

"Duplicated then," Fang corrected.

Thailog nodded, "I don't suppose we could order one ourselves?"

"It's possible," Fang agreed, "You can call it a test model."

"Very well," Thailog smiled, "Fang, tomorrow, when business opens, I want you to order a prototype made with good business knowledge and absolute loyalty to me."

Fang nodded while Thailog turned his attention to Holly.

"And how are the others fairing?" Thailog asked.

"The males are giving their females gliding lessons, when they're not enjoying each other's company," Holly answered, "Sevarius has remained in his lab has been working on some of your other projects."

"Have they obeyed my orders as to dealing with Goliath's clan should they run into one of their patrol teams?" Thailog asked.

"No one has run into any of Goliath's clan since Rage and Thorn were caught together by the three younger females in Goliath's clan," Holly answered, "So we've had no problems on that front."

"Good," Thailog nodded, "We will be advancing our plans soon. We have goals to accomplish and defeating Goliath is chief among them."

Both Holly and Fang nodded.

**Elsewhere in Manhattan**

"You do understand why we've called you here, Yuri?" the same man who had been contacted by Glasses earlier asked a fairly large man sitting at the table opposite him.

Yuri looked back at the man and rubbed his mustache and beard. After a few minutes Yuri nodded. He then spoke to the man with a heavy Russian accent.

"Yes," Yuri answered, "You are participating in a great hunting contest against creatures no hunter has ever hunted before. So you call on expert sniper to give Mr. Brode an advantage."

Brode's second in command nodded, "That is correct, Yuri."

"You also realize that I prefer to paid, up front?" Yuri asked.

Brode's man nodded, "Yes. Your money is being delivered to your hotel room, as promised."

"Good," Yuri answered, "Then you can tell me more about these 'gargoyles' I am to be hunting."

"Not much to tell," Brode's man answered, "According to old mythology they were creatures that allied themselves with human castles in the middle ages to protect them. Now, as the world has found out, that myth was probably fact."

Brode's man then produced several photographs, showing Yuri what each and every gargoyle looked like. The Russian looked at them intently.

"They've apparently given Tony Dracon some major trouble recently, and the American has called a hit on them," Brode's man continued, "It is imperative that we kill more gargoyles then any of the other families. Then we get to rid this city of Tony Dracon once and for all."

"Why not take out Dracon, first?" Yuri asked, "He could strike us while we're hunting."

"Not likely," Brode's man smiled, "Mr. Dracon, according to statements he's made during previous arrests has been foiled by these gargoyles multiple times. He's called the hit, and to us, our actions in getting rid of them are nothing more then a big favor. In response, Dracon will owe us a favor. Brode has deemed that the favor Dracon is to perform for us is to take every member of his organization and leave the New York area and never return."

"Interesting," Yuri commented, "I will require others to be keeping other families busy while I deal with these gargoyles."

"Mr. Brode has already decided to do that," Brode's man nodded, "We will have guys that will be out doing all sorts of damage to the other families, except for Dracon's. We can't attack his gang since he called the hit. But, Dracon's men have proven to be notoriously incompetent. I trust you can beat them in this game."

"Yes," Yuri nodded.

**23rd Precinct Headquarters**

"I can't believe of all places, you want us to stay here," Demona grumbled as she looked out over the city's skyline from the balcony of the 23rd's new clock tower.

"Well," Wedrington commented from behind her, "At least the construction company you hired will be willing to begin construction on your house when the snow melts."

"Stupid Unseelies dumping tons of snow on the ground," Demona growled, "It should be melted by know."

"Would you rather take some place else?" Wedrington asked, "I thought this might work because no one seemed to use the interior of the tower and it is unlikely that someone would break into a police station."

Demona sighed, "Unless someone blows it up."

"What?" Wedrington asked, somewhat confused.

"This is the precinct that the Hunters blew up when they came here," Demona answered, "And yes, I would prefer some place else. This location and Castle Wyvern are the two places were I absolutely refuse to stay."

"Why do you refuse?" Wedrington asked, "This seems like a perfectly safe place. And the castle itself would be safe, at least until you can get your house built."

Demona sighed, "They would be safe yes. But all hold memories and things I do not wish to be reminded of. The castle was where I grew up. Where I took Goliath as my mate, and where everything fell apart."

Demona then turned and motioned to the face of the clock tower with one hand.

"This is where my clan lived while Xanatos made it impossible for them to live at the castle," Demona continued, "And the fact that they lived here instead of with me is only a reminder of how badly things went wrong."

"You can't run away from your problems forever," Wedrington commented, "I know you've made bad choices, but you can't just run away from them."

"One of those bad choices has cost me my mate," Demona answered, "Who has moved on."

"You still love, Goliath?" Wedrington asked curiously.

Demona looked back at, initially with the idea of growling at him, but saw that the white lion-like gargoyle looked somewhat nervous.

"No," Demona answered simply, "Our kind mates for life. Once Goliath slept through one night in stone during his one thousand year sleep, his part of the mating bond was broken. My part was truly broken after I had lived one year after what would have been my life expectancy."

Demona then noticed that he looked almost relieved after hearing her answer.

"After he and his clan awoke here in New York, I was mostly trying to use him," Demona continued, "More bad decisions."

"You can still apologize for them," Wedrington offered, "I'm sure he would accept an honest apology."

"I will not apologize for my actions," Demona said firmly, "Many of them may have been the result of bad choices, but they were for a good cause. The gargoyle race had to be protected, and I thought what I was doing would protect them for all time."

"Okay," Wedrington sighed knowing he couldn't make her apologize, "Okay. You win. I'm going to go see if I can find another place for us to sleep until your house is rebuilt. Try to think about what I've said. You can't run from your problems forever."

Demona felt herself nodding as the English gargoyle leapt from the railing and set out. She watched him glide off for a few moments and her mind began to wander onto questions that were beginning to plague her thoughts more and more often.

"He wants to court me," Demona thought as she watched Wedrington disappear beyond the skyline of buildings, "Why? Why me? He has proven himself to be a very good friend, but my own past would never allow for anything more then that. No one could love me knowing what I've done. Thailog didn't. Goliath turned to the human."

Demona turned and looked at the clock tower's clock face. Another question then entered her mind.

"Why do I want him to court me?" Demona thought, "I accepted him as a daylight guardian when he was human. I've helped him adjust to all that's happened to him. He's helped me with some of my projects..."

The immortal female then released something, "We've simply been together. It's our own instincts that are driving this."

Demona's thoughts were interrupted by the sight of two gargoyles gliding off in the distance. She watched them quietly. They were a male and a female, but Demona quickly determined that neither of them were of Goliath's clan or of the Guatemalan clan. Demona using her own powers also sensed that these two had also been transformed. Remembering back to what had happened to Wedrington, Demona immediately became very angry, not at the two gargoyles that she saw, but at the gargoyle she held responsible for Wedrington's transformation.

"Thailog," Demona growled in a threatening voice.

**Castle Wyvern, After Dawn**

Fox calmly sat down at the breakfast table with a large plate of sausages and eggs. The red furred fox-like mutate calmly began eating while Xanatos approached another chair with a similar meal. Alex followed close behind with a bowl of cereal.

"So what today's plan?" Fox asked her husband as Xanatos began eating.

"Business as usual," Xanatos answered, "Owen will be going down to Gen-U-Tech to check on any progress that's been made at reversing the mutate formula, but that's about it."

"Anything that you'll be doing tonight?" Fox asked.

"I'll be checking the warehouses for any sign that someone has or is trying to break into them," Xanatos answered, "Nothing special."

"Well, it will at least help Goliath and his clan find this 'Lucius' character," Fox commented, "Hopefully we can capture him and prevent him from getting back to London."

"Hopefully," Fox nodded, "Goliath and his clan haven't heard or seen anything from him since he attacked Brooklyn's patrol group a week ago."

"Any big magic lesson today?" Xanatos asked his wife.

"Shields," Alex answered.

"I just have practice today," Fox answered, "Mom won't be coming by for another couple of days."

Fox then moved one hand to mess with Alex's hair.

"Puck is up to teaching this little guy how to shield his presence from other magic users," Fox added, explaining Alex's answer.

"Good to know that Puck is keeping you at it, sport," Xanatos smiled at his son, "Just remember not to cause trouble."

"Okay," Alex nodded.

"That goes for you too!" Xanatos then joked to Fox with a slight chuckle.

Fox ignored him.

**Elsewhere**

Lucius sighed as ate from a package of processed meat. He and his followers had been careful to avoid direct conflicts with any of the gargoyles as he continued to get himself and his followers ready for what he considered to be his real fight. Some of the things they had to do, however, frustrated him. Despite his mutation, Lucius Severus still saw himself as Roman Emperor and felt petty thievery was below him, but then they also couldn't buy their own food so that was what they had been reduced to.

"What is the plan, sir?" one of his followers asked.

"I believe we will be ready for a rematch with the gargoyles," Lucius answered, "We have spent the last week adjusting to everything and practicing the skills that will make such bodies effective. Tonight we will go hunting."

Lucius's followers then cheered with excitement.

**Long Island**

"Are they ready?" Jackal demanded, tapping his foot angrily, "They should both be online by now."

"I am working as diligently as I can," Sevarius answered, "And it is not made any easier by you coming in every half hour to criticize me."

"Watch your tone, fuzzy," Hyena warned from the background, "You wouldn't want us to feed you to Wolf, now do you?"

Sevarius shuddered. The mutated member of the Pack was probably the least human of them in terms of behavior. His speech was growling. He tried to bite anyone, including Canis and Vulpine when he was annoyed. His mind seemed to dwell on nothing more than eating and fighting Goliath. Sevarius never understood why Wolf dwelled on that one member of gargoyle clan in particular. He knew that if Jackal and Hyena decided to do that, he would be in major trouble. Wolf wouldn't hesitate to attack and while Sevarius was confident that he could subdue the wingless canine-mutate, he knew that he himself would be roughed up in the process.

"No," Sevarius said quickly.

"Then hurry up and activate them," Jackal ordered.

"They aren't ready yet," Troll spoke up from a corner.

"They should be ready," Jackal growled angrily.

"If I had the proper tools and equipment they probably would be ready," Sevarius answered, "But you have tasked me to reprogram two robots with the most basic knowledge and tools. Creating the programming for robots like these takes time. Especially in our situation."

"Your situation is on extremely thin ice," Jackal warned with Hyena closely following.

Once they were gone, Sevarius dropped into his chair and sighed heavily. Troll meanwhile moved from his position near the offline Shadow and Dreadnought to converse with the mutated scientist.

"They are getting suspicious," Troll commented, "How much more needs to be programmed?"

"Not much," Sevarius answered, "They should be ready to be activated tomorrow if we keep working."

"Then you will free me?" Troll questioned, making sure that the mutate didn't back out of his earlier promise.

"No," Sevarius answered, "Once they've been activated I will take over the Pack and they will serve ME. Then I will free you. When I make a promise, I never break it."

"I trust that you will also deal out punishment to these cyborgs for deciding to capture me?" Troll asked.

"I will give you your freedom to do what you wish," Sevarius answered, "Dealing with the Pack is my responsibility and I will not jeopardize my plans on account of some of their more foolish actions."

Troll only snorted silently, "They should pay for what they've done. They have no right to imprison me!"

Jackal meanwhile had to deal with a different problem.

"Why arrrrrren't we fighting?" Wolf growled slowly, "Goliath is out there."

"Will you forget that overgrown lump of a gargoyle for a while," Jackal growled back, "We have bigger plans then fighting a gargoyle."

"Yourrrrrrr plans could be accomplished by killing that garrrrrrgoyle," Wolf growled back.

"I want Shadow and Dreadnought online before I do that," Jackal sighed, "And Sevarius and Troll are taking their sweet time in getting that done."

"Meanwhile you've given me nothing to you," Wolf answered.

"Sorry, dog boy," Hyena cut in, "You'll just have to occupy yourself with television for now."

Wolf only gave a feral snarl and walked slowly, and in an angry manner toward the stairs.

"That mutate better get those robots online soon," Jackal growled back to Hyena, "He's getting harder and hard to control."

"Maybe we ought to just take him out to a park and let him maul someone," Hyena offered, "Maybe that would help."

"Maybe," Jackal sighed, "but I'd prefer to save such action for a time where the police are our only problems."

"I don't like the situation either, bro," Hyena agreed, "But I'm getting kinda antsy myself, just sitting around here. We ought to do something."

"I want those robots online," Jackal said firmly, "We'll use them to take out one of Goliath's little patrols, let them warn the others that we have our robots back online, and then we'll destroy Coyote when he arrives. Then nothing can stop us."

"Hopefully this all works out," Hyena warned, "I don't want to be there when Wolf freaks out and we need to put him to sleep."

Jackal only sighed.

**Rooftop, before dusk**

Yuri positioned himself on the roof of a fairly tall apartment building so that he could have a clear line of sight for thousands of yards in any direction. He had also chosen the building because of several 'gargoyles' that lined the roof. He could crouch or lay behind one of them without being seen by anyone. As the sun quietly set he began assembling a high powered sniper rifle and laying down plenty of ammunition on the stone work near him.

"Why aren't you dealing with a more direct approach?" one of Brode's lower ranking thugs asked, "You're whole plan seems kind of complex for a simple 'hit'."

"You have watched too many American gangster movies," Yuri answered, "These gargoyles are not some rival family. They are great beasts with a warrior's skill. Like lions in Africa. One does not get close. We are best served to use long range tactics. Thus I will shoot them from long range. And your thugs, spread throughout the area will collect the bodies once they've died. If anyone interferes with the recovery of the bodies, then you fight at close quarters."

The thugs looked at each other as Yuri positioned his weapon so that he would be ready once the sun set. After that the Russian pulled a sandwich sack that he had carried with him.

"You may want to wait," Yuri cautioned, "It will be a long night."

**Castle Wyvern**

Meanwhile, sunset came as it normally did, and Manhattan clan awakened from its stone sleep.

"What is the plan for tonight, Goliath?" Brooklyn asked as they gathered in the courtyard.

"We are back to routine, hopefully," Goliath answered, "We will run our normal patrol routes after breakfast. Again, do not engage in any fight with any member of Thailog's new clan unless they attack you. I also want you to patrol in groups of fours. One group may have more though."

"We can figure that out over breakfast," Broadway said, "Let's get some food first. I fight crime best on a full stomach."

"You do everything on a full stomach," Brooklyn joked back.

"Must be why I do everything well," Broadway replied.

The original trio shared a few chuckles at the exchange of jokes while the group began to head inside. They were met by Xanatos who was bringing the new Coyote robot out.

"Ah, just the people I wanted to see," Xanatos commented, "Goliath, I want you to take Coyote with you."

Goliath waved the rest of the clan to continue on and get something to eat. He then sighed as he looked at the large machine.

"And just why should I take him out?" Goliath asked, "He has done a fair job guarding the castle during the day."

"Yes," Xanatos nodded, "But this Lucius character changes things. He has more mutates then we can use. I can help, and I'm certain Talon, Maggie, and Claw would be willing to help, but..."

"But they are busy with the former Unseelie slaves in the Labyrinth and there is only one of you," Goliath sighed, "I do appreciate the help you've offered my clan. I guess having your new robot accompany one of the patrol teams won't be of too much trouble. He might also be useful incase there is a run in with the Pack."

"Them too," Xanatos nodded, "But no one has heard anything from them since the incident with Elisa's mother in the subway."

Goliath nodded, "We seem to be on the look out for trouble from all sides."

"You need to read more comics," Xanatos joked, "All their heroes are facing trouble from all sides."

"Comics?" Goliath asked.

"You've never read one?" Xanatos asked.

Goliath shook his head as the two walked into the clan's dining hall.

"I have heard of them, and particularly references to some villain from one of comics in circulation," Goliath answered, "But I've never read any."

"Oh well," Xanatos sighed, "Some of us are just never touched by the classics."

"YOU read comics?" Goliath gasped, not thinking that the billionaire would read what published predominantly for entertainment.

"When I was a kid, I did," Xanatos answered, "But I sold them, or my dad sold them... I can't remember which... when I entered high school."

**Church Steeple, Elsewhere in Manhattan**

Wedrington quietly ate from a bowl of cheerios while Demona paced before him. The blue skinned gargoyle had bought the food and other things while using her magic to disguise herself. Wedrington felt quite thankful that she had least had her powers in magic. If she wasn't going to try and rejoin her clan, at least she had something that wouldn't leave her desperate.

"Why don't you eat something?" Wedrington offered, "It might make you feel better."

Demona paused for a moment and looked at Wedrington.

"I'm not hungry at the moment," Demona answered, "Besides we have business to attend to that I will need your help with."

"What sort of business?" Wedrington asked.

"Remember that witch that transformed you?" Demona asked.

Wedrington gulped at the memory, but nodded.

"I believe Thailog has done something similar to others besides you," Demona explained.

"Then we should find them," Wedrington interrupted, "If they've been changed against their will, someone will have to help them adjust."

"If they were transformed against their will, Goliath's clan would have found them by now," Demona answered, "That is not our problem. While I can accept that the Detective and the three females that joined Goliath's clan are gargoyles and... I will admit that there are parts of me that enjoy your company, transforming humans for any reason is wrong. With or without their consent. Humans are not meant to be gargoyles."

Wedrington sat in silence as Demona continued.

"Thailog's actions are a disgrace to gargoyles everywhere," Demona growled, "And he has betrayed me before. He can not get away with this."

"You want to hunt him down," Wedrington gasped.

"He must pay," Demona said firmly, "He's hurt me before and... he's hurt you. I can not and will not stand for that."

"Shouldn't we inform Goliath's clan about this then?" Wedrington asked, "If this Thailog is truly as evil as you say, he'd have to be a threat to the city and the people they protect."

"It wouldn't matter if Goliath knows or not," Demona growled, "Goliath will not act until Thailog blatantly breaks the truce that they agreed to during the conflict with the Unseelies. Thailog knows that and will not do anything of that nature till he's certain he will win. We must strike him and remove Thailog from this city. Or he will endanger gargoyles everywhere."

Wedrington remained silent.

"Wedrington, can you lead me back to the place where Thailog and his sorceress transformed you?" Demona asked, "I will not ask you to fight this battle, I just need you to take me there. Can you do that?"

"I can," Wedrington answered, "I don't like the idea of you going in alone, but I can."

A slightly concerned smile came over Demona's face and the sky-blue female crouched in front of Wedrington.

"You needn't worry about me," Demona said, putting a hand on his shoulder, "Remember that I am immortal. Thailog couldn't kill me if he tried. I've fought and beaten Thailog before. And his pet sorcerer can't be much more then a novice at magic. I am far more experienced and powerful. When we are done, he won't threaten anyone anymore."

"When do you want to leave?" Wedrington asked.

"As soon as you finish breakfast," Demona answered.

**Castle Wyvern**

After eating a fairly large breakfast, the clan gathered in the courtyard as Goliath prepared to give the patrol assignments to the night. None were too concerned about this, as this was a normal occurrence on the nights that they patrolled.

"Brooklyn, I want you to take Hudson, Amy, and Caroline and patrol the northern stretches' of Manhattan," Goliath instructed, "And as a reminder to everyone, if you run into serious trouble, don't hesitate to contact the rest of us through the radio."

"Right, Goliath," Brooklyn acknowledged and began to lead his group off.

The first patrol team had already leapt from the roof of the building before Goliath decided to give out the second patrol team's assignment.

"Broadway, Lexington, Angela, Candy, you are to take the eastern section of Manhattan," Goliath instructed.

"Okay, Goliath," Broadway answered.

They soon moved up the stairs to the outer part of the battlements and took off.

"My clan will take Central Park, Goliath," Zafiro offered.

Goliath nodded, "Thank you. Sarah, Eve, Ian, Ethan, you four are to take the western section of Manhattan. I believe Angela and Broadway have taught you enough about the city that you do not need their help to patrol."

All four Avalon gargoyles smiled and Goliath was almost certain that he heard Ian whisper "yes". Goliath then turned to Elisa, Desdemona, and Othello.

"The rest of us are going to take the southern section of Manhattan," Goliath said, "As soon as Coyote is ready."

"The robot is coming with us, brother?" Othello asked.

Goliath nodded, "He will prove useful should we run into the Pack. Especially if they've managed to repair the damage to Shadow and Dreadnought."

Othello sighed, "I understand, but he annoys me to an extent. Even if he isn't our enemy."

"Coyote has many of Xanatos's quirks," Elisa commented, "It's how the original and every subsequent model were designed."

"We understand that," Desdemona commented, "The problem is, he is also not like his creator in many ways. I have yet to hear Xanatos make bad jokes."

"That is because Xanatos isn't as loose as I am," came Xanatos's voice from the other end of the courtyard, "I have more fun with every situation."

The gargoyles then turned to see Coyote 4.1 slowly walk toward them from the far side of the courtyard. The robot walked straight to Goliath and saluted the gargoyle.

"Coyote 4.1, reporting for duty, sir," Coyote reported.

Goliath sighed while the others kept their eyes on their leader.

"Very well, Coyote," Goliath sighed, "We are patrolling Manhattan's southern areas. You are to be alert for any sign of crime or of any the clan's primary enemies."

"Right," Coyote acknowledged and activated his jets and waited for the gargoyles to get to a spot where they could take off and glide.

**Maddox Technologies**

Thailog lowered the binoculars he held in his hands and continued to gaze towards the Eyrie Building and the castle perched at its peak. He smiled as looked on.

"It is time to begin our first strike against Goliath and his clan," Thailog smiled, "You know your assignments."

The others nodded and quickly left, some heading for a place from which to glide from and some heading towards the basement to enter the city's sewer system. Only Fang and Holly remained with Thailog.

"So what are WE doing?" Fang grumbled.

"We are to capture Goliath," Thailog explained, "The others in his patrol team are optional, but we must take Goliath prisoner."

"Shouldn't be too hard," Fang commented, "A few accurate electric blasts and lightning spells and you have a few crispy gargoyles."

"Thailog wants Goliath taken alive," Holly pointed out, "We are only to do enough to make sure that Goliath can be taken prisoner."

"Don't know why," Fang grumbled back, "It'd be much easier to kill him."

"True, but killing Goliath would do nothing towards defeating his clan, which is one of the goals we must achieve before conquering the world," Thailog explained, "If Goliath is killed, his second in command will take over and we will also have a very angry mate of the deceased on our hands. A determined clan can and will cause us trouble. But if we hold Goliath prisoner, while his second will surely take command, they will be frantic trying to find their missing leader and are more liable to make mistakes."

"Why didn't we just take out large chunks of their clan in one fell swoop in addition to Goliath, so even if they are 'determined' they are too small in number to pose any real threat?" Fang asked, "Instead of just observing them?"

"I want Goliath to see the destruction of clan," Thailog answered, "I want him to see what a real gargoyle clan does."

"I'm more concerned with a different part of your plan," Holly commented, "It seems to me that you're biting off more than you can chew with this."

"I know precisely what I'm doing," Thailog answered, "Everything will be fine."

"So, who's with Goliath?" Holly asked.

Thailog set his binoculars down on a nearby table before answering.

"His mate, his rockery brother and sister, I'd assume, and Xanatos's Coyote robot," Thailog said calmly.

The black skinned clone then pressed a button on the side of the wall in front of him, which opened a hidden compartment within the wall. From it, he produced a very complex looking handgun. Thailog placed the weapon in a holster that was on the side of the belt that he was wearing.

"This will be fun," Thailog smiled as he then lead Fang and Holly toward the roof so they could take off after their target.

**Elsewhere**

"I can't believe we can finally patrol without having someone watch over us!" Ian commented with a large smile on his face, "We can truly fight crime now."

"We could fight crime before," Sarah cautioned, "We have normally been paired with members of Goliath's clan so that we can learn the laws and layout of city. Remember that Manhattan is a very different place from Avalon, where we only protected the castle."

"I know that," Ian answered, "But Goliath believes we've learned enough that we do not need the others to explain the laws or show us where all the important spots are. I'm eager to prove that Goliath can trust us."

"Just don't let your enthusiasm get in the way of what we're doing," Ethan said from above them, "Don't do something that you think is heroic because you want to prove something to Goliath."

"I won't," Ian replied.

Eve was about to say something when several electric blasts came out from the shadows of the building below them. Many of them missed, but there were enough shots fired that four electric blasts hit each of the four Avalon gargoyles. Each screamed with pain and fell to the roof below them. They landed in a fairly open section of the roof from which the electric blasts had originated.

"Is everyone alright?" Eve asked as the four began to pull themselves to their feet.

The others nodded.

"It has to be those mutates that attacked Brooklyn's team the other night," Ian growled, "It has to be."

"Or several humans with electric blasters," Ethan commented, "We haven't seen them yet."

Sarah heard the sound of several footsteps approaching them. She quickly began to prepare for a direct attack.

"I think we're about to find out," Sarah said, "I can hear them coming."

The four gargoyles watched and waited as twelve mutates appeared in front of them. They had come from the shadows behind a few raised structures that would allow humans to access the roof from lower floors and behind a few large chimneys that were there for decoration. An African Wild Dog mutate stood on top of the closest stairway roof looking down on the gargoyles.

"You are about to find out," Lucius smiled, "how fast we can kill you."

Lucius then looked to the rest of his followers. All of them were stepping forward and preparing to pounce on the four gargoyles. He smiled as he turned his attention back to the patrol team he had cornered and raised one hand forward.

"Attack," Lucius ordered as he closed his raised hand into a fist.

Lucius's followers opened with a barrage of electric blasts that forced the four Avalon gargoyles to scatter about the roof in order to avoid being hit. The eleven attacking mutates then jumped at them all at once, intent on physically tearing them limb from limb.

"Ian!" Sarah called out as she tripped one of her attackers with her tail and punched another in face, "You have the radio! Get airborne and call for help!"

Ian nodded and began struggling to get free of the practical strangle hold three mutates had him in. Once he got into the air, he pulled a radio out of his belt pouch and prepared to speak into it. He quickly noticed that he would have to keep moving as he relayed his distress call, as the three mutates that had tried to hold him down were beginning to try and glide after him.

Three others attacked Ethan and tackled him to the ground. Two held down his arms, while the third kneeled on his chest to try and beat the gargoyle's face in. Remembering training that he received from the Guardian, he kicked the mutate that was on top of him in the back, sending the mutate forward and over the side of the building. This move distracted the other two, and allowed Ethan to wrestle free, although he ended up taking several deep scratches to his wrists as a result.

Three more moved to surround Eve before she could do anything to fight back. The Avalon female growled at each of her attackers, but it did nothing to deter them. Two fired electric blasts at her, and Eve was just barely able to avoid being hit by one of the blasts. The third then rushed her head on and gripped her around the waist. The mutate gave feral grin as he looked the gargoyle over. Eve's eyes widened and illuminated with a bright scarlet light at the same time.

"BEAST!" Eve screamed and kneed the mutate in the groin with all her strength.

"There," Caroline commented as she finished tying up a burglar with his own crowbar, "That ought to hold him until the cops can pick him up."

Amy nodded in agreement as she did the same with the crook's partner, "Yeah, and it's been a quiet night so far. We've only found the basic crooks."

"Hopefully that's all we have to deal with tonight," Caroline commented as the two females began to climb up the side of the building to meet up with Brooklyn and Hudson, "With all this worry about the Pack, Thailog, and now these rogue mutates, we need a few quiet nights."

"You can say that again," Amy agreed.

"Good job, you two," Brooklyn said politely as Amy and Caroline made it back to the roof, and was about to say more when the communicator on his belt began to buzz, indicating that someone was trying to contact him.

Brooklyn calmly pulled his communicator from his belt pouch and activated the device.

"This is Brooklyn, what's up?" Brooklyn spoke into the communicator.

Brooklyn's eyes widened as he heard the sound of electric blasts being picked up by the other communicator.

"This is Ian, with Sarah's patrol team," came the voice from the other end of the radio, "That Lucius guy and his buddies have decided to use us for target practice!"

"Where are you?" Brooklyn said urgently, startling the others that were with him.

"We're pretty close to where the Lincoln Tunnel is," Ian answered through the radio, "And hurry they've gotten a lot better at gliding since you last encountered them."

Brooklyn heard the radio pick up another blast of electricity before it went dead. The brick red male quickly leaped to the building's edge and prepared to dive off.

"We need to get to the Lincoln Tunnel," Brooklyn said in a commanding tone, "Lucius and his mutates have attacked Sarah's patrol team, we need to get there before they're wiped out."

Hudson nodded and moved toward the clan's second. Caroline let a frustrated sigh escape but did the same. Amy replied with a simple 'right' and came forward.

"Let's go!" Brooklyn ordered and leaped from the building.

The other three were quick to follow him.

**Manhattan's Eastern Sector**

Yuri calmly and patiently watched out through the scoped lens of his sniper rifle, looking for any sign of a gargoyle gliding through the air. At long ranges and with the fact that his targets would be airborne and moving at the same time, he knew the shot would be tough, but he knew he could make the shot. The old Russian had trained for years to make shots like this, even though the targets he had trained on were either animals or humans.

Suddenly he spotted four gargoyles gliding slowly to the east of his position. One was a large aquamarine male, followed by a lavender female, a olive green web-winged male, and a pink web-winged female.

"The hunt is on, comrades," Yuri spoke softly and locked the bolt to his rifle in place and began to aim the rifle at his target.

"It's been a rather quiet night tonight," Angela commented as she surveyed the streets below her.

"We could use a break," Broadway said from above them, "All this other stuff has tired everyone out."

"This quiet is making me nervous," Candy commented from her place next to Lexington, "It's too quiet. Other than the car engines I can't hear anything going on below. I feel like we're being watched."

Lex was about to answer Candy's comment, hoping to make her feel more calm when he looked over and saw some sort of flash a few blocks away. Almost at the same time, the web-winged male felt something tear straight through his left shoulder. Lex screamed with pain and then fell from the sky as he lost feeling in his left arm.

"LEX!" Candy shrieked in shock horror.

Lex landed hard on the roof of an apartment building below them and remained motionless for a second or two before he brought up his right hand to inspect the wound to his left shoulder. Candy immediately dove to his side.

"Lex, are you okay? Are you alright?" Candy said quickly and nervously.

"I can't feel my arm," Lex answered weakly, "But I should live."

Yuri smiled as he watched the incident through the rifle scope. The olive green male wasn't dead, but he was surely out of the fight. While the pink female dove after the other web-wing he unlocked the bolt and discharged the casing to bullet he had just fired and loaded in the second bullet. This time he aimed at the aquamarine male, as he was the largest target and the target that he had the clearest line of sight on.

At the same time as Yuri pulled the trigger again, however, the gargoyle moved and he watched as the bullet went through the membranes of one of its wings.

"Blast," Yuri cursed as he watched both the aquamarine male and the lavender female dive down to the building and out of his sights soon after.

Yuri then turned to the others who were with him.

"Get on your phones and contact the collection groups," Yuri ordered, "Tell them we have two wounded gargoyles down, one seriously. Also tell them that there are two more healthy ones with them."

"Aren't you going 'take them out from long ranges'?" one of the other men asked.

"Just do as you're told," Yuri snarled, "they know I'm here. They will do their best to avoid being hit by me now. The range is five hundred yards east in a straight line from our current position. They're on the top of an apartment building."

"Yes sir," the other man said and quickly pulled out a cell phone.

"It has to be some guy with a rifle of some sort," Broadway growled as Angela inspected his wound.

The shot didn't do much damage. There was an obvious hole in the wing membrane where the bullet went through, and there was some blood dripping from it, but it would prevent the aquamarine gargoyle from gliding again.

"It doesn't look too bad," Angela commented.

"Good," Broadway said firmly, "Then we'll take this guy out before he can get anyone else. If we stay close to the level of the rooftops he shouldn't be able to get an easy shot anyone. He shot me and my rookery brother. He must pay!"

"We need to get Lex back to the Eyrie Building," Candy protested, "Worry about him later."

Both Angela and Broadway looked down at Lex and Candy. Lex had managed to get into a full sitting up position, but he was still clutching his left shoulder in obvious pain. Candy meanwhile looked like she was about to have a heart attack. She stood close to Lex and was continually trying to check on the olive web-wing to make sure he was okay.

"Maybe one of us should take Lex back," Angela commented, "We can't leave him here as he is."

"Won't work," Lex commented weakly from his spot, "I saw the gun flash before the bullet hit me. The roof the guy is firing from is at a higher elevation then the rooftop of this building we're on. And the Eyrie Building is still the tallest building in New York. Anyone who attempts to glide back there will present himself as a target to whoever is shooting at us."

This only served to make Broadway even angrier than he was earlier.

"We can't even get Lex to safety without getting shot at!" Broadway growled.

"We will have to take out the sniper then," Angela sighed, "But we can't do it alone. Someone will have to remain here to guard Lex, and he may have others with him."

"I'll guard him," Candy volunteered, "The others could help you assault this sniper."

Angela nodded and pulled out her communicator. After few minutes of quick explanation, she reported that the Guatemalans were on their way and would approach the building from the other side. Broadway and Angela then moved to a spot on the roof where they could attempt to glide to the building directly across the street from them and try to get closer to where the sniper was.

"Are you sure you can do this?" Angela asked nervously, her own thoughts drifting back to the wound to her mate's wing.

"I'll be fine," Broadway answered, "We need to get that sniper so we can get Lex back to the Eyrie Building."

Candy watched the two gargoyles glide off and moved to sit next to Lex.

"Don't worry, Lex," Candy commented, "They'll take care of that sniper and they'll be back in a jiffy."

"Of course they will," Lex answered placing a hand on Candy's shoulder, "This is no biggie. I'll be good as new tomorrow night."

"Won't stop me from worrying," Candy commented.

"Don't worry too hard," Lex gave a weak smile, "I've suffered worse pain than this. Can't think of any right now, but I know I've suffered worse."

Almost at the same time, the top part of the fire escape ladder that lead to the building's roof began to shake slightly, indicating that there were people attempting to climb up. Candy immediately jumped to her feet.

"I guess I'm going to have to start 'guarding' you know," the pink female sighed.

**Under New York**

"He is in there?" Demona asked as she looked at the entrance way to the small underground base.

Wedrington nodded.

"Should have known that he would use one of Nightstone's former smuggling bases," Demona sighed and then took a few steps toward the entrance and yelled, "THAILOG! QUIT HIDDING! COME OUT AND FACE ME!"

There was no answer. All was dead quiet. Demona eyed the entrance as she patiently waited for something that would indicate any sign of anyone being there. She didn't see any. What she did see, however, were the forearms of several of her old Steel Demona robots, which she had sent to the general area and let them use their own detection gear to find the base, with their laser weapons extended. Demona snarled at the fact that Thailog used her own equipment as a security device.

"I'm going in there," Demona said calmly, "I'll need you to wait out here."

"Be careful," Wedrington warned.

Demona nodded and began to step forward toward the entrance. She readied some of her magic incase the lasers in the robotic arms were still active. Demona managed a few steps before a red light suddenly turned on inside the facility. Demona noticed this and as the robotic arms began coming to life, she destroyed each and every one of them with a lightning spell.

"All too easy," Demona smirked as she continued on.

Demona took another two steps further with a slight smirk on her face. She would get Thailog and the sorceress that he had 'hired'. Her smile quickly disappeared as she continued, when a massive wall of electricity erupted from the ground below her. Demona screamed with pain as wave after wave of electricity washed through her. It was more painful than anything she had previously experienced.

"Demona!" Wedrington cried out.

The white lion-like gargoyle took a few steps in an attempt to try and rescue the immortal female, but was grabbed from behind before he could get too far. Wedrington tried to struggle, but quit when he felt his assailant place a gun to his head.

"The weapon is loaded," came his assailant's very feminine sounding voice.

"Who are you?" Wedrington asked nervously.

"You may call me, Thorn," the female answered, "And you are to go where I tell you."

"No!" Wedrington urged, "I need to help Demona!"

"She is immortal," Thorn answered from behind him, never losing her grip on Wedrington or moving her weapon away from the male's head, "You'll surely see her again."

Thorn then rotated Wedrington around so that he was facing the other way, and was careful to make sure that that the male gargoyle didn't see her. She briefly paused to place a sticky-note on the wall of the sewer tunnel with the hand she was holding her gun in before placing the gun to Wedrington's head once more.

"Now, march," Thorn ordered.

Wedrington, knowing that Demona would live and not wanting to be killed, relented and began to walk in the direction that the female had told him to walk. Demona, meanwhile, screamed with both pain and rage. The electricity flowing through her body had forced her to squeeze her eyes shut to try and withstand the pain, but she heard everything that was going on. Someone named 'Thorn' had taken Wedrington from her, and until she could break the electricity barrier, Demona could not pursue Wedrington's attacker or enter Thailog's base.

Under the pain from electricity, Demona began pumping out her own powers in sorcery to try and combat the flow of electricity into her. This did not prove to be entirely successful either. This method resulted in her producing a massive explosion that destroyed the electrical wiring that Thailog and Fang had set up, but left Demona so exhausted that she dropped 'dead' to the ground as a result of the electrical burns she had sustained.

**Elsewhere**

Goliath's patrol group had not run into much other than the occasional mugger or street criminal. Nothing too serious.

"Still no sign of Dreadnought or Shadow," Coyote commented from above them.

"Thank you for the report, Coyote," Goliath sighed, "But keep your... optics focused on any possible crime. Do not solely look for Dreadnought, Shadow, or the Pack."

Coyote nodded, "Just reporting that's all."

"We thank you for your report," Goliath sighed again.

"It has been a quiet night, so far," Desdemona commented, "The absence of the Pack is not the only thing. I have not seen any sign of any of the clan's other major enemies."

"It's a night off then," Elisa smiled.

Hidden on a roof above them Thailog smiled as he watched the patrol group below them. Fang watched with mild interest, while Holly almost had to be restrained from attacking the tan female gliding near Goliath.

"Four gargoyles, and a robot," Thailog chuckled, "Now to see how well this new gun works on artificial intelligence."

The black skinned clone then pulled out his weapon and aimed it at the large mostly yellow robot that was flying above the gargoyles. Once Thailog was sure of his aim, he fired.

"I do not see anything going on below us in this area," Coyote commented, "Perhaps we should..."

The robot didn't finish its comment. When Goliath didn't hear the end of the robot's comment he turned his head to see if the robot was looking at something that would be worth investigation. What he saw was far more startling. The large robot seemed to be offline, as its optics were not glowing, and was losing altitude quickly.

"Look out!" Goliath shouted in an attempt to alert the others to the problem.

All four gargoyles quickly dove out of the way as Coyote's offline body crashed into the roof of the building below them. None noticed a small disc on the back of the robot.

"What happened to him?" Othello asked, "He was alright a moment ago."

Before anyone could answer, Othello, Desdemona, and Elisa were all hit by powerful blasts of electricity while something plowed into Goliath's back. All four landed roughly on the roof near the offline Coyote. A few soft thumps soon followed and Goliath could feel a three taloned foot pressing firmly against the center of his back. As the other three began to recover, they saw that their attackers were Fang, a blood red female gargoyle holding a large leather bound book, and were led by Thailog.

"Why, my dear 'Uncle'," Thailog grinned, "I shot him."

"Thailog," Elisa growled back at the clone.

"Yes," Thailog smiled, "Thailog."

"Who are you?" Desdemona asked in Holly's direction.

"Holly," the blood red female answered.

"We had a truce," Goliath growled from the ground, struggling to try and get up.

"Yes," Thailog laughed, "We HAD a truce. Which is now over. There is only enough room for one clan in this city, and it will be mine."

The rest of Goliath's patrol team by now had gotten back to their feet and were beginning to advance on Thailog and his partners.

"Get off of him, Thailog," Elisa growled, her eyes beginning to glow.

"I think not," Thailog smiled, "Fang, Holly, deal with them."

"Thought you'd never ask," Holly smiled, "Fulmenos Venite!"

A bolt of lightning then flew out of the book that Holly held in her hand and struck Elisa in the stomach, throwing the tan female back several feet. Fang meanwhile leaped forward and launched his own electric blasts against Othello and Desdemona. One of his blasts hit Othello's armor and knocked him backward through a door and halfway down a flight of stairs. Desdemona managed to avoid being hit by the other electric blast, but could avoid being directly tackled by Fang.

"Don't worry," Fang grinned as he wrestled the golden female to the ground, placing a knee on Desdemona's stomach, "This will only hurt a lot."

Fang then electrified his entire body in an attempt to electrocute Desdemona quickly. Desdemona screamed with pain as Fang grinned evilly and continued to pump out power.

Goliath finally managed to get Thailog off of him by using his tail to pull at Thailog's other leg. The black skinned clone fell over backwards off the building and had to glide back up. By the time that Thailog made it back to the roof, Goliath was ready and waiting for him. Thailog landed and plowed straight into Goliath, forcing the lavender male reposition his footing to try and push back against the clone.

"How does it feel to be on the losing side of a battle, 'father'?" Thailog taunted.

"I won't let you win," Goliath replied.

"Doesn't change the fact that I will win," Thailog smiled, "Fang is dealing with your sister and brother, and Holly is preparing to finish off your mate."

Goliath then slammed Thailog to the ground, using the clone's forward momentum against him.

"Then I will defeat you and help my clan," Goliath said firmly.

Holly lunged forward at Elisa after throwing her initial lightning spell in an attempt to claw at Elisa's face before the tan female could recover. Elisa, however, rolled at the last second and Holly managed to claw only the surface of the roof. Once she got back to her feet, Elisa then delivered a strong blow to the blood red female's jaw, forcing Holly to stagger back. Holly in response raised her book again, and cast another lightning spell. Elisa managed to avoid being hit by the spell, but it was only a diversion, allowing Holly to kick her opponent in the stomach, knocking Elisa back.

"You're supposed to be better then this," Holly teased, "I was expecting a real fight when we met again."

"I don't know you," Elisa stated.

"Oh, but you do," Holly snarled, "You nearly rammed your knee spurs into my face one night as I was trying to learn how to use this wonderful book."

Elisa had no clue what this female was talking about, but something about the book made Elisa believe that it shouldn't be in Holly's hands.

"I don't know who you are," Elisa repeated.

"Then you must have a horrible memory," Holly answered and fired another lightning spell at Elisa, knocking the tan female against the side of the raised structure that made up the stairway, "I was on a roof, and just fired off a spell that Thailog had asked me to perform, and you came in and threw off my concentration."

Elisa struggled to avoid another lightning spell and then moved to punch Holly in the gut.

"I still do not know who you are, but I am certain that your evil and Thailog's pet sorceress," Elisa growled, "Your use of magic is enough to prove that."

"Yes," Holly gasped, never letting go of her book, "I am Thailog's sorceress. I've given him his own clan, I transformed Demona's human friend, and this is my second encounter with you. One I intend to win."

"I have never encountered you before," Elisa growled as she tried to swipe at Holly's book.

Holly dodged and whacked Elisa with her tail.

"Maybe it would help if you knew I was once human, myself," Holly commented.

"You were human?" Elisa gasped as she did begin to remember something.

Holly threw another lightning spell that knocked to the ground and nodded with an evil smile on her face.

"Yes I was," Holly answered, "but I was human at the time of our first encounter."

That fully awakened Elisa's memories of the time when Thailog had just 'returned'. Holly, the blood red female gargoyle, was the human sorceress that attempted to transform Maggie's mother. Elisa tried to trip Holly with her tail, but Holly leaped in the air and landed on the very edge of the building.

"Now I will have my revenge," Holly smiled.

When Othello returned to rooftop after quickly recovering from an electric blast that had knocked him through a wooden door and down several stairs, he found a great battle had erupted in the brief moments he was out of the picture. Goliath and Elisa were managing a virtual stalemate with their opponents, but to Othello's horror, Fang had his mate pinned to the ground and was viciously attempting to electrocute her.

"NO!" Othello roared and dove at the cougar mutate.

Othello was successful in knocking Fang off of Desdemona. He then punched the mutate in the temple, knocking him halfway across the roof.

"Keep your hands off of my mate," Othello growled.

"You'll need to do better than that," Thailog cautioned Goliath as he dodged the latest punch the lavender male had thrown at him.

Thailog then moved quickly and kicked Goliath in the side of the lavender male's knee. Goliath didn't expect the black skinned clone to attack him there and was caught completely off guard. His knee bent sideways and he was quickly falling to the ground to avoid having his knee dislocated. This only gave Thailog the opportunity to club the back of Goliath's head with both fists. The large lavender male then fell to the roof unconscious. Thailog could barely restrain himself from laughing as he scooped up the gargoyle he had been cloned from. He looked around that the other battles were at an impasse. Holly and Elisa were trading blows, while Othello had driven Fang back.

"Okay, everyone," Thailog called out, "We have what we came for. Time to go!"

With that, Thailog leaped off the side of the building and began gliding off with Goliath.

"Goliath!" Othello yelled noticing that Thailog was leaving with a hostage.

"Will be coming with us," Fang laughed as he hit Othello with an electric blast, knocking the grey male not far from Desdemona.

Elisa heard Othello's yell and turned her head to see Thailog fleeing with her mate.

"Goliath! NO!" Elisa screamed and began to run towards the edge of the building to chase the black skinned clone, ignoring Holly.

"Oh yes," Holly laughed and fired another lightning spell, knocking Elisa into Othello as he tried to get up again.

Holly then followed Thailog and Fang in fleeing the scene of the fight.

"Goliath!" Elisa screamed as she crawled to the edge of the building, watching Thailog and his partners disappear over the skyline of buildings.

Othello meanwhile remembered to check on Desdemona. He was concerned about his mate, just as he was sure Elisa was concerned about her mate. Othello quickly found that Desdemona didn't look well. Her skin was burned in several places as a result of her exposure to Fang's electric current. He checked for a pulse, and much to his relief, Desdemona was still alive, but injured. Othello knew she would have to return to the castle, to either await the dawn and let stone sleep heal her or to get medical attention.

"How is she?" Elisa asked turning around.

"She should live," Othello sighed, "But she needs to get back to the castle."

"We need to get Goliath back," Elisa said firmly.

"I can't let my mate lay here and die," Othello argued, "And you can not fight all of Thailog's minions on your own."

Elisa looked down at the unconscious Desdemona and then at the offline Coyote. She wanted to get Goliath back more then anything, but Othello was right. Even if there was a one hundred percent certainty that Desdemona would be perfectly fine, they couldn't leave her alone and unconscious on a rooftop, and they couldn't leave Coyote behind either. The risk of someone reprogramming the robot or killing Desdemona would be too great.

"Get Desdemona back to the castle," Elisa sighed, "You're right. Make sure she's safe, and then get Xanatos, tell him to send his Steel Clan here, and then we'll bring back Coyote. Then we'll get Goliath back."

"Don't worry, clan sister," Othello said as he carefully lifted his mate into his arms, "We will rescue him."

**Rooftop**

Three men, all holding hand guns climbed out from the fire escape onto the roof as Candy tried to keep between them and the wounded Lexington. The noticed the two gargoyles almost right away.

"Yuri's got to get his eyes checked," one of them commented in a heavy east European accent, "His report was that were four gargoyles. These are only two."

"And they're the tiny ones besides," the second added with a sneer.

"I'll give you tiny!" Candy growled and lunged forward and punched the first of the men in the gut.

The blow knocked the man down and knocked the wind out of him. More importantly, it knocked his gun out of his grasp. One of his compatriots turned to fire a shot at Candy, but the pink female moved forward to try and distract them from Lexington. Strangely, her plan seemed to be working much better than she anticipated. The man fired on her, but since Candy had dodged his fire, the criminal's bullet hit not Candy, but the third member of the group of criminals.

"YEEEEEOOOOOOWWWW!" the third man screamed and dropped his gun as he fell to the rooftop's surface gripping his calf-muscle, "You shot me you idiot! You were supposed to shoot the gargoyle!"

"It's not my fault she could get out of the way and you couldn't," the second man answered.

He then turned his focus toward Lexington, who was watching the entire scene from the edge of the roof, and was still clutching his wounded shoulder.

"I think I'll deal with the wounded one first," the second man commented, "That'll at least give us one body to bring in."

Candy roared in response and dove at the man, hitting him from behind, sending his shot wild into the air. Upon landing, the man's gun flew out of his hand and landed near Lexington. The olive gargoyle smashed the weapon with his tail.

"You will not harm him," Candy growled at the man and knocked him out.

"Candy!" Lex screamed from his spot, "Look out!"

Candy then wheeled around and saw the man that she had earlier knocked the wind out of, charging her with a knife. The pink female dodged and struck out with one hand and clawed the man across his face. The man screamed and fell to the rooftop, clutching his face.

Candy then looked around for something to tie up the three men. She soon found that the man who ended up getting shot by his own partner was fleeing the scene, although slowly and painfully, leaving her with two to restrain. She quickly pulled a few bars off of the fire escape and tied the two crooks up with them, and carried both down to the ground so that the police could pick them up. Candy then moved as quickly as she could to get back to Lexington's position.

"Are you okay?" Candy asked as she came back to crouch beside Lex.

"Still as fine as I can be," Lex answered.

"I hope the others can get that sniper soon," Candy replied and turned to try and look at the building where the shots had come from, "The sooner you get back to the castle, the better."

"The shots came from that building," Broadway pointed as he and Angela looked up the large apartment building across the street from them.

"He'll be hard to find up there," Angela commented, "Look at all the 'gargoyles' that line the roof. He could be hiding amongst them."

Broadway eyed the statues that were up there. The sniper and any accomplices that he had could easily hide among the statues and if they weren't careful, they could end being shot by someone with a handgun.

"Be careful," Broadway said nervously as the made a quick glide across the street and began to scale the side of the building.

"You too," Angela replied as she did the same.

The two arrived at the roof as the same time as Zafiro and the Guatemalans landed on the other end of the roof. To their surprise, there was no one on the rooftop.

"There is no one here," Zafiro commented.

"I don't understand it," Broadway commented as they all began to look around, "I know I saw the gun flash from this building."

"Maybe whoever was here left," Jade suggested, "To avoid being caught by us or by the police."

Broadway continued looking around the rooftop, trying to find anything that might lead to where the sniper was.

"Maybe," Broadway commented.

"I'm sorry to have called you here on what is apparently a fool's errand," Angela said to Zafiro and Obsidiana.

"This sniper was trying to kill you," Obsidiana answered, "You did the wise thing in calling us. Suppose he was still here and there were others with him, and you and Broadway were the only one's investigating?"

Angela nodded, getting the blue Guatemalan's point.

"Hey, I think I found something!" Broadway commented out loud from behind them.

Angela turned around to see Broadway holding up a small cylindrical piece of brass up to his eyes. He had another in his other hand. Jade and Turquesa were already nearby and getting a closer look at it.

"What is it?" Angela asked as she, Zafiro, and Obsidiana approached.

"It's a shell casing," Broadway answered, "It's the think that wraps around a bullet before it's fired. When you pull the trigger on a gun, the bullet is fired out of the gun and casing is ejected."

"Does this help?" Turquesa asked.

"Only in proving that the sniper was here," Broadway answered, "That's the most I know. Matt or Elisa would have to look at to get anything more."

"Elisa is with father, on patrol right now," Angela replied, "And Matt is busy with his own work."

Broadway put the shell casings in his belt pouch, "We'd better get back to Lex. We can show Elisa these after we get him back to the castle."

"Right," Angela nodded as she moved to follow Broadway over the side of the building.

**Elsewhere**

Brooklyn was the first to spot the battle going on between Sarah's patrol team and Lucius's mutates. He spotted Ian gliding around the rooftops of several buildings with two mutates on his tail. Further off he could see the flashes of electric blasts going on another rooftop.

"Hudson, Amy, Caroline, go and help the others," Brooklyn instructed, "I'll help Ian get rid of these two."

The others nodded while Brooklyn lined himself up for what would be a gliding tackle of one of Ian's pursuers. The brick red male accomplished this attack quite easily as neither mutate noticed there were more gargoyles approaching. Brooklyn quickly drilled the mutate into the roof of a nearby building, knocking the mutate out. He then paused to notice another unconscious mutate lying near a raised steal satellite antenna.

Ian quickly landed next to him.

"Thanks for coming," Ian commented.

"We've still got a major battle to fight," Brooklyn commented as the third mutate landed, "Thank yous can wait."

The mutate launched a series of electric blasts at Brooklyn and Ian in its first attempt to get the two gargoyles. Brooklyn narrowly managed to avoid being hit by diving right, while Ian was hit and nearly thrown off the roof. The mutate merely laughed and turned concentrate entirely on Brooklyn.

"I don't suppose we could talk this out?" Brooklyn jokingly asked as he saw the mutate build up a new electrical charge for another blast.

The mutate then fired his electric blasts, forcing Brooklyn to roll away to avoid being hit.

"Guess not," Brooklyn muttered as he got back to his feet.

The mutate then charged at Brooklyn at full speed. The brick red male then lowered his shoulder and pushed back against the mutate. As the two tried to push each other off the building, Ian recovered from the earlier hit and came up behind the mutate and clubbed him with his fists. The result was both Brooklyn and the mutate falling to the ground. The mutate because he was out cold, Brooklyn because all his momentum was in pushing the mutate and he couldn't catch himself.

"You okay, Brooklyn?" Ian asked.

"I'm fine," Brooklyn mumbled as he pulled himself back up, "Just glad that Amy didn't see that."

"What do we do with these three?" Ian asked.

"We'll take them back to Wyvern's dungeons after we're done with this fight," Brooklyn answered.

The others noticed the rest of Sarah's patrol team was involved in a fairly decent sized fight. Each of the gargoyles had managed to take one of their opponents out of the fight, but there were still at least one more fighting them. They also noticed that Lucius was still only observing the battle.

"We should help Ethan and Eve, first," Hudson commented "Sarah is facing only one opponent and Lucius seems ta be stuck in his 'leader' mode."

"Some leader," Amy commented, "Goliath wouldn't stand by and watch a fight."

"There have been many leaders who have watched their troops fight," Hudson countered, "I've seen that on the television."

"War movies and documentaries," Caroline commented, "And most of those guys are generals. This Lucius is only equal to... like a captain. He's a platoon leader, not an army commander. Amy's right, he is not a good leader."

Lucius meanwhile noticed the approaching reinforcements as the got closer to the building.

"NO!" Lucius thought angrily, "Not when victory was so close and my men have shown such improvement..."

He continued to watch the new group of gargoyles get closer and he watched the battle to continue to unfold in front of him. His mutates were easily able to maintain a stalemate as the mixed in enough electric blasts to keep their gargoyle opponent off balance.

"It's time to withdraw," Lucius sighed to himself and the ordered to his followers, "Retreat. Retreat. We've failed again, and they have reinforcements coming. Retreat."

Lucius's followers broke off from their fights and followed their master's orders and joined him in fleeing.

"And don't come back!" Sarah yelled after them.

"What about these others?" Ethan asked looking at the unconscious mutates, "They left them behind and didn't bother to try and take them with them."

"They'll go to the dungeon, most likely," Amy answered as she, Caroline, and Hudson landed, "Since Wolf broke out Sevarius, Canis, and Vulpine."

"But why didn't Lucius try to save his own soldiers?" Eve asked.

"He probably saw us coming and knew that he couldnae have done it," Hudson answered, "Come on, let's gather them up before they wake up."

**Castle Wyvern, later**

Othello returned to find that he was not the only one who had run into problems. Brooklyn, Hudson, Broadway, and Angela lined the courtyard as he came in for a landing. All looked visibly distraught by the sight of Desdemona's condition.

"Is she alright, lad?" Hudson asked as they began to approach.

"She will live," Othello answered, "It would be best if she could get some medical attention to ease the pain until sunrise."

Broadway nodded, and led Othello towards an entrance, "Right this way. Owen is already tending to Lexington."

"I take it my group was not the only one attacked?" Othello asked.

"Aye," Hudson grumbled, "Lucius's mutates attacked Sarah's patrol, and some sniper shot Lexington and Broadway."

Othello turned his eyes to the large aquamarine male.

"Are you alright?" Othello asked.

Broadway nodded, "It went through my wing membrane. It hurts, but I can still use the wing. I'll be fine."

"What happened to your team?" Angela asked.

Othello looked down as he made his way into the castle, still following the others to the medical wing.

"Thailog," Othello answered, "He, Fang, and some red female attacked us. Fang used his electricity to do this to Desdemona and Thailog knocked Goliath out."

"What about Elisa and Coyote?" Brooklyn asked, "Coyote was with you. Even with Fang's electric powers, three of them wouldn't have been a match for four of you and Coyote as well."

"Thailog fired some gun that took Coyote out," Othello answered, and then sighed, "I will need to speak to Xanatos once Desdemona is seen to."

"Mr. Xanatos is checking on Xanatos Enterprises warehouses, and is yet to return," Owen answered as he came out from the medical wing, "I can also report, that the wound Lexington received is not as dangerous as previously thought. The bullet has been removed and he is recovering."

"Good, can ye think of a place to put Desdemona?" Hudson asked.

Owen looked down at Desdemona's wounded form, still in Othello's arms. The blond assistant then opened the doors to the medical wing.

"You can place her on the second bed," Owen instructed, "And I'll do what I can."

"Where is Elisa?" Angela asked.

"She is still with the offline Coyote robot," Othello answered as he laid Desdemona down, "That is why I need to speak with Xanatos. Neither she nor I, nor both of us working together could carry that robot."

"What?" Owen gasped in surprise.

"Thailog and his cronies attacked, harmed my mate, kidnapped Goliath, and left the Coyote robot offline," Othello explained as quickly as he could, "Elisa is currently guarding the robot."

"More has happened then I was led to believe," Owen sighed, "Unfortunately there is nothing I can do. It would take Steel Clan robots with special harnesses to lift Coyote and to use them, we need Mr. Xanatos, and he has not returned yet."

"We must do something," Brooklyn commented, "Couldn't you use Puck's powers?"

"Coyote is made from the Cauldron of Life," Owen pointed out, "Puck or any other fey would be useless in this endeavor."

"Great," Brooklyn muttered, "What about getting Goliath back?"

"Ye'll need to make a plan first lad," Hudson advised.

"We'll need to find out where Thailog is holding them and we don't even know where his base is!" Brooklyn growled.

"We'll get him back, don't worry," Angela offered with Broadway nodding.

"I hope so," Brooklyn muttered.

**Elsewhere**

Elisa stood patiently waiting for any sign of help to get the Coyote robot back to the Eyrie Building. But her mind was not focused on the large, offline, robot. She worried about Goliath. Where he was and if he was okay or not. It was tearing her up.

"I need to get him back," Elisa thought in a determined matter, "But I can't on my own, and I can't leave this piece of junk to be taken by crooks or whatever."

Elisa then kicked the offline robot.

"You had to go offline, didn't you!" she screamed at the robot.

It didn't move or answer. Elisa began to circle Coyote and try to see what Thailog had shot it with. Thailog had to have come from above them, so any damage that the robot had suffered would have to be to its back, but there was no hole from a bullet or burn from a laser blast, so the tan gargoyle very easily determined that the weapon Thailog had used was not the typical gun or non-projectile weapon that the clan had dealt with. In her inspection, however, she quickly discovered a small disk-like device on Coyote's back.

"What's this?" Elisa wondered and bent down to pick up the device.

The device came off like a magnet and Elisa held it up to her face to get a better look at it. The section that Elisa could see when it was on Coyote's back was colored a dark shade of grey, and the part that was connected to Coyote looked like the inside of a computer. Almost at the same time, the Coyote robot came back to life.

"...move on," Coyote finished he began before Thailog's attack.

Coyote then moved his head around gathering his surroundings.

"What happened?" Coyote asked.

Elisa held up the small disk so that Coyote could see it, "Thailog shot you with this. It 'knocked you out' apparently."

"Interesting," Coyote commented, "I'm going to request that you hold onto it for now. It has to affect my programming in some strange manner and it would probably continue to do so if I come in contact with it."

Elisa nodded and placed it in her belt pouch. She was about to say something when Coyote interrupted.

"Where is everyone?" Coyote asked.

"Thailog took Goliath, and Fang injured Desdemona," Elisa answered weakly, "Othello left to take Desdemona back to the castle to get help to get you back there."

"Thailog has Goliath?" Coyote asked.

Elisa nodded, not hiding a tear or two fall down her cheeks.

"Then we must go to Thailog's base as soon as possible," Coyote answered.

"We don't know where the base is, and two of us won't be any good against them," Elisa answered.

"Detective gargoyle, Mr. Xanatos programmed me to have several mission objectives," Coyote said firmly, "Defeating Shadow and Dreadnought are among them, but my main objective is to protect your clan from harm. Returning to Castle Wyvern without your mate equals a retreat, and retreating equals cowardice. I will not return to the castle until we have recovered Goliath."

"We'd still need a plan, and we don't know where Thailog has his base," Elisa pointed out.

"We can plan on the way," Coyote answered, "And we can begin a search that will at least give us clues as to where his base is. Do you remember the last major engagement you had against Thailog?"

"I think it was when he had Demona's friend Wedrington transformed," Elisa commented, "Demona had tracked him to a location in the sewers."

"Do you remember that location?" Coyote asked.

"Vaguely," Elisa sighed, "I'm not sure if I could find it without a magic user's help."

Coyote watched her for a moment.

"If we could go back to the castle for a moment, we could get Puck, and he could help," Elisa suggested, "And we could get enough of the clan together so that we would stand a chance of rescuing Goliath."

"I can not retreat under any circumstances," Coyote answered, "If you will not look for this sewer base, then I will."

Coyote then stepped toward the edge of the building and prepared to activate his rockets. Elisa looked increasingly nervous. As nervous as she was about losing Goliath, she knew she couldn't let Coyote turn all of New York upside down looking for him. She growled inwardly that she was now stuck 'babysitting' the robot.

"Wait!" Elisa said quickly, "I'll try to find the base... but you need to stay with me, and contact the Eyrie Building to let them know where we're going. Is there a way they can track you?"

"Yes," Coyote answered.

"And tell them to use that method and to come to our position," Elisa instructed.

"Very well," Coyote nodded, "Transmitting radio instructions, now."

After a few seconds, Coyote looked to Elisa as if waiting for more instructions.

"Okay, we need to get to an isolated sewer entrance that is not in the street and that you can fit into," Elisa commented, "Preferably in Manhattan's southern sector."

"That would only be the storm sewer drains near Brooklyn," Coyote answered while starting his rockets, "Let's go."

Elisa sighed and took off after the robot and thought, "I hope we find you, Goliath..."

**To Be Continued...**


	24. Divided

All characters appearing in Gargoyles and Gargoyles: The Goliath Chronicles are copyrighted to Buena Vista Television/The Walt Disney Company. I've taken the idea for the Unseelie Court from the TGS. No infringement of these copyrights is intended, and is not authorized by the copyright holder. All original characters are the property of SN.

Note: I'm disregarding the events of the "Goliath Chronicles", with the exception of "The Journey" because I do not wish to use the rest of the "Goliath Chronicles" as canon to my story. This story takes place immediately after "Hunting".

Divided

By SN/TVfan

Email: Sam_Nary

**Maddox Technologies**

Thailog and Holly stood watching the two gargoyles that they had captured earlier that night. Goliath lay unconscious on the floor of the cell they had put him in, while Wedrington nervously paced in the same cell.

"Everything is going according to plan," Thailog smiled.

"We could have finished off the others in Goliath's group," Holly commented, "And you know Fang will grumble about that for weeks."

Thailog only smiled, "Goliath's clan will have to fight me on my terms. Where I am ready. We will have an easy victory."

"What of Demona?" Holly asked, "We have her little friend here too, and from what you've told me, there's no way I can match her in terms of magic, even with the book."

"She will be lead to the cells that the Unseelie designed to be resistant to all forms of magic," Thailog answered, "We will hold her there until we can capture Macbeth, if he's even in Manhattan."

"Then that settles that," Holly shrugged, "I'd better get the others ready for the 'guests' when they arrive."

Inside the cell, Wedrington only paced nervously. He could see two figures outside the cell, one definitely masculine and definitely a gargoyle in shape, but other than that he couldn't tell who it was. The strange female that grabbed him in the sewers had taken him here and shoved him in the cell. Only to see an unconscious Goliath be thrown in a few minutes later.

"Demona's really going to hate me for this," Wedrington thought, "Getting captured that is."

He then turned back to look at Goliath. The large purple male lay on his back and was breathing slowly, as if he had simply fallen asleep.

"At least they didn't hurt you too much," Wedrington commented, "Maybe when you wake

up we can escape."

**Castle Wyvern**

Xanatos carefully set himself down for a landing to see Owen waiting for him in the courtyard with Brooklyn, Angela, Amy, Caroline, Sarah, Ian, Ethan, and Eve standing in the courtyard. The Guatemalans were also present. This immediately made the black furred wolf-like mutate nervous.

"Is there something wrong?" Xanatos asked, knowing full well that there had to be a problem, but he didn't want to sound like he was intrusive.

"Where would like us to start?" Brooklyn asked back.

"Whichever is worse," Xanatos sighed.

"Thailog's kidnapped Goliath, wounded Desdemona, and took your robot offline," Brooklyn reported in one sentence, "Elisa is currently guarding the robot, but we need your Steel Clan robots to carry Coyote back here."

"Is there anything else?" Xanatos asked.

"Some crooks have decided it's 'gargoyle season'," Angela added, "Lexington has been shot through the shoulder, and Broadway was wounded in his wing. Both should be fine, but both will have to stay here."

Brooklyn nodded, "Broadway and Hudson will be remaining on guard, Othello will join us shortly to take us to Elisa, and Candy is watching over Lex."

"My clan will also help," Zafiro spoke firmly.

"Isn't Coyote's tracer working, Owen?" Xanatos asked.

"That's actually what I've come out to report, sir," Owen answered, "I took the liberty of checking Coyote's signal. What I got was a radio signal. Apparently, whatever device Thailog used, wasn't permanent. Elisa pulled some sort of magnet off of him, and Coyote is once again active."

"Then they should be returning soon, right?" Eve asked.

It was Xanatos who answered.

"Not necessarily," Xanatos answered, "If Coyote knows that Goliath's team was attacked, be it from him seeing the attack coming or if Elisa told him about it, his primary programming, which is to protect your clan, will kick in, and he will begin an automatic search to recover the missing gargoyle or gargoyles."

"Great," Brooklyn sighed, "We got a robot that will destroy the city trying to find and rescue Goliath."

"Not as long as Elisa remains with him," Owen answered, "Coyote's report is that Elisa is with him, and that the clan is to follow his signal to join them."

"Dawn isn't that far off," Sarah commented, "What if we turn to stone before they find and rescue Goliath?"

"Coyote should recognize Elisa's stone form as the more important priority and remain nearby," Xanatos answered, "I hope."

"He'd better," Brooklyn sighed, "We'd best try to catch up with them. The two of them against Thailog, Fang, and some red female isn't going to work, especially if Thailog has some weapon that can shut Coyote down."

"I'll help," Xanatos volunteered, "If Coyote doesn't act the way I think he will when dawn comes, you'll need me to keep him there."

Brooklyn nodded in agreement.

"Owen, I'll need you to use our equipment to track Coyote's signal," Xanatos instructed his assistant, "And of course, relay the directions to us."

Owen nodded and began to walk inside the castle as Othello came out.

"I'm ready," Othello announced, "Candy is watching over both Lexington and Desdemona. Much to Lexington's protests."

"As long as he doesn't try gliding, he'll survive," Brooklyn chuckled at the report of Lexington trying to 'tough it out', "We've had a change in plan. Owen's going to use a tracking system to find Coyote. We're going to follow it and Elisa, and hopefully rescue Goliath."

"All before dawn?" Othello asked sounding somewhat doubtful that they had the time.

"Maybe," Brooklyn answered, "We all hope so. If not, it'll be up to Xanatos and the Guatemalans."

"It would probably be wiser that we remain together," Obsidiana cautioned, "For the sake of communication purposes."

The others gave a nod of agreement before taking to the air.

**Elsewhere**

Coyote had to pull a large metal grate off of its hinges in order to create an entrance that was large enough for its large metal body. Elisa followed close behind.

"Well, that went off about as quietly as a bomb," Elisa commented as she watched Coyote fling the grate out into the ocean.

"I could not fit through the holes in the grate, and I doubt that you could either," Coyote responded, "My actions were necessary."

Elisa shrugged and walked forward, "Never mind that. Let's just get going."

"Which way?" Coyote asked.

Elisa peered down the two tunnels. She had no real clue as to where to go, as she, Goliath, Othello, and Desdemona had to rely on Demona's magic the last time they went venturing after Thailog's lair. Coyote watched as the tan female's tail began to twitch as she looked down each path. After a minute, Elisa went with what her first guess was and began to walk down the tunnel that went to left, heading slightly southwest.

"This way," Elisa instructed while weakly adding, "I think."

Elisa then silently prayed to anything and everything that Goliath would be alright. The path they took followed many twists and turns. Many of them the result of long guesses at intersections as to which way was the way to go. Both gargoyle and robot kept walking until the approached a fairly open area. They had approached a 'T' like intersection. If they made a ninety degree turn they would be heading north along a different tunnel. If they headed straight they would walk into what looked like an underground base.

"That place has seen better days," Coyote commented surveying the damage done to the base's exterior.

Elisa looked the front of the lair and couldn't help but agree. It looked as though someone had shot it multiple times with an anti-tank weapon.

"Yeah," Elisa agreed, "And this has to be Thailog's base. No one would just randomly shoot at the sewers."

Elisa slowly walked through the rubble, hoping to find some clues as to where Thailog had gone, if he had left. If he hadn't, she was determined to fight him to the death. Anything to get Goliath back. As she got closer that she and Coyote weren't the only ones there. Demona lay unconscious under the arch of the entrance to the lair. Elisa carefully checked the immortal female's pulse.

"Well, either Thailog had excellent defenses that killed Demona," Elisa commented, "Or she killed herself overpowering the defenses. She'll be 'dead' for awhile."

"Is anyone else in there?" Coyote asked.

"I haven't checked," Elisa answered, "Don't go anywhere. I'm going to check inside."

"What shall be done with Demona?" Coyote questioned.

"Nothing," Elisa answered, "For now."

The tan gargoyle then looked throughout the interior of the lair. She found evidence that there had been someone living there at one time. Empty bags of junk food and what appeared to be supermarket-style meat trays. But after looking the entire place over, Elisa couldn't see anything that might indicate where Thailog might have gone. When she approached the entrance, Demona had not yet regained consciousness, but she was breathing again. Coyote was meanwhile examining a sticky note page.

"What's that?" Elisa asked.

"It's a note for Demona, apparently," Coyote answered, "It says 'Maddox Technologies. Bring as many friends as you like'."

Elisa raised a brow-ridge, "Strange, I wonder..."

Elisa was interrupted when Demona sat up and screamed, "WEDRINGTON!"

**Elsewhere**

"You didn't bring in any gargoyle?" Yuri asked in an agitated voice, "Even the one that I wounded so nicely for you?"

"No," one of Brode's henchmen stated, "The wounded one wasn't alone. A pink colored female was guarding him. It knocked the wind out of Rex. Then Sheer shot me in the calf, and then the gargoyle dealt with both Rex and Sheer. I barely managed to escape and I was wounded besides."

"I was hired to hunt gargoyles," Yuri commented, "I did my job, but now, three of you are stupid enough to be beaten by a lone FEMALE!"

"She was very strong, sir," the henchmen whimpered.

"And the three of you still couldn't take her?" Yuri growled, "Does Brode have to send his ENTIRE organization to outfight one female gargoyle? You had numbers. You should have beaten her, but thanks to your incompetence, I have nothing to give to MY bosses."

"I'm sorry, sir," the henchmen said weakly, "We can try again."

"Not tonight," Yuri answered, "They will be on their guard if they are still out now, and I will need competent henchmen to collect the body."

"I'm sorry, sir," the henchmen.

Yuri only ignored him and walked away.

**Maddox Technologies**

Goliath was somewhat groggy as he began to regain consciousness. He found himself inside an enclosed cell. It seemed very similar to the cell that the Unseelies had placed Elisa, Angela, and himself in when they were trying to gain knowledge of the spell needed to get to Avalon. He quickly found out that he wasn't alone in the cell.

"Oh thank goodness you're awake!" came Wedrington's voice from behind him.

Goliath turned to see that the white English gargoyle had been imprisoned in the same cell.

"How did you end up here?" Goliath asked.

"I got grabbed by some female in the sewers and taken here," Wedrington answered, "How did you get here?"

"Thailog ambushed me and my team during our patrol," Goliath sighed as he pulled himself to his feet, "What were you doing in the sewers, may I ask?"

"It's a long story," Wedrington sighed.

"We appear to have plenty of time," Goliath pointed out.

Wedrington reluctantly nodded, "It began before yesterday's dawn. Demona and I had recently returned to Manhattan and were looking for a place use as a sleeping space until Demona can get Destine Manor rebuilt. While I was looking, Demona spotted two gargoyles, neither of which looked like members of your clan or any of the others that I saw at Wyvern while Demona and I were there, so it was assumed that these were more humans turned into gargoyles. Demona blamed Thailog and demanded that I take her to the spot where I had been transformed."

"I see," Goliath rumbled before looking at the energy wall that kept the two from walking out of the cell, "So the blood red female that accompanies Thailog is not the only transformed human that is helping him."

Wedrington nodded.

"Do you know where Demona is now?" Goliath asked, knowing he had to sound desperate when he was wondering if Demona could help him, considering their past animosities.

"Temporarily dead," Wedrington shuddered, "Thailog's old base was extremely well protected and it electrocuted her. The female that grabbed me got to me before I could make an attempt to pull her out."

Goliath only gave a growling sigh in response.

"We will have to figure our own way out," Goliath commented, "Or hope that the others may find us soon."

**Thailog's old base**

Demona woke up to find not Wedrington or whoever had attacked him, but the former human, Elisa Maza, and the large robot that Xanatos had named 'Coyote'. Seeing them did not put the immortal female in a good mood.

"What are you doing here?" Demona demanded.

"Apparently the same thing you were doing," Elisa answered, "Looking for Thailog."

Demona's irritation at the tan female and robot faded instantly before her hatred for the black skinned clone as her eyes blazed red.

"Thailog," Demona growled angrily, "Some agent of his has kidnapped Wedrington."

Elisa stood shocked. Her mind wondered why Demona had Wedrington with her and another part of her wondered how Demona knew that Wedrington's kidnapper was an agent of Thailog's. It was Coyote who asked the question though.

"How do you know the kidnapper works for Thailog?" Coyote asked.

Demona growled back at the robot, "I came here to defeat Thailog. He's the only one who could have known where this base is..."

"But Thailog could not have been the kidnapper," Coyote interrupted.

"That doesn't mean he told the kidnapper where the base was," Elisa told the robot and then issued a warning, "Let Demona finish."

"I asked Wedrington to lead me here so that I could deal with Thailog once and for all, since your mate wouldn't do a thing about him," Demona explained in a growling voice, "I saw that he is still giving worthless humans the gift being gargoyles to help him on his want for power. I will not allow that, so I came here to destroy him."

"Thailog isn't here," Elisa commented.

"Yes, whoever the kidnapper was left a note for you to find," Coyote added and handed the stick-note page to Elisa, who in turn handed it to Demona.

Demona look at the small piece of paper, infuriated.

"I must get to him," Demona spoke after a few seconds and got up.

After Demona had taken a few steps, she finally realized that there was a question that she had to ask the tan female.

"Why are you looking for Thailog?" Demona demanded.

Demona watched as Elisa's eyes illuminated with their own crimson color, indicating that the former human was angry at Thailog as well.

"He has Goliath," Elisa growled in a low voice.

"Typical," Demona thought to herself, before speaking to Elisa, "It appears then that he has angered the both of us."

"You're going to help us?" Elisa asked.

"I'm allowing you to help me," Demona corrected, "You can deal with Thailog's lackeys however you wish, but Thailog and the one who laid hands on Wedrington are mine."

Elisa nodded, know that that was probably the best they would get, and began to follow Demona down the tunnel. It was Coyote who stopped them after the two females had taken a few steps down the tunnel.

"I can understand the drive to rescue your loved ones, but I must point out that according to my internal clocks, dawn is exactly one minute away," Coyote said calmly, "You won't be making it to Maddox Technologies tonight."

Both stood shocked for a moment, but it was Elisa who answered before Demona could growl.

"Then guard us until dusk," Elisa commanded to the robot, "Thailog is a gargoyle also. He will also be asleep."

"I must..." Coyote began.

"You follow her orders?" Demona questioned quickly.

"It is part of my programming," Coyote answered.

"What did she just order you to do?" Demona growled.

"But I also must..." Coyote began to protest.

"Guard us until dusk or I will hunt you down and tear you to your little mechanical parts!" Demona screamed as the two gargoyles turned to stone.

Coyote stood still as the two gargoyles turned to stone, and he remained there.

**Rooftop**

Xanatos sighed as he watched the clan turn to stone on the top of a tall building that was already full of gargoyle statues. Angela had commented that this had been the building that the sniper that had shot Lexington and Broadway had been hiding. The Wyvern Clan took various spots around the roof, to camouflage themselves as merely another of the building's statues. Xanatos merely sat down beside a raised structure to that he would remain out of sight. Obsidiana, Zafiro, Turquesa, and Jade sat nearby.

Xanatos pulled out a communicator that he always carried with him to converse with Owen.

"What's happening, Owen?" Xanatos asked, "Is Coyote moving?"

"No, he appears to be remaining in one place," Owen answered over the communicator's radio.

"Thank God," Xanatos muttered, "He's working correctly."

"Did you intentionally program him this way?" Zafiro asked from where he was seated.

Xanatos could only sigh, "Yes, but mostly because I feared that there may be a situation where Coyote would have to go on the 'warpath' as it were to save the clan. Apparently I've got to upgrade his intelligence. The program he's running on is a 'last resort' option, which I don't think we're at yet. Especially considering that it is Thailog who is holding Goliath prisoner."

"What does that have to do with the situation with your robot?" Jade asked.

"Thailog would never execute Goliath while the clan is alive," Xanatos sighed, "Some villains might, on the theory that it'd be best to simply kill him and put an end to the drama. They would also think they might have an advantage over Brooklyn in terms of leading the clan."

"But Elisa is Goliath's mate," Obsidiana commented, "Isn't the leader's mate usually the second in command?"

Xanatos sighed, wondering why the Guatemalans didn't understand why Brooklyn was the second and Elisa was only Goliath's mate.

"Elisa doesn't want to be the second in command," Xanatos explained, "She and Brooklyn spent a month after Elisa was first transformed arguing over who would be second. Each insisting it should be the other. Elisa eventually won, and Brooklyn remains the second in command. That's at least what I gathered. You might want to ask them when they wake up."

The Guatemalans nodded.

"You might want to get some rest yourselves," Xanatos commented, resting his head against one shoulder, "We're going to have a long night ahead of us."

**Castle Wyvern**

Fox found Owen sitting in one of the many different tracking stations that were maintained in castle to control various pieces of security or various robots, or even the individual communicators that the gargoyles carried or were part of the costumes that David and she wore when they had first been mutated. On nights when Xanatos checked his various warehouses or when he directly helped the clan, he wore his costume. Fox hadn't worn hers since David had insisted that she remain in the castle when he learned of her pregnancy.

At present, Fox was somewhat glad to be wearing a pair of sweat pants and large shirt she had modified for her wings. Her pregnancy had by now advanced enough that wearing the modified version of her old Pack costume would be uncomfortable.

"What's going on?" Fox asked.

"Thailog has apparently struck the clan while on patrol last night," Owen answered, "Coyote's 'protect the clan' programming has activated, meaning that Elisa could not return to the castle, forcing the entire clan to go after her and the robot."

Fox began to look nervous, "Where are they now?"

Owen looked at the screen that presented a map of New York's sewer system, provided by Talon, and pointed to a single red dot.

"Coyote and Elisa are here," Owen explained and then pointed to a different screen, which was a map of the city's buildings, "Xanatos and most of the clan are here."

"They're not that far apart," Fox commented.

"In terms of going left or right, yes," Owen nodded, "But they must still go down."

"Come back safely," Fox thought to herself before speaking, "I'll hand breakfast this morning. You rest and keep an eye on where everyone is. If you hear any sign of danger from them..."

"I will teleport there as Puck and bring them back here," Owen answered.

Fox nodded and slowly left Owen to his work.

**Long Island**

"Wakey, wakey," Jackal said to the sleeping Sevarius as the transformed scientist slept sitting his chair and leaning on the table he was working on.

Sevarius sat up quickly and looked up at the male cyborg with incredibly drowsy eyes. The mutate looked out of a small window that was at ground level and saw that the sun had only just risen.

"It's dawn, Jackal," Sevarius groaned, "Why are you waking me up so early. You had me up well after midnight working on Dreadnought and Shadow."

"And you're gonna keep working on them until they're done," Jackal answered, "You've had plenty of convenient excuses as to why it isn't ready. So, I'm going to drive you like drag-racer until they're done. And if you really don't want to be doing this, you can always go out on your own. I'm sure there are lots of thugs who will let some freak cat with wings tell them what to do."

"I could..." Sevarius began to argue, trying to threaten the Pack member.

"You ain't the bullying type," Jackal snickered, "You'd foul it up somewhere and end up in a fight or with them long gone or with Goliath and his goody-goodies carrying you off to that dungeon again."

Sevarius could only sigh.

"You got safety here," Jackal commented, "We won't let the gargoyles take you and we'll insure that you're fed. You won't get that chance in the outside world."

Sevarius sat silently.

"But if you don't do as we say," Jackal warned and then drug his finger across his neck, "And we'll make your life absolute hell."

"Will you let me have breakfast first," Sevarius asked.

"I said we'll feed you," Jackal answered.

Sevarius then watched Jackal leave and head upstairs and out of the basement. Sevarius then turned and glanced at the offline robots, Shadow and Dreadnought and then at the still sleeping fey, Troll.

"Soon," Sevarius commented quietly to himself as he got to his feet, "Soon, I will be the master once more."

**Elsewhere**

"I'm disappointed in you, Yuri," Brode's chief assistant commented, "We hired you to kill these gargoyles and here you come to report with not only no gargoyle but short three henchmen."

"The henchmen were incompetent and unequal to their task," Yuri answered back, "Two are likely to being seeing the inside of a jail cell, while the third is to be seeing a hospital soon and will be inactive. That is the truth."

"And the gargoyle?" Brode's chief assistant questioned.

"I wounded two, one severely," Yuri answered, "But thanks to the 'help' you gave me, neither could be apprehend and the three henchmen in the area were defeated by a pink female."

Brode's assistant sighed.

"The only good news has come from the groups out harassing the other gangs," the assistant sighed, "You will try again tonight."

Yuri nodded.

**Long Island**

It was nearly noon when Sevarius, still half asleep finally finished the work he felt needed to be done on Dreadnought and Shadow. The two robots were now ready to come online, and thanks to his programming would be loyal to him, and not to anyone else in the Pack. He would once again be the dominant one, free to work on whatever experiment he felt like working on, and he would have his revenge. Of course, he would have to free Troll as well, but the Pack were mercenaries. They could deal without an elf giving them what they demanded.

"Remember our deal," Troll told him, "You free me, or let Jackal in on your little scheme."

"Only after I have control of the Pack," Sevarius answered, "Not before."

"Then we have lunch," Troll commented, "Then we enslave the Pack, and then you free me. Now!"

Sevarius smirked back at the Unseelie fey that the Pack had captured, "Sure. Eat, enslave, free. I'm sure that's how everything works."

The lynx-like mutate then slowly made his way upstairs to get something to eat, Troll following close behind. To Sevarius's surprise, Wolf, Canis, and Vulpine were the only ones present.

"What arrrrrrrre you doing up herrrrrrrrrrrre?" Wolf growled, "You'rrrrrrrrrrrrrre supposed to be working on the rrrrrrrrrobot."

Sevarius cringed slightly. The massive amounts of wolf DNA that Wolf had taken on, which caused him to always speak in a growling voice and growl out his 'r's, unnerved the transformed scientist. It made him somewhat nervous around the mutated member of the Pack.

"I'm having lunch," Sevarius answered as he opened the refrigerator, "Where did you cyborg friends go?"

"Out to get food," Wolf growled.

"Then I suppose I'll have wait till they return to give them the good news," Sevarius answered with a smile.

"What good news?" Wolf questioned.

"You'll have to wait until they return," Sevarius smirked.

It took nearly half an hour for Jackal and Hyena to return. Jackal was carrying an armful of grocery bags while Hyena seemed to be carrying a cash register.

"I don't want to know," Sevarius muttered.

"It's a living," Jackal smirked, "Now, why are you up here and not working on the robot like you should?"

"The robots are ready for activation, actually," Sevarius answered, "I assumed that you'd want to be here see them come online."

Jackal smiled, "Hop to it, then. Activate them."

Sevarius inwardly smirked, "Of course. If you would care to follow me."

The mutate then began walking back to the basement. The Pack was quick to follow. Jackal felt triumphant. Dreadnought was practically unbeatable and Shadow was quick enough to give him an edge over most opponents. With both of them active, the Pack could deal with all the gargoyles in Goliath's clan. With them defeated, it wouldn't be long before some with a dark past would consider hiring them for something.

They found Dreadnought and Shadow standing up in the center of the room. A single panel on their backs was open revealing that there was only piece of equipment missing.

"I thought you said they were ready to be activated?" Hyena asked as she looked at the two robots.

"They are," Sevarius answered as he picked up two final pieces from work table and computer area where he had been working most of the programming for the two robots.

Sevarius then placed one of the pieces inside Dreadnought and the other inside Shadow. As Sevarius shut the compartments, Shadows optics began to glow, indicating that the robot was coming online, while a green light lit up underneath Dreadnought's dome.

"Excellent," Jackal smiled.

"Yes," Sevarius agreed and glanced at Troll and then spoke in a commanding voice, "Dreadnought, restraint the cyborgs. Shadow, deal with Canis and Vulpine in a non-lethal way."

Jackal and Hyena looked on as Dreadnought grabbed both of them with one massive and held them against a wall, with all of his weapons ready, should the two try to fight. Shadow, meanwhile, leaped through the air and stunned both Canis and Vulpine with weak laser blasts.

"Wolf!" Jackal yelled while struggling to push Dreadnought's hand off of him, "Get him!"

Wolf leaped toward Sevarius, his jaws slobbering foam, with the full intent on eating the lynx-like mutate. Sevarius only turned and hit Wolf with an electric blast from both fists. The blast sent Wolf flying into a far wall and practically rendered him senseless.

"Now, Jackal we will discuss who is in charge here," Sevarius stated in calm voice.

"This is 'treason'!" Jackal growled.

Sevarius shook his head, "No. You want leadership of the Pack, that's fine with me. Then, I am not part of the Pack. I don't like being ordered around by you."

Jackal and Hyena only watched Sevarius approach them with very angry looks on their faces.

"You see, I'm a genius," Sevarius continued, "A scientist. You're a glorified television actor who took some martial arts lessons."

"I'm a mercenary," Jackal insisted, "You're only good at creating monsters."

Sevarius smiled, "But it takes brain power to create them. I can think. You can't, and Wolf no longer knows the meaning of the word."

Jackal and Hyena only watched silently.

"I'm willing to tell Dreadnought to release you," Sevarius continued, "So long as you keep the Pack obedient to me. Or I could let Dreadnought crush you with his hands. That's fine with me."

"I don't wanna die," Hyena commented, "Not like this."

"Me neither," Jackal agreed, "Fine, Doc. You win."

"Good," Sevarius answered, "Dreadnought release them. Shadow stand down."

Both robots released their prisoners and took positions flanking Sevarius.

"Now both robots are loyal to me, so do not get any ideas about killing me in my sleep," Sevarius then said, making both Jackal and Hyena frown.

Troll then moved up next to Sevarius.

"Free me now?" Troll asked.

"Of course," Sevarius nodded, "A deal is a deal."

The mutate then broke the Iron chains that the Pack had used to imprison the Unseelie fey. Once he was free, Troll smiled and vanished from sight, saying nothing as he left.

**Thailog's Old Base, Dusk**

Demona and Elisa began walking down the tunnel almost immediately after awakening from their stone sleep. Coyote began following the two at the same time. The immortal female barely even registered that she wasn't alone. She was angry that Thailog had sent someone to kidnap Wedrington from her.

"When I catch that filthy slime I'm going to take a large knife and gouge out his eyes!" Demona muttered, mostly to herself, "How dare Thailog send someone to take him."

"We'll get him free," Elisa commented from behind her.

Demona turned around to see Elisa and Coyote following her.

"You said that out loud," Elisa said, responding to the look that Demona was giving her, "and I can understand. Thailog has Goliath too. A good part of me really wants to tear that clone to shreds."

"Stick to your precious Goliath, human," Demona growled, "And stay out of my business."

"You are both gargoyles," Coyote pointed out.

"I am the only TRUE gargoyle," Demona growled, "And I will not have you getting into my business."

"I was only trying help," Elisa sighed, "You seem to truly care about Wedrington."

"The next time you try to help me with MY personal life, DON'T," Demona growled, "You don't understand and you never will."

"I guess my theory was wrong," Elisa muttered.

"What?!" Demona growled, turning in an instant to make sure the tan female hadn't betrayed her in some fashion.

"You were fairly civil during the war against the Unseelies," Elisa commented, "I thought that because of the fact that Wedrington was the only one who spent any large amount of time with you, you might be beginning to climb out of this pool of hate and anger you've been swimming in for the past thousand years. Now it appears I was wrong. You're not going to rescue Wedrington because you care for, love if that's even possible for you, him, but because you hate and are angry at Thailog."

"He has your mate as well," Demona growled, "You should be angry at him too."

"I am," Elisa growled back, "I'm more concerned with the one that I love more then my enemy."

"Why you..." Demona began, only to be stopped by a large yellow metallic arm.

"This squabbling will not help rescue Goliath or Wedrington," Coyote interjected, "And if you want to fight, fine, but get out of my way, so I may continue my rescue operation."

Demona gave a growling sigh and backed off. Elisa also stepped back. Shortly after, the three resumed walking toward the Maddox Technologies building. They continued on in silence.

**Castle Wyvern, Medical Wing**

Lexington awoke to find that Candy had spent the day at his bedside. The pink female immediately moved to check his shoulder.

"You okay?" Candy asked.

Lex removed the bandage that Owen had placed over the site where the bullet had gone through his shoulder. Any physical sign of a wound had disappeared after the day in stone, but the arm and shoulder were both still sore.

"I'm fine," Lex answered as he sat up and got out of the medical bed, "Good as new."

"Thank goodness," Candy commented as she hugged the other web-winged gargoyle.

The hug was interrupted by Desdemona's voice.

"We should check with Owen and see what the status of the effort to rescue Goliath is at," Desdemona commented.

Both turned to see that Desdemona was fully healed from the wounds she had received from Fang's electric blasts.

"Right," Lex nodded, "Let's go."

They found Owen sitting in one of the various monitoring stations that were part of the castle. He was following two separate monitors. One showed a street map of Manhattan, while the other showed a sewer map of the city. They also met Hudson, Broadway, Bronx, and Trixie at the entrance.

"Have they found Coyote and Elisa, yet?" Lex asked.

Owen looked up before answering, "Unfortunately not. Coyote and Elisa have begun moving again and Xanatos and the others are trying to find a sewer entrance that is not in the middle of an intersection."

"Wouldn't it be better to use the Labyrinth entrance?" Hudson questioned.

"Easier, but it would take them out of their way," Owen answered, "The Labyrinth is almost a mile, in terms of taking the sewers twists and turns, away from where Coyote and Elisa are now."

"So the others haven't gone underground yet?" Broadway asked.

Owen nodded, while Lex looked at the screen that showed Coyote's location.

"Coyote and Elisa don't seem to be pausing at corners in the sewer system," Lex commented, "Almost as if they know where they're going."

"Perhaps they found a clue of some sort," Broadway suggested.

"Maybe, but traveling the sewers is very different from traveling the streets," Owen pointed out, "There are no signs to indicate directions, and even if you know where the end destination is to be, it is still quite easy to get lost."

"Maybe someone is guiding them?" Desdemona suggested.

"Or someone has captured them," Owen answered, "It is difficult to say."

"Can ye communicate with the robot?" Hudson asked.

Owen began typing something on a different keyboard. After a few moments, he sat back with as shocked a face as Owen could manage. Owen then returned his attention to the screens he was looking at earlier.

"Demona is with Elisa and Coyote," Owen reported, "Apparently Thailog's also had Wedrington kidnapped and has left a challenge. They're on their way to Maddox Technologies."

"So now we know where they're going," Candy commented before turning to the others, "What do we do?"

"We should meet up with the others," Broadway said, "and then get there as quickly as possible. He's gotta be prepared for them right now. If we all attack him from the roof and work our way down, we can overpower him."

"He probably expects all of us," Hudson commented, "Thailog isnae stupid. And with Elisa, Demona, and Coyote coming up from the sewers, which he must expect the most, they will face the worst of his defenses before we can get there."

"Then let's meet up with Elisa and her group," Desdemona suggested, "Xanatos's group is already intending to catch up with them. If we do the same, the clan will be together when they go up against Thailog's defenses."

"That would work," Lex agreed, "And then we can figure out what has gone on concerning Demona and come up with a plan."

"Let's go then," Hudson commented.

**Elsewhere**

Xanatos and the others were meanwhile having little luck in terms of finding a sewer entrance that they could get to without attracting attention or being run over.

"It's amazing how you can find these things when you don't need them," Xanatos grumbled and they found another alley that was devoid of manhole cover.

"We just got to keep looking," Brooklyn answered, "There's gotta be one around here somewhere."

The others nodded while Xanatos checked his radio.

"Where are they Owen?" Xanatos asked.

"That is no longer important Mister Xanatos," Owen answered, "We now know where they are headed."

"What?" Xanatos questioned.

"Coyote, Elisa, and Demona are headed for Maddox Technologies," Owen answered over radio, "Apparently the clan was not the only group that Thailog had attacked last night."

"Then we should go there," Amy suggested, after overhearing the conversation.

"We still need to meet up with Elisa and Coyote," Xanatos pointed out.

"The others have already left for the Maddox Technologies building," Owen answered over the radio, "They intend to meet up with you and Coyote and Elisa there."

Xanatos nodded, "Right. We'll still be looking for a sewer entrance though."

**Maddox Technologies**

"Everything is set," Fang reported, "I got all of them in position in various spots throughout the basement. When Demona and her friends arrive, they'll be ready."

Thailog smiled, "Good, then all we need to do is turn on the television for Goliath."

The large black clone then pressed a button on the side of his desk and smiled.

Below them in the cells, Goliath and Wedrington watched as several television-like screens appeared across the energized wall that kept them in the cell. Both males stepped forward investigate the occurrence closer when Thailog's voice was heard over the PA system.

"I wouldn't touch the screens if I were you," Thailog chuckled, "They're merely projected in front of the energy field. So, if you touch them you'll get quite a shock, and then you'll miss the lovely show I have in store for you."

"Why do I not like where he's taking this?" Wedrington mumbled.

They both looked at the screens to see that they showed black and white images of gargoyles of all things. The images were all in black and white, so they couldn't tell the coloration of the gargoyles, but they could tell they were gargoyles none the less. They also noticed that these gargoyles were paired in groups of two, a male and a female.

"Where they human?" Wedrington asked, "Like me?"

"Why yes they were," answered Thailog's voice causing both to look up, after a few seconds Thailog's voice continued speaking over the PA system, "Oh don't look so shocked."

"What lies have you been feeding them?!" Goliath growled.

"None whatsoever," Thailog answered, "Their transformations were completely voluntary or in Holly's case, self-inflicted."

Goliath growled in response while Wedrington looked almost curious.

"Don't look so angry, Goliath," Thailog laughed, "I assure you that you'll see the best show imaginable. The destruction of your clan at the hands of mine!"

**Under Manhattan**

"I do care about him," Demona commented, breaking an eerie silence that she, Elisa, and Coyote had been walking since Coyote broke up the fight that had nearly broke out between the two females.

"What?" Elisa asked, confused at the immortal's sudden comment.

"Wedrington," Demona answered, "I care about him."

Elisa only blinked.

"It is possible, detective," Demona said in response to Elisa's shock.

Demona paused for a moment thinking of what to say to try and explain, although a very good portion of her mind wondered why she was even having the discussion. "I know that you and the rest of the clan would like me to reform, to protect the humans," Demona said slowly, "Angela had strongly voiced her opinions on this matter. But, you, the clan, even Angela has always fought against me. Wedrington has never left, even after learning of my past. He's willing to talk with me, which you and the others only do after the battle has started."

"In most of the clan's altercations with you, Demona, it was quite obvious that you wouldn't listen," Elisa answered.

Demona ignored that, "What matters is that Wedrington has talked, and he has stayed. He has done more for me then anyone ever has since... since I laid the egg that would eventually be Angela."

"What about Macbeth?" Elisa asked curiously, privately unsure why she kept the discussion going.

"Macbeth was prepared to betray me for protection from the English," Demona growled, "Everything else he did was a falsity as far as I'm concerned."

Elisa decided not to press the issue.

"My primary goal above all things is to protect my race, detective," Demona continued, "Unlike Goliath, I do not believe in protecting the humans of this city. I want to see my kind live. Everything I've done was set up for that purpose."

"If I were in your position, I wouldn't have tried to kill anyone that didn't have wings," Elisa commented.

"Wedrington has made similar comments," Demona answered her, "He's said that he admires the ultimate goal, but believes that the methods I used were wrong. Which is more than I can say of you or the clan. You've attacked the methods and ignored the motive. The true motive."

Elisa continued to listen in silence.

"He has awakened feelings within me that I haven't felt since night that Goliath and I were mated," Demona continued, "And then Thailog had someone kidnap him. He's had the male that has been there for me kidnapped. You and Goliath may oppose Thailog because of Thailog's ultimate goals. I oppose him because of what he's done to me personally. I could care less as to who rules over the humans, but he has deceived me, he had that clone created to 'replace', and now he's had the one male, who has cared to be there for me, kidnapped. I can not let him get away with this."

Demona then felt herself shocked as she heard Elisa's response, which immediately signified that she had revealed too much.

"You love him," Elisa commented, "I, honestly, didn't think that was even possible, but you love him."

Demona stopped and glanced back at the other female in a shocked fashion.

"Guess that means my theory was right after all," Elisa gave a triumphant grin, "Wedrington's had quite the affect on you."

"I'd rather talk about something else," Demona gave a growling sigh and continued walking.

They kept walking until they came upon a series of giant metal doors that seemed to lead to some sort of internal compound.

"Are we there yet?" Elisa asked jokingly.

"I'll check," Coyote answered and after a few seconds continued speaking, "According Mr. Xanatos's maps, this is the spot."

"Can you open the doors?" Elisa asked the robot, "Since I'm pretty sure the Unseelies shielded the building against magic."

Coyote the motioned for Elisa and Demona to stand on the sides of the tunnel while the robot moved into the center the tunnel and aimed his lasers at the door that was directly in front of them. Coyote's shot did more damage to the door then was originally thought and the entire door was blown open as Coyote's lasers hit it.

What happened next however, was not good. As the smoke cleared, revealing that Coyote had successfully blasted a hole in the basement wall of the Maddox Technologies Building, a World War Two style fixed rocket artillery launcher, armed and ready.

"Uh-oh," Coyote commented as the rocket launcher began firing at the robot.

Coyote was hit by two rockets and the shock of their impact knocked the robot to the ground. Reading his damage report systems, Coyote knew that blast had weakened the armor in his chest by 30% and decided to remain on the ground and let the remaining rocket shells fly over his body. Both Demona and Elisa had also hunkered down and were using their wings as shields. All of them heard the sounds of explosions going on further down the tunnel.

"Well," Coyote commented after the rocket launcher ran out of ammunition, "That was exciting. Let's not do it again."

Elisa nodded and began to walk into the room that was now open. There were two more placed rocket launchers placed behind the other two doors. Demona snarled at them and muttered something in Latin, and the weapons melted away. Shortly after that, they heard Thailog's voice appear over a PA system while his face appeared on a computer screen that was behind the first rocket launcher.

"Well good evening ladies," Thailog said confidently, "Lovely night for desperate fight? Well, for you desperate, for me, triumphant."

"I'm going to rip off your arms and feed them to you!" Demona screamed at the screen, "Where's Wedrington?"

The image of Thailog on the screen only laughed back at Demona.

"Where's Wedrington?" Thailog laughed, "Relax 'Angel' the white lion is quite well for now. Both he and Goliath are patiently watching your demise. They're both somewhere in the basement of the building, and you're quite free to look for them, provided you survive all the lovely toys that the Unseelies left here."

"You're the one running this company!" Coyote spoke up in an accusing manner.

"That is correct, robot," Thailog smiled, "And it appears the detective found the little toy I planted on you. Don't take this the wrong way, robot, but that little thing was the least of your problems."

By this time Demona had had enough with Thailog's taunting and blasted the screen with a lightening spell.

"I'm tired of listening to his gloating," Demona growled, "Let's just go."

"Oh, but you only destroyed my image!" Thailog's voice laughed over a PA system, "I can see you through the cameras, but you can't see me now!"

Demona only gave a growl and moved toward the only door that lead into the rest of the building's basement. Once she stepped out into the hallway, the immortal female was forced to dodge multiple laser blasts, all of various strengths. She quickly destroyed the closest with a few lightning spells as Coyote and Elisa began to enter the hallway. Elisa quickly ducked behind Coyote, using his bulk as a shield from the laser fire.

"Oh, this will be fun," Elisa growled while Coyote began firing his smaller and less powerful lasers at the other laser blasters that were mounted in various turrets throughout the hallway.

Demona glanced at Elisa and then at the pieces of the destroyed laser turrets that she and Coyote had taken care of. Neither she nor Elisa were carrying any weapon, but Demona had her magic, Elisa had nothing else. The blue female quickly chanted softly in Latin and pointed a hand at the damaged pieces of the laser turrets that Thailog had placed. Shortly afterward, the various components reformed into a moderately sized laser rifle, designed and structured for a gargoyle's hands, and tossed it the tan female.

"If Thailog is going to use lasers and not his little pets, you're going to need that," Demona said firmly.

Elisa looked at the weapon with a great deal of hesitation, before taking it in a fashion that would allow her to fire at some target quickly and with a fair amount of accuracy.

"Oh, I'm using both," Thailog's voice cut in over the PA system, "but I doubt you'll be in any shape to fight them when and if you find them. My defenses are quite exquisite."

"Stolen," Elisa mumbled.

They continued following the path of the hallway in a very tense situation. Coyote ready to open up with his built in laser cannons. Demona ready to fire some lightning spell. Elisa ready to fire her own weapon. Occasionally a panel in the wall would open, revealing a hidden laser cannon or gatling gun. Thankfully they were usually aimed at Coyote, whose armor largely protected him from taking serious harm.

Eventually they came to a four way intersection of hallways, all of which looked open to follow.

"Which way do we go?" Elisa asked.

"Mr. Xanatos was not able to gain a floor plan of the Maddox Technologies building when I was being programmed," Coyote answered when the robot noticed that Elisa was looking at him.

"So much for artificial intelligence," Demona mumbled, "Let's go right."

Elisa nodded and took a few steps to the right, but stopped halfway when she heard a strange grinding sound coming from above her. She looked up just in time to see a large metal blade fall down from the ceiling. The tan female jumped back and barely avoided being cut in two lengthwise by the large metal blade.

"Since when did Thailog become interested in the French Revolution?" Elisa grumbled as she checked herself over for any sign of injury.

"About the same time you became interested in laser rifles, Detective," came Thailog's voice over the PA system.

"Try left," Coyote suggested.

Demona then created two Steel Demona robots with her magic. The immortal then sent them down the two remaining paths that had not been taken. Another large guillotine-like blade dropped out of the ceiling and destroyed the robot that went left while the one that went straight encountered nothing. The three of them then went straight.

"That works too," Coyote commented at seeing Demona's skill with magic.

The kept following the Steel Demona robot down the hallway. Surprisingly this section of the hallway seemed to be devoid of traps. Eventually they came to a spot in the hallway where the passageway made a ninety degree turn to the left. The robot rounded the corner, and shortly after, all three of them in the party heard the sounds of growls, laser fire, and claws tearing into metal. Elisa and Demona ran forward to see that two gargoyles had thoroughly torn the robot to pieces.

Elisa looked moderately surprised while Demona looked downright angry. Standing before them were two gargoyles, a male and a female. The male had a moderate build was red in color. He lacked any horns and had two bat-like wings growing behind him. He wore a pair of black jeans and a tattered white shirt. He also held the robot's head in his hands.

The female was considerably different. Her skin tone was the same shade of light green as rose's stem. Like the male, she had bat-like wings. What made her different was the abundance of spurs that the female had. She had elbow spurs that ran from her elbow down to her wrist on both arms and knee spurs that ran from her kneecaps to her ankles. The female's tail was also covered in a pattern of short but sharp spikes. The curvature of the female's browridge was actually somewhat similar to Demonas and the way her horns grew out of the browridge were similar to the immortal female's. The difference was that this female had more horns then Demona did. Beginning where her browridge met, four horns had grown out, the first were relatively small, but each following pair was somewhat larger until they got to last pair, which was the largest pair of all the horns the female had on her head. From the last horn that was on the top of her browridge, a few more horns grew out along the side of her browridge to her ear. The horns on the side of her browridge also got successively smaller the farther they went from the top of her browridge to her ear.

"Good of you all to make it!" the male challenged and threw the robot's head at them, succeeding in knocking the laser rifle out of Elisa's hands.

"Who are you?" Coyote questioned, restraining both Demona and Elisa, deciding it would be better to try and get some information before outright attacking.

"The ones who will take you down," the male sneered, earning challenging growls from both Elisa and Demona, "If it's a name you're looking for, I am called Rage."

"Thorn," the female said simply.

Demona's eyes widened further after hearing the female say her name. She remembered bits and pieces of what had happened when Wedrington was kidnapped, and hearing the word 'thorn' mentioned was one of them.

"Where's Wedrington?" Demona shouted, eyes blazing red, "Tell me where he is, and I might let you live."

"We can't kill them," Elisa argued, "They had to have been human once. Thailog is controlling them somehow. He has to be."

"Controlling us?" Rage laughed, "Hardly. Everything that has been done has been done of our own volition."

"You had this done to you?" Elisa gasped, "willingly?"

Both grinned evilly.

"Why?" Elisa gasped still in shock.

"They wanted the gift of being gargoyles!" Demona growled struggling against Coyote's grasp, "They only deserve death!"

Rage ignored the blue female, "I accepted it because I wanted to be stronger. I didn't like it when you would swoop down and effortlessly beat the tar out of me."

It was the female's answer that really shocked the two of them.

"Well, look at me," Thorn began, "Look at yourselves. Large breasts, wide hips. We have a frame that would make a Playmate jealous."

"That's... that's... that's..." Elisa stammered.

"Disgusting," Demona growled, finally shaking Coyote's large had off of her and lunged at the male.

Rage merely dropped to the ground and used his feet to propel Demona into the wall behind him. Thorn meanwhile leaped into the air and placed a kick onto Coyote's head. The blow knocked Coyote backwards and released Elisa from his grasp. Thorn then kicked Elisa, digging the spurs on her shin into Elisa's calf muscle while simultaneously lashing at the tan female's back with her tail. Elisa screamed with pain as Thorn's spurs on her shin and spikes on her tail cut through her skin, and answered the green female's attack with a powerful blow to the nose which sent Thorn flying backward.

Thorn staggered back a bit and prepared to lunge at Elisa again when a large metallic hand grabbed her by the neck and lifted her into the air.

"Unhand me!" Thorn screamed lashing at Coyote with her tail.

"Slapping me is like shooting a hand gun at a tank," Coyote commented, "It'll get you nowhere."

Coyote then physically threw Thorn into a nearby wall, head first. The green female quickly fell unconscious. Demona meanwhile, had easily recovered from the trickery that Rage had used against her and was preparing to advance on the male and tear his throat out. Demona lunged forward and landed a strong blow in the male's stomach, but seemed to only make the red male madder. Rage kicked Demona in the side of her knee, which her knee spur couldn't protect and then managed to get around behind her and get the immortal female in a choke hold.

"Not a good night for you, eh?" Rage taunted as he tightened his grip.

The taunt aggravated Demona further, and the blue female quickly chanted in Latin. Rage was then shocked to see the blue female disappear from in front of him. He waved his arms about in front of him as if trying to find her.

"Where'd she go?" Rage demanded, stamping one foot.

"Right here," came Demona's voice from behind him.

Rage turned to see Demona's fish hit him in the face. The red male flew backwards, and after hitting the floor, slid along the ground until his body collided with Thorn's. Neither gargoyle moved.

"Well, other than Thorn's tail, that was uneventful," Elisa commented, rubbing the spots where Thorn's spurs hit her.

"We have nothing to restrain them," Coyote commented looking at the two unconscious gargoyles.

"We're not going to restrain them," Demona growled, "They're disgusting perverts! Getting themselves transformed for... for... cosmetic reasons!"

"We can't just kill them," Elisa argued, "Yes, what they did was wrong and sick, but they're beaten. If a cop shoots someone who's already surrendered and given himself up, the cop is in more trouble than the crook."

"I don't care about your ideas about morals," Demona growled, "As much as I would like to find a way to change YOU back into a human to purify my race, I will admit that you at least help my race, or try to. These two do nothing of the sort. My race would be better off without them."

"We can't just kill them," Elisa insisted, standing between the unconscious Rage and Thorn and Demona.

"I'm afraid it won't matter, look!" Coyote interrupted from behind them.

Both females turned to see that a panel next to the two unconscious gargoyles had opened up and a hidden conveyer belt had moved them through the opening.

"No!" Demona yelled, shoving Elisa aside and diving at the opening, but arriving too late.

"That was well played indeed," Thailog's voice spoke over the PA system, "But your time is still ticking. "If you don't either rescue your comrades or leave, Fang will kill you in the daytime, and don't worry Coyote. I have many more nice electronic disrupter disks to put you offline."

"Peachy," Coyote snorted back, "Let's go, before we run out of time."

**Elsewhere**

"Finally," Xanatos grumbled as he lifted a manhole cover that was in an alley, ironically not that far away from Maddox Technologies.

"Hopefully we're not too late," Brooklyn commented.

"Hey!" a voice called down from above them, "Wait up!"

Everyone in Xanatos's group looked up to see Lexington and his group arrive.

"You guys didn't run into any trouble, did you?" Angela asked.

"Surprisingly no," Lex answered, "Everything seemed quiet. Of course, whoever shot me last night might have moved to a different spot."

"And that is still something that will have to wait till after we've helped Elisa, Coyote, and Demona rescue Goliath," Desdemona pointed out.

The others nodded in agreement and quickly began descending into the sewers.

**Maddox Technologies**

Thailog frowned as he watched the security film. Elisa, Demona, and the Coyote robot had successfully managed to make it through another hallway laced with fixed laser turrets and other traps. They had also, managed to avoid running into any other groups of Thailog's clan.

"Looks like this wasn't such a good idea after all," Fang commented from behind him, "They're getting closer to where our prisoners are."

"I didn't anticipate that the detective would be able to figure out what was wrong with the Coyote robot and fix him," Thailog admitted.

"She was a DETECTIVE," Fang pointed out, "They're supposed to figure stuff out."

"But she doesn't know technology," Thailog countered, "And a detective is supposed to leave a crime scene alone until proper evidence can be taken."

"Then why'd you place the rocket launchers in the basement?" Fang asked.

"Simply insurance," Thailog shrugged, "If the whole clan came, I figured the rockets would destroy most of them in one shot. I'm somewhat surprised that Coyote didn't try to get up while he was under fire."

"That robot is smarter than we think he is," Fang grumbled.

"A mistake I will not make twice," Thailog said firmly, "This will at least be a good test of the security measures. Demona will probably survive, but if we're lucky Goliath's lovely mate will die."

"I don't know," Fang commented, "the three of them took out Rage and Thorn pretty easily."

"It was three on two," Thailog answered, "And Demona knows magic while neither Thorn nor Rage do. But given what I've seen, I think most of them will need training."

Fang kept watching.

"Where are we now?" Elisa asked as they made there way down another hallway.

Both Demona and Coyote looked around.

"Nowhere near any prison cell," Coyote answered.

The two gargoyles then sighed. They then came suddenly into another four way intersection. The path that went straight seemed to almost be endless. The passageways that went left or right did have a definite end. More importantly, Elisa and Demona could see several large square energy fields.

"The cells!" Elisa exclaimed, "We've found them!"

The tan female immediately rushed to the first cell door on the right while Demona moved to begin checking the cells on the left. Coyote took a few steps to into the middle of the intersection and saw that there were cells along the wall opposite the side Demona and Elisa were checking.

"Do you wonder why all the cells are active?" Coyote asked, "Does Thailog hold prisoners we do not know about?"

"I don't know," Demona replied, too jubilant about possibly finding Wedrington to wonder why.

Demona pressed the button to open the cell door to find not Wedrington but a large laser canon aimed directly at her. The immortal female had no time to dodge and was thrown back against another energy field that made up the door to the cell behind her. She screamed from the electrical shock that the field delivered.

Elisa looked over to see Demona slowly pulling herself to her feet.

"Better not let that happen to me," Elisa thought and stood to the side of the cell she was opening.

Shortly after opening the door, a laser blast fired from inside the cell, but since Elisa was not standing in front of the door, the blast hit the energy wall of the opposite cell, doing nothing.

"He's probably done that with every cell but the ones Goliath and Wedrington are in," Coyote commented from his position, "I will help.

Inside their cell, Goliath and Wedrington saw Elisa try to open the cell across from them. Both quickly ignored the screens that Thailog had put up to try and distract them and watched the tan female urgently. Goliath could not be restrained from yelling his mate's name, trying to get Elisa's attention.

"Elisa!" Goliath yelled, pounding his fists on the energized wall, only to be thrown

back against the back wall.

Wedrington turned to face the large purple male.

"We got to let her know we're in here," Goliath rumbled as Wedrington watched him get back up.

"How?" Wedrington asked as he looked back to seeing Elisa open another cell door from the side to avoid the hidden laser cannon, "She didn't seem to hear us."

"We've got to try," Goliath insisted before yelling again, "ELISA!"

Once Demona had opened all the cells on her side she saw that Coyote had begun opening the cells on the opposite side, while Elisa was beginning to move to the opposite side of the section she had been working on. She walked over to that section and stood to the side of the first cell.

Goliath and Wedrington were shocked to see the energized wall that made the door to the cell simply disappeared.

"What the?!" Wedrington spoke first.

Both were surprised to see who came around the corner first in response to Wedrington's outburst. Demona had come around the corner and literally leaped into the English gargoyle's arms. Wedrington wasn't prepared for this, and fell over backwards as Demona landed on him.

"Thank goodness you're alive," Demona said to the white male.

Goliath let Demona and Wedrington have their reunion and walked out of the cell to see Elisa running toward him. Unlike Wedrington, he was fully prepared when Elisa jumped and caught her easily, spinning slowly and wrapping her in his wings.

"Oh, Goliath," Elisa smiled, hugging him.

"My love," Goliath answered, hugging her back.

It was then that Goliath and Wedrington noticed that Coyote was there as well.

"I'm sorry to interrupt the joyous reunions," Coyote began, "But Thailog may already be marshaling his remaining forces to strike. We must return to the castle."

Elisa sighed, "He's right. We should go."

Goliath and Demona nodded.

"Let's go," Demona agreed, "I've had enough of Thailog and his clan of perverts."

It didn't take them long to make their way back to where Elisa, Demona, and Coyote had entered the building. They largely followed the path of destroyed laser turrets that the two females and robot had battled through earlier. They were largely quiet as they walked. Once they got to the area where reached their basement 'entrance' they came to a reunion that they hadn't expected. They found Xanatos and the rest of the clan just arriving.

"It appears that you three weren't the only ones on a rescue mission," Wedrington commented to Demona.

"This is more my doing," Elisa answered him, "I had Coyote radio the Eyrie building after I managed to reactivate him, since the robot decided that returning to the castle to form a strategy equaled retreat."

"I will be tinkering with his programming to deal with that," Xanatos shrugged, "Nothing to worry about in the future."

"Either way," Hudson commented, "It looks as though ye succeeded in freeing them."

"Of course we did," Demona growled, "Come, Wedrington. We must be leaving now."

Wedrington glanced at the other gargoyles and then began to follow Demona. A voice made the immortal female stop.

"Where are you going?" came Angela's voice, "I thought you'd return with us."

"Return to the castle?" Demona questioned, looking over the clan's response to Angela's comment.

Most of them looked rather impartial, but she did notice that Brooklyn looked like he didn't fully trust her. Strangely, both Wedrington and Angela looked hopeful.

"My daughter, my relationship with the clan is not good enough to return to the castle," Demona answered and turned again.

"You got along well enough when the Unseelies attacked," Angela argued.

"The castle has too many old memories for me," Demona responded, "Memories I do not wish to bring back. The empty towers show how little my kind has been protected. And there are other things that show what some of my decisions have cost me."

"You have Wedrington though, now," Elisa spoke up, "You don't need to dwell on the past."

Demona looked back, somewhat surprised that the tan female would join Angela in her argument, but let it go for the time being.

"I have already hired workers to begin rebuilding Destine Manor," Demona announced.

"At least stay until it's finished then," Angela pleaded, "You would be safer there, and you wouldn't be alone."

Demona looked over at Wedrington for a moment.

"Don't look at me!" Wedrington said nervously, "I'll go wherever you go."

Demona looked back at Angela, "Why?"

"The same reason I've had since I found out who you are," Angela answered, "We know little about you, and what we do know has only come from our battles against you. There has to be more than that. And since you've fought alongside Elisa without trying to kill her, and have befriended Wedrington, despite the fact that he was human at one point, makes me believe that you've changed."

Demona sighed, "It is Goliath's decision. He is the leader of your clan."

"I very much doubt that you entirely changed," Goliath rumbled slowly, "I can not accept you back as one of the clan."

Demona turned leave, leaving Angela looking frustrated.

"But, our daughter has a point," Goliath continued, "You have changed since the night that you revealed your name and persona to me, not entirely, but you have changed nevertheless. In addition, I owe you a debt. You helped Elisa rescue me. If you wish to return until your manor is rebuilt, you have my consent."

"Please, mother," Angela offered.

"The castle would be safer then the cathedral we slept in yesterday," Wedrington commented, "Especially since Thailog is openly attacking us now. Fang doesn't turn to stone."

"Very well," Demona sighed, "Until Destine Mansion is completed and its daytime security system is operational, Wedrington and I will return to your castle."

Goliath and Demona then shared a formal handshake.

"Very well," Goliath rumbled in response, "Let us return home."

**The End...**


	25. Conflicts

All characters appearing in Gargoyles and Gargoyles: The Goliath Chronicles are copyrighted to Buena Vista Television/The Walt Disney Company. I've taken the idea for the Unseelie Court from the TGS. No infringement of these copyrights is intended, and is not authorized by the copyright holder. All original characters are the property of SN.

Note: I'm disregarding the events of the "Goliath Chronicles", with the exception of "The Journey" because I do not wish to use the rest of the "Goliath Chronicles" as canon to my story. This story takes place one day after "Divided".

Conflicts

By SN/TVfan

Email: Sam_Nary

**Castle Wyvern**

"Well," Matt commented as he looked at the casing that Broadway had handed him, "It's obviously from a rifle. The casing from a pistol bullet wouldn't be this big. I'd need to take it into the lab if you want any identification as to what type of rifle or the specific brand."

"That's what Elisa said," Goliath rumbled, "Is there anything else you could tell us about this?"

"Not unless you want me to point out the bluntly obvious," Matt sighed, "Do you want me to take it into the lab?"

"I don't think we need to know what brand of rifle this assassin is using," Goliath sighed, "But you might want to tell your superiors that there is an armed sniper in Manhattan."

"You guys know that Captain Chavez and I can't do much when it comes to you guys," Matt answered, "Right now the law doesn't care what you guys do. You save someone, that's fine. If you're killed, the law doesn't care."

"Hopefully PIT changes that," Amy said firmly.

"I hope so too," Matt answered, and then looked at his watch, "but I've got to get going for now. I'll see you guys around."

The gargoyles nodded as they watched Matt quietly leave the courtyard. They eventually gathered in a circle around Goliath once Matt had gone inside to go down the elevator.

"So what do we do, Goliath?" Brooklyn asked.

"I am unsure," Goliath admitted, "From what you all have told me is that this shooter hid himself quite well before firing. Even if we are to be wary of his presence it he would be difficult to spot before someone is shot."

"That's why the police wear bullet proof vests," Elisa commented, "It's protective armor that can slow a bullet down so that it doesn't do serious harm. The military uses similar equipment."

"And where are we to acquire these... vests?" Goliath asked.

"You could get Xanatos to make them," Caroline suggested, "Couldn't he order them from somewhere?"

"That might work," Elisa agreed.

"We'll have to discuss that with Xanatos though," Goliath sighed.

"What about patrols, brother?" Othello asked.

Goliath sighed again, "For tonight, at least, it would be best to hold off patrols. It will give me time to think everything over. Especially since Thailog has decided to fight our clan directly."

There were muffled voices of agreement as some of the clan gave legitimate reasons for not patrolling. All of which were personal. Meanwhile, from a different part of the battlements, Demona looked on. Wedrington stood nervously beside her.

"More Hunters," Demona growled, "Another thing caused by Goliath's foolish attempt to protect humans."

"I don't see much that is wrong with his goal," Wedrington commented, "It benefits society."

"Human society," Demona grumbled, "It does nothing to help gargoyles."

"Miss Axel talks about her folks running an organization that is trying to help gargoyles," Wedrington argued, "They can't all be bad."

"PIT wants us to be assimilated into human culture," Demona sulked, "We have our own culture. One superior to those of humans."

"Just remember I used to be human," Wedrington sighed while beginning to sulk into the castle.

"I wasn't referring to you!" Demona answered back while walking after him.

Inside a different part of the castle Xanatos and Owen were busy looking over the offline body of the new Coyote robot.

"It will take a while to improve his programming, sir," Owen said to the black furred wolf-mutate.

Xanatos nodded, "I know, but from what Elisa told me when we returned to the Castle from Maddox Technologies, Demona had to threaten Coyote in order to get the robot to stay with their stone forms during the day."

There was a short silence before Xanatos spoke again.

"And while I'm grateful that Coyote decided to listen to Demona's threat," Xanatos commented, "He should be able to reason more thoroughly."

"The new programming should fix that," Owen commented.

"I hope so," Xanatos sighed in response.

**Maddox Technologies**

"Combat training?" Rage gasped, "You can't be serious."

"I am," Thailog said firmly, "Holly and Fang have proven themselves as warriors in the past, and your display against Goliath's present and past mates leaves much to be desired."

"They didn't even find me or Buzz," Liz commented, "I'm not sure why I'm being subjected to this."

There were a few mummers of agreement from the others.

"It'll make ya tougher if you know how to fight, or at least know how to use what ya have," Fang growled from behind Thailog, "And besides, the Thailog's organization grows the more trainers we'll need to train the new recruits."

"Wait a minute," Buzz asked, "We get to train someone?"

"After you've been trained," Thailog answered, "I intend to have Holly and Fang train you until you are ready to do battle with Goliath's clan. Once you are ready, I will consider hiring new recruits for you to train."

"No complaints from me then," Butch commented.

"Good," Thaliog smiled, "Holly, Fang, you may train them at your leisure."

"How come you aren't training that Sevarius guy?" Rage demanded.

"Alex Sevarius is responsible for the scientific progress that is made here at 'Maddox Technologies'," Thailog answered, "It is not necessary for him to fight."

**Old Quarrymen Headquarters**

Dracon sat quietly in his small improvised office just staring out into space. The escaped mobster was somewhat board. His 'hit' on the gargoyles still stood, but no one had been able to bring one in yet. He had thought that they would have had more success, especially considering that Brode's gang had also taken up the offer.

"You wanted to see me boss?" Glasses asked.

"I want to know how things are going," Dracon answered, "No one's come in with any news. I'm beginning to wonder if anything happens in this city anymore."

"Most of the other gangs have been busy trying to capitalize on the hit you called on the gargoyles," Glasses answered, "That's about it. Many of the smaller gangs have tried basic forged mugging tactics in an attempt to attract a gargoyle, but they've failed miserably. The only group that's had any success is Brode's gang."

"Go on," Dracon answered leaning forward in his chair.

"They've hired some sniper from the Russian Army who managed to wound one of the gargoyles," Glasses answered, "But as far as we know, the attempt to collect the body was unsuccessful, so we don't know if he killed the thing or if it lived."

Dracon slumped back into his chair, "We need to do something. Hijack some shipment. Do something. I'm bored of just sitting around here."

"It wouldn't be wise to try anything while your hit on the gargoyles is still active," Glasses warned.

"Brode's guys doing anything else besides hunt gargoyles?" Dracon asked.

"A few of the minor families have reported that Brode's 'kept them busy'," Glasses answered, "Nothing we haven't done."

"I think I'm beginning to regret this," Dracon mumbled, "We do that because this is OUR city. If Brode is doing that, it means he wants what we have."

"You calling off the hit?" Glasses asked.

"No," Dracon shook his head, "But all our boys are now to make sure that Brode doesn't get a single gargoyle. He ain't takin' my city."

"Yes, sir," Glasses nodded.

**Castle Wyvern**

"Gargoyles don't do weddings?" Mrs. Axel asked as she, her husband, Brooklyn, and Amy began working out the details about the eventual mating ceremony.

"Not the way humans do weddings," Brooklyn answered, "Traditionally, a mating ceremony is rather small and private. Caroline's ceremony with Lawrence was actually fairly close to the traditional ceremonies that we had before the massacre."

"She only did it that way to get some peace," Mrs. Axel answered, "From what I've heard, some of the males were giving her an awfully hard time."

"Trying to court her, yes," Brooklyn admitted, "I know. That was the traditional method in which gargoyle couples were joined..."

"Our Amy was human once," Mr. Axel pointed out. It is proper for decent human beings to have a proper wedding."

Brooklyn nodded, almost moving behind Amy, and then said, "Yes, that's true. Elisa was human once also, and Angela was raised by humans. We can't do everything traditionally the way gargoyles normally have... but at the same time, even if Amy was still human, no priest would marry us and the legal system would not view a traditional marriage as legitimate."

"What?" Mrs. Axel asked.

"You two have done a remarkable job with PIT trying to get society to accept us," Brooklyn sighed, "But, the government considers us outside the law, therefore no secularized marriage would be deemed legal between gargoyles or a gargoyle and a human. And most of the priests, both Catholic and Protestant, in this country sided with the Quarrymen and consider us to be devils."

"We're trying to change that," Mr. Axel said firmly.

"And I'm glad you are," Brooklyn answered, "It's nice to know that we have supporters besides the few who know us personally, but it will take you years to get enough support to get the legal system to change and even after that happens, churches will not accept supposed 'demons' as parishioners."

"What we want to do is try to combine as many parts of gargoyle tradition and human tradition as possible," Amy interjected, trying to break up the growing political conversation.

"Combining the two?" Mrs. Axel asked.

"Yeah," Brooklyn nodded, "Both Broadway and Angela and Goliath and Elisa did that for their ceremonies."

"So what do you propose to contribute?" Mr. Axel asked.

"Let Goliath conduct the ceremony and what is said," Brooklyn offered, "We can use the great hall or the castle's chapel and have it decorated anyway you want."

"Hmm..." Mrs. Axel said a loud while thinking, "It sounds workable, but I think we'd best end this discussion for the night. We need to get to bed, and I'm sure you two have other things planned."

The two beaked gargoyles watched Mr. and Mrs. Axel quietly depart. After a while, Brooklyn turned to Amy.

"So, what do you want to do?" Brooklyn asked.

"I don't know," Amy answered, "See what's on TV?"

Goliath and Elisa had meanwhile contacted Xanatos about obtaining bullet proof vests.

"Loincloth not enough for you anymore, Goliath?" Xanatos asked in a somewhat humorous tone.

"We're concerned about what happened with Lexington and that sniper," Goliath said firmly, "There is nothing funny about this."

Xanatos nodded, "Wouldn't Thailog be the bigger threat right now? I mean he ambushed your patrol, temporarily took down Coyote, and took you prisoner. I'd have thought that a guy with a gun wouldn't be considered so much of a threat."

"Normally some guy with a gun isn't so dangerous," Goliath commented, "But unlike your commandos or most common street thugs, this guy is well trained and is using distance to his advantage."

"He'd have to be trained by some actual military organization if he's able to shoot a gliding gargoyle in flight," Xanatos commented, "Most of my commandos, and I'm sure the same thing goes for the regular street crooks, have been taught to fire at the target. A good sniper, when hunting a moving target will not shoot at where he is, but where he will be."

"We need the vests because while a gargoyle's skin is tough, it isn't tough enough to stop bullets," Goliath informed him.

"Kevlar won't stop bullets either," Xanatos cautioned, "Shoot, armies tried special metal suits of armor during the First World War. Those didn't stop bullets and certainly didn't stop a high explosive artillery shell."

"It'll at least be some form of protection," Elisa commented, "It'd be better then nothing."

Goliath nodded in agreement.

"Well," Xanatos sighed, "I'm sure Owen can arrange to have your measurements taken. The big key will be explaining why holes need to purposely made into the vests for your wings, or in Lexington and Candy's case, why the vests can not have sides."

"Why would you need to explain that?" Elisa asked.

"I don't own DuPont," Xanatos answered, "I had to order the Kevlar jackets for my commandos from them. And I don't know their CEO personally, so I don't know his stance on gargoyles, if he even believes in them."

There was an awkward silence for a few moments before Xanatos spoke again.

"Have you thought about some way of patrolling that would reduce your exposure to this sniper?" Xanatos asked.

"I'm not sure how reducing the amount of time we patrol or how we patrol will work," Goliath sighed, "He will still be there."

"True, but if you glide low, below rooftop level, he won't be able to shoot at you until you're right next to him, and that would tend to give him away," Xanatos offered, "Snipers generally prefer to strike from long distances, because then they are harder to hit by regular soldiers that may have the sniper out numbered. You reduce the distance and one, you might be harder to hit, and two, he's going to give himself away when he fires."

"He could still hit one of us when he fires," Elisa commented.

"I'll have Owen take the measurements," Xanatos admitted.

Elsewhere inside the castle, Caroline, Lawrence, Candy, and Lex sat around a small table moving small game pieces around a board.

"What Russian novel is set during the Napoleonic Wars?" Lawrence read off of a small card.

"War and Peace," Lexington answered.

"Whose idea was it to play Trivial Pursuit, again?" Caroline sighed.

Candy gave a toothy grin.

"Figures," Caroline grumbled, "My turn?"

"Come on, Caroline, you're the one who's winning," Candy commented, "Why are you complaining?"

"I don't know," Caroline answered, "I guess playing board games isn't what I had in mind for the night."

"Then what was?" Lex asked, "If Goliath wasn't concerned about someone getting shot, we'd have patrol and by the time we got back, Lawrence would be asleep."

"He's got a point there," Lawrence commented, "At least we can spend some time together tonight."

Caroline gave a half smile, "That's the good part about all this, but still, board games just isn't what I was thinking about."

"You could always take Lawrence to bed then," Candy smirked.

"Hey!" Caroline gasped, "Stay out of that. Or I'll pester you and Lex."

"I was just kidding," Candy answered.

"Don't kid around with that," Caroline answered firmly, "Lawrence and I will get around to that when we're ready. Don't push."

"It's your turn," Lex pointed out, hoping to change the subject.

Caroline sighed and rolled the dice to see how far she would have to move her piece.

"Seems pestering 'siblings' is a practice that hasn't changed," Othello commented from the doorway as he and Desdemona walked by.

"It is one of the few things that hasn't changed in this world," Desdemona commented, "They'll be fine."

The two then quietly continued their walk to the library.

**Long Island**

Sevarius sat calmly in his chair in the basement of the house that he and the Pack had holed up in. He smiled slightly as he watched the Pack stand before him at attention. Both Shadow and Dreadnought stood behind Sevarius to insure that they didn't try anything.

"Quit grinning like that!" Jackal demanded, "You got what you want, the least you can do is tell us what you're planning."

"First I intend to cure myself of my current ailment," Sevarius commented, "And then everything will fall into place."

"I fail to see how you being human again will help us get money," Jackal commented.

"Or get even with Xanatos and Coyote," Hyena added.

"Orrr fight Goliath," Wolf growled.

"Oh but it will," Sevarius answered, "You see, since Troll was freed, I do not have the facilities necessary to cure myself. I need an efficient lab. One that doesn't have the risk of rats stealing my formula."

"Well, if you hadn't freed the little elf, we wouldn't be in this predicament," Jackal commented, "Would we?"

"Dreadnought?" Sevarius asked.

The massive robot activated a minor laser cannon and shot Jackal in the chest, knocking the male cyborg down.

"Continue to challenge me and I will have him increase the power level," Sevarius said coldly, "You will learn obedience."

"Fine, what is your command?" Jackal asked as he got up, sarcasm and defiance clearly in his voice.

"We are going to take over Maddox Technologies," Sevarius answered, "The company is still functioning, despite the death of Mr. Maddox, so it is clear that some lackey took over the works. We will overthrow him and take over the company ourselves. From there I can become a human again and will once more have the powers of a powerful business at my command."

"I don't want to get involved with those elves again," Hyena commented.

"I doubt the 'elves' are controlling the building anymore," Sevarius commented, "When you captured Troll, you didn't capture him leaving the Maddox Technologies building. That will be all for the general meeting, I will leave the specific planning to you, Jackal. This will be the Pack's assignment."

"Very well," Jackal commented, "We could use the help of Shadow and Dreadnought."

"I'll give you temporary command over them, once you've presented me with a half decent plan," Sevarius answered.

**Elsewhere**

Yuri looked patiently through a pair of binoculars that he had. He had seen no sign of any gargoyle so far that night, and he was beginning to wonder if they didn't patrol every night. He had seen some the night before, but they were beyond the range of his weapon, and they did not come within range.

"No one's out tonight," one of his aides commented.

"Thank you for stating the obvious," Yuri growled back, "We must be patient. Hunting is a sport of patience, not speed. That is why you people have always failed against these gargoyles. You are never willing to wait."

"There things we need to do," the aide defended.

"You should be focused on watching for gargoyles," Yuri commented.

"They aren't out tonight," the aide protested.

"We will stay out until dawn, to make sure they are not out," Yuri ordered, "If they stay in their castle, then we have done enough to frighten them, and your leader, Brode will have the power he needs."

Yuri then turned his full attention back to observing the night sky. The two aides could only sigh.

**Castle Wyvern**

Goliath and Elisa found a fair sized crowd in Hudson's television room as they came in. Hudson was seated in his traditional easy chair. Bronx and Trixie lay to the right of his chair, and Elisa found it hard to giggle at the sight of Bronx looking almost annoyed by the fact that Cagney had made his head a bed. Broadway, Angela, Sarah, Ian, Ethan, Eve, Brooklyn and Amy were also sitting on the floor watching the television. They appeared to be watching Letterman.

"So what have ye figured out?" Hudson asked first as Goliath and Elisa approached.

"Xanatos will pay for the procurement of the 'bullet proof vests'," Goliath rumbled, "and I think it would be safer to patrol at a lower altitude."

This caught Brooklyn's attention, and the second in command turned his head to look at his leader.

"How much 'lower'?" Brooklyn asked.

"Below the rooftops," Goliath answered, "It will prevent this sniper from picking us off at long ranges."

"We're not going to be walking?" Amy asked, "Are we?"

"No," Goliath answered, half chuckling, sensing the humor in the female's question.

"What about Thailog, father?" Angela asked.

"We will have to deal with him much the same way we've dealt with him before," Goliath answered, "Much of what will need to be done will fall to Xanatos. As long as Xanatos keeps his company, we are safe."

"It might be wise to keep a look out for him or any of his followers," Hudson pointed out.

Goliath nodded, "We will."

Demona found Wedrington seated quietly in the library looking out over the window. The white male's wings were caped over his shoulders.

"Here you are," Demona commented, "What are you doing?"

"Thinking," Wedrington answered simply.

"About what?" Demona inquired.

"About whether or not I've made good decisions in my life," Wedrington answered.

"What?" Demona asked again.

Wedrington turned his eyes away from the window and stared at Demona's eyes.

"I've tried to persuade to you that humanity is not some all destructive evil force," Wedrington sighed, "And you continue to argue that humanity is evil. I point out that I was human, and you change the subject."

"I have seen what evils humanity is capable of," Demona answered firmly, "You are kind and... idealistic, but you are also and exception to the rule. The Inquisition of the late Middle Ages and the Renaissance specifically hunted gargoyles. Macbeth and his heirs, the Hunters hunted my kind for centuries. And they were all quite successful. They are inherently evil at their core. They kill what they either hate or fear."

"I know you've seen hard times," Wedrington answered, "But did you ever look for what is good in life? Like the Marshal Plan after the Second World War. The United States spent millions of dollars to rebuild Europe, despite the fact that no one in America, then or now, cares about Europe. Evil people don't do that."

Wedrington paused for a moment and then spoke again, "And I can't believe that I'm an exception. There are more good humans then there are evil. You've simply let yourself believe that anything human is evil. I've tried to show that not all humans are evil. I've pointed out that this PIT organization is trying to help gargoyles and you argue that they're evil."

"They want assimilation," Demona pointed out, "They do not want to help us. We should not want to become 'winged-humans'. Humans were weaker than gargoyles. By laws of strength we are better suited to rule then to be ruled."

"Then why don't you turn every human in the world into a gargoyle," Wedrington growled, "Then human society can't assimilate gargoyles. Gargoyle society will assimilate humans."

"No," Demona growled, "Humans must not become gargoyles."

"Which leaves violent take over or genocide, which is also wrong," Wedrington commented, "You can't conquer or kill humanity and you won't transform humanity to keep yourself from being assimilated. What are you going to do? Keep things the way they are just to protect the way you view gargoyles?"

"That would be preferable," Demona answered, "Then gargoyle culture would remain gargoyle culture, untainted by human perversions."

"Remember, I was human once," Wedrington growled, "By that sort logic you need to KILL me because I've perverted your vision of gargoyle culture."

Demona blinked.

"You always forget that," Wedrington continued, "You want a purely gargoyle culture with no trace of humanity, I, Elisa, the three other females in Goliath's clan, and the other gargoyles in Thailog's all need to die. Now, while I'm sure you'll want to take care of Thailog's 'clan', I know you've basically wanted to please your clan. Will Goliath be happy if you kill his mate? Will Brooklyn be happy if you kill his mate-to-be? Will Lexington be happy if you kill the one he loves? Will Lawrence be happy if you kill his wife? Will your daughter be happy if you do any of this?"

Demona's face soured. Wedrington's logic had her cornered. To an extent she wouldn't care what happened to Elisa or the other transformed females in Goliath's clan, but her actions had always been aimed at protecting the clan. Gaining what she wanted would only drive the clan further away from her, and the point that she would have to kill Wedrington frightened her more. She had reluctantly accepted to herself that she had grown attracted to Wedrington and she didn't want to lose him.

"If you want gargoyles to survive, you will have to accept 'assimilation' of some form or another," Wedrington pointed, "There are more humans then there are gargoyles, by far. Gargoyles can't rule the world and if humans accept gargoyles into their society, they will expect that gargoyles do some things to blend into their society."

"If you don't like the way I've behaved, why have you stayed?" Demona demanded.

"Because part of me is attracted to you in a way that seems to be more than simple friendship," Wedrington said weakly, "I want you to see the good in the world. Humanity is not your enemy."

"You're attracted to me?" Demona asked, forgetting the rest of what Wedrington had said.

"Yes," Wedrington answered, "That's why I feel so angered by the way you've behaved. I personally would like the ability to walk down a city street, and if that means I need to be 'assimilated', then I'm okay with that. It will let me return, somewhat, to the life I had."

"But you have a new life," Demona protested, "We can have a new life."

"One of seclusion," Wedrington said back, "I don't want to hide from the world to give you an idea about purity."

"You agree with these PIT people?" Demona demanded.

"I'm willing to give them a chance," Wedrington commented, "The world runs on give and take. You can't get everything you want. Would you at least consider it? Supporting PIT."

Demona looked into his eyes, and found little ability to argue.

"I can try," Demona said weakly.

**Dawn**

Xanatos stood quietly with Owen as the gargoyles took their places for the day.

"So can we order the vests?" Xanatos asked.

"Easily doable, sir," Owen answered, "I find it interesting that Othello and Hudson will not be wearing the vests."

"They're already wearing armor," Xanatos commented, "Nothing to be overly concerned with."

"Is there anything you will do about this sniper?" Owen asked.

"No, I'll leave him to Goliath," Xanatos answered, "I think they'd want to take him down more than I would. We should focus on protecting our business."

"Worried about Thailog?" Owen questioned.

"Not really," Xanatos answered, "But he's running a major business. At least we know now why Maddox Technologies hasn't gone belly up."

"What are your orders, sir?" Owen asked.

"We will be doubling our efforts right now on the same fields that Thailog is working on at Maddox Technologies," Xanatos commented, "He doesn't have a shapeshifting Demona to help him, so he can only direct them at night."

"I'll get right on that, sir," Owen nodded in agreement.

"Good," Xanatos nodded, "and I meanwhile need to take a trip to the Labyrinth. I'll probably take Fox with me. Give her a little bit of exercise."

"Of course, sir," Owen nodded.

**Elsewhere**

"Still no sign of them?" Brode's chief aide asked Yuri as the Russian sniper stood before him.

"We spotted none in the air," Yuri answered.

"I'm beginning to grow board of your tactics," Brode's aide commented, "We should have enough gargoyle bodies to get the biggest favor out of Dracon by now."

"None of the other gangs have brought one in either," Yuri pointed out, "This things take patience. Those gargoyles have usually defeated every crook that has tried to defeat them at close quarters combat."

"Maybe," Brode's aide sighed, "But you're going too slow! We need to do this quickly. Dracon may get bored by the fact that he's not getting any bodies and will call off the hit. If he calls of the hit, he can deny any favors."

"I will double my efforts when the sun sets," Yuri promised.

**23rd Precinct Headquarters**

"So, how are all you're winged friends fairing?" Flariaty asked as she and Matt left the Precinct house.

"They're doing fine," Matt answered, "Concerned about someone shooting at them, but they're fine."

"It wasn't policemen that were shooting at them, was it?" Flariaty questioned.

"Flariaty, Elisa was a cop when she was still human," Matt pointed out, "Do you honestly think she would allow the clan to get into a fight with the police?"

Flariaty ignored him, "I still think they're trying to take our jobs, and the abundance of weirdness in this city makes it possible."

"They aren't after our jobs," Matt protested.

"You value their opinion over mine," Flariaty pointed out, "anything weird happens, you go to the gargoyles, you don't come to your partner. I swear, sometimes I think you ought get yourself transformed and go live with them."

"They asked me for some help, tonight," Matt argued.

"They should have followed the rules if they wanted police help," Flariaty answered.

Matt sighed. Flariaty remained very legalistic in terms of how to deal with the clan. She expected them to follow all the human laws, when most laws didn't apply to them, and despite the fact that while the Quarrymen were gone, many of the prejudices still existed.

"I'm sure they will once they can freely enter society," Matt commented, "Don't make a conflict out of something that can't be easily solved. You'll live longer."

"Just do your work and stop associating with them every night, and I will," Flariaty said coldly as she began walking down the street in the opposite direction.

Matt only sighed again.

**Abandoned Warehouse**

Garlon sat quietly behind a desk in the warehouse that he and the surviving Unseelies had claimed after they found they couldn't get into the Maddox Technologies building. His attempt to take command of the entire surviving Unseelie Court had failed, and only a few were willing to serve him. The most powerful was Vermin, and the rat-like Unseelie had come up with an idea that intrigued Madoc's former aide. His first priority however, was to make the warehouse a safe establishment, that wouldn't be condemned by the mortals. That would at least keep them out of his business.

He was thinking over Vermin's plan when there was a flash of emerald light and Garlon found himself looking at another fey.

"Troll?!" Garlon gasped, before growling in an icy voice, "What are you doing here, traitor?"

Troll backed up, quickly seeing that the mousy haired fey was preparing to attack him.

"Hold on!" Troll said quickly, "It's not what you think!"

"I think you're a traitor for leaving the Court," Garlon growled, "And traitors are killed."

"I didn't quite believe you when you wanted to keep the Court going," Troll explained, "I was foolish then and have seen the error of my mistake."

"And you've come crawling back," Garlon commented, "Give me one good reason as to why I should accept your return."

"Because I have evidence that our mortal 'allies' have betrayed us," Troll answered.

"We had slaves who were not willing to serve us to begin with," Garlon answered, "You can not betray someone when you never wanted to serve them in the first place."

"I wasn't referring to the slaves," Troll explained, "I was referring to the Pack."

Garlon frowned, "The Pack attacked you? You should have been able to wipe the floor with those morons and you're not that powerful."

"They used Iron on me, my Lord," Troll bowed, "I couldn't fight them. Apparently, Dreadnought and Shadow were damaged in the attack on the Eyrie Building. They kidnapped me to have me repair them. They have hijacked the two robots."

"We will get them back," Garlon growled, "And the Pack will pay for its crimes against us."

"Is that a wise idea, sir?" Vermin asked from the door, "Both Dreadnought and Shadow are immune to magic, thanks to Madoc's own designs, and while the rest of the Pack is lacking one or two whole brains, they are fierce warriors. It might be better to let them duke it out with Goliath's clan and then pick up the pieces."

"Shadow and Dreadnought were built so that we could control the Pack," Garlon argued, "If they've hijacked the robots, then we are at a disadvantage in the overall situation. We will destroy the Pack for their betrayal and recover the robots. They will be most beneficial in helping us fight Xanatos."

"Very well," Vermin bowed, "I will ready a team to take care of the Pack."

"Troll will help you," Garlon commented.

**The Labyrinth**

"Things have actually been rather quiet down here," Talon commented calmly, "Most of the former slaves are adjusting better every day."

"How are they, by the way?" Fox asked.

"Doing better," Talon commented, "Most are beginning to accept what the Unseelies have done to them, so I think we're making progress."

They then heard a flurry of questions as Claw walked through a nearby hallway with a much smaller Ocelot mutate following.

"Some seem to be more curious about all this than others," Maggie commented.

"Do you think Thailog will attack the Labyrinth?" Talon questioned Xanatos.

"I wouldn't think so," Xanatos answered, "There'd be nothing for him to gain financially by doing so, but that doesn't mean he may want some sort of 'fall back' base if he's forced out of Maddox Technologies."

"What about the clones?" Eleanor Reed questioned, "I've heard that he originally had them created."

"He's opted for using sorcery to transform willing humans," Xanatos commented, "Wedrington and Goliath saw all of them on specialized screens that Thailog set up. They couldn't see the coloration of them, but they know what they look like. Demona, Elisa, and Coyote ran into a pair of Thailog's 'clan', and both were very 'frustrated' by the encounter."

"Well," Talon sighed, "We'll try to help as much as we can. Make sure he's not trying anything in the sewers."

"That's about all that Goliath and Elisa would want," Xanatos commented, "Are there any supplies you need brought down here at all?"

"Cots or bed frames," Maggie answered, "Once all the former slaves are fully used to things, we intend to reopen the shelter."

"Is that all?" Xanatos asked.

"For now," Talon sighed, "There isn't much else to get right now."

"How goes work on a cure?" Maggie asked curiously.

Xanatos sighed, "Gen-U-Tech thinks they've worked out how the first portion of the formula works, and are moving on to the second."

"They're still trying to analyze the original formula?" Eleanor asked.

"Unfortunately, David and Sevarius did their work all too well when they were still working together," Fox commented, "The formula is very complex and hard to figure out."

Eleanor gave weak sigh while polite 'good-byes' were said and while Xanatos and Fox left to return to the Eyrie Building's basement.

**Long Island**

Jackal found Sevarius busy with various notes and things at the desk he had set up for himself in the basement of the house. The male cyborg stood there silently for a few moments before he made a coughing sound into his fist to get the mutate scientist's attention.

"Ah, Jackal," Sevarius said looking up, "You're back, and a little earlier than I anticipated, but no matter. I assume you have a plan?"

Jackal inwardly growled. It hadn't taken him too terribly long to think up a plan of attacking Maddox Technologies, he, Hyena, and to some extent, Wolf, had discussed what to do concerning Sevarius. It was agreed that they would be better off without him now, especially with the robots under his command, any money would go to him. However, with command of the robots, it would be difficult to take out Sevarius, and they had decided to wait until they were absolutely sure that they could succeed.

"I do have a plan," Jackal answered.

"I'm waiting," Sevarius said impatiently.

"We'll all bust into the building's basement and trap their business elite on the upper floors," Jackal said calmly, "Much like what Xanatos did at Nightstone. Once we have them trapped, we can find out who they are and kill them. You can then claim the company."

Sevarius smiled, "That sounded half decent."

Jackal held back an urge to activate his lasers and fire on the mad scientist.

"I do try my best, sir," Jackal answered.

Sevarius nodded, "Very well. You will move at dusk. I don't want some policeman spotting you with my robots. I'll give you temporary command over them when you leave."

"Fine," Jackal sighed as he left the basement.

He returned to the first floor to find Hyena, Wolf, Canis, and Vulpine waiting.

"He surprisingly approved the plan," Jackal commented, "We just have to wait till dusk."

"Not a bad idea," Hyena commented, "I don't think many transitions of power have gone this way in broad daylight."

"They don't," Jackal nodded, "But I still don't like all this. He ain't gonna pay us. We've lost our status as mercenaries."

"Hey we agreed that we were going to take him out when we got our chance," Hyena pointed out quietly, "Let's not whine until then."

"I don't like waiting unit dusk," Wolf commented in his growling voice, "If we fight, we should fight now."

"Well, if you didn't over emphasize your 'r's, we wouldn't have to worry," Hyena commented, "But your growling gives you away."

"Why you..." Wolf began to growl, getting Canis and Vulpine to growl in his support.

"Easy," Jackal warned, "The last thing we need is a fight amongst ourselves."

The Pack spent the rest of the day relaxing and going over specific plans, including the route they were going to take. It was largely decided to use the sewers would be the best route of attack, as that Shadow and Dreadnought would attract to much attention and without someone powerful like the Unseelies or Nightstone or David Xanatos behind them, an all out assault through the air would fail. Going through the sewers was the best option of travel, plus it would make it easier to launch the planned attack. As the sun set over the western horizon, Sevarius appeared from his basement with both Shadow and Dreadnought with him.

"Everyone's assembled, I see," Sevarius commented, "Are you ready?"

"We've been rrrrrrrrrrready," Wolf growled.

"Very well," Sevarius commented, "Shadow, Dreadnought, your are to assist the Pack in their capture of Maddox Technologies, and you are to insure that they take the facility for me."

A green light blinked under Dreadnought's dome and Shadow nodded in agreement.

**Maddox Technologies**

Thailog inspected the last bits of the areas that Demona and Elisa had damaged or destroyed during the rescue of Goliath and Wedrington. Holly had repaired much of the damage with her magic and even restored the original defenses. Although the process had completely tired her out, Thailog was incredibly proud of her progress. When he and Fang first discovered her, she knew a little bit of dark magic and wasn't powerful enough to even use the copy of the Grimorum without the necklace. Now, while she still needed the necklace to channel the book's power, she had mastered most of the spells within it.

Seeing that everything was in order, Thailog quietly decided to return to his office.

**Castle Wyvern**

"Remember we are to patrol below the rooftops," Goliath instructed as the clan made their way out to the battlements, "This should prevent that sniper from getting a clean shot at us."

"It will make covering the entire area more difficult though," Othello commented.

"Patrol the streets in your sector that have the highest crime rates," Goliath instructed, "We can't cover everything this way, but until the bullet proof vests arrive, we can not risk making ourselves easy targets for this sniper."

The clan then took positions along the wall to prepare to leap from the battlements. Goliath also decided to reinforce some last minute instructions.

"Also remember to be on the lookout for Thailog and any of his followers," Goliath instructed, "And if anyone is wounded, they are to return here as quickly as possible."

"Right, Goliath," Brooklyn acknowledged.

The clan then leapt from the battlements and dove toward a much lower altitude at a very high rate of speed. The female trio let out loud screams like those that people would holler out on a roller coaster, with a resounding 'WEEEEEEEEEE!'

"We need to do that more often!" Amy said with a grin.

"Better then any roller coaster," Caroline nodded in agreement.

"Bad for my ears," Brooklyn grumbled as he tried to clean out one of his ears.

"Oh, come on, that was fun," Amy answered.

"Right," Brooklyn said skeptically.

"What, haven't you ever been on a roller coaster?" Caroline asked.

"Not to ride it," Brooklyn answered.

"I guess we got ourselves a goal for the future," Caroline smiled, "Get your mate to ride a roller coaster."

"We haven't been mated yet," Amy answered.

"Close enough," Caroline shrugged.

The three gargoyles then banked to turn around a corner and continue gliding toward their patrol zone.

**Elsewhere**

Yuri frowned as he put his binoculars down.

"Did you hear that?" one of his aides asked, "One of them let out a devilish scream."

"I think it was more than one," another aide commented.

"They were only having fun," Yuri growled, "Haven't you ever been on America's various mechanical amusements?"

"Well no, but..." the first aide commented.

"But nothing," Yuri growled, "They were having fun. More importantly they're not afraid and they're smart. I can't hit them."

"We've seen you shoot," the second aide commented, "You could shoot a pea of a man's head without splitting hairs."

"Yes," Yuri smiled, "Good training in Russian Army for snipers. The problem is that there are none above the buildings."

"So?" the first aide asked.

"I can not shoot what I can not see," Yuri explained, "They are using the buildings as cover."

Both aides immediately got on their cell phones.

"What are you doing?" Yuri questioned.

"Contacting the collection teams," the first aide said, "Tell them they need to drive the gargoyles above the skyline."

"That won't work," Yuri commented, "They will only attack the collection teams."

"It's the only way," the second aide pointed out, "Our orders are to bring in at least one dead gargoyle tonight. It is not entirely likely that one may glide by this building."

Yuri only sighed. He was sure that this would be another botched operation. The police would be brought in this time in larger numbers and either the gargoyles or the police would get a confession from at least one of them. To some extent, this was the reason that Yuri didn't officially work for any gang. The obsession with getting things done quickly would only cause problems. Things like this required a level of patience that was not present in many criminal's minds.

**Long Island**

The house that the Pack had occupied stood quiet as Troll, Vermin, and two other Unseelie fey floated toward it.

"That's where they were hanging out?" one of the minor Unseelie asked, not believing that a group of mercenaries could be living in modest looking house.

"Repairing Dreadnought and Shadow weren't the only things they had me do," Troll commented.

"It won't stay that way for long," Vermin smiled as he raised a ball of fire to throw at the building.

Sevarius was collecting all the notes he had taken during his spare time in terms finding a cure for his mutate formula. Not because he wished to cure those he had used it on, but to regain his human form. He still hated Titania for robbing him of his humanity. He was about to set them all in a neat pile when he heard a massive explosion that made him jump.

"What the devil?" Sevarius commented and began to head up toward the first floor, "They only left a little while ago, and why would they return and attack the building?"

"Because we aren't who you think we are," Vermin answered as he appeared directly in front of Sevarius with Troll and two more Unseelies behind him.

"Troll?" Sevarius asked, surprised by his appearance, "What are you doing back here? I thought you left?"

"I did," Troll answered, "I went and returned to my Court."

Sevarius then noted the fire that was burning around the entry point that the fey had come through.

"Why are you attack me?" Sevarius demanded, "I freed you."

"You were also instrumental in my capture by the Pack in the first place," Troll

answered, "You are a part of the Pack and the Pack were servants to the Unseelie Court."

"You betrayed us," Vermin smiled, "Now you will tell us where the Dreadnought and Shadow robots are, and where the rest of your comrades are."

Sevarius hit Vermin at point black range with an electric blast and attempted to hurdle the remaining fey, realizing that they weren't there to talk. The blast knocked Vermin to the ground, but did not do him serious harm. Troll immediately conjured up a spiked club and hit Sevarius with it as the mutated scientist tried to get over them.

"Where are the rest of your comrades?" Troll demanded as he looked down on the wounded Sevarius.

"I do not know where they are at the moment," Sevarius coughed out.

"Did you send them somewhere?" Troll questioned, "You had taken leadership of the Pack when you decided to free me."

"I sent them to take over Maddox Technologies," Sevarius coughed again, clutching his ribs.

"He attacks a member of our court and now he intends to sit on our throne," Vermin accused, "KILL him Troll!"

"What?" Sevarius asked, "Throne? Troll told me you'd been driven from the building."

"Our Lord intends to establish his palace atop the Maddox Technologies building," Vermin answered, "As a tribute to his predecessor. You intend to fight his designs, so you must die."

"No," Troll protested, "Enslave him instead. He did free me in the end. That deserves some form of mercy."

"He looks like our former slaves," one of the minor Unseelies commented.

"Very well," Vermin sighed, "Do not worry, your life has been spared."

**Castle Wyvern**

"Do you think they'll be alright?" Wedrington asked in the library as he looked out a window.

"Who?" Demona questioned from one of the tables.

"The clan," Wedrington pointed out, "Out there patrolling with some guy with a sniper rifle after them."

"You needn't concern yourself with him," Demona answered, "This sniper isn't dangerous. As much as I may disagree with Goliath, he is no fool. He'll do what is necessary to protect his clan."

"Shouldn't we help?" Wedrington asked.

"Not until humanity accepts gargoyles," Demona said firmly, "If this PIT organization can gain total control over human society, then I will consider it. I also do not want you to go out until the prejudiced humans are vanquished."

"Why?" Wedrington asked.

Demona looked at the male for a moment. She knew he wanted an honest answer. Unfortunately, she was somewhat embarrassed by the honest answer. Wedrington had remained by her side longer than anyone since the Wyvern Massacre when everything went bad for her and she magnified the problems by making bad decisions. She had been alone for years, and now was beginning to feel things that she thought she would never feel again.

"As you said last night," Demona began weakly, "I've begun to care about you more than as a simple friend... I think we've been unofficially courting ever since I met your family."

Wedrington turned and blinked, "Courting?"

"You have been there for me despite knowing my past," Demona answered, still in an embarrassed and weak voice, "You have remained by my side. We are growing to love one another."

"I'm sorry if I've done anything wrong," Wedrington commented quickly.

"You've done nothing wrong," Demona insisted, "You've actually done more than others have."

The two slowly approached one another.

"Where does this leave us then?" Wedrington asked.

"Together," Demona answered as the two hugged.

**Above Manhattan**

It had been a relatively quiet night as Caroline, Amy, and Brooklyn went about their patrol route. Turns were rather sharp, and there hadn't been any noticeable amount of crime that they could see, although there always seemed to be a black care trying to get below them.

"Quiet night," Caroline commented, "Maybe all the crooks are bored of crime."

"We aren't that lucky," Brooklyn chuckled back.

"I'm more concerned about that car below us," Amy commented, pointing down to where the car was, "That car has been following us for the past five blocks."

Brooklyn looked back to see the care weaving in and out of traffic trying to get below them. Suddenly, as they got closer, two back windows rolled down and gangsters wielding Uzis began firing up at them.

"Look out!" Brooklyn yelled as he banked right, avoiding the bullets that came flying at him.

"As if we weren't being shot at enough," Caroline growled.

"Take them down!" Brooklyn ordered, "Before they hurt someone."

The two females nodded and began diving down toward the car, zigging and zagging as they went to keep the gunners from getting a good shot at them and got gradually closer to the vehicle. Eventually both Amy and Caroline landed on the roof of the car. Both reached in and grabbed the gun out of the two crook's hands. The crooks had seemed to keep trying to hit Brooklyn when they couldn't see the two females any more.

"There, no weapon," Amy growled as she crushed the gun in her hands.

"They ought to make gun control laws tighter," Caroline commented as she reached in to take the criminal out of the car, "people shouldn't be allowed to run around with machine guns."

The yellow female nodded as she pulled the other gunner out through the other window. Both men looked relatively frightened by low growls and glowing eyes. Both Caroline and Amy then took off, holding the two gunmen by their feet and began to slowly glide back up toward Brooklyn.

"Why were you shooting at us?" Amy demanded.

The gunman looked at the female's glowing red eyes sharp fangs and then down at the ground. He feared being dropped and began to talk very quickly.

"We're only following orders," the man said quickly, "We were told to drive you above the rooftops so that Yuri could shoot you."

"Who's Yuri?" Brooklyn demanded.

"Our sniper," the other gunman said in a nervous voice, "Used to be in the Russian Army. We found him a few years ago looking for work."

"He's a freelancer that we keep on retainer," the first gunman added, "Whenever we need someone shot, he's the one we call."

"Who are you working for?" Caroline growled.

"Ultimately, Brode," the second gunman whimpered.

Caroline and Amy growled at the recognition of the gangster. Brooklyn growled in an even more aggressive manner, remembering the brief gang war that went on when Brode first came to New York.

"Why did he tell you to come and shoot at us?" Brooklyn growled, "We have no money for him to take."

The two gunmen looked at each other and then at that the ground again.

"But there is a favor involved if we take you out," the second gunmen said weakly.

"What?" Caroline growled and shook him to make him speak up, never loosening her grip.

"Dracon's called a hit on every gargoyle in Manhattan," the gunman screamed, "Every family has accepted it and is participating. Brode wants to do it so that he can evict Dracon from Manhattan."

"He wants to restart the war," Brooklyn growled.

"No, it's a favor!" the first gunman said quickly, "If Brode bags the most gargoyles, Dracon will owe him a big favor. Brode has deemed that the favor will be that Dracon is to abandon New York to him."

"Great," Brooklyn sighed, "Let's find something we can tie these two up with and leave them for the police.

The two females nodded and the group then glided down an alley way to find a fire escape.

**Maddox Technologies**

Thailog was in his office when a sudden alarm rang out throughout the building. It got him to stand up, and the black skinned clone was thankful that the alarm was solely internal and wouldn't warn the police.

"Goliath wouldn't just attack me," Thailog commented to himself, "At least, not this quickly. Who could this be?"

The clone walked to the far end of his office to look at a few security cameras. He found nothing going on, on the upper floors, but the basement was another matter. The Pack had apparently blasted through the same wall that Demona, Elisa, and Coyote had blasted through the night before.

"Holly just fixed that wall," Thailog complained to himself and turned to his communications switches and activated the radio, "Holly, Fang, we have guests in the basement, not far from the training area. Please see to them, until I can arrive."

"Right," Fang's voice answered.

"Jeez," Hyena commented as she dusted herself off, "Whoever is running this place now was waiting for us."

The others nodded in agreement. After Dreadnought had blasted a hole in the wall, he and Shadow were met by a hail of rockets, and unlike Coyote, both robots tried to power their way through the barrage. Dreadnought was offline, and while Shadow could still move, it was obvious that it wouldn't take much to take him down.

"Yeah," Jackal commented, "Makes me curious as to who is running this joint."

Canis and Vulpine were suddenly hit by powerful electric blasts that threw them into the other rocket launchers in the room. Wolf turned to charge but quickly met a similar fate. Jackal and Hyena then turned to see Fang and a blood red female gargoyle with dark hair and devil-like horns and holding a large book watching them intently.

"You will meet him soon," Holly said in a firm voice.

"You'rrrrrrrrrrre gonna pay forrrrrr that!" Wolf growled as he got up.

Fang hit the mutated member of the Pack again with an electric blast. Jackal and Hyena prepared to fire their laser blasts at the two when the female held up the book she was holding.

"Fulmenos Venite!" Holly announced and launched a bolt of lightning, first at Hyena and then Jackal.

The blast knocked both cyborgs against the far wall. Their upgrades allowed them to absorb the electricity part of the attack, but the magic that created it still launched them back. Wolf, had by now recovered and charged at the two, jaws slavering. Holly held her book back, kneed Wolf in the gut and then delivered a punch to the back of his head with her other hand. Wolf then fell to the ground unconscious.

"Any other takers?" Holly asked.

Canis and Vulpine sided next to Jackal and Hyena and growled at the other two.

"You're good," Jackal admitted, "But you can't win."

The male cyborg then launched his finger missiles at Holly and Fang, forcing both to dodge out of the doorway. Canis and Vulpine then began to advance on Fang while Jackal and Hyena began to advance on Holly. They were interrupted by a coughing sound. Jackal and Hyena turned to see a large black gargoyle that looked like Goliath, but had red eyes.

"Now, what seems to be the trouble here?" Thailog asked.

"What happened to Goliath?" Hyena asked a loud.

"Actually, my dear Hyena, I am not Goliath," Thailog answered, "My name is Thailog. I am Goliath's clone."

"You're running this business?" Jackal asked.

Thailog nodded, "I assume you were sent here to remove me. Am I right?"

Jackal and Hyena nodded.

"How much is this man paying you?" Thailog asked.

"What?" Jackal asked.

"You're mercenaries," Thailog explained, "People who will fight for money. You wouldn't be here unless someone paid you to do it."

"Actually, we're not being paid," Jackal grumbled.

"You personally want to take over my company?" Thailog asked.

"No, we were told to take over your company for someone else," Hyena answered in a testy voice, "Now, are you going to surrender or do we have to beat you to a pulp?"

Thailog glanced at the unconscious Wolf and then at the remaining Pack members.

"You're fighting for no pay?" Thailog asked, "That doesn't sound like a good mercenary."

"It's complicated," Jackal sighed, confused by the gargoyles entry and comments.

"Go ahead and explain then," Thailog commented.

"We need those two robots," Jackal began gesturing to the offline Dreadnought and the heavily damaged, but still active Shadow, "to take on Goliath's clan, but after the Unseelies fell apart they went offline. We captured an Unseelie and had another one of our members repair them and install new programming. Now, they fixed the robots, but they programmed them so that they wouldn't follow the Pack but to follow him. We can't leave his employ because it would mean we'd lose the robots and won't be able to fight Goliath and his clan..."

"And Coyote," Hyena growled from behind her brother.

"Well," Thailog commented, "They are both out of the fight. You'd need to have them repaired in order to take on Goliath and Coyote."

Jackal and Hyena nodded.

"Fang, Holly, drag the two robots to the underground robotics facilities," Thailog ordered, "I'm sure that Hyena and Jackal would like to have their robots repaired as soon as possible."

"You'd repair them?" Hyena gasped.

"I will provide the facilities," Thailog answered, "You will repair them. Meanwhile, Jackal, I have a business proposition for you."

"What?" Jackal demanded.

"You're a mercenary, are you not?" Thailog asked.

"Yes," Jackal asked.

"How would you like to switch employers?" Thailog asked, "I can't pay you all much, because Maddox Technologies is still trying to get its feet off the ground from the fall of the Unseelies, but I'm sure it's an upgrade from not being paid at all."

"Work for you?" Hyena growled, "Our TARGET?"

"Would you rather take your two damaged robots back to the employer who isn't paying you and then have to repair them in what is probably a shabby house somewhere?" Thailog asked, "I'm sure he will be happy that his robots are damaged."

"You're willing to pay us?" Jackal asked as he watched Thailog lift up Wolf's unconscious body.

Thailog smiled, "Yes. I can give you more details as to how much I can pay you if you will accompany me to the medical wing."

"Is this a smart idea, bro?" Hyena asked.

"He's freed us from Sevarius," Jackal answered, "and he's willing to pay. I say go with it."

**Castle Wyvern**

"So what if the sniper is Russian," Candy growled, "he still shot Lex."

"I'm fine now," Lex answered, "day in stone cured everything."

"And I want you to stay fine," Candy said back to the other webwinged gargoyle.

"Candy is right," Othello agreed, "The ethnic background of the sniper is not important. But the information that this is all a 'mob hit' is."

Goliath nodded, "This complicates matters. It appears that all of us had some run in with these people."

"The group that tried to get us got into a firefight with another group of gangsters though," Elisa commented, "I think Dracon already suspects what Brode's proposed 'favor' is."

"We need to get Dracon to call off this hit before he threatens the whole city," Angela commented.

"We still have to find him," Hudson commented, "The news reporters mentioned that Dracon escaped from the same prison as Castaway and at the same time."

"Which we will do," Goliath vowed, "Dracon will not escape us forever, and his hit will not last!"

**The End...**


	26. Failed Again

All characters appearing in Gargoyles and Gargoyles: The Goliath Chronicles are copyrighted to Buena Vista Television/The Walt Disney Company. I've taken the idea for the Unseelie Court from the TGS. No infringement of these copyrights is intended, and is not authorized by the copyright holder. All original characters are the property of SN.

Note: I'm disregarding the events of the "Goliath Chronicles", with the exception of "The Journey" because I do not wish to use the rest of the "Goliath Chronicles" as canon to my story. This story takes place one day after "Conflicts".

Failed Again

By SN/TVfan

Email: Sam_Nary

**Castle Wyvern**

It was a quiet evening as the clan finished their breakfast. There was a fair amount of nervousness going around the group as this was the first night since the clan had discovered Dracon's hit on them. It wasn't that any were afraid, but merely an odd expectation of trouble.

"Do you think we'll be able to catch this 'Yuri' tonight?" Sarah asked quietly.

"I don't now," Angela answered her rockery sister, "He had left the rooftop that he was on when he first fired at us by the time Broadway and I got there. I think he'll be hard to track down."

"It's not Yuri we should deal with," Broadway grumbled, "We ought to find Dracon and deal with him. We take out the guy who caused the hit, and there's no hit left."

"I don't think that would end the hit," Lexington commented from across the table, "Maybe officially because none of the other gangs can 'cash' in on it, but they might try to carry it out anyway because they think it is good for business."

"It wouldn't hurt to get this 'Dracon' guy out of the way, would it?" Ian asked.

"I wouldn't be bad," Angela replied, "The problem is finding him. I don't think anyone has seen him since he broke out of jail."

"We can find him," Broadway insisted, "There's only so many places a rat like him can hide."

"Do you think bringing Dracon in would get this hit called off, brother?" Othello asked Goliath curiously.

"It might get Brode's organization and the major crime families in Manhattan to lay off," Goliath sighed, "But experience has shown that many of the smaller organizations and street gangs will use the hit as an opportunity to make a name for themselves."

"The smaller gangs we can handle," Elisa commented, "They don't have the money to either get good guns or hire ex-military snipers to do their hunting. They're gonna be the guys who try to shoot us from the ground with a revolver or if they do use a rifle, they're still not going to be that well trained and will miss."

"I hope you're right," Desdemona commented, "There are still many things about this time that make me nervous and will always worry me. In my time the worst a human could do when we were awake was throw a spear or shot and arrow or slash with a sword or hack with an axe or mace. Now, what they shoot fires projectiles or non-projectiles faster and there are all sorts of things that we weren't raised with. They will always make me nervous."

"Those things make everyone nervous," Elisa answered, "My mom has her fair share of stories about worrying about my dad while he was on the force and then worrying about me while I was human. They probably still worry."

"We'll still be gliding below the rooftops, Goliath?" Hudson asked.

"Until we are sure that at least this sniper is out of the way," Goliath nodded, "Which could take awhile."

Meanwhile, Xanatos were in a lower level lab of the castle. Both were looking at the small disk that Elisa had taken off of Coyote during Thailog's attack. Special scanners had discovered that the disk operated two fold. One it used a magnetic pulse to hold itself to Coyote's metallic body and largely prevent his electronic and computer systems from working. The other was a strange radio code that allowed the device to literally command the robot to shut down. It was a two pronged attack that had worked all too well.

"So do we have any way of counteracting these little disks?" Xanatos asked, "I'm sure that Thailog has more of them."

"Not at the moment, sir," Owen answered, "the technical teams have not fully finished analyzing the device's technology. And even then, I have a feeling that the device has some magic involved in its workings."

"But Coyote should be immune to magic," Xanatos answered back, "We made him out of the previous model, which we built from the cauldron of life."

"Immune to fey magic," Owen corrected, "Mortal magic is a different story. The magic that Demona and red female that is working with Thailog could do Coyote some damage. Probably not much, but still, some damage here and there could have lasting effects."

"That could cause problems," Xanatos sighed, "Have any of our sensors found anything?"

"No sign of Fang during the day, sir," Owen answered.

The black furred wolf mutate tapped his muzzle for a few moments before placing the small cylindrical disk back in his assistant's hands. He then began to walk back to ward the exit.

"Have we been able to get a worm inside Maddox Technologies yet?" Xanatos asked.

"No, sir," Owen answered, "Thailog is being very cautious with his hiring practices."

"I'd wonder how he's able to hire anyone at all," Xanatos commented, "He is a gargoyle after all, and now he doesn't have the advantage of a shapeshifting Demona to do all the interviews for him."

"He probably uses some form of video system," Owen answered, "Impersonal, but effective, and the Unseelies probably had plenty of the necessary equipment laying around."

"Isn't it great when bad guys capitalize of the fall of another bad guy?" Xanatos half chuckled, "We need to get a mole in there so we can figure out what Thailog is up to."

"Of course, sir," Owen answered.

**Rooftop**

Yuri sat down carefully by the edge of a building at a major intersection. He never got a chance to take a shot the previous night when he saw that the gargoyles had decided to glide below the rooftops. To him, it proved that they were intelligent. They could recognize an enemy's tactics and change theirs accordingly. It made the ex-Russian sniper respect these creatures. It was a real challenge, something he had not faced. He had only been in training during the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, and was one of the first soldiers dismissed after the fall of the Soviet Union. The gargoyles allowed him to actually use his training.

"Shouldn't you be further back?" one of his aides asked, "You could fall."

"Or be spotted," another added.

"The gargoyles have decided to glide low," Yuri answered, "If I sit back, they could glide past and neither of us would know we were there. Here I can get a shot at them, if they come this way."

"What about firing from a building directly across from the Eyrie Building?" the first aide asked, "Hit them while they're diving."

"That would be a foolish decision," Yuri answered back.

"How so?" the second aide asked, "You could sit more toward the center of the roof, and you would be able to better conceal yourself."

"Yes, but the shot would be more difficult," Yuri answered, "Despite the fact that I would have a clear line of sight, remember that they will have gravity on their side and will be moving faster then what they would normally glide at."

"You could hit them, couldn't you?" the first aide asked.

"Probably," Yuri answered confidently, "But my shot would give away my position, and no one would be able to make the collection as the entire clan would descend on us immediately after I fired. This is strategically, the best location."

"Can you see them?" the second aide asked.

Yuri checked his binoculars and looked toward the Eyrie Building. For the moment all was quiet. He watched for a few moments and then saw forms appear on the castle's battlements.

"I think they're getting ready to leave for the night," Yuri answered as he continued watching.

Each form then leaped from the edge of the walls and dove downward, eventually disappearing below the horizon of buildings. Yuri then set his binoculars down and moved to grip his rifle. He would have to be ready for when a gargoyle or gargoyles would glide into is line of sight through the intersection.

**Over Manhattan**

Broadway, Angela, Sarah, and Ian carefully made their way along their current patrol route for the night. Along with the decision to patrol at a lower altitude to prevent the Russian sniper from shooting them, Goliath had also instructed a change in patrol routes. They couldn't glide up and down every street effectively. Doing so would take more time and leave other people in other parts of a group's patrol area unprotected for far too long. So the group would glide up and down the major streets and glance down the smaller ones and alleys as they passed them.

Each hoped the night would be quiet, and at first it seemed that way, until they got a few blocks away from the Eyrie Building. Then they heard excited screaming coming from below them.

"There's a group of them!" the heard a voice scream from below them, "Come on. You all heard about the hit!"

Broadway looked down to see a group of punks, dressed in tattered clothing and running along the curb, nearly knocking over a few people that were on the street. The aquamarine gargoyle's eyes began to glow when he saw one pull a gun out of the waist band of his pants.

"Great," Broadway grumbled, "street thugs are going after us now."

"As Elisa said at breakfast, it's probably to impress Dracon and get in with the 'big boys'," Angela sighed, "Let's take them down before they hurt someone."

"Like us?" Ian asked one the thugs fired a shot into the air.

The group dove down to deal with the street thugs quickly. A few managed to fire of a shot or two, but all were poorly aimed and the shots flew off into the air. The resulting fist fight was almost shorter then the time it took to dive down on them. Broadway grabbed the ringleader and crushed his gun. The crook was barely able to get his hand out of the gun before Broadway crushed it as well. The other two fainted before Angela, Sarah, and Ian could do anything.

"Well, that was easy," Sarah commented, "Maybe we'll be able to get this Yuri character just as easy, now that we know he's out there."

Angela sighed with a weak, "Maybe" while shrugging. Broadway meanwhile glanced up toward the rooftops and gave a low growl. Guns still made him nervous, and the fact that Dracon had decided to get all the other gangs to start going after gargoyles with guns frustrated him.

"We'd better tie these people up and get going," Broadway sighed, breaking his thoughts and moving the brick wall of a nearby building.

"We'll get him, Broadway," Angela tried to comfort him once they'd gotten airborne, "He can't hide forever."

"I know," Broadway nodded, "It's just that..."

"You don't like guns," Angela finished, "I know. We all know that. We don't like them either."

"Thanks," Broadway gave a weak smile, "But this sniper really has me spooked. It's not just that he's using a gun, it's that he's been able to hit us. No one's ever shot us before, but when we saw Lex take that bullet through the shoulder, I was afraid that we'd truly run into trouble."

"I know," Angela answered, "and you know that Candy will agree with you."

"I don't want to let anyone down," Broadway replied, "I don't want this guy to get them."

"We won't let him," Angela said confidently as the group began gliding again.

Meanwhile on the ground a pair of eyes from an unmarked black car watched them glide off.

"Looks like they know about Mr. Dracon's little plan," a man commented from the passenger seat of the car.

"Yep," the driver answered simply.

"Will that mean trouble?" the passenger asked.

"Don't know," the driver sighed, "Better report this to Dracon."

**Maddox Technologies**

"I would like to thank you for agreeing to help train my clan," Thailog commented to Jackal as the black skinned clone focused on some business related paperwork.

"Least we could do when we're not working on Dreadnought and Shadow," Jackal replied, "Although your clan needs a lot of work. Unless you expect the Pack, Fang, and that red female..."

"Holly," Thailog commented.

"Holly," Jackal nodded, "Unless you want us to directly deal with Goliath's clan on our own. Your males show promise, but it's clear that they fight like street thugs. If their opponent is physically stronger then them or smarter, they stand no chance. And the only female that has any fighting spirit is that butterfly looking one."

"Liz," Thailog commented.

"Whatever," Jackal shrugged, "Where did you pick up these people?"

"Mostly thugs that Fang and I picked up off the street who didn't want to be 'beat up' by the gargoyles anymore," Thailog answered with a shrug.

"It shows," Jackal snorted.

"Be careful," Thailog said firmly, "You'll be working with them."

"I'm not saying they can't improve," Jackal commented, "I hate admitting it, but Hyena and I weren't much more then common thugs when Xanatos hired us to be part of the Pack. Of course we thought it was Fox who was hiring us, but that's unimportant."

Thailog nodded, "What did you wish to speak to me about?"

"I want to know what you intend to do with Goliath's clan," Jackal commented, "We didn't work that out earlier."

"That should be obvious," Thailog answered, "I intend to destroy them."

"Good to see that we're all still on the same page," Jackal commented, "You will understand that the Pack is to be given a share?"

"That is the basis of a partnership, is it not?" Thailog replied with smile.

Jackal nodded with an equally evil smile, "Glad to see we understand each other. Now I guess I better get back to your basement. See if Wolf has managed to eat one of your recruits yet."

Thailog only gave a sigh, guessing that the male cyborg was being humorous.

"They're going to need a lot of work," Thailog sighed to himself as he turned to the next part of the paperwork he had been working on.

**Elsewhere**

Caroline, Hudson, Othello, and Desdemona slowly rounded another tight corner to continue their patrol. For them it had been a relatively quiet night. There was the occasional mugging or car jacking, and one burglary that they had to stop, but there was no sign of any of their major foes. This didn't stop Caroline from craning her neck to look up and see if there was anyone on the rooftops.

"If there were someone up there, lass, we'd know by know," Hudson commented.

"You can't be too careful," Caroline commented, "I don't like being this low. I can't see as much. I mean the horizon, instead of being a long way off, is right in front of my face. I don't like that."

Hudson was about to answer when a gunshot rang out from below them. It wasn't well aimed and glanced off the armor on his shoulder and went off into the air.

"I'm fine," Hudson said quickly as the three younger gargoyles looked at him, "But the shooter is getting away!"

They all looked down to see a man in a dark suit running away from them down the street. He was wearing dark sunglasses and seemed to only have a small handgun with him.

"After him!" Othello urged and dove down toward the running felon.

The man screamed and fired a few shots into the air, but all of them missed wildly, as the man seemed to be firing more in desperation than anything else. Desdemona and Caroline followed close behind Othello, dodging and weaving as they did so to avoid being hit. Hudson, meanwhile, moved to head the gangster off and prevent him from getting any farther.

The man ran headlong into Hudson as the elderly gargoyle landed. Looking behind him to see where he was shooting, the man was not prepared for the collision and fell to the ground at the gargoyle's feet. Othello grabbed him shortly after he landed.

"Which 'family' do you work for?" Othello questioned in a low voice.

"The Barzonis," the man said in a frightened voice, "Don't kill me! I'm just doing what they told me."

"We don't kill unless our opponent is actually fighting us and is a true enemy," Desdemona answered, "You're merely a common crook. The police will decide what is to be done with you."

The man said 'thank you' very quickly and repeatedly as Othello tied him to lamp post with a piece of a fire escape. The four gargoyles were quickly back in the air, still below rooftop level.

"So who are the 'Barzonis'?" Caroline asked.

"I think Elisa said something about them being a smaller family in New York," Hudson commented, "an old mafia family that Dracon's gang overpowered in the late seventies to early eighties when Dominic Dracon was leading the gang. Knowing who they are isn't entirely important though. Knowing that they've accepted Dracon's hit call is."

The discussion didn't go much further when they saw a single black car drive under their position, headed south. The color of the car and its direction were not entirely as important as whom they saw was driving it. Hudson immediately began following the car.

"Hudson?" Caroline began to ask.

"The driver works for Dracon," Hudson answered, "I've seen him before in some of the clan's previous engagements with Dracon."

"What are you thinking, mentor?" Desdemona asked.

"I'm thinking we can follow him to Dracon's lair," Hudson answered, "Once we know where the gangster is hiding, perhaps we can end this foolish 'hit' of his."

The other three thought for a moment and began to follow Hudson, and all four were careful to avoid being seen by the driver of the car.

**Castle Wyvern**

Fox stared quietly out one of the windows of the room she was in, looking out over the city. The mob sniper and Thailog's return to the scene had troubled the female red fox mutate and her mind dwelled on the fact. A strong coughing sound finally managed to bring her focus away from the window and back to the other person in the room.

"You seem distracted tonight," Titania commented.

The Seelie Queen had returned for one of Fox's lessons and found that her daughter was barely paying attention. Now if this had been merely a discussion of the weather, politics, some sports team, or life in general, it wouldn't matter or be significant, but it was Fox's magic lessons that Titania was providing. Titania couldn't have Fox distracted and then miss the entirety of the lesson. It could lead to disaster.

"Hmm?" Fox asked back before realizing why her mother made the comment she did, "Oh, I'm sorry. My mind just doesn't seem to be on magic tonight."

"I had gathered that," Titania answered, "What is going on?"

"It's nothing super big," Fox sighed, "but it could be considered serious. Dracon has called a hit on the clan, probably because they've foiled so many of his operations, and every crime family as essentially answered it. Some Russian working for Brode turns out to be an ex-Russian Army sniper and seriously wounded Lex a few days ago. He's fine now, and while I or David weren't directly involved in the incident, I'm still nervous."

"You and your husband are the clan's allies," Titania answered, "Concern for allies and friends is perfectly normal."

Fox sighed again, "It's not that I'm concerned about the clan. They'll find a way to win, as they always do. Especially with Dracon. The man may be good and avoiding legal guilt for the worst of his crimes, but he always seems to lose in the end."

"You're concerned that someone else could do it to you," Titania finished.

Fox nodded, "David and I were never exactly cautious. In fact if it weren't for the fact that I'm currently carrying Alex's younger sibling, I'd probably be out there now. Just for the sake of having some excitement. David's gone out from time to time to check on his warehouses and other sites, making sure that no one's broken in or anything. I'm afraid that someone may decide that we're good targets and fire at us."

Titania was silent, not yet sure how to answer. Fox decided to continue.

"And given that David and I have been mutated, we'd look an awful lot like gargoyles to some guy on a rooftop hundreds of yards away," Fox added.

Titania thought for a moment and once she had decided on how to word her answer, she began speaking, slowly.

"It's natural to worry about one's life from time to time," Titania sighed as she sat down next to her daughter, "Everyone has some weakness that can end their life. For mortals that can be just about anything. For the fey and certain supernatural beings, it's a specific material or item. My race is vulnerable, and can only be killed, through magic or iron. Most weres are vulnerable to silver. Vampires and many demons are vulnerable to the cross and other religious images. There is always something that can kill someone. It's natural to be concerned about them from time to time."

Fox only looked down.

"But I wouldn't worry if I were you right now," Titania continued, "If you concern yourself with this too much, you may end up to be overly cautious. There are many things that are good so long as you don't take them to an extreme. Caution is one of them. There are times to be cautious and times to not be cautious."

Fox nodded weakly in agreement, "Thanks, I guess."

"Now," Titania answered, "I came here to provide you with your magic lesson. I think we should return to it. You'll have to pay attention, but it should get your mind off of what else is going on."

**Over Manhattan**

Broadway's group had encountered very little since their run in with the small group of gangsters in the initial part of their patrol. There were a few minor street crimes here and there, but they hadn't encountered anything that could be deemed serious.

"Sure has gotten quiet," Ian commented.

"Yeah," Sarah agreed, "Those thugs earlier were the only real danger we had to face tonight."

"He must be active in a different part of the city," Broadway grumbled, "Maybe one of the others will catch him."

"Maybe," Angela nodded, "Our patrol is almost over, and I'm looking forward to going back to the castle."

Meanwhile from his spot on the roof, Yuri watched through the scope of his rifle at the four gargoyles gliding through the intersection. Two he recognized as being part of the group that he had shot at earlier. One of them being the big aquamarine male that he had managed to wound through the wings.

"You got four of them, boss," one of his aides commented, somewhat loudly.

"Thank you," Yuri whispered back in a firm voice, "I can see that. Keep it down. I bet they have good ears."

The two aides backed up quietly, fearful of the sniper's temper. Yuri, meanwhile, aimed at the large male, intending to send a bullet through its skull. He'd only be able to get one before they'd counter-attack, but with one dead, he was sure that one of the surviving gargoyles would move to take the dead body away from the scene.

Unfortunately, for Yuri, fortune seemed to strike him in the same manner it had before. Just as he fired his rifle, the gargoyle turned to head in a different direction going down a different street, and the bullet missed.

"Damn!" Yuri growled before breaking down to saying several curse words in Russian, which none of his aides understood.

Broadway had just turned to head up a street that would lead his team back up to the Eyrie Building, and thus Castle Wyvern, when he suddenly heard a bullet whiz past his ear. He then saw the bullet crater the brickwork of the building near him. The others stopped in surprise and shock behind him.

"It's the sniper!" Broadway growled in anger.

"I saw the flash come from that building," Ian pointed to the building that Yuri was on.

"Let's go," Angela said, "Remember not to move in a straight line. Don't give him an easy target."

"Time to go," Yuri said quickly as the gargoyles began zigging and zagging their way toward the building they were on.

"But you didn't hit him," one of the aides whined.

"That's how it goes," Yuri growled, "I do not wish to be here when four angry gargoyles come charging for us, and I doubt you would either."

Yuri rushed to get to the stairs and escape, but his two aides drew handguns and waited for the gargoyles to appear.

"I'm sorry, but Brode demands that we kill gargoyles," the aides said, "You can run if you want, we will hold them off."

Almost as soon as the aide said that, Angela and Sarah zoomed over the edge of the building knocking the guns from their hands. Both aides soon fell to the ground unconscious. Yuri turned to run when he bumped into Broadway. He bounced off, dropped his rifle and was caught by Ian. Broadway slowly picked up Yuri's rifle.

"So," Broadway said almost causally, but it was clear that he was angry, "You're Brode's sniper."

"You can't prove anything," Yuri growled back.

"We don't have to," Broadway growled, as he broke Yuri's rifle in two with hands, "We know you're guilty and there isn't much you can do to hide."

"Let's tie them up," Angela instructed, "I'll see if I can contact Matt."

Broadway and Ian nodded and tossed Yuri to Sarah and began to look for some pieces of metal that they could use to tie the crooks up with. They ended up setting on what looked like the building's lightning rod. Broadway was nervous in taking it, but he had nothing else to tie the three mobsters up with, so he was forced to take the long straight metal rod. Using great strength he then wrapped it around Yuri and his two aides.

"Hello, Matt?" Angela, meanwhile, spoke into her radio communicator, "Is that you?"

"Yeah, I'm here," Matt answered over the radio, "I'm kinda busy, could this wait?"

Angela then heard someone yell through a loudspeaker 'drop the snake and slowly back away' over the radio.

"Sounds busy where you are," Angela commented.

"Yeah, you could say that," Matt answered over the radio, "Some nut carrying a cobra took up hostages. I got called in to negotiate. So, can this wait?"

"I was just letting you know that we caught Brode's sniper and at least two others," Angela answered, she lowered her communicator and turned to Broadway, "What building are we on?"

"I don't know," Broadway shrugged, "We're on an apartment building on the northwest side. That's all I know."

"We're on the northwest side," Angela said into the radio, "When you're done with the snake, come here. We'll give you better directions when you get close."

**Former Quarrymen HQ**

A relatively tall man walked into the warehouse that the Quarrymen had operated out of when they were still an official organization and was now used by Dracon and his gang. An obvious scar ran along the side his head and had earned the man the nickname 'Scar'. He didn't like the nickname, but Dracon and many of his associates were keen to keep calling him that. His partner followed close behind. It was Glasses who they ran into first.

"Scar, what are you doin' here?" Glasses demanded, "You're supposed to be making sure that Brode's gang doesn't round up any gargoyles."

"That's actually why I'm here," Scar answered, "I need to talk to Tony."

"You'll talk to me, first," Glasses answered, blocking Scar's way.

"I think the gargoyles know about the boss's hit," Scar said plainly, "Does that satisfy you?"

"What makes you think that?" Glasses asked.

"Watched a bunch of street punks, probably wanting to impress Tony, take on four gargoyles," Scar answered, "the gargoyles took care of them pretty quick, and it just looked like the way that they took them out looks like they knew about the hit."

"You came all this way to say that?" Glasses demanded, "You're not supposed to think. You're supposed to do as you're told. Need I remind you, that we will owe a favor to anyone who kills a gargoyle, and that Brode will have our favor be us leaving New York to him?"

"I know that," Scar answered back, "But I think they know. What do you suppose will happen if they do find out?"

"They'll come looking for us," Glasses sighed, "But you have no reason to believe that they do know and..."

"Hey, what's going on here?" came Dracon's voice from the side.

Both turned to see the lead gangster walking out of the area that led to his office.

"Boss?" Glasses asked.

"Just taking a walk," Dracon answered, "Now what are you two arguing about?"

"I think the gargoyles know about the hit, sir," Scar said quickly.

"Which they can't," Glasses retorted.

"If you saw the way they went after those street thugs, you'd think they know too!" Scar growled back at Dracon's second in command.

"You have nothing to prove they don't know," Glasses answered again.

"I doubt either of you has the evidence to prove either argument," Dracon finished, "We're just going to have to play the game carefully. None of our guys are to actively take part in the hunting. Don't want them getting caught. We are to step up our efforts to make sure that Brode doesn't bring in the most."

"Right boss," Glasses nodded to go make the necessary arrangements.

"And thank you for the word of warning, Scar," Dracon answered, "I hope you're right though."

Outside the building, four pairs of eyes watched carefully through an upper window in the warehouse. Caroline felt somewhat like Spider-Man as she clung to the side of the building with her talons. Of course in the comics, he didn't leave small holes in the walls like her talons did, but that didn't change how she felt.

"He's hiding in a warehouse?" Caroline asked quietly.

"Apparently," Desdemona answered, "Should we go in?"

"Not without the rest of the clan," Hudson answered, "But now that we know where Dracon is hiding, we know where to go."

"Right," Othello nodded, "We'll need to report this to Goliath."

The other four nodded and then leaped off the wall and began to slowly return toward the Eyrie Building.

**Castle Wyvern**

Broadway's team returned to the castle to find that Brooklyn, Amy, Candy, and Lexington had returned already. Broadway was in a much better mood now that his team had managed to capture the sniper that had shot Lex. Not only because he 'got even' with the gangster, but because he felt that getting rid of the sniper would help get rid of armed crooks in general, which Broadway had a strong dislike of. Especially firearms.

"How did it go?" Brooklyn asked as Broadway's team landed.

"We shouldn't have to worry about that sniper, anymore," Broadway answered with a grin.

"You caught him?" Candy asked.

Angela nodded as she stepped forward, "Yeah. He took a shot a Broadway again as we were beginning to head back. He's currently riding down to the 23rd with Matt and Detective Flariaty."

"I hope he gets life imprisonment," Candy answered.

"I don't think he'll get that, but I'm sure he'll face some time for firing a high powered rifle inside the city limits," Brooklyn answered, "Come on. Let's go inside. Goliath's group hasn't returned yet, we can wait in comfort and share how our nights went. Yours obviously went well."

The others nodded and followed Brooklyn in. About ten minutes later, Goliath and Hudson's groups returned and found the groups that had returned already in the clan's 'TV room'. Broadway and Angela repeated their story about capturing the Russian sniper, which caused many of the others to sigh with relief.

"Does this mean we can glide above the rooftops again?" Ethan asked.

"Not until the bullet proof vests that Xanatos is obtaining arrive," Goliath answered, "Broadway's team may have captured the Russian sniper, but until the hit is called off, we can not take the risk that no one else will try the same tactic."

"And unless he's wounded an innocent," Elisa added, "the only crime that the Russian can officially be charged with is the possession and firing of firearms within the city limits. This means he may not be in jail long enough to prevent him from trying again in the future."

Broadway gave a heavy sigh.

"But if we get Dracon's hit called off, he wouldn't have reason to try again," Othello commented, "Is that right, brother?"

"I would think so," Goliath rumbled, "I doubt his organization would be able to do much without its leader. Why do you ask?"

"We believe we've found the gangster's hideout," Hudson commented moving to stand with Othello.

"Where are they hiding?" Broadway asked quickly.

"Apparently in an old warehouse on the south side of Manhattan," Hudson answered, "We tailed one of Dracon's lackeys back there, and the boss was there."

"Let's go," Broadway insisted, "We can't let anyone get hurt by this guy's scheme."

"I agree with you, pal," Brooklyn commented, putting a hand on the aquamarine gargoyle's shoulder, "But it's getting fairly close to dawn and only Hudson's group knows the exact location."

Goliath nodded, "We will not go tonight. We will need time to plan our actions and figure out how we are going to handle this."

"We'll lead ye there once ye've figured out everything," Hudson said to Goliath.

Goliath nodded, "Thank you, old friend."

"So, how do you plan to go after this warehouse?" Amy asked from behind Brooklyn.

"It would probably be best to go in from all sides," Goliath answered, "Make sure that Dracon can not escape. I will need to look the building over when we arrive tomorrow night."

The others nodded and quickly began to depart from the room and go about the business. As those that left the room, they passed Demona and Wedrington as the two were walking along the hallways in the clan's wing of the castle. The various clan members gave the sky blue female a polite wave or nod and carried on. The two then heard the television inside the room turn on.

"Don't you think we should volunteer to help them?" Wedrington asked, "It'd certainly make it easier for them."

"Easier in the sense that they do not need to do as much work to subdue Dracon," Demona answered, "The clan's battles with an insignificant mobster is none of my concern."

"He has called a hit on all gargoyles," Wedrington pointed out.

"And to this date, how many gargoyles have Dracon's mobsters killed?" Demona asked back, "Dracon is moron. He knows the arts of his 'trade' in avoiding any real guilt for his crimes, but when the clan has battled him, he has failed miserably. When the police have had sufficient evidence against him to at least charge him with a crime, he has failed miserably."

"That sounds like you're speaking from experience," Wedrington commented.

"Back when the clan had first awakened in Manhattan," Demona explained, "I made a point of observing all of the clan's reported enemies. Of course I was usually a day behind with some of them, since it took a while for news to circulate and for me to wake up. I was largely looking for someone who I could use to play off against the clan to accomplish my own goals."

"You did this with all the clan's enemies?" Wedrington asked, almost curiously.

"Everyone but Xanatos and Macbeth," Demona answered, "But, I found the Pack to be too wild and to closely connected to Xanatos and Dracon proved to be an idiot."

"Hm," Wedrington shrugged, "So what have you been studying in those books of Xanatos's?"

"I'm mostly trying to see if I can get a spell that will work as a shield for any gargoyle," Demona answered, "I can do that for myself, or anyone near me, but that is only because of my own powers. The rest of the clan, and you, do not have magical 'talent', unfortunately, and can not provide a similar system. I'm trying to see if I can generate a spell that will allow those without magic to shield themselves."

"Couldn't technology do the same thing?" Wedrington asked.

"In theory, but you have to carry something roughly the same size as you around for the rest of your life," Demona answered, "and you'd need access to some electrical power source from time to time."

"Just curious," Wedrington commented.

Demona only nodded and the two kept walking.

**Central Manhattan Hotel**

Brode's second in command scowled at the man who had come before him and gave his latest report on the effort to hunt down the gargoyle clan and capitalize on Dracon's hit. The man looked tired and exhausted, as if he'd just faced something that made him extremely nervous.

"Yuri's been arrested?" Brode's second asked in a firm tone.

"Yes," the man answered simply in a very nervous manner.

"You and your partner were to make sure that didn't happen," Brode's second growled at him.

"We can't beat four gargoyles that charge up to our position and take our guns away," the man whined.

"What?" Brode's second asked, "Yuri said his plans were to deal with the gargoyles at long ranges. You should have had plenty of time to deal with the others."

"They've recently started gliding below the rooftops," the man told him, "This forced Yuri to move closer to the edge of the building and to fire from a much closer range."

"Did he at least get the gargoyle?" Brode's second sighed.

"No, the thing turned just as he fired and he missed its ear by a few millimeters," the man answered, "Then all four of them attacked us."

Brode's second only sighed again, "Where is Yuri now?"

"The police have him," the man answered, "Some detective and his partner took all three of us back to their station. Frank and I were able to get out by saying that we never fired any shots and they couldn't hold us. They took finger prints and then let Frank and me go..."

'What about Yuri?" Brode's second asked, emphasizing the Russian's name.

"He's still at the station," the man answered nervously, "From what I could overhear as I was lead out of the station, they were somewhat suspicious about his identity."

Brode's second only sighed, "Regardless of his identity, at least he can only be charged with the firing of a fire arm within the city limits."

"What about the other hits Brode has sent Yuri on?" the man then asked.

"Most were done in Europe, and he was not connected to any of them," Brode's second answered, "All the police know in those cases was that enemy of Brode's was dead and the type of weapon used."

"They do have Yuri's rifle," the man commented, "Or at least the remains of it."

"Many Russians have the same brand of rifle," Brode's second dismissed it, "There are probably some armies that still use it officially as a sniper rifle. Not every country is as rich or technologically advanced as the United States or the various countries of Western Europe."

"What do we do now, sir?" the man asked.

"For now, we wait," Brode's second answered, "The charges that can be brought against Yuri are not as serious as others that could be brought about, and our lawyers can surely find a loophole in the laws that will get Yuri back to us sooner. But for now, all we can do is wait."

**23rd Precinct**

Matt stood quietly outside the interrogation room looking quietly through the window at the man sitting quietly in his assigned chair. Flariaty was still inside, keeping an eye on the man.

"So, what's going on with this guy?" Captain Chavez asked from beside him.

"Remember how I told you about the supposed sniper that was going after the clan?" Matt asked back and waited for Chavez to nod, "well, that's him, or at least the clan believes it's him"

"You said the clan got the name 'Yuri' out one of the gangsters they apprehended?" Chavez asked.

"Yeah," Matt answered, "that's where this starts to get confusing. This guy says his name is Boris Iric and was born in Boston."

"We can check for a birth certificate," Chavez answered, "Boston's hospitals should have a copy to prove that a 'Boris Iric was born there."

"Flariaty called Boston about an hour ago to ask for the information," Matt answered, "We should be getting a call back in a few hours."

"We can't hold him that long," Chavez pointed out.

"Holding him, isn't the problem," Matt sighed, "We got what's left his gun. It's... or was clearly a high powered sniper rifle, and has his prints all over it, including the trigger. And last I checked, you're not allowed to fire a rifle inside the city limits."

"I'm sure he has an alibi for it though," Chavez answered.

"Yeah, but where we found him would lead to question it by the fact of common sense," Matt answered, "His alibi wouldn't work."

"Why did he say he had the rifle, anyway?" Chavez asked.

"He said he was walking home from a hunting trip when the gargoyles grabbed him off the street," Matt sighed, "but it's not hunting season, so even if that alibi is true, we can arrest him for hunting out of season."

"I'll go in and try and get something out of him," Chavez commented, "Perhaps I can get something out of him."

Matt nodded and stepped aside letting his superior into the room. He then followed Chavez inside. Yuri looked up as he watched both officers enter.

"So, I am to be freed now, yes?" Yuri asked.

"I'm afraid not," Chavez said firmly, "I'd like to run a few questions by you if you don't mind."

"I do not mind," Yuri answered, "I will answer all questions you have."

"Good, Mr. ...," Chavez began.

"Iric," Yuri answered, repeating his alibi, "Boris Iric."

"Now, Mr. Iric, you were apprehended armed with a high powered rifle," Chavez said plainly, "And your fingerprints were all over the weapon, and forensics has confirmed that the weapon had been fired recently. Would you care to explain this?"

"As I told the others, I was on my way back from a hunting trip when these gargoyles came out of nowhere and grabbed me," Yuri answered, "You should deal with them, when they are going after innocent citizens."

"It has been our experience that people claiming gargoyle attacks have usually had some outstanding warrant for some crime," Chavez answered.

"I am innocent though," Yuri said.

"May I see your license?" Chavez asked.

"Hmm?" Yuri asked back.

"Your hunting license," Chavez clarified, "You need a hunting license in order to hunt any animal. It insures that no one is drastically hurting the local population. Which would hurt other hunters."

"I'm afraid it was lost when the gargoyles attacked me," Yuri answered.

Chavez sighed, "Can you explain why the gun was recently fired? Or more accurately, why where you hunting at night? It's kind of hard to hit an animal in a dark forest in upstate New York. And you said you were walking so you couldn't have had any equipment needed to see in the dark."

"The gargoyles took my equipment," Yuri said quickly.

"Why would they take night vision goggles or specially made spotlights?" Chavez asked, "From what it looks like, they can already see in the dark."

"Perhaps they are involved in more things then you know," Yuri replied.

"Maybe," Chavez shrugged, "But since it is not hunting season, you shouldn't have been hunting, day or not, period. And since you do not have a license with you, we can either charge you with firing a weapon inside the city limits or with poaching."

"Poaching?" Yuri asked.

"Hunting without a license," Chavez explained, "We will be holding you here for a few days."

Yuri sighed as Flariaty and Matt began to lead him out and toward the cells. Chavez chuckled to herself as she watched he man growl silently to himself.

"You can think about which charge you want," Chavez commented as the two detectives lead him out.

**Mid-Morning, Castle Wyvern**

"I have a report for you, sir," Owen reported as Xanatos moved into his office inside the castle.

The blonde haired assistant waited for Xanatos to sit down and nod before he continued.

"It comes in two parts, actually, sir," Owen continued, "One is that the gargoyles apprehended their illusive sniper last night."

"That's good for them," Xanatos commented, "They may not need those bullet proof vests after all."

"When Goliath informed me, after I had told him that you had gone to bed, he said that they would still require the vests until Dracon's hit has been dealt with."

Xanatos nodded, "What's the other part of the report?"

"We've managed to get a spy into Maddox Technologies," Owen answered, "However, she reports that she was able to obtain a minor janitorial job and is required to leave before sunset."

"We'll get a report on some of the daytime activities that Fang's been up to for Thailog then," Xanatos sighed, "She should know how to use her position to her advantage."

"We'll probably gain only some information about Thailog's business deals," Owen pointed out.

"Profit is profit," Xanatos smiled, "If we can get Thailog out of the CEO business the easier it will be to deal with him."

Owen gave a slight nod.

"If you can, tell our spy to try and advance her position," Xanatos ordered, "If she can find out anything about Thailog's 'secret' plans, that would be perfect. We'll need that information to deal with whatever plan that that clone comes up with."

Owen nodded.

"Remind her that she is not to risk life or limb," Xanatos answered, "If she doesn't think she can get the information without risking death or discovery, we shouldn't do it. Getting her in the first place was hard enough; we don't want to have to start all over again."

"I will see to it, sir," Owen nodded again.

**Former Quarrymen HQ**

Dracon was lying back on a couch in his 'office' inside the warehouse that his gang had taken as its base of operations. Using the Quarrymen's old base was not to his tastes, especially since any major operation that his organization carried out could be directly connected to this building. Thankfully everything had been kept hidden so far. He was about to fall asleep when Glasses and a low ranking member of his organization stepped into the room.

"Sorry to interrupt your rest boss, but Dimitri here has some news," Glasses reported.

Dracon sat up to look at the man. He was of Slavic descent, but Dracon could never remember which country specifically, and he didn't really care. He hired the man to be a double agent within Brode's organization shortly after Brode arrived and continued to use him as a spy. Largely, Dimitri was only able to get small pieces of information from here and there, but it did help Dracon with his plans.

"What do you have?" Dracon asked.

"Brode's gang seems to be coming apart at the seams," Dimitri answered, "They believe the clan already knows about the hit you called on them. They are concerned with the fact that several members of their organization have been ambushed by your operatives. On top of it all, their sniper has been arrested and that is causing some major arguments within the organization."

"How'd he get arrested?" Dracon asked.

"All I know is that he was arrested," Dimitri answered, "The police have him right now on poaching charges."

"The gargoyles got him," Dracon chuckled, "They seem to come in handy every now and then. Perhaps Brode's gang will fall apart and we'll be able to return to our true dominance."

"You calling off the hit, boss?" Glasses asked.

"No," Dracon said firmly, "Just musing to myself. The gargoyles have cost me a lot of money and nearly all of my freedom. Getting them out of the way is the first step in getting the city back to the way it was before. Mine."

**23rd Precinct**

Captain Chavez was incredibly tired. Normally her shift for the night would have been over, but Bluestone's arrest of 'Boris Iric' during the night had changed things. The suspicion about his identity lead to an extensive background check, which required that one of the officers involved stay until the authorities in Boston could finish checking. Since she had already sent Bluestone and Flariaty home, that left her. Finally, as she drained what had to have been her fifteenth cup of coffee, the phone to her office rang.

"Chavez," Chavez answered as she picked up the phone.

"This is Detective Ubank with the Boston PD," a man answered over the phone, "We received a request to check the birth certificates on the identification of a suspect."

"Yes," Chavez answered, "We've arrested a suspect on poaching charges claiming to be a 'Boris Iric', but my detectives believed he was using an alias."

"Any reason why?" Ubank asked over the phone.

"Outside sources claim to have seen the same man use a different name," Chavez answered, "Although they can not come forward at this time."

"Well, however they got their information or their hunch, it was right," Ubank answered, "We just finished checking about an hour ago. No 'Boris Iric' was born in Boston, ever, let alone on the date that was given to you."

"Thank you, Detective," Chavez answered into the phone, "You've been most helpful."

"Not a problem," Ubank answered, "Just remember, you guys owe us one."

"Of course," Chavez sighed in response, "If some crook flees Boston and comes here, we'll do everything we can to help."

Chavez then hung up and left her office. She found the closest uniformed officer and began to give him instructions.

"Get Mr. Iric from his cell and bring him down to the interrogation room," Chavez ordered, "Quickly."

The officer ran off quickly while Chavez moved to sit in the officer's seat in the interrogation room. She sat there quietly for a few minutes until the officer she had ordered earlier, brought in Yuri. Yuri sat quietly in the other chair opposite her. The uniformed officer stood nearby.

"I had an interesting conversation with a detective from the Boston PD," Chavez commented.

"Really?" Yuri asked, "What does that have to do with me? I've committed no crime."

Yuri then thought for a moment and decided to keep playing the 'dumb' card.

"The only thing I've been accused of is poaching because I don't have license with me and that it's not hunting season," Yuri answered, "And I honestly didn't know..."

"There is no birth certificate for a Boris Iric in Boston," Chavez interrupted him, "Would you mind telling me your real name?"

Yuri looked at the woman with a strange look on his face.

"You can't just..." Yuri protested.

"There's a lot we can do if we have reason to suspect something," Chavez answered, "Now we've received some reports that various members of organized crime taking pot shots at gargoyles."

"The law doesn't protect gargoyles," Yuri commented.

"True," Chavez answered, "But you don't suppose you might have shot someone while shooting at these gargoyles?"

"I never shot at any gargoyle," Yuri answered.

"You still didn't give us your real name, which several members of the 'mob' have done to keep themselves or their bosses from being punished," Chavez answered, "That makes us suspicious."

"If you're going to accuse me of being in the mob, I want my lawyer," Yuri answered, "I may be ignorant of your hunting laws, but I am not a criminal."

"Very well," Chavez sighed, "You're still here under poaching charges. And I only asked for your name."

**Castle Wyvern, Dusk**

Breakfast for the clan was actually quite short as the various members of the clan were busy preparing to go after Dracon's lair in the hopes of finally capture the mobster. The commotion had even attracted the attention of the Guatemalan clan who had largely restricted themselves to guarding the castle once the news of the 'hit' had been discovered.

"You're going after this Dracon?" Zafiro asked as Goliath and Elisa ate.

Goliath nodded before speaking, "Yes. If we can catch him, it might get the hit that he has called to end."

"Not to mention that he still has time to serve in jail," Elisa added, "And that will help the city."

"Will you require help?" Obsidiana asked.

"We would appreciate any help you want offer," Goliath answered.

The four Guatemalans looked at each other before Zafiro moved forward to address Goliath for his clan.

"We will help you apprehend this criminal," Zafiro said clearly.

Once the clan had eaten they had gathered in the courtyard before heading out.

"Our objective for tonight is to capture Dracon in his lair," Goliath explained slowly, "Once he is captured, we will take the rest of the night off."

He then waited a few moments before continuing.

"I also want everyone to be careful," Goliath continued, "If his men are calling a hit on us, it probably means that they will be utterly ruthless in trying to shoot us. No one is to take unnecessary risks."

"Right Goliath," many members of the clan answered.

With that they departed for Dracon's lair. After diving below the rooftops, Caroline, Hudson, Othello, and Desdemona lead the way. It took nearly an hour to negotiate the maze of skyscrapers to land on the roof of a warehouse across the street from where the old Quarrymen HQ was.

"That is where the criminal has been hiding," Othello pointed at the building.

Goliath looked carefully at the building. He could only see one door to enter through and a few windows on what could be the second floor.

"Does the building have floors?" Goliath asked.

"There is a raised catwalk above the main central storage area," Othello answered, "Although it appears that several small 'offices' have been set up in one section."

"Is there another door to the outside?" Goliath asked.

"We didn't look," Caroline answered.

"Lexington, can you get a closer look?" Goliath rumbled, "See if there are any other doors."

"On it," Lex answered and leapt from the roof and began to slowly glide around the building.

The others watched as Lex glided slowly and at a low altitude to return to a crouching position on the edge of the building.

"There are three more windows on the other side, probably leading to the catwalk," Lex reported, "And there is only one other door on the other side."

Goliath nodded and then began to give his basic instructions.

"Elisa, Hudson, Caroline, and I will go through the front door," Goliath explained and then turned to Brooklyn.

"Brooklyn," Goliath instructed, "I want you to take Amy, Sarah, and Ian through the back door."

"Will do, Goliath," Brooklyn answered.

Goliath meanwhile turned to Othello.

"Othello," Goliath continued, "I want you to take Desdemona, Ethan and Eve and go through one of the windows on the top floor on this side of the building of the building"

Othello nodded, "Of course, brother."

Goliath then turned to Broadway, "Broadway, I want you to take Angela, Lexington, and Candy and go through one of the windows on the other side."

"We will take the window on the far right," Zafiro spoke up pointing to the window that he meant.

"Right," Goliath nodded, "let's go!"

Inside the warehouse, Dracon and Glasses were just sitting down to go over the plans for the night.

"Well," Glasses began, "I got all the people who need to be out keeping an eye on Brode's people out. Although, considering what Dimitri reported, I doubt that Brode's gang will be doing much." "Remember the boyscout motto," Dracon smirked, "Always be prepared."

Glasses nodded.

"Hopefully someone brings in a gargoyle tonight," Dracon commented off hand, "It's been somewhat boring sitting around with nothing to do."

A few seconds later, the two men heard crashing sounds come from outside their office.

"What the devil?" Dracon growled as he got up, pulling out his gun.

Glasses drew his weapon and the two prepared to exit their office area to see what was going on.

Goliath found that there was no welcoming party as he plowed through the front door to the warehouse. There were several packing boxes piled up in various stacks in front of him, but he couldn't see anyone.

"It's like this place is abandoned," Elisa commented as she caped her wings and followed Goliath in.

"They must be hiding somewhere," Hudson commented, "There were a lot more people here last night."

"Maybe they're on the second floor?" Caroline wondered, "Or on the catwalk, whatever it is."

At that moment two men appeared from behind a stack of boxes. Their eyes literally bulged out of the heads when they saw Goliath.

"The gargoyles are attacking us!" one screamed only to have Goliath and Hudson pounce on them before they could do anything.

"Sure take all the fun, why don't you," Elisa chuckled as Goliath dropped the unconscious goon at his feet.

Goliath then heard the sounds of small fist fights breaking out throughout various parts of the warehouse. One gunshot did ring out but, it obviously went wide Goliath heard it ricochet off the rafters shortly after the shot was fired. The clan quickly regrouped outside the section of the warehouse that had been converted into offices.

"I think Dracon's mob has gone off somewhere," Brooklyn commented as his group approached, "We ran into a couple of guys guarding the door, but that was it."

"There were more guarding the windows," Othello commented, "But all were poorly trained."

"Their better goons must be off trying to capitalize on Dracon's hit," Elisa answered.

The door that led to the office area opened, and Pal Joey and two of Dracon's main lieutenants came out to investigate the sounds that they had heard from inside. Both were shocked to see the gargoyles already inside the warehouse, but had no time to do anything but scream as Elisa punched one, sending him flying back through the door. Candy tripped another with her tail and Broadway grabbed the other two and threw them into the boxes that they had just passed.

Broadway and Othello then advanced down the hallway as the rest of the clan followed, checking doors as they went. Most of the rooms were empty, those that were full, were full of weapons or of other illegal paraphernalia.

"Matt's really going to love getting two calls from us in two nights," Elisa commented as she shut the door to a closet full of packets of illegal drugs.

"But much of this stuff you said is illegal for people to have or use," Ian pointed out.

"Yeah," Elisa nodded, "But he has to do a lot of paperwork to deal with it all. One of the better things about being a gargoyle. No paperwork."

There was a brief chuckle until Glasses and Dracon both appeared in the hallway ahead of them.

"Damn," Glasses growled, "They came here, boss!"

"Shoot 'em!" Dracon yelled and aimed his gun.

Broadway's eyes light up with a bright glow as Dracon aimed his gun and charged headlong into the gangster. The aquamarine gargoyle tackled Dracon, forcing his shot to go up into the ceiling. Glasses fired a shot at Othello, but the bullet bounced off his armor. The grey male then grabbed Glasses by he hand and pulled the gun away from him.

"You won't be needing that anymore," Othello said to him in a low voice.

The others then looked back to see that Broadway had knocked Dracon out.

"You've failed again, Dracon," Broadway growled at the unconscious gangster.

"Well," Brooklyn commented, "That was anti-climactic."

"You haven't gotten the hit called off," Glasses said defiantly.

"Yeah, but with you and your boss in jail, you can't pay your favor back," Amy growled back, "It's as good as over."

Glasses glared at her, but said nothing. Goliath meanwhile turned to Elisa.

"Contact Matt and let him know we have Dracon apprehended and give him the address," Goliath instructed, "The sooner this scum is in jail, the better."

"Right," Elisa nodded and pulled her communicator out from her belt pouch.

**23rd, Two Hours Later**

"First they capture the sniper and then Dracon," Matt commented as he poured himself a cup of coffee from one of the stations various coffee machines, "Life certainly has been exciting for the clan in the last couple of days."

"Yeah, while we do the real work," Flariaty grumbled, "Yuri's figured out that we know who he is and is lawyering up and we have paperwork to fill out to deal with the recapturing of Dracon."

"Life isn't perfect," Matt shrugged, "But it certainly has to be looking good."

**Riker's Island, After Dawn**

"Yuri's been arrested?" Brode asked from his side of the visitor's booth.

"Yes, sir," Brode's second sighed, "It appears that the gargoyles got to him."

Brode cursed inwardly. Yuri had been a key part of his organization's activities.

"Any chance to get him out?" Brode asked.

"He's facing poaching charges for hunting without a license," Brode's second answered, "Nothing our lawyers can't cut down, and nothing that implicates us."

"Good," Brode smiled.

"That isn't all, sir," Brode's second said quickly as he saw Brode rising to leave.

"What is it?" Brode asked quickly.

"Dracon's been recaptured, along with most of his leadership," Brode's second answered.

"The hit is off then," Brode sighed, "Dracon's 'Glasses' won't accept favors with his boss's consent and they've already learned that Dracon will keep running his empire from jail, so he won't have visitation rights."

"We could still go after the gargoyles, sir," Brode's second commented, "They have had the habit of breaking up various operations that both Dracon and you have undertaken."

"Only if we run into them," Brode instructed, "It's always better to avoid the law enforcers then challenge them outright. Besides, we have a new target. With Dracon gone, the real prize in this grand play is open for us. Begin preparations for wiping Dracon's gang from the face of the Earth!"

**The End...**


	27. Discovery

All characters appearing in Gargoyles and Gargoyles: The Goliath Chronicles are copyrighted to Buena Vista Television/The Walt Disney Company. I've taken the idea for the Unseelie Court from the TGS. No infringement of these copyrights is intended, and is not authorized by the copyright holder. All original characters are the property of SN.

Note: I'm disregarding the events of the "Goliath Chronicles", with the exception of "The Journey" because I do not wish to use the rest of the "Goliath Chronicles" as canon to my story. This story takes place one week after "Failed Again".

Discovery

By SN/TVfan

Email: Sam_Nary

**Central Mediterranean**

It was a strange occurrence in the Mediterranean for there to be major storms. Yet, for some reason, a major storm had come up in the center of the Mediterranean. Weather forecasters in Italy, Greece, Albania, Turkey, Lebanon, Israel, Egypt, and Cyprus were all concerned with the storm and how it had suddenly appeared and was now moving slowly toward the eastern part of the Mediterranean. Weather forecasters in other parts of Europe were also interested in the storm because it had come up so suddenly. Watching an Italian news program, a family on the island of Malta followed the events of the storm.

"Can you explain how and why this storm suddenly appeared?" the main anchor asked the weatherman, in Italian.

"Unfortunately we have no clues as to what caused the storm," the meteorologist answered, "We can for the moment expect that the storm will head east and that people on the Greek and Turkish islands in the Aegean and on the Greek and Turkish mainland should be prepared for roughly anything. And while its current path will miss Cyprus, Lebanon, Israel, and Egypt directly people in those regions should still be prepared in case the storm shifts."

"Is there any chance that the storm could take a major shift and move towards Malta and Sicily and southern Italy?" the anchorman asked.

"Normally, we would say that such an occurrence would be extremely unlikely," the weatherman answered, "But given the bizarre nature of this storm, I'm not sure that anything can be counted out."

"Why are we doing this?" a young sailor asked in Greek as he manned the helm of the Greek frigate, Ipiros, "We'd be ordered into port if a storm of this magnitude were to come up."

"Steady, steady," the ship's captain urged, "We were the only ship at sea and in range of the storm front. The scientists want facts taken about the storm, and due to its sudden arrival, they're afraid it will disappear as suddenly as it arrived and their official storm tracking equipment will be too late in getting to the scene."

"I'm going to repeat my objection that we are not suited to this mission, sir," another officer spoke out as he looked out at the dark sky ahead of the ship and the rising waves, "Our mission was to guard Greece's waters and participate in NATO missions in the Eastern Mediterranean when necessary, not to be a 'storm chaser' as the Americans call it. We do not even have all the equipment that they would have."

"That doesn't change our orders," the captain answered, "And our ship can survive the storm. Whether or not we can accurately analyze the weather is something to be determined by those whose field of expertise is in dealing with these storms."

With that, the Ipiros steamed on into the oncoming path of the storm.

**New Olympus**

"The shield will not hold out much longer," Taurus reported, "I have seen the data reports on the storm's strength. The waves are periodically battering it, and lightning has served as an extra drain on the shield's power. It will not hold out much longer."

Boreas turned to the large Minotaur, "What is the risk of flooding?"

"The engineers report that our sea-wall will easily withstand the waves," Taurus answered with a sigh, "It is not the waves that is the real danger. It is the lightning. Without the lightning to wear down our power to a point where the waves could risk damaging the shield, we would not be having this discussion."

Boreas turned to several gathered Senators with a heavy sigh. He saw that many of them were beginning to chatter nervously about the loss of the shield. He could have sworn he heard the word 'war' mentioned twice, but he wasn't sure who the proposed starter of the war was.

"Calmness, calmness," Boreas spoke firmly, "Please everyone, calmness."

"Calmness?" a Centaur spoke up, "If the shield falls, we will be detected and the humans will attack us. And given what our own sensors have discovered about human technology, they have weapons that could destroy cities! We will be doomed without the shield."

"I doubt the humans will go all the way to that resort because they find us," Taurus mumbled to himself, "Sounds too extreme."

"We can not focus on that now," Boreas answered, "The storm is far more important."

"How can you talk about the weather at a time like this?" a female Harpy hopped forward, "We will be detected by the humans, and they will surely attack us, just as they did in ancient times."

"We had discussed at length that sooner or later we would have to reveal ourselves to the human world," Boreas argued, "It appears that fate has taken that discussion out of our hands."

"I only consented to the discussion under the assumption that Taurus would lead the Army and crush the humans," the Centaur countered.

"Give them a taste of their own medicine!" the Harpy agreed.

"Shouldn't our experience with Elisa Maza have taught us anything?" Boreas questioned, "She came here and did nothing. We jailed her out of our past biases, and she ended up helping Taurus stop Proteus. Doesn't that show that not all humans are evil?"

"It is better to be safe then sorry," the Centaur answered.

"She had to be an exception anyway," the Harpy added, "She had the two gargoyles with her. Either they forced her to control her true nature or she was smarter then the average human, which isn't much since our scientists have proof that they are barely smarter then rocks."

"What is the status of the army Taurus?" Boreas asked in a frustrated manner, indicating that he clearly didn't want to start a war.

"We have enough to fight Albania alone, if it comes to war," Taurus answered, "Attacking humanity would not be a good decision against those in the NATO alliance."

"How much longer till the shield gives out?" Boreas asked.

"According to the data reports, it will take somewhere around an hour," Taurus answered.

"Senators, since the storm seems to be overpowering our shields we will have to face humanity once more," Boreas said firmly, "I understand if you do not wish to reelect me when my term ends, but considering that our military strength is not strong enough to risk war with anyone, I must and will pursue a policy of peace. Inform all the Senators that tomorrow morning we are to meet to discuss, first an announcement to the world, and second representatives to send to the UN to deliver the message."

**The Ipiros**

The crew worked hard to keep the ship afloat. The waves were all higher then expected and dealing with the waves was quickly exhausting the crew.

"I think it's safe to say, sir, that the storm is much more powerful than the forecasters think it is," an officer commented as he gripped a section of panel on the ship's bridge.

The captain nodded, "What are the scientific readings?"

"Air temperature 15 degrees Celsius," one officer reported looking at a thermometer.

"Wind speed at 32 Km per hour," a second officer reported.

The captain then listened to the other officers read off a list of what the instruments the ship had had picked up. Suddenly his second in command broke into the report.

"Sir, are we near any known islands?" the second in command asked.

An officer near the navigation devices then turned to his superiors.

"While we are on a course that would take us to Malta and Sicily, the closest islands are our possessions in Aegean," the officer reported.

"This can not be," the second in command then spoke.

"What did you see?" the captain asked.

"I thought I saw a flash of lightning strike something," the second in command reported.

The captain struggled forward to where his second in command was standing and looked out the same window. At first he could only see the dark ocean swells battering his ship, but after a few seconds he saw something very strange. A bolt of lightning came from the sky, but as he watched he saw that it clearly did not reach the ground. It hit something that looked like a large energy dome. Now, he had heard rumors of the energy shields that Xanatos Enterprises and Cyberbiotics in the United States had produced, but such technology had not become available in Europe.

"Set course for that dome," the captain ordered, "Keep taking measurements of the storm, but we must investigate this."

"Shouldn't we contact Naval Command, sir?" the second in command asked.

"The storm has taken out our ability to receive or send radio messages," the captain sighed, "You can try all you want, but we'll end up sending a message off and it will bounce into the ocean."

Then almost as suddenly as it had come up, the storm suddenly stopped. The ship was not rocking with swells and high waves and was proceeding along a very stable course. The fact that the storm had ended, however was not the true cause of surprise.

"Captain!" the second in command announced, "You need to see this!"

He turned and looked out of the ship's front windows and his eyes widened beyond belief. Standing where the energy dome had been earlier stood an island with a city that he had never looked upon before. Towers and spires rising up into the sky, seemingly taking up the entire island.

"Atlantis!" the captain gasped, having no other name in his mind for the island.

**New Olympus**

Slytherin was a young male Naga who was part of the new defense force organized under Taurus's leadership. He had been posted around a hover cart that was carrying sand bags and had been ordered to start placing them in the lowest spots in case it looked like the sea wall wouldn't hold the waves back. At first he was relieved to see that the storm had gone away, but that quickly faded when he saw that the shield was down and steaming directly toward the island was a human warship.

"By the Gods!" Slytherin gasped in surprise.

"We must get weapons," his teammate, a female New Olympian who looked like a stereotypical fairy, "Drive them back."

"We've only been issued light hand held weapons," Slytherin countered, "What good are they going to be against that?"

Slytherin then pointed at the ship. The fairy fluttered up slightly on her wings and took a closer look and then saw something very peculiar. A light seemed to be blinking on the ship and was blinking right at them. What it meant she didn't know.

"They're not responding to the Morse Lamp, sir," an ensign reported.

"Try a radio signal," the captain urged, "Go across all channels. They might answer on one of them."

"Yes sir," another crewman responded and quickly ran back to the ship's communications center.

A few minutes later the captain heard his rank being called urgently and he steadily made his way to the communications center.

"What is it?" the captain asked.

"I think we're getting something," the crewman answered.

A voice then came over the radio. It was broken up heavily by static in the radio, but they could definitely hear something.

"This... eas of...lympus to... ship...strang...nicatio... tate your...ions," the voice spoke.

"The static is really messing with the radio signal," the captain commented.

"They're probably expecting a response, sir," the crewman answered, turning a switch allowing the captain to speak directly to whoever answered.

"This is Captain Christopher Thermopolus of the Greek frigate Ipiros," the captain spoke, "I'm afraid you're last transmission was a bit garbled, please retransmit the message."

"Capt...Thermos... I am... of Ne... pus... sta...inten...," came the reply.

Thermopolus sighed and prepared to head back to the bridge.

"Tell whoever that is that we aren't receiving his transmissions well and that we are going to find a dock and continue this in person," Thermopolus ordered, "And tell them that we do not mean any harm."

"What do they mean 'me... arm'?" Boreas asked a loud.

He had moved on to some paperwork when the storm suddenly quit and the ship had been sighted. Then, as he was going to meet with several Senators who had showed up shortly afterward, an aide told him that someone was trying to contact him on his holographic screen communications system, but that they could only get an audio reception, which still didn't come in very strong, and was broken up periodically by static. It left the New Olympian leader very confused. He then sighed and prepared to continue on his way to meet with the Senators. He found all of them present and in a very agitated mood. Taurus and a few security staff members were doing their best to keep them under control.

"What is the meaning of this?" Boreas questioned.

"The meaning of this is that the storm the humans caused as revealed us, and now they are invading," Ekidna hissed as she came forward, "Any can see that the ship is a warship."

"I agree," the Centaur that had been speaking with Boreas earlier, "You may have wanted peace, Boreas, which is a tribute to our race, but the humans clearly don't."

"We don't know that," Boreas countered.

Matters were not helped by the arrival of a sensor operator, who had come in a great hurry.

"Sir, the ship has passed through the ship gates in the sea wall and is approaching the main harbor," the operator reported.

"They're moving to land troops!" Ekidna shouted, "you must prepare our defenses." "Taurus?" Boreas asked.

"If it is an invasion, they have horribly underestimated their foe," Taurus commented, "From our observation devices we have learned that all wars fought among humans is done on a massive scale. One ship, and a small one at that, is hardly massive."

"It doesn't matter," a Sphinx spoke as he came up, "The human race is naturally inbreed and idiotic. All our sciences agree on this. They have to be attacking."

"A Captain Thermos just tried to contact me directly from his ship," Boreas announced, "I don't think he is invading."

Boreas then turned to the messenger, "Which harbor is the ship approaching?"

"The eastern ones," the messenger reported, "And it was moving slowly too."

Boreas nodded, "Very well. Taurus, a small security team, and my self will make contact with these humans. We will discover why they are here and that we mean them no harm."

"Ekidna and I are coming with you," the Centaur spoke firmly.

Ekidna nodded in agreement.

"Fine, but do not behave aggressively, and it would be preferable if you were silent," Boreas replied, "We don't know if its an invasion and treating it as such is only going to cause us more problems."

Members on the Ipiros's crew took rather risky jumps to get from the ship to the dock which was surprisingly low in comparison to the ship's decks. What was more surprising though was the fact that no one was there to greet them. Captain Thermopolus stood with his officers on the outer parts of the deck on the bow section of the ship while other crewmen rushed to get a portable rope ladder. He watched as those who had already made it to land began to receive the guidelines and began to tie the ship to the dock.

"I never thought Atlantis was real," Thermopolus commented, "Just something my father told me to put me to bed."

"If this is indeed Atlantis, it certainly puts the notion that it sank in with the theory that the Titanic was 'unsinkable'," the second in command.

Crewmen quickly brought out a rope ladder and hung it over the side of the ship, securing it to the ship's guard rails. Thermopolus approached the edge and saw that the ship's guidelines were in place and that it wouldn't drift away from the dock.

"Well, no time like the present," Thermopolus thought and began to go down the ladder, the rest of his officers following.

The members of the crew who had tied down the guidelines saluted as Thermopolus and the officers approached.

"Guard the ship," Thermopolus ordered.

"Yes, sir," the lead crewman answered.

Thermopolus and his officers then began to walk up the dock toward the great city ahead of them. All of them were surprised that there was no one there to greet them.

"Surely there must be more to this island then towers and the man who answered our radio transmission," Thermopolus wondered.

"Everyone was probably indoors to stay out of the storm," a junior officer commented.

"Considering the storm we just sailed through, that..." Thermopolus began, only to stop when he saw Boreas and his group approaching.

He Greek naval officers were all surprised and shocked by what they saw. Approaching them were creatures that were obviously not human. The leader looked like he was an angel with his large feathered wings. He was accompanied by what looked like more creatures from ancient mythology. A large Minotaur, a Centaur, and a Naga were among them. There were a few more who also looked like creatures that either had to have come from mythology or from somewhere else. The two groups stood in silent and shocked staring for several moments. Some of the New Olympians visibly frustrated that some of the Greek naval officers were armed and the Greeks surprised by the New Olympian's appearance. Eventually the angel stepped forward, and then spoke in Greek.

"Are you Captain Thermos?" Boreas asked.

"Thermopolus," Thermopolus corrected nervously, "Are you an angel?"

"What?" Boreas asked.

"An angel," Thermopolus explained, "A human-like being with feathered eagle like wings and serves God."

Boreas shook his head, "No, we are New Olympians. My name is Boreas."

"You don't all look the same," one of Thermopolus's lower ranking officers spoke up, too shocked by what he saw to remember the rules, "You can't all be one race."

"I beg your pardon?" Boreas asked, raising his arm to prevent his subordinates from starting an argument.

"I'm sorry, but this is quite a first for us," Thermopolus explained, "You say 'we are New Olympians', but there is little physical similarity between each of you. You in fact resemble a lot of creatures we believe to be myth or connected to religion."

Boreas gave a sigh, "We are obviously not myth, and I have no connection to your religions of the outside world. You may hold whatever beliefs you like about what you think we are, but we prefer to be called New Olympians."

Thermopolus nodded and then continued weakly, "I suppose introductions are in order..."

"NO!" Ekidna growled as she moved forward, urging several of the security team Taurus had brought, "YOU will explain why YOU have INVADED our territory?! NOW!"

Several of Thermopolus's officers reached for their weapons, and Thermopolus was forced to take a step back.

"We haven't invaded anyone," Thermopolus defended weakly.

"Oh, is that not a military uniform?" Ekidna questioned, "Did you not arrive in a military vessel? You humans are so stupid you can't tell if you're invading someone or not!"

"That's uncalled for," Thermopolus said firmly, insulted that he had been called 'stupid' and accused of 'invading' a territory he didn't even know existed.

"Ekidna..." Boreas said in a low voice, "What did I say about aggressive behavior?"

"This ISN'T aggressive behavior," Ekidna answered, "We don't need to explain anything. We don't need to introduce ourselves. THEY need to explain why they're invading us! Look at them! They're all armed!"

"The same could be said for your guards, madam," Thermopolus countered, "We have not invaded anyone. My country is not strong enough to invade anyone."

"Regardless," the Centaur spoke up, "You have come in a ship of war and landed on our shores without our permission. You must explain yourself."

"You want an explanation for why we are here?" Thermopolus sighed, too afraid to risk a fight at the moment, "Fine. We were assigned to take various scientific measurements..."

"Humans know nothing of science! Your gains in technology are either pure luck or aide from the Third Race!" Ekidna growled, "Why are you REALLY here?"

Thermopolus turned to the large Minotaur, who had remained silent, not understanding all that the Naga had said and said in a frustrated voice, "Could you shut her up so I can explain?"

Before Taurus could say anything, Ekidna lashed out, using her tail as a bullwhip knocked Thermopolus to the ground.

"Filthy human!" Ekidna growled.

"EKIDNA!" Boreas growled at the same moment, while Ekidna continued to move on Thermopolus.

He watched in shock as the Greek officers moved in defense of their captain. Ekidna struck Thermopolus again with her tail, knocking the man unconscious.

"You dare attack me!" Ekidna growled, "I'll..."

BLAM!

The group watched in horror as Thermopolus's second in command lowered his pistol while the other officers rushed to gather their fallen captain. Ekidna's body meanwhile dropped to the ground, dead.

"Since it appears that your people do not have the politeness to remain peaceful," the second in command said, "We will leave this place. But you may thank your comrade there for starting what will surely be war."

Boreas watched in shock as the second in command then turned to the other officers and ordered, "BACK TO THE SHIP!" The group then retreated hastily toward their warship, the second in command calling for 'general quarters', carrying their unconscious captain with them.

"Wait!" Boreas urged as he moved forward.

The second in command turned and pointed his pistol directly at the New Olympian leader.

"We've been attacked ENOUGH today," the second in command warned, "And I have plenty of bullets left."

"Taurus! Do something!" the Centaur urged, "They've attacked us!"

"They were defending their captain," Taurus defended, "If Ekidna had not caused this trouble they wouldn't have fired and they wouldn't have ended the negotiations."

"Can't you see that they killed Ekidna!" the Centaur urged and turned to Taurus's security team, "Do something!"

Boreas then turned and punched the Centaur squarely in the face, knocking him to the ground at Taurus's feet.

"Arrest him," Boreas ordered Taurus, and then screamed at the Centaur, "You've learned nothing from past experience. Didn't you even pay attention to their captain? He was trying to give the explanation you demanded and Ekidna attacked him, both verbally and physically. They didn't even draw their weapons until after their captain was attacked! This was supposed to be a diplomatic meeting! Instead you and Ekidna decided they had invaded and attacked them!"

"I did no such thing!" the Centaur argued, "They had to explain themselves."

"An explanation was not good enough for Ekidna and look what it got her," Taurus commented as he lifted up the Centaur, "And I agree that their captain was trying to explain and seemed obviously frustrated that you and Ekidna did not give him the room or opportunity to say anything but what you wanted to hear."

The Minotaur then placed cuffs on the Centaur's hands and then held him firmly so that he couldn't escape.

"You can't arrest me!" the Centaur screamed, "I'm a Senator!"

"Even Senators commit crimes," Taurus answered, and then turned to his security team, "Take Ekidna's body and burry it somewhere. Make sure it is placed among the commoners."

Boreas, meanwhile, stood silently as he watched the officers of the Greek ship carry their captain inside and as various crewmen cut the ropes that held the ship in place.

"Remain here," he ordered the security men around him and leaped into the air and quickly flew up the ship.

Boreas landed amongst several startled crewmen and a still frustrated second in command, who raised his pistol once more.

"I told you that we've been attacked enough, today," the second in command growled at him.

"I come not to attack you," Boreas pleaded, "I come to talk."

"You didn't do a good job of it earlier," the second in command argued, "you let your subordinate ruthlessly insult our captain and then beat him senseless. He'll be lucky if he doesn't have a concussion."

"I'm sorry," Boreas answered, "Ekidna and Torro have had a rather strong bias against the human race..."

"We gathered that," the second in command noted, "And that is why I want you off this ship. You personally may want to talk, Boreas, but your people want to fight. They want war. The fact that we came here was merely by chance, and we were treated as invaders and as those who have done something wrong. Then when we try to explain, we're accused stupidity and outright lying. Talking with you is like talking to cat. The cat is still going to do what it pleases."

"Please, it's not so simple a situation," Boreas pleaded, "Our people were not treated well by humanity in the past and we came to hide here. Until a few years ago, no New Olympian had ever seen a human in real life and all we've had are past experiences."

"Which means you need to learn a lot more before you can be accepted diplomatically," the second in command answered, "Modern countries tend to attack and defeat countries that carry a one sided hatred against another group because they're different. And that Naga's attack on the captain can be considered proper justification for a declaration of war. And you would be facing more the Greece."

"Please," Boreas pleaded, "I don't want a war. Nor does New Olympus. The others are merely fearful that humanity will treat them the way they did before."

"Trust is a two way street," the second in command countered, "You can't trust one side to trust you when you obviously don't trust them. Now, get off this ship."

"Please," Boreas begged, "I just wish to talk. If you could delay your departure until some sort of agreement could be reached."

"So far, the only thing we've agreed to is that your people hate mine and that you can't control your own government officials," the second in command, "I see nothing that can be done. Besides, neither I, nor my Captain are officially allowed to negotiate treaties for our country. We attempted to make first contact with an island that did not exist on any of our maps, and we were attacked."

"Then let us make 'first contact' then," Boreas pleaded, "I will talk with you on board your ship. Alone. I want peace."

The second in command looked at Boreas and saw that the angel-like man was not behaving aggressively and looked almost desperate.

"Seaman," the second in command barked.

"Yes, sir," the nearest crewman answered.

"Please escort this New Olympian to my quarters," the second in command ordered, "He will be joining us for a while."

"Yes sir," the crewman answered.

"You can fly for long distances without exhausting yourself, right?" the second in command asked.

"Why?" Boreas asked back.

"Because I believe we will be halfway back to Greece by the time we are done," the second in command answered, "again, while you may want to talk, your people do not, and this frigate would not survive a determined attack in unknown waters. And since our assigned mission is now over, we must return to Greece to report our findings."

"I can, if you provide me with the direction you are heading so I know how to get back to New Olympus," Boreas sighed.

The second in command nodded and let Boreas followed the crewman. About ten minutes later, he stood nervously inside the second in command's cabin, looking out a porthole as he saw the island of New Olympus begin to become smaller and smaller as the Greek ship began to sail away. He was startled when the second in command spoke to announce his return.

"Okay, you wanted to talk, let's talk," the second in command announced.

Boreas jumped slightly and turned around.

"Well, as I said earlier, I am Boreas, I am the President of New Olympus," Boreas answered, "May I ask who you are, since Captain Thermopolus is not available at the moment?"

"I am Commander Alexander Janos, you are on the Greek Frigate Ipiros," Janos answered.

"I feel I must apologize for the actions that Ekidna took on New Olympus again," Boreas answered, "I told her that no aggressive actions were to be tolerated me and she disobeyed. I did not want her dead, but I did not want her to attack your captain either. The lack of contact between our peoples is going to make these first meetings very difficult."

"You have apologized for the incident several times already," Janos replied.

"May I ask what brought your ship to New Olympus?" Boreas asked.

Janos sighed, "As Captain Thermopolus began earlier, we were assigned to take scientific measurements of the weather conditions surrounding a very powerful storm that seemed to come up out of nowhere. If it weren't for the fact that I saw lightning strike something that looked like an energy shield to me, we would not have set course for your island."

"You were studying the storm?" Boreas asked.

"Yes, largely because the groups that normally chase storms were not only unprepared for such a storm to come up in the middle of the Mediterranean but they were mostly waiting for the next hurricane season in the south Atlantic to be began tracking those storms," Janos answered, "We were on a routine patrol when we were given the assignment."

"You saw our 'stealth shield'," Boreas answered, "Unfortunately the storm took it out and our island can no longer be hidden. I doubt your ship will be the last to notice our island before it is repaired."

Janos sat quietly while Boreas then continued.

"Our people have always hid from the world out of fear that we would be hunted because we appear so different from humanity," Boreas sighed, "That fear has touched everyone and perhaps that is why Ekidna and Torro behaved the way they did. They were living in the past, if you will. It was hoped that we would never be revealed to the world, but apparently fate has conspired against us."

"You can't hide forever," Janos answered, "Hiding is never an answer."

Boreas nodded, "Perhaps you could tell me of a way I could introduce New Olympus to the world? We have methods of observation and study, but we know very little about the outside world."

Janos sighed, "Well, my superiors and eventually NATO will know of New Olympus because of this incident, but if you're looking for a diplomatic introduction, you'd have to send someone or got to the UN in New York City."

"UN?" Boreas asked.

"United Nations," Janos explained, "It's an international organization designed to try and keep world peace."

"Could you transfer a message for me?" Boreas asked, "Your communication systems are very strange to us. When your Captain first contacted us, we could barely understand him."

"Radios are strange to you?" Janos asked.

"You still use radios?" Boreas asked, "We considered radios to be obsolete by 1918."

"What?" Janos asked in surprise.

"Our people didn't suffer the 'dark ages' that much of the world suffered when the Roman Empire fell," Boreas answered.

"Straight into the Renaissance," Janos chuckled, "Yeah, I can relay a message, if you can write it down."

Taurus stood alone on the docks looking out over the ocean where the Greek ship had been earlier. The cut ropes remained fastened to the harbor's fasteners. He waited patiently for Boreas to return, and was beginning to fear the worst as the ship had now disappeared from sight.

"Taurus!" a voice called to him, "Taurus!"

He turned to see Helios coming up on a hoversled with a frightened looking young Naga female.

"Helios?" Taurus asked.

"I found WHO caused the storm!" Helios announced triumphantly.

"I didn't mean to!" the young Naga claimed, "I just found this old parchment in my family's attic. I read it trying to figure out what it was and then the storm started."

"She possess a magic scroll," Helios reported, "Probably belonging to one of the ancient New Olympians."

"And you didn't intend for the storm to occur?" Taurus asked.

"No," the Naga whimpered, "I didn't even know what it was."

"How did you find this out, Helios?" Taurus questioned.

"She came into the station screaming 'I did it'," Helios answered.

Taurus looked at the young Naga, on the verge of tears.

"I didn't mean to cause any trouble," the Naga cried.

"Trouble has been caused," Taurus said firmly, "But you didn't know what the spell would cause and you didn't know it was magic and what the consequences of the spell's affects would be. I believe some basic community service for the next week should suffice. Helios will do the paperwork and get your assignments."

"Community service?" Helios whined.

"Do you have a problem with that?" Taurus questioned.

Helios backed away, "No, sir."

"Good," Taurus answered, and returned to his silent waiting.

He waited there for half an hour before he could finally see Boreas's form in the sky once more. It was another half an hour before Boreas landed.

"Torro has been dealt with," Taurus reported as Boreas landed, "and Ekidna has been buried. The rest of the Senate, however, is not pleased and is waiting for you in the Senate building."

"Good," Boreas replied, "I have an announcement to make."

**The Senate Building**

"Why is Torro imprisoned?" one Senator demanded, "And why has Ekidna been shot?"

"You promised us that the humans were not going to attack us!" another voice shouted as Boreas returned.

"We were not attacked," Boreas answered, "The crew of the ship, Ipiros, approached us in peace and Ekidna and Torro attacked them. Torro was arrested for overstepping his bounds and will be released in due time. Ekidna was killed after she physically attacked the ship's captain without provocation."

Boreas heard a few hushed whispers, but didn't hear anything else.

"In the meantime I have an announcement to make," Boreas continued, "Tomorrow evening, New York local time, a team from New Olympus is to present ourselves to the world in the United Nations building and apply for membership. We can not hide any longer."

What followed was shocked silence.

**Castle Wyvern, Manhattan, NYC, NY, USA**

It was late afternoon when Xanatos saw a special news report on CNN. At first he didn't want to pay too much attention to it because of the fact that it related to a storm that couldn't possibly reach New York, but then when the reporter mentioned an 'unknown island' he became interested.

"And we repeat, a report recently arrived at the UN from the Greek Frigate Ipiros concerning an unknown island while on a weather survey mission," the reporter announced, "The Captain and second in command have released few details regarding the nature of the island or why the message was sent to the UN, but what is certain is that the island that the Ipiros contacted is seeking some form of contact with the UN in one way or another."

"Well this is interesting," Xanatos mused, "I'd thought that all the islands in the Mediterranean had been found. This couldn't be Avalon, could it Owen?"

"Unlikely, sir," Owen answered from behind him, "Unless a crewman on the Ipiros is a practicing sorcerer, knows the spell to get to Avalon, and decided the entire warship should go there, I doubt it was Avalon they discovered."

"Any guesses on who they found then?" Xanatos asked.

"Unfortunately no, sir," Owen answered, "But I'd presume that since they've kept their island hidden, they've had good reason to."

"Should we be concerned?" Xanatos asked.

"It might be worth watching to see who it is, but I'm not entirely sure if this is anything either real dangerous that needs to be watched," Owen answered.

Xanatos shrugged, "It's still interesting. I'd certainly like to know who this is."

The rest of the day passed as calmly as it usually did at Castle Wyvern, and by nightfall, the gargoyles that lined the parapets awoke from their stone sleep. The past few nights had been quiet for the clan. With Dracon gone, the hit he had called had mysteriously disappeared. Some minor street gangs continued to pursue the idea, but they were nothing the clan hadn't handled before. There were some minor difficulties with small outbreaks of gang-warfare here and there, but that was mostly attributable to the fact that Dracon was being returned to his cell and most of his top lieutenants had also been arrested.

Amy couldn't help but grin to herself as she shook the last bits of stone from her wings. Despite the earlier problems concerning the sniper and Dracon's hit, she had been counting down the days till her eighteenth birthday. Not because it meant that she was eighteen, since much of what she could have done in society was now gone, but because she and Brooklyn could have their ceremony. It was still amazing how life went. The year before she had been just an ordinary teen. She had friends and a good family, and had given little if any thought into looking for a future 'mate'.

Now she was far from what everyone considered normal. She was a gargoyle, and while she still had her best friends, she hadn't seen any of her other friends since her transformation. On top of this, she had had to deal with strong instincts that looked seemed to make a potential mate very important. It had been hard at first, because those instincts didn't always agree with what her mind was thinking. But then her relationship with Brooklyn changed. At first she thought he'd only be a friend, who could help her get used to being a gargoyle, but over time, she began to love him in her heart and mind. She was certain she would love him if she were somehow made human again. She was eager for their wedding ceremony. Life had changed, but she had grown to enjoy it.

She looked over at Brooklyn with a smile, and saw him smiling back. That showed her the feeling was mutual.

"One full week left," Amy said with a smile.

"Can hardly wait," Brooklyn smiled back, "Let's go get some breakfast."

The two then joined the rest of the clan in heading indoors to get something to eat before taking the patrols for the night. The clan found Zafiro and his clan eating what was for them, dinner.

"Good evening, Goliath," Zafiro greeted.

"Good evening," Goliath rumbled back, "Has anything happened during the day?"

"Nothing that we can deal with," Zafiro answered.

"Hmm?" Goliath asked.

"There was a large storm in the Mediterranean," Jade explained, "And apparently a human ship came across an island that had never been known to man before."

"They didnae find Avalon did they?" Hudson questioned.

"They would have needed magic to get to Avalon," Angela pointed out.

"Perhaps it was simply an island that no one's sailed past before," Caroline suggested.

"Not in the Mediterranean," Lexington responded, "From what I've seen on the computer of the maps humans have made of the world from their satellites there weren't any signs of an island that weren't missed."

"Not to mention that the Ancient Greeks, Egyptians, Phoenicians, Carthaginians, Romans, and the various Mediterranean nations of the Middle Ages had thoroughly explored the sea that it is unlikely that anyone missed anything," Goliath added.

"So what island could they have found, and if they're in the Mediterranean, how could they find a new island?" Amy asked.

"New Olympus," Elisa answered, remembering the world tour.

The rest turned to her in shock.

"But they had a shield to keep themselves hidden," Goliath pointed out.

"True, but one they said there was a massive storm in the Mediterranean before the island was found," Elisa answered while caping her wings, "Maybe the storm overpowered their shield somehow. Plus the fact that while we were traveling on that skiff, Avalon translated everything for us. Taurus said something about an ancestor being hunted down by a hero, which sounded an awful lot like Greek mythology to me."

"Supposedly people from this island are coming to the UN tomorrow evening," Obsidiana reported.

"I guess we'll find out then," Angela commented, "But Elisa might be right about this."

"Who is Taurus?" Othello asked, listening to what Elisa had said a few moments before.

"He is the minotaur security chief of the island," Goliath answered, "Everyone on New Olympus seems to resemble some creature from Greek mythology."

"Do they know about gargoyles?" Desdemona asked.

"Yes," Elisa nodded, "But aren't that fond of humans."

**Maddox Technologies**

"Interesting," Thailog commented as he heard Fang's report.

"Boring if you ask me," Fang grumbled, making many of the present Pack members nod in agreement, "It's the only thing that went on today."

"Has the robotics department come up with their 'puppet' yet?" Thailog asked.

"No," Fang answered, "They're still confused over several issues. Strangely enough you predicted what they'd be pretty accurately."

"Always thinking ahead," Thailog answered, and then turned to the Pack, "I would like you to observe this meeting with the UN tomorrow evening. You do not need to go in, just watch and observe."

"What?" Jackal demanded, "You're giving us a ticket to boresville!"

"Yeah," Hyena agreed, "There's no fun unless you let us rough them up a little."

Thailog shook his head, "No. They are not to be roughed up. You are merely to watch."

"Send your clan to do it," Wolf growled.

"My clan was created out of a ragtag group of street thugs," Thailog answered, "Only Holly and Fang are likely to follow my orders to the letter. You, being trained mercenaries can perform this reconnaissance mission without breaking orders."

"But this will be boring," Jackal answered, "This is a diplomatic meeting."

"The island has never been visited before and it is in the Mediterranean," Thailog replied.

"What does that have to do with anything?" Hyena demanded.

"Humanity has sailed the Mediterranean Sea for centuries," Thailog answered, "The Roman Empire encircled it. This island could not be an island that no one as has seen before. Not without technological or magical help. This means that this island has either advanced technology, which can help us, or powerful magic with which Holly can become stronger."

"I like that," Holly commented from her position in the room.

"Secondly, if they had the magical or technological ability to keep themselves hidden, and kept themselves hidden," Thailog continued, "that means they have something to hide, which makes investigating this all the more important. They might not even be human."

"Grrrrrrrreat," Wolf grumbled, "We're being used as lackeys."

"I will remind you that Goliath is likely to send some part of his clan to make sure nothing happens to the representatives of this island," Thailog pointed out, "You are quite free to fight them if you come across any."

"Well, if you put it that way," Hyena grinned, "I was getting board sitting around while Jackal works on Shadow and Dreadnought anyway."

"You could prrrrrrrovide morrrrrre help besides saying 'give them a perrrrrrsonality' you know," Wolf snorted.

"I wasn't talking to you, fido," Hyena growled.

"Please do not squabble in my office," Thailog said firmly, "If you have a problem you want to fight out, my clan's lessons can wait and you can spar in the gym. This mission isn't until tomorrow evening anyway."

**Abandoned Warehouse**

Garlon shut off the television that had been conjured up in what served as an office. Unlike Thailog, he already knew precisely who had been discovered.

"So, the humans have found the Olympian Court's mortal children," Garlon mused and then turned to Vermin, "Can you get into the UN?"

The rat-like fey nodded, "Yes. Easily. I may not be able to get close, but I can get to where I can see and hear what is being said. Is there something specific you wished?"

"The location of the Olympian's island," Garlon answered, "They disappeared from Europe when Theodosius made Christianity the official religion of the Empire, since many of the bishops had exacted their revenge on them when Constantine made that religion a tolerated religion within the Empire. I'd assume that many of them still hold the same attitudes that their forefathers did. A strong hatred of humanity."

"You want the Olympians to conquer Earth?" Vermin asked.

"I suspect that many of them would be willing allies against humanity and they can be enslaved to fight the Seelies when the time comes," Garlon nodded.

"Then I'd best be on my way to the UN," Vermin bowed, "It may be a day before they arrive, but I would like to know the layout of the building."

**Elsewhere**

Elisa finished tying her captured thug to a lamppost and turned to see Goliath bringing up his partner. Their patrol had been quiet so far and they had not come across anything more serious then the occasional mugger or two. The person they had saved from the mugger had run off with her purse and money several minutes ago.

"I wonder what got Boreas to decide to send someone to meet with the UN," Goliath commented, "While he appeared to be the most tolerant when we visited, it was apparent that he did not wish to make contact with humanity."

"Well, a warship was the ship that apparently made contact," Elisa commented as she began to scale the wall back up to the roof, "They can't keep an entire crew of men on an island and keep the ship just to hide their secret, and someone on the ship would have told in the end anyway. And if their shield was down, satellites would have found the island also. I don't think Boreas had a choice of not sending people to the UN. At least this way he can at least try to keep 'explorers' from deciding to run amok through New Olympus."

"Hopefully they are given a better welcome the kind we received," Goliath rumbled.

"There's nothing you and the clan could have done to stop the Quarrymen from being formed," Elisa answered, "Remember that."

Goliath nodded as the two gargoyles took to the air.

"I am more curious about what all they intend to do," Elisa continued, "Are they simply going to make their announcement and leave or are they going to stay awhile?"

"We probably won't know until they arrive," Goliath rumbled in a low voice, "But I take there is something deeper then mere curiosity about how long their stay is."

"Well," Elisa sighed, "I'm sure they know the clan is living in Castle Wyvern. They knew that human technology is advancing so knowing where we live is not a problem."

"You think they will come to the Castle?" Goliath questioned.

"If they are here longer then a day," Elisa answered, "They'd assume that since we live at Wyvern that whoever owns the castle would be able to tolerate them."

"And why does this frighten you?" Goliath asked.

"I'm not frightened," Elisa answered and then gestured to her wings, "It's just that they didn't like me very much, if at all, when I was human. How do you suppose they're going to react to the fact that I'm a gargoyle now? They didn't know much about magic from what I could see, and might have a reaction similar to the ones that Demona had when she first saw me as a gargoyle, both during Puck's mischief with Titania's Mirror and at our wedding."

"They will treat you with respect," Goliath answered, "If that is what you're concerned with."

"That is all I want," Elisa answered.

**Castle Wyvern**

"So, how'd it go?" Brooklyn asked as he and Amy began to walk toward the library.

Amy only groaned. One of the things she was beginning to become frustrated with concerning her fast approaching wedding. Her parents had worked out an agreement with Goliath concerning how the ceremony would go. It wasn't too bad if it weren't for the fact that her parents wanted her and Brooklyn to dress up. Fox had agreed to work out a smaller and modified version of the outfit that Goliath wore during his ceremony with Elisa, while Amy's parents had were working to get a proper dress for Amy.

"I'm lucky they aren't going for a big dress," Amy answered, "Mom is doing a nice job, but she always has to take new measurements for some reason I don't know why."

"Maybe she's double checking," Brooklyn suggested, "The last thing you'd want is something that's too small and you can't get it on or too big and it falls off."

"Maybe," Amy answered, "But it's boring just standing there while she takes measurements and goes to work at Fox's sewing machine. I mean, this stuff has already taken me off patrol duty and I can't watch TV until she's too tired, and by then, there's nothing good on."

"That's why we're going to the library to get a movie," Brooklyn answered, "and not much was going on tonight. No major excitement was going on."

"I'm glad everything has calmed down then," Amy answered, "All that business with Dracon put everyone on edge, I think."

"Of course, since we have wings, jumping off the edge isn't THAT bad," Brooklyn attempted to make a joke.

"Very funny," Amy answered.

By that time they had reached the library doors. They were both pretty sure that someone was there. If Goliath and Elisa had returned, Goliath might be inside reading with Elisa sitting nearby doing something. Demona was usually studying some text that was in Xanatos's possession. Wedrington was usually doing a crossword or looking at a magazine nearby. Occasionally Othello might bring Desdemona in to read poetry to her. What they found was something they did not anticipate. Seated on a couch were Demona and Wedrington, and much to the two beaked gargoyle's surprise, both seemed to be involved in what looked like a rather intimate kiss.

"Is there a reason you're watching?" Demona growled after a few seconds when she realized that there were others present.

"We were just here to get a movie," Brooklyn said quickly and dashed toward the section of the library where Xanatos stored his collection of videos and DVDs.

Amy followed close behind. Both sighed heavily as they got to the section they were looking for.

"So, uh, what do you want to watch?" Brooklyn asked slowly, and half nervously.

"Some comedy," Amy answered, not entirely paying attention.

Brooklyn looked at the possible choices and picked out one that was probably a much older film then what much of the clan watched, but he recognized the names from something Hudson said he saw on television.

"I think we should find a different exit," Brooklyn commented, "Maybe see if any of the others have finished their patrols."

"Good idea," Amy quickly agreed.

"You didn't need to growl at them," Wedrington commented to Demona once Brooklyn and Amy were out of hearing range.

"They were spying on us," Demona growled, now somewhat frustrated and had forgotten everything that had been going on earlier, "They wouldn't like it if we spied on them."

"It wasn't intentional," Wedrington pointed out, "They were just coming to get a movie."

Demona only snorted and paced for a few moments and then stalked deeper into the library saying, "I have research to do."

Wedrington could on hold his head up with his hands and comment, "Nuts."

"They were?" Lex asked in a surprised voice.

It took Brooklyn and Amy about a short while to find a television that was not in use, and found that Lexington and Candy were also in search of something to do.

Brooklyn nodded, "Very passionate too."

"I think it's sweet," Candy commented.

"In a genocidal sort of way," Brooklyn commented, "Remember that she's tried to wipe out all humanity on multiple occasions."

"No, I think Wedrington's been a good influence on her," Candy argued, "I mean she hasn't tried anything like what you said she did in the past since she came here."

"I still don't see what he sees in her," Brooklyn grumbled.

"Well keep quiet about it when she's near," Amy urged, "I don't you getting zapped by a lightning spell."

"I'm more curious as to what got her to be 'romantic' with him," Lex commented, "I'd agree with Candy that he's been a good influence on her, but if the kiss was passionate, he's had to have done something that's gotten her to do more than merely give up her quest to wipe out humanity."

"What do you suppose that could be?" Amy asked, "I mean, you guys made a pretty clear point that she wasn't a good gargoyle."

"I don't know for sure," Lex sighed, "Maybe because the only other gargoyle that they saw was each other for so long they were attracted to each other for that reason."

"Wedrington had to have had some influence on her when he was human though," Candy commented, "I mean, that when he first came to New York he was human. She had to have thought of him in a positive light, otherwise she would have left him somewhere."

"We'd have to ask Wedrington about that," Lex answered.

"Which is something I don't want to do," Brooklyn said quickly, "That'd start a fight if we start asking personal questions, and it's none of our business anyway."

The others nodded in agreement. Brooklyn then gave a heavy sigh.

"I think this is rather strange," Brooklyn sighed, "If you'd asked me a year ago if I thought Demona would find someone that she could truly love, I would have told you that I didn't think that Demona wasn't capable of that emotion."

"Gives hope for the world doesn't it?" Lex commented.

**The Courtyard**

Goliath and Elisa returned to find Xanatos, Owen, and Fox out clearing the few remaining drifts of snow from the courtyard. Moving them into a large pile near one of the outer walls. Xanatos and Owen were busy throwing the snow with snow shovels. Fox was meanwhile practicing some of the basic telekinesis spells that her mother had taught her, and using controlled amounts of fire to melt some of the snow. Owen would also pause to check on Fox and provide basic pointers where he thought they would be needed.

"What's all this?" Goliath asked as he landed.

"We're clearing the courtyard so that when the New Olympians arrive they have a

place to stay," Xanatos answered.

"You didn't offer the castle to them did you?" Goliath questioned.

"No," Xanatos shook his head, "But Hudson told me that these New Olympians look like creatures of myth, and given New York's reaction to gargoyles at first, they will look for a place that is safe to stay. And if they can keep themselves safe from human detection, it's not out of the blue to assume that they'd know that your clan lives here, Goliath."

"But they're going to the UN," Elisa pointed out, "What makes you think they're going to be here long enough to warrant needing a safe place to stay?"

"Their purpose is likely to be more the a simple announcement to the world that they exist," Owen answered the tan gargoyle, "If it was so, they would have made a simple announcement from New Olympus itself and the story would be over. By sending representatives to the UN, they are intending to apply for membership within the UN's General Assembly, which could take a few days for them to be accepted by the Assembly officially and for them to understand and accept the rules of the UN Charter."

"You think they want to join the UN?" Goliath rumbled.

"After so many years of hiding, they know that their only real safety is going to be with the UN," Xanatos answered, "Many people are likely to have mixed reactions and there are many who may decide to try and take over the island for various reasons. Either to get rid of supposed 'demons', like the Quarrymen tried to do with you, or to get their hands on their technology. Now since they have their own island that isn't claimed by anyone, they exist as their own country and can benefit from collective security. They join the UN, and the UN is then responsible for making sure that no nation starts a war of aggression against them."

Goliath nodded, "If that is so, it will be best if we keep watch on the area. Make sure that now Quarrymen-like reaction occurs."

Elisa meanwhile turned to Fox who was silently moving snow to the piles that the group hand been making earlier.

"So how are you doing?" Elisa asked.

"Fine actually," Fox answered, "It's good to have the opportunity to get some exercise. Not to mention that I find all this talk about these New Olympians to be very interesting. If they exist, does that mean that many of the events of Greek mythology happen? Like Jason and the Argonauts."

"I don't know," Elisa shrugged, "But I'd guess that a lot the stories have only half truths, like many of the stories about gargoyles. Taurus commented about an ancestor being killed by a human hero. I assume that is a reference to the story of the Minotaur, which according to mythology was eating the youths of Athens. And without a time machine, it's be hard to verify which parts of that legend are true or not, or if they even helped."

"You're mate has the Phoenix Gate again," Fox commented, pointing at the pouch on Goliath's belt, "You could explore a lot of places with it."

"I don't think he got it back so we can go gallivanting through time," Elisa answered.

"Then what good is it?" Fox answered, "We've already proven that history can not be altered. I mean, you could go back in time do something to change the timeline, but then history might change so drastically that you'd never see the Phoenix Gate and then the timeline would reset itself to the way it was before you took the Phoenix Gate, so Owen's told me. If you can't change the past, why be so concerned about it."

"Suppose someone like the Mage was to get hold of it," Elisa answered, "They might know how to use it so that they know what to do. The past may not be alterable, but the future certainly can be. Or at least I think so. Goliath is guarding it."

"I'd still say you need to use it from time to time," Fox commented, "Historians would love that trinket. Go back in time and ask someone like Luther or someone else important what they were thinking when they did something."

"That doesn't mean that there are some who would wish to change the past," Elisa pointed out, "You know that Demona tried. Others certainly would."

"You and Goliath wouldn't though," Fox answered.

**The Next Day**

It almost one in the afternoon when the detection gear in the castle began to pick up something. Owen was checking one of the sensor screens and saw that there was a single radar blip that was headed somewhat slowly toward the Eyrie Building. He immediately turned to the intercom.

"Mr. Xanatos," Owen reported, "I believe the New Olympian ship is on its way."

He waited a few moments before he heard the black furred wolf mutate's answer over the same system.

"How can you tell?" Xanatos asked, "Many aircraft pass by the Eyrie Building daily."

"It is headed slowly, almost as if they are unfamiliar with the region," Owen answered, "as far as aircraft are concerned."

"How far out is it?" Xanatos questioned.

"A little more then twenty five miles," Owen answered, "If they continue on their current path they will fly directly over the courtyard of Castle Wyvern."

"Send out the welcome wagon," Xanatos instructed, "Make sure that their journey is not interrupted."

"Yes, sir," Owen nodded and turned to another panel and pressed a single button.

Talos carefully piloted the New Olympian hovercraft following the set coordinates that they had learned from their observation devices in space, all were so small that they could not be seen or identified by any scanner. Taurus and Sphinx senator were also onboard.

"Are you certain this is where we are to land?" Talos asked to the passengers sitting behind him.

"We can not be certain of how the humans here will react," Taurus answered, "The humans from the ship were obviously fearful of us when they arrived. Violence was averted there because the ship's officers knew that they couldn't win on their own. Since Goliath and his clan are apparently living in the castle atop the tower, we can assume that this David Xanatos will not react too negatively to our outer appearance."

"We should have come here closer to our arrival time," the Sphinx commented, "We can land, make our announcement, and leave."

"Unfortunately given the metropolis that is Manhattan, such an option is not possible," Talos answered, "We would be landing in the street if we were to land right outside the UN building."

Suddenly, something on one of Talos's scanner screens caught his eye.

"Strange," Talos commented.

"What is it?" the Sphinx questioned.

"Something is approaching us," Talos answered and tapped a few buttons nearby.

A holographic image of four robots then appeared on a display to the right of Talos. The other two passengers could see the images as well.

"They have robot technology!" the Sphinx gasped.

"Not bad for a people who you and others have said don't know science," Taurus commented and took a closer look, "Talos, do those robots remind you of anyone?"

"They seem to resemble the gargoyle called Goliath who visited our island before," Talos answered.

"Identical, I would say," Taurus answered.

The four steel clan robots quickly reached the craft and quickly took positions as if to escort the New Olympian craft.

"They seem to be escorting us, Taurus," Talos reported.

"This Xanatos knows we're coming," Taurus commented, "Continue with your course."

It didn't take long for the craft to reach the Eyrie Building and it easily made a landing in the courtyard, while the four steel clan robots returned to their storage chamber. Taurus was the first to depart the craft and looked up at the tower above them. He could spot Goliath's clan in their daily stone sleep, but paid little attention for the moment to identify any of the individual gargoyles. The Sphinx and Talos were quick to follow. The proceeded to walk towards the castle's main gates when a blonde haired man appeared in front of them. The three New Olympians halted and watched as the man gave little sign of emotion in any direction.

"Are you David Xanatos?" Taurus asked, thankful that a translating device had been attached to his and the Sphinx's uniforms and installed in Talos's programming.

The man shook his head.

"No, my name is Owen Burnett," Owen answered, "I am Mister Xanatos's personal assistant. I am to assume you are the diplomatic delegation from the island recently discovered by Greece?"

Taurus nodded, "I am called Taurus..." he then motioned to Talos, "...this is Talos..." and then motioned to the Sphinx, "...and this is Leona."

Owen nodded, "Welcome to Castle Wyvern..."

"Where is this Mr. Xanatos?" Leona asked him, with some suspicion, "We intended to meet with him."

"If you will come with me, I will lead you to him," Owen answered and turned back toward the main doors and led the three New Olympians inside.

They followed Owen into the Great Hall, hoping not to shock this 'Xanatos' too much with their appearance, only to receive a shock of their own. Standing by a table were what appeared to Taurus and his group, two New Olympians. One was a fairly powerfully built male wolf-like creature standing on its hind legs with bat-like wings slightly unfurled behind it. It was covered with black fur, with the exception of the brown hair on its head and what looked like a brown beard along its muzzle and lower jaw line. The other was a female fox-like creature, also with bat-like wings. With the exception of its red-orange hair and blue colored fur in the shape of a fox's head over one eye, it was covered in red fur. The female was also clearly in the early to mid stages of pregnancy as far as the three New Olympians could tell.

"You are Mister Xanatos?" Taurus asked in disbelief.

"Yes," Xanatos answered and gestured to the female, "This is my wife, Fox."

"We didn't know that there were New Olympians living outside of New Olympus," Leona commented, "Did your ancestors not journey to the island at all or did some leave?"

Xanatos glanced at Fox for a moment with slight confusion. Seeing the three New Olympians in person was slightly surprising, but it was nothing that Goliath, Elisa, and Angela had not already explained.

"New Olympian?" Xanatos asked, "Aren't you a sphinx?"

Taurus sighed fearing this was going to dissolve into another question of species again.

"Yes, but all New Olympians, be they a Sphinx, like myself, or a Minotaur, like Taurus here, are genetically compatible," Leona answered, "Therefore we refer to our species as New Olympians."

"Interesting," Xanatos commented, "To answer your question, Fox and I are not New Olympians..."

"But you do not appear human and are not stone, which means you can not be gargoyles," Talos pointed out, "Which means you have to be New Olympians."

"We're mutates actually," Xanatos answered, "We were human, but a scientist, largely insane, used a mutagenic formula to transform us into our current forms."

Leona and Taurus's eyes widened at this statement. It was something they had not anticipated or knew of before. It was Fox who actually broke the silence.

"Um, my knowledge of Greek mythology is a bit hazy, but which 'creature' do you resemble?" Fox asked to Talos.

"I am a robot," Talos answered, "The people of New Olympus constructed me. We noticed that you have robots as well. May I meet them?"

"The steel clan doesn't have artificial intelligence," Xanatos answered, "They could not talk with you. Coyote is the only robot in my possession that could talk, but he is currently being worked on to improve his programming."

"Oh," Talos answered.

"I think this mission will be very interesting," Taurus commented, "If we may be permitted to discuss this further?"

Xanatos nodded, "Sure, we'll take you to a place where you can sit down."

**Dusk**

The clan burst from their stone shells to greet the new night and were greeted by a new sight in the courtyard. Sitting there was a craft that strangely looked like an eagle. The main body of the craft ran in an oval-like shape with a cockpit that resembled an eagle's head and there long stabilizers toward the rear of the craft, which resembled an eagle's tail feathers. Coming up from the sides of the craft were two wings that resembled the wings of eagles. The wings were folded up toward the sky so that the craft took up less space on the ground.

"The New Olympians have arrived apparently," Othello commented as the clan gathered on a middle level of the tower.

"And they came here," Desdemona added.

"Weren't they supposed to go to the UN?" Caroline asked.

"Maybe they haven't left for there yet," Lexington commented, "but man that thing looks cool. It beats any helicopter."

Goliath gave a slight nod, and then said, "We should go inside."

He then led the group indoors. To their surprise, he found Taurus, Talos, and a Sphinx conversing with Zafiro and his clan. Taurus turned his head up to see Goliath slowly approaching him.

"Welcome to New York," Goliath greeted the Minotaur.

"We have received a fairly calm welcome here," Taurus answered and shook Goliath's hand, "It is good to see you again, Goliath."

"I see your clan appears to be fairly healthy," Talos commented as Goliath's clan filed out in a somewhat disorganized line to try and get a look at the New Olympians.

Bronx, and Trixi were not interested in the meeting however and had gone off in search of a bone or something that they could chew on, and Demona and Wedrington had gone straight to the library. Taurus's eyes then widened in surprise when he noticed a tan female gargoyle standing slightly behind Goliath.

"Hi, again," Elisa said somewhat weakly.

"It can't be possible..." Taurus gasped, "She was human on New Olympus."

"A sorcerer transformed Elisa into a gargoyle using magic," Goliath explained.

Leona approached Elisa with a somewhat skeptical look. The Sphinx gave a few close sniffs and then returned to Taurus's side.

"Her scent is that of gargoyle's," Leona reported, "It is not a costume."

"I didn't think that she would have tried anything to make us like her," Talos commented back, "Although this has proven to be rather surprising afternoon and early evening."

"I'm sure," Goliath rumbled and addressed the Sphinx, "May I ask who you are?"

"I am Leona," the Sphinx answered.

The clan and the three New Olympians then went through basic introductions. The revelations that the new female trio had all been human once as well was somewhat surprising to them, but not much as they had never met their human forms before. The revelation that Elisa had been transformed however, was still quite shocking.

"This is still most surprising," Taurus commented.

"I don't want any trouble," Elisa commented, half hiding herself in her wings.

"No trouble has been caused," Leona answered, "The past days has been a real eye opener for our people that we have not been as tolerant as we once thought. And that we must... look beyond the past."

"I think we're missing something," Goliath commented, somewhat confused.

"The ship that found New Olympus was a warship, and had only come to New Olympus because of a recent storm in the Mediterranean," Taurus answered, "Many Senators assumed the ship was leading an invasion with no other proof then the fact that the ship was a warship and began to repeat the behavior that we exhibited toward Detective Maza during your first visit. Ekidna insulted the ship's captain and then attacked him when he didn't give her the answer she wanted. The captain's crew then shot Ekidna at point blank range to protect the commanding officer and retreated. It was a miracle that Boreas was able to persuade them not to return to Greece and begin raising an army."

"We're sorry to hear that there was death involved," Goliath answered.

"Ekidna will go unmourned on New Olympus," Leona answered, "Many agree that humanity is dangerous, the fact that she was the first attack has shown that her methods were definitely wrong and has made us look bad."

"If New Olympus thinks humanity is dangerous, why do you want to make an announcement to the UN?" Angela asked.

"Because events have unfolded that make it impossible for us to hide anymore," Taurus answered, "We will have to overcome old prejudices and the world will have to accept that there is more to the world then what is thought."

"When are you to meet with the UN?" Goliath asked.

"In about half an hour," Talos answered.

"Shouldn't you be going then?" Elisa asked, "This city is big and it takes time to get anywhere on the ground."

"We had actually hoped that you and your clan would provide some aide in that regard," Taurus answered, "Our ship would attract too much attention and we fear that not all humans will react the way the few that we have met here will react."

"You want us to take you there?" Goliath asked.

"And provide some sort of protection should we be attacked," Taurus answered, "If it is not too much trouble."

**Outside the UN Building**

A crowd of reporters had gathered around the front of UN building as they waited for the representatives from the newly discovered island nation to arrive and make whatever announcement they intended to make and presumably to ask for membership in the UN. Suddenly the sound of screams and gasps of shock were heard, and many reporters turned to see what could be causing the commotion. What they saw shocked them. One was a large male Minotaur. Another was a golden colored robot-like creature with red eyes or optics, depending on whether or not it was an actual robot or a really fancy suit of armor. The third was a Sphinx. One reporter trembled uncontrollably as the large Minotaur approached her.

"Is that the UN building?" the Minotaur asked.

The woman could only nod.

"Why are you all here?" the Minotaur asked.

"We're... we're... we're... waiting for... for... for... a del... del... delegation from a... newly... newly... newly... discovered island," the woman said, fear overshadowing everything she said.

"That would be us," Taurus answered and continued on his way, his comrades following closely thereafter.

"That's the delegation?" the woman gasped to herself after a few seconds, and then grumbled, "First gargoyles, now this."

From a nearby rooftop, Goliath, Elisa, Othello, Desdemona, Hudson, and Angela watched Taurus and his companions enter the building.

"Well, that went well," Elisa commented, "No one started a riot, yet."

"The humans didn't look too pleased that the 'delegation' wasn't human," Othello pointed out.

"Only because they were expecting a human delegation," Elisa pointed out, "Getting the real reaction to their appearance is going to take time."

"A shame you won't be around to see what it is!" came a new voice from behind them.

The group turned to see the Pack standing behind them on the opposite end of the roof. Shadow and Dreadnought were absent from the group, but Jackal, Hyena, and Wolf were reunited with Canis and Vulpine.

"Interesting freaks you're associating yourself with," Jackal commented, "Come straight from Greece right?"

"Yer a fine one ta be mentionin' freaks," Hudson growled drawing his sword.

"Get 'em!" Jackal ordered.

Hyena leaped forward with a flying kick into Othello's armor and knocked the grey gargoyle back toward the edge of the steps. Wolf roared and lunged at Goliath, jaws slavering and attempted to clamp them onto Goliath's throat. Goliath, however, easily avoided the attack and clubbed Wolf's shoulders with both fists. Canis and Vulpine fired electric blasts at Hudson and Angela while Jackal fired his lasers at Elisa and Desdemona.

"You won't get away this time," Wolf growled as he regrouped against Goliath and slashed at the gargoyle's wings with his claws.

Goliath dodged back and kept his eyes on Wolf to see what the mutate would do next. While he knew the entire Pack was dangerous, Wolf was one that he almost pitied. He found what the Pack had done to themselves to try and get better to be totally immoral, but while Jackal and Hyena seemed to retain all their human sentience, Wolf continued to lose more and more of his humanity. Saliva dribbled from his jaw as they battled, as he talked. And his speech had degenerated into a growling tone.

Wolf lunged at him again, but Goliath managed to deflect the blow and trip Wolf with his tail. Goliath then tried to get a foot on Wolf to hold the mutate still, but Wolf rolled away in time to get up again.

Othello quickly recovered from the kick that Hyena landed on his armor and grabbed the cyborg by the arm and threw Hyena across the roof. She landed on top of an air conditioner with a resounding thud. Hyena shrugged it off, however, and was quickly back on her feet.

"Lucky for you, I like it rough," Hyena smirked as she extended her metallic claws and lunged forward again.

Othello dodged and avoided taking serious injury, but winced as he felt Hyena's claws tear through the outer part of one of his wings. The large grey male then landed a strong punch on Hyena's check, knocking the cyborg to the ground.

"You are sick," Othello growled in a low voice.

Angela took to the air to avoid Vulpine's electric blasts and quickly began gliding away from the UN building. She did every maneuver she thought might get the mutate off of her tail, but the Pack's mutates, unlike those that fought for Lucius knew how to glide well, and didn't fall for the tricks. They did manage to keep the mutate from firing a wide barrage of electric blasts and Angela quickly began looking for a way to get close enough to land a blow on the mutate. Eventually she came to a flag pole hanging out over the side of a building and dove down toward it, hoping that Vulpine would follow. The mutate did, and Angela went under the pole and then looped around, she met Vulpine head on and drove the mutate into another nearby roof. Their fight continued there.

One of Canis's early electric blasts caught Hudson and knocked the older gargoyle to the ground. The mutate then lunged forward to land a punch on Hudson while he was down, but Hudson barely managed to get out of the way in time. He then landed a punch to Canis's gut, knocking the mutate back a few steps, letting Hudson get up.

Elisa ducked back behind the air conditioning unit of another nearby building as Jackal continued to fire lasers or finger missiles at Desdemona and her.

"I'm really beginning to get sick of him," Elisa growled, eyes already glowing.

"Perhaps we should try attacking from two directions," Desdemona suggested, "He can't concentrate his fire if he is attacked from two sides."

"It's better than nothing," Elisa agreed, "I'll go north, you go south."

Desdemona nodded and rushed south, while Elisa headed north. Jackal watched the two gargoyles rush out from different sides of the air conditioning unit and rush to attack him from two sides. He fired a barrage of laser fire at both gargoyles, but both moved quickly and didn't run in a straight line. Once they began to get closer he quickly dodged a punch that Elisa threw at him and barely avoided getting tripped by Desdemona's tail.

"You'll have to do better than that, ladies," Jackal snickered.

**Inside the UN Building**

There were muffled gasps of shock and horror as Taurus and his delegation entered the building's main room. It took a fair bit of explaining for the Minotaur to get the UN's President to calm down and accept the delegation. After a few shocked moments as various camera men and reporters began to fill areas where UN delegates were not seated. Taurus then slowly accepted the speaker's platform as it was offered to him.

"Delegates of the United Nations and people of the planet Earth," Taurus spoke slowly, nervousness at addressing so many people and announcing his island's presence to the world, "I do not presume that my appearance is a comforting factor to you. In fact I believe that to you I appear like a monster from the darker parts of the Earth."

Several flash bulbs went off as various newspaper photographers took pictures for their respective papers.

"My name is Taurus, and I am a New Olympian," Taurus continued, "The island 'discovered' by the men of the ship Ipiros is the island of New Olympus. On it lives my race. The New Olympians. We resemble multiple creatures that which humanity considers myth, but we do not exhibit many of the acts that we are given in mythology. The legends of mythology have lead people in the past to hunt and kill our kind without mercy out of fear that we would hurt them."

Taurus looked down for a moment before continuing, "But that is something that we do not wish. The New Olympian government desires peace between New Olympus and the world. We ask that humanity look past what is on the skin of the being that addresses it and see that we do not wish to cause them any trouble and that we wish to be harmed."

Taurus then motioned to Talos who was standing next to Leona.

"If humanity accepts that we wish to live in peace, it is the understanding of New Olympus that we can not survive as a nation on its own," Taurus continued, "We need the assurance of the United Nations that no nation will attack us for any reason. For this we ask the United Nations to consider making New Olympus a member and accept Talos as its representative."

There was an uneasy silence that followed shortly after Taurus left the speaker's platform to join his comrades.

**Outside**

"RRRRROOOOAAAAAARRRRRRRR!" Wolf roared as he lunged at Goliath, almost any notion of sentience hidden.

Goliath managed to dodge the mutate's attack once more and then moved forward to land a punch on the mutate sending him flying into the air conditioning unit on the building. Unlike Hyena, who quickly recovered from the blow, the enraged Wolf was not protected by being partially metallic and quickly fell unconscious or at least into a state in which he could not fight. Hyena noticed this shortly after Othello dodged a laser blast and tripped her with his tail. She also saw that Goliath was slowly approaching her.

"Uh-uh," Hyena snarled and hit Othello with a laser blast, "You ain't getting me. Besides, our real mission's been accomplished."

Hyena then activated her rockets and took off into the air.

"Come on, Canis we're getting out of here," Hyena called to him.

Hyena then zoomed down to the unconscious Wolf and flew off with him. Canis, meanwhile, took a punch to the chest that knocked him off of the roof he was on and quickly decided to follow Hyena. Hudson was too tired to give chase.

"Well, that deals with them," Hudson panted.

"We must help the others," Goliath urged Othello, "Hudson, keep watch here for Taurus and his companions."

Goliath and Othello then moved on. They found Elisa and Desdemona one rooftop over in a fierce fight with Jackal. Desdemona through a punch at Jackal, who avoided it and hit her with a laser blast, only to get kneed in the gut by Elisa. The male cyborg was knocked backward by the blow, and was thankful that the gargoyle's knee spur only dented his armor. He quickly noticed that both females had reinforcements coming and saw Hyena fleeing with an unconscious Wolf in her grasp.

"This place has lost its appeal anyway," Jackal grumbled and started his own engines.

Elisa and Desdemona watched as he flew off.

"Good riddance," Elisa grumbled.

"What do you suppose they wanted, clan sister?" Desdemona asked.

"Either to fight us, or they somehow know about the New Olympians," Elisa answered.

"Are you two alright?" Goliath asked as he and Othello landed.

The two females turned and then nodded, and then heard the sound of more footsteps approaching. The group turned to see that Angela had returned.

"So who blue the whistle that got the Pack to split?" Angela asked, "Vulpine had me locked up in a draw when Hyena flies over and calls for her to retreat."

"Goliath knocked Wolf out, and then Hyena fled, not wanting to face multiple enemies," Othello answered, "They're cowards."

"We should return to over look the UN building," Goliath interrupted the discussion, "Regardless of why they fled, they have fled."

**Warehouse, hours later**

"They didn't reveal the location?" Garlon questioned.

Vermin nodded, "They came in. Asked to join the UN and left after a few minor questions."

Garlon sighed, "Will the UN accept them?"

"I can not tell," Vermin reported, "Many countries are heavily split. The permanent members of the Security Council are among them. I think it will take a while for them to decide to accept or reject the request."

Garlon shook his head, "Perhaps we could find a way of making contact directly with the New Olympians."

"I don't think all hope is lost," Vermin reported, "I did overhear the Greek representative receive a report that the Greek military would share the exact coordinates with its NATO allies within the next few days."

"Then send someone to spy in Brussels," Garlon ordered, "I want New Olympus's location."

"Of course, my Lord," Vermin answered.

**Maddox Technologies**

"You could find any technology?" Thailog asked as he finished listening to Jackal's report.

"They arrived on foot," Jackal answered, "But you were right about them having a reason to hide. The ugliest looking bunch I ever saw."

"I saw as much on the news," Thailog sighed, "and I assume that Goliath and his clan were also guarding the building?"

"Yes," Jackal grumbled again, "They got the drop on us before we could try to sneak in and get any closer."

Thailog was privately sure the Pack had bitten off more than it could chew and was defeated, but that wasn't what concerned him. He was more frustrated by the fact that they failed to get any of the New Olympian's technology or make contact with them in any way.

"This night has accomplished nothing," Thailog growled at nothing in particular, "I am beginning to grow impatient."

"It wasn't our fault they came on foot," Jackal said defensively.

"I was not referring to you," Thailog replied, "Eventually my clan will have to battle Goliath's. Assure supremacy and all that. Training my clan to fight is taking longer than I expected and Xanatos is beating Maddox Technologies in the business world. The New Olympian, as the delegate referred to himself, represented a chance to get technology that is clearly ahead of anything humans have. And now, that chance is likely to be gone."

"Ah, your followers are getting better," Jackal answered, "You'll get your grand duel with Goliath. Remember the Pack wants a piece of them too. We're more than willing to help."

**Castle Wyvern**

It was nearing dawn as the gargoyles began to move to their perches. Taurus stood with Elisa and the clan leader on the top of the tower.

"It's good that you encountered no problems," Goliath said to the Minotaur.

"We can not be certain of that," Taurus sighed, "They will be debating the issue during the day, and we are expected to return at four in the afternoon to hear the ruling. There was no violence, but the people there were not comfortable."

"Well, hopefully they listened to you," Elisa answered.

Taurus gave a slow nod as the sun rose and the gargoyles turned to stone for the day.

"What do we do now?" Leona asked as she finally found Taurus.

"First we must contact Boreas," Taurus answered, "Let him know what we have accomplished so far. The only other thing we can do is wait."

**UN Building, 4 PM**

Taurus had found that human news systems traveled quickly, if by less advanced means. Xanatos had been able to pull up copies of various international news papers online, and most of them, if not all contained some information on the New Olympians arrival in the rest of the world. He and his companions were once again on the floor of the United Nations, this time to listen to the answer to the request made the previous night. He listened carefully as the UN President approached the speaker's platform.

"Good afternoon," the UN President announced, "Taurus of New Olympus. The discovery of your island is a turning point for all humanity. It proves the fact that progress is possible among all societies, regardless of their past treatment or position. However, because no nation as recognized New Olympus as an independent country, we can not allow your Talos to be a representative."

The New Olympians gasped in shock. They feared attack without some form of protection from the UN. The UN president continued however.

"Greece, however, has claimed New Olympus as a protectorate," the UN president continued, "Your Talos may sit with the Greek representatives as a minor member of their delegation."

"But we are our own country," Taurus protested, "We have been that way for many millennia."

"Unfortunately in the legal eyes of the world, you are not," the UN President sighed, "Greece has, however, promised New Olympus full self rule on its island, and wishes to assure your people that they will not be attacked by anyone. If my understanding of the morning's discussion is correct, under the current situation, as a Greek protectorate, should you be attacked, you would be under the protection of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, so your safety is assured."

"How long would it take to get recognition?" Taurus asked silently to Talos.

"I have been studying human's international law," Talos answered, "And their government policies. It could take a short period of time or take years. For the time being, the current solution is acceptable. NATO is a powerful military alliance including the United States, Canada, and nearly all of Europe and Turkey. It is unlikely that any one nation would challenge that alliance."

Taurus nodded and returned his attention to the UN President.

"While we would prefer to be recognized as our own country, we will accept the current situation for the time being for the purposes of cooperation," Taurus answered the UN president, knowing full well that New Olympus had a long road ahead of it.

**Evening**

"Talos is not returning with you?" Goliath asked as Taurus and Leona returned to their ship.

"He has been requested to stay with the Greek delegation," Taurus answered, "We have left a communications device that he can use to contact New Olympus when he needs to. We meanwhile must return to our home and let Boreas and the Senate know what has happened."

Goliath nodded, "We understand."

Taurus then turned to Elisa.

"For the sake of preventing those that reacted harshly toward you during your visit," Taurus said firmly, "We will remain silent about your fate, unless you wish that it is shared."

"That's your decision," Elisa answered, "I don't think they'd bother me so long as I stay on Manhattan."

"It's good to see that your people are moving out to accept humans," Angela commented.

"We are moving to maintain peace," Taurus answered, "We simply can not hide any longer."

"Um," Candy began, "I'm not sure we ever heard the answer to this, but, what caused the storm that took your shield down?"

"It was an accident," Taurus admitted, "One of our youngsters is apparently descended from one of the early New Olympian sorcerers and found an old spell scroll in their attic. The youngster read it trying to figure out what it was and accidentally cast a spell that caused the storm."

"No wonder that storm came up so suddenly," Candy commented silently to herself.

"We must be going now," Taurus said after a few moments and stepped inside the New Olympian craft; Leona following close behind.

The craft soon took off from the castle's courtyard and began to depart for New Olympus once more. The clan slowly watched the ship depart.

"It's a whole new world for them," Angela commented.

Goliath nodded, "Hopefully one that goes well for them."

**The End**


	28. All You Need is Love

All characters appearing in Gargoyles and Gargoyles: The Goliath Chronicles are copyrighted to Buena Vista Television/The Walt Disney Company. I've taken the idea for the Unseelie Court from the TGS. No infringement of these copyrights is intended, and is not authorized by the copyright holder. All original characters are the property of SN.

Note: I'm disregarding the events of the "Goliath Chronicles", with the exception of "The Journey" because I do not wish to use the rest of the "Goliath Chronicles" as canon to my story. This story takes place one week after "Discovery".

Note: This version is edited to be safe for 's censors. If you wish to read the original, that remains on the Gargoyles Fan Website in their Adult Section. I may post it on DeviantArt later…

All You Need is Love

By SN/TVfan

Email: Sam_Nary

**Castle Wyvern**

Amy sat in a somewhat joyous mood as she burst from her stone shell for the new night. In three days she would be eighteen. In four days, she and Brooklyn would be able to have their ceremony. Again she thought about some of the weirdness of how her life had gone. She had never seen herself getting married at eighteen, but then she had also never seen herself as a gargoyle when she was younger. Of course, she had gotten used to all of that. Gliding was fine, and while the clan's patrols was serious work and often dangerous, the fact that she could temporarily defy gravity was a thrill for her.

And then there was Brooklyn. He was another thing that had amazed her about her life had changed. Never in her fantasies had she ever found a beaked gargoyle attractive in any sense. Yet, after spending so much time with him after being transformed into a beaked gargoyle, she wasn't sure if she would ever prefer a male without one. She wasn't sure whether it was the fact that she had a beak or that they had simply been together so much that had prompted her change in opinion. Whatever it was, she felt glad for the change now. Brooklyn was smart. He was strong, far stronger then any human that was his size. She was also drawn to the fact that he was brave enough to only wear a loin cloth. She felt that she had grown to love him tremendously, which was amazing when considering the fact that compared to Caroline and Lawrence, they had been together a short time.

"We have patrol tonight," Brooklyn spoke as he stepped up next to her.

"Right," Amy nodded, snapping out of her day dream to glide down to where Goliath was handing out patrol assignments.

"What were you thinking about?" Brooklyn asked as glided down next to her.

"Us," Amy gave a knowing smile, "Or what we're going to do in a few days."

"You can't wait either, huh?" Brooklyn asked.

Amy nodded.

"I can't wait myself," Brooklyn said knowingly, "You're the best thing to ever happen to me."

The two carried slight smiles with them as they approached the others to receive what was the patrol assignment for the night.

"We'll start our patrols after breakfast," Goliath began with his instructions, "Brooklyn, Amy, you will be with Elisa and I, and we will patrol Manhattan's northern sector. Lexington, Candy Broadway, and Hudson, you will take Central Park. Othello, Desdemona, Caroline, and Angela, you'll take the south eastern sectors of Manhattan. Sarah, Ian, Ethan, and Eve, you will take the south western sectors of Manhattan."

The others nodded and voiced their recognition of their instructions. Goliath then approached Amy directly as many of the others began to head in and get their breakfast.

"Is there anything your parents require of you tonight in terms of preparing for your mating ceremony?" Goliath asked.

Amy looked to Brooklyn for a moment.

"They don't need me for anything," Brooklyn answered.

Amy then turned back to face Goliath.

"I don't think so," Amy answered, "We can go straight to patrolling after breakfast."

Caroline found Lawrence waiting at the table where she usually sat for breakfast, already eating a few chips from a bag he had in his lap.

"Dinner of champions, Lawrence?" Caroline asked as she walked over and sat down opposite him.

"This is just a slight snack," Lawrence answered, "I'm waiting to see what you're having."

"It'll be whatever Broadway cooks," Caroline answered, "And given that for us, this is BREAKFAST time, it could range from pancakes to eggs or even bowls of cereal if we request it."

"Breakfast for dinner," Lawrence mused, "I can handle that."

"That's very sweet of you," Caroline smiled.

"I thought it was something I should do," Lawrence shrugged.

The two smiled at each other warmly.

"I've never seen Brooklyn look so happy," Angela commented as she watched the clan second from her table.

"He and Amy will be having their mating ceremony in a few days time," Lexington answered, "He's happy because he will have someone that he loves by his side, after being alone for so long."

"Well you be the same way when you and Candy decide to get mated?" Angela asked.

Lexington looked over at the pink webwing sitting next to him. She seemed to be eagerly listening to what he was about to say.

"I'm happy that we're together now," Lexington answered, "She's very nice and we get along very well."

"Will you be ready when the two of you are ready to become mates?" Angela questioned with a knowing smile.

"If I'm happy know, shouldn't I be happy then?" Lex answered sounding nervous.

"I'll be happy," Candy answered.

Angela stifled a chuckle as she watched the two webwings smile at each other. The lavender female saw a lot of young love beginning to approach the point where the parties involved were ready to make their union official. The rest of the meal went by in silence.

**Maddox Technologies**

Thorn tumbled hard into the matt after being physically thrown by Wolf across the sparring circle. She looked up and glared at the furry wolf-like man, an angry look in her eyes.

"You wouldn't have been thrrrrrrrrown if you hadn't taken such a sloppy apprrrrrrroach to yourrrrrrrrr attack," Wolf spoke in his growling voice.

Thorn gave a low growl and thumped her tail against the matt. She was about to lunge at Wolf again when another voice stopped her from doing so.

"Watch it," growled Fang's voice, "Those spikes of yours tore holes in the matt. This is only sparring to help you all master hand to hand combat. No one is to attack anybody all out. Save that for Goliath and his clan."

"Goliath is mine," Wolf growled.

"Take that up with Thailog," Fang answered, "Alright, next. Remember that your objective is to try and pin Wolf to the ground."

Thorn grumbled as she walked to join the rest of Thailog's thugs who were watching each group's turn in the sparring ring against Wolf. Lucifer was the next to take his shot at the mutated TV star. Wolf waited patiently for the gargoyle to make his move. Lucifer decided to avoid making Thorn's mistake and watched Wolf carefully, deciding that if he could make the second move, maybe he could win.

Wolf paced for a few minutes, eventually he became bored of waiting for the gargoyle to make his move and charged at him. Lucifer attempted to grab Wolf by the shoulders and push him to he matt, but Wolf went low, grabbed Lucifer by the legs and pulled them out from under him. Lucifer landed on his back and soon found Wolf's foot on his throat.

"Always rrrrrrrremain low against a larrrrrrrrgerrrrrrr opponent," Wolf instructed, "You'll maintain betterrrrrrr leverrrrrage."

Lucifer rubbed the back of his head and nodded.

"Next," Fang ordered.

A moderately sized female web-winged gargoyle with grey skin took her turn. Taking the code name 'Granite' the web-wing was nothing like the rock that she had dubbed after. She was nervous and timid, and only became a gargoyle in order to avoid breaking bones in various accidents that she had from time to time. She watched Lucifer as he moved to join the others who had tried and failed to take on Wolf.

"Don't worrrrrrrrry," Wolf laughed, "Yourrrrrrrr mate will live."

"Focus on your mission," Jackal urged from beside Fang, "Wolf isn't as tough as he looks."

Granite ignored the cyborg's comment and slowly began to inch her way toward Wolf. She wasn't about to face the mutate head on. He was too big for her, and muzzle and fangs reminded her of werewolves from various horror movies her brother had made her watch. She had decided to remain low and try to get around Wolf and get him from behind. She dashed forward on all fours and before Wolf could move to grab her, dodged to the left and then lunged at Wolf's knees from the side. The impact of the gargoyle into his knees surprised Wolf and he was forced down to one knee as he attempted to recover.

Granite meanwhile prepared to lunge at Wolf again. Again the female decided to attack from behind Wolf, preventing him from stopping her attack. Her attack proved successful in getting Wolf to the ground in that he we was still pulling himself back to his feet when Granite tackled him, arms around his neck.

"Very good, Granite," Fang spoke ending the match, "You're the first to successfully bring Wolf down."

"Thanks," Granite answered weakly.

Granite then moved to join those who had already had their turn in the ring, while Wolf pulled himself back up to his feet. Fang was remaining in his role as a drill instructor for the night.

"Next," Fang ordered.

From his office Thailog watched the practices going on in the private gym that had been installed in the basement of the building.

"They're showing signs of improvement," Thailog commented, "A week ago, none of them would have thought to try that."

"Yes," Holly nodded, "Although I am more intrigued by the report from the robotics firm that they think the robot is ready."

"Ah, yes," Thailog smiled as he looked at the telephone message that Fang had taken during the day, "the representative will be due in half an hour with the robot to demonstrate it."

"And you still want to transform this innocent, likely to be subject in the future?" Holly asked.

"If she seems interested," Thailog answered, "Remember that Alex Sevarius did not go out and pick himself a female companion. If she isn't interested, you are to make her forget tonight completely. Fang will then thank her for demonstrating the robot tomorrow."

Holly nodded.

**Above Manhattan**

Lexington glided quietly as his group slowly went over their patrol sector. There hadn't been all that much going on, and they had only broken up two attempted muggings so far. Hudson and Broadway glided a bit ahead of him and were somewhat above him in altitude. Candy remained right by him.

"You know, Angela's comments got me thinking," Candy commented as they glided, "Where do we stand, officially?"

"On what?" Lex asked.

"On us," Candy answered, "When do you think we'll be ready? I mean Amy and Brooklyn are getting married. Caroline's already married Lawrence."

"Mated," Lex corrected, "Not married."

"Elisa says it's the gargoyle equivalent," Candy replied, remembering when Elisa introduced her and her friends to the clan.

"Well yes," Lex sighed, "Mated gargoyles will be together much the same way married humans are, but there is a difference."

"What's that?" Candy asked.

"No human will acknowledge Elisa and Goliath or Caroline and Lawrence as legally married," Lex sighed.

"That's only a race issue," Candy insisted, "And Amy's parents have been working hard to fight that."

"And for that we're all grateful," Lex agreed.

"Let's ignore terminology for now," Candy then said, "I was born human, raised human, and despite being transformed into a gargoyle, I still think human. When will we be ready to get married, become mates, whatever?"

"We would imply both of us," Lex commented, "When will you be ready?"

"I asked first," Candy answered.

Lex sighed. This was something that he wasn't very confident in dealing with. He had admitted to himself that he loved Candy, but he didn't want to rush anything or do anything to offend her. He also felt that romancing was more Brooklyn's field then anything else.

"I don't really know," Lex answered, "You're actually the first female I've ever dated. This is all very new ground for me."

"It's new ground for me, too," Candy replied, "That's why I'm asking."

"I guess we're equally lost," Lex sighed, "They out to give out a guide to this dating thing, because I really don't know when I'll be ready. I guess whenever you're ready."

Candy then sighed, "I don't really know either, but I know we can't keep going on the way we are. Couples that merely date all their lives, but never commit to marriage are lame."

Lex gave an audible sigh, but said nothing. Candy came up with another question.

"Do you love me, Lex?" Candy asked.

"Of course I do," Lex answered, "Just as you love me, right?"

Candy nodded with a smile, "I love you very much."

The two were then silent for a few moments. Eventually Candy spoke up once more.

"Maybe we ought to ask Goliath if he could 'marry' us at the same time as Amy and Brooklyn," Candy commented, "Get it over with."

"I don't want to rush anything," Lex answered.

"We're not rushing anything," Candy commented, "We've been going out with as long as Brooklyn and Amy, and they're taking each other as mates soon. And we don't have to… you know… make love, yet. Caroline and Lawrence haven't done that yet." Lex looked over at Candy, "You feel you're ready to make it official?"

"I think we're both ready," Candy answered, "Our argument on this whole subject was on the terminology differences between what humans and gargoyles refer to as a union between a male and female."

"This is going to be a brave new world," Lexington sighed.

"You said it," Candy agreed, "but we'll explore it together."

Their conversation was cut short when they heard the sounds of screaming coming from under a footbridge near their position. Broadway and Hudson were quick to turn and head in the direction of the screams, while Lexington and Candy followed them. What they found were two groups of men. Both groups looked they were merely well dressed thugs. There were also several unconscious people laying on the ground.

Broadway and Hudson went after one group and knocked several men to the ground in flurry of quick blows. Many of the others paused their apparent fight when they saw the two gargoyles come through and soon began running. Lex and Candy took off after the fleeing thugs and knocked many over as they glided by. One or two were successful in getting away, but the two gargoyles had gotten most of men.

"These guys look like gangsters," Candy commented as she and Lex landed to block those they had knocked over from having an easy line of retreat.

"We don't want any trouble," one the thugs said as he stood up and began to back away from the two webwings, before bumping into Hudson.

"Ye didn't seem ta have any trouble with causin' it," Hudson commented as he and Broadway moved to surround the thug and the others that were still conscious.

"They started it!" the thug accused as he pointed a finger at one of the ones that Broadway and Hudson had already knocked out, "Vince, me, and the boys were out walking when those Europeans jumped us."

"Europeans?" Broadway asked.

"They can't speak English," the thug said and then spoke in an obvious imitation of a foreign accent, "Ve vant your money! Ve vant your city!"

Hudson looked to Broadway and then to Lex. Neither fully understood what the thug was talking about.

"If he's saying his 'attackers' spoke with an accent, they have to be working for Brode's organization," Broadway guessed, "But I don't know for sure."

"That would be my best guess," Lexington nodded, "But then we need to ask him why he was attacked."

"We were doing nothing!" the thug insisted, as he and his few comrades were visibly nervous, being surrounded by four gargoyles.

"Ye had ta have done something," Hudson commented as he grabbed and lifted the thug into the air, "Yer appearance does not carry an air of innocence."

"We were just walking," the thug insisted.

"Who do you work for then?" Candy asked.

"Dracon, but things have been tight since you sent him back to prison," the thug gulped, too afraid to keep his mouth shut, "We got no leadership and little money. Just about everyone is taking shots at us."

"Great," Broadway grumbled, "this is just like when Brode first came to New York."

"I don't think it'll be that big," Lex commented, "Brode is still in jail from his arrival and Dracon has been sent back to jail to serve out his time from a previous arrest, and Elisa said he might get more time for escaping. His lieutenants are also looking possible jail sentences too. If what's left of Dracon and Brode's gangs go to 'war' with each other, it will be a problem, but it won't be as big as it would be if one or more of the two leaders was still free."

"We should still let Goliath know," Hudson spoke, "But first we should find something to tie these people up with until the police can arrive."

"You can't do that," the thug screeched, "We didn't do anything."

"Yer employed by a mobster," Hudson grumbled, "that's reason enough to believe that ye are wanted by the police in some form or another."

**Maddox Technologies**

Jane Rhonda nervously stepped into the darkened office. She was increasingly creped out by the fact that the room was so dark. It was like a scene out of a Dracula movie. The prototype robot that she had brought with her did nothing.

"You had it walk here?" a voice asked from the darkness.

Jane turned her head to look across the room. She could barely make out a male figure sitting behind a large desk. The lack of light made it impossible for her to see him clearly, but he could see that there was an almost reddish tint to his eyes.

"Mr. Thailog?" Jane asked.

"That is my name," Thailog answered.

"What's wrong with your eyes?" Jane asked.

"That is just my contacts," Thailog answered, "I found them to be quite interesting."

"Do want the lights on so I can show you the robot?" Jane asked.

"I can see quite well actually," Thailog answered, "I trust the lighting is sufficient to allow you to see?"

"It's a little dark, sir," Jane answered, "I can see, but not well."

"Very well," Thailog answered, "Holly, you may turn on the lights."

Jane looked rather confused, as she thought that only she and Mr. Thailog were in the office. Her look quickly changed to one of fright after the lights came on. Sitting in the chair was a large black gargoyle and standing behind her, near the door, was a blood red female with devil-like horns.

"You're… you're…" Jane stammered.

"Gargoyles?" Thailog finished, "Yes, but I assure you, you are in no danger here." That didn't calm Jane down any. She had followed all the news reports that the media had made on the gargoyles, and the creatures always frightened her. Their roars. The fact that they had appendages that humans didn't. All of it frightened her.

"Contrary to Quarrymen beliefs, we are not monsters out to devour your soul," Thailog spoke, "We're all just trying to make our way in the universe. Our appearance may be frightening, but it is only an appearance."

"But you can't run a company…" Jane began.

"Also contrary to Quarrymen propaganda, we are very intelligent," Holly spoke up as she moved to stand behind Thailog, "you shouldn't use the rhetoric of a group of racists as a guide to a new species."

"I'm sorry," Jane answered, not about to risk a fight with either gargoyle, "It's just that I've never seen a gargoyle up close before."

"That is understandable," Thailog answered, "We generally prefer to be hidden and out of the public eye, although after the events of recent years, I doubt we will be able to continue doing so."

"May I ask a question?" Jane asked and waited for Thailog to nod, "If you're wanting to prove that gargoyles are then what the Quarrymen made them out to be, why don't you announce to the world that you're running the company?"

"Despite the end of the Quarrymen recently, there are many in Manhattan alone that still agree with the Quarrymen's message, but did not actively take up their cause, and were not arrested," Thailog answered, "Should I reveal myself as the new CEO of Maddox Technologies, I would be seriously worried that many people working for me would either quiet, or a mob would attack the building and kill me. That is where the robot you've brought here comes in."

"The robot?" Jane asked.

"Yes," Thailog nodded, "The robot is intended to act as 'decoy' Thailog. To keep my true nature hidden until the time is right."

"I guess I should get on with my presentation," Jane said somewhat nervously and moved to reveal her robot.

"I trust that you will remain quiet about my true form?" Thailog questioned before she began.

Jane looked nervously at both gargoyles and then nodded, "Yes sir. I will remain quiet to the public."

"You may continue," Thailog smiled.

**Castle Wyvern**

"I'd like to talk to my mother before we talk to Goliath," Candy said, "See what she thinks."

"It might be wise to talk with Amy and Brooklyn as well," Lex commented, "before speaking with Goliath, I mean. I mean it's supposed to be their day. We shouldn't interfere."

"Interfere with what?" came Brooklyn's voice from behind them.

The brick red male chuckled slightly as the two webwings jumped at the sound of his voice.

"Well, you know Amy turns eighteen in a few days and that the two of you will 'marry' each other the night after, obviously," Lex began, "Well… Candy and I were wondering… if we could… you know… at the same time."

"Huh?" Brooklyn asked, somewhat confused when Lex began to speak more slowly, indicating nervousness.

"We want to know if you would be alright if we made it a double wedding," Candy spoke.

Brooklyn only smiled, "I'd have no problem with it. I don't know about Amy, but since she and Candy are good friends, I'm sure it won't be."

"Where is Amy now?" Candy asked.

"She had to go use the bathroom," Brooklyn answered, "We were intending to watch a little TV."

"Mind if we join you?" Lex asked.

Brooklyn shook his head, "Nah, you two are free to come with us. It'll let you talk to Amy about all this."

"Dracon's and Brode's men are battling each other again?" Goliath asked Hudson as the older gargoyle gave his report.

"Yes," Hudson answered, "It doesn't seem that it's being coordinated very well and I don't think they'll give us trouble, but it will be something to keep an eye out for." Goliath nodded, "I can't believe the strongest source of trouble is a collection of small groups of thugs fighting each other. We haven't heard from the Pack since their attempted attack on the New Olympians. Thailog hasn't done anything recently. It's like they're all hiding."

"They can't hide forever," Elisa said in a calming voice, "Eventually they'll decide to attack and we'll defeat them. We haven't lost yet."

Goliath nodded in agreement with his mate.

"This calm will also allow the current relationships that the younger generation is having to continue peacefully," Hudson commented, "Broadway and I overheard Candy and Lexington talking about planning their own mating ceremony."

Goliath nodded. He had observed the growing romances between Brooklyn and Amy and Lexington and Candy with an almost fatherly attention. He was glad that all of them were happy and that they had someone. From what he noticed, he was also proud that the two males did not go overboard trying to impress the two new females.

"Sounds awfully fast," Elisa commented, "I hope the decision was not made because of Brooklyn and Amy's ceremony."

"From what I could hear, I don't think was like that," Hudson answered.

"And it isn't fast for a gargoyle," Goliath added, "In the old clan, many courting pairs would ask to have themselves declared as mates after a few weeks. Some, like us, courted for quite a while before taking each other as mates. Gargoyles have never had a 'right' time. Love doesn't know timing."

"That it doesn't," Elisa smiled, "I hope they're happy in the long run."

Goliath nodded in agreement as he began to make his way to the library, with Elisa following close behind.

**After Dawn**

"Have you figured out anything to give Amy for her birthday?" Mr. Axel asked his wife as they left Eyrie Building's elevator to head out into the city to head to their respective places of employment.

Mrs. Axel shook her head, "I haven't really thought of anything, and all she wants right now is Brooklyn, so its not like there's anything out there that she wants as a gift. She's more focused on her 'wedding' then on her birthday."

"Well," Mr. Axel shrugged, "Brooklyn's a pretty good guy, I'd say that be reason enough. If I recall correctly, you forgot your parents birthday when we were about to get married. Shows you how dashing I was."

"What happened?" Mrs. Axel teased.

"Very funny," Mr. Axel grumbled, "Try to think of something. We have to do something for her birthday. Upcoming wedding or not, it would be a big day for her regardless."

Mrs. Axel nodded and began to head toward the building where she worked while her husband went towards the building in which he worked.

"Something that could double as a wedding present might work," Mrs. Axel thought to herself.

Meanwhile, up in the castle, other preparations were going on. Emerald light shimmered from one section of the room to another. When the light faded, flowers had appeared and glass vases where there had once only been the stone floor.

"Very good my boy," Puck said with a grin as he floated over the young Alexander Xanatos, "You're getting much better."

"More flowers?" Alex asked his teacher.

Puck looked at the assorted decorations that had been conjured up for the upcoming mating ceremony. It was all mostly flowers that the Axels and Amy wanted for the ceremony. The fey had always found it funny to see how truly similar gargoyles and humans were in their cultural practices and yet claimed to be different. Both of Amy's parents were surprised that according to Goliath, flowers were a very romantic gift or decoration for gargoyles, particularly if the flowers had a pleasant scent.

Puck floated closer to the individual flowers and looked at each closely. All of them were roses with either red or yellow petals, matching the colors of the two gargoyles that were to be mated. He then turned back to his pupil sitting on the floor.

"I think we have enough for Brooklyn and miss Amy," Puck answered, "But a little birdie told me yesterday that miss Candy and Lexington might want to join the other two."

"Uncle Lex?" Alex asked.

Puck nodded, "Yes, your 'Uncle' Lex loves Candy. Some pink roses might be appropriate for them."

Alex nodded and turned around. He then repeated his spell, altering it so that the rose that were brought forth had pink petals to match Candy's skin tone. The stems of these roses was olive green to match Lexington's coloration. They were prepared if everything was to go according to the plans that Puck had overheard.

"There," Puck grinned, "That will do nicely."

The fey had been startled when Amy had asked Owen if he could use Puck's powers to provide decorations, but it gave him room for a new lesson for Alex, and surely had to remove any problems concerning paying for flowers, which would likely be expensive.

"More?" Alex asked from his position.

Puck shook his head, "No, I think that will be more then enough for two simultaneous gargoyle mating ceremonies. We'll let Mr. and Mrs. Axel, and probably Mrs. Wexmand decide on how they're arranged. Besides, it's time for Owen to begin his daily meetings, and I'm sure there are so many fun things for you to do."

"Uncle Lex is asleep," Alex pouted.

Puck had already returned to the form of Owen and looked down at the boy. When the feud had ended between Goliath's clan and Xanatos, the two had acted merely allies, and to a great extent, that was still how they behaved. Alex had meanwhile befriended Lexington to the point where he began calling the gargoyle 'uncle'.

"I'm there is plenty that you can keep yourself occupied with that does not involve the gargoyles," Owen spoke calmly.

"I'll go see momma," Alex shrugged and moved off.

Owen watched him and then moved off to carry out his duties as Mr. Xanatos's personal assistant and representative for the day.

The day went by rather slowly. It was mid afternoon when Xanatos, taking a brief break from his work, found a news broadcast coming from Maddox Technologies. "Hmmm," Xanatos mused, "Perhaps we'll see Thailog's stooge for the first time." What the black furred wolf-like mutate saw on the screen was somewhat surprising. It was a rather large man, who strangely, looked a lot like Goliath, at least if Goliath were human. After he got over the initial surprise, he watched and listened. He sounded very much like Goliath, and spoke only of business matters related to Maddox Technologies. Owen arrived a few minutes after the broadcast ended.

"I have the latest files on the robotic helicopter, sir," Owen spoke, "We should be ready for production within a week or so."

"Very good Owen," Xanatos answered, "We'll need to keep a closer eye on Maddox Technologies at present. Either Thailog has found some way to make himself human during the day, or as made a robotic double of what would be his human form to act as a face for the company."

"Yes, sir," Owen answered, "Should we inform the clan of this?"

"I wouldn't think that a robot designed to look like a human version of Thailog or if it is true that Thailog has found a way to switch between human and gargoyle forms, I doubt it will be of much concern to Goliath," Xanatos answered, "Thailog or the robot could not get through our shields if they attacked in daytime. The clan is safe."

"Of course, sir," Owen nodded.

**After Dusk**

"Are you sure about this?" Abigail Wexmand asked as she followed her daughter though the castle's halls, "I mean, you've only met recently."

"Roughly since Christmas, but yes, I'm sure," Candy answered, "We both love each other. I feel ready, he's ready. Goliath is already performing Brooklyn and Amy's ceremony. We might as well kill two birds with one stone."

"I know you love him," Abigail answered her daughter, "When he was shot, you hovered over him the way anyone who has seen a lover injured would. I'm pretty sure that he loves you from what I've seen…"

"So what is the problem?" Candy asked.

Abigail sighed. In truth, there was no real problem. It seemed a little fast for her, but that was really only her opinion. She knew that there wasn't much she could do to try and stop her if she wanted to. Her own parents could stop her when she was in Candy's place.

"It just seems that this is all happening a little too fast," Abigail answered.

"It feels right to do this now to me, mom," Candy answered back.

"You're certain he loves you?" Abigail asked, "And that you love him?"

Candy nodded, "More then anything."

"May I give you a small piece of advice?" Abigail asked and waited for her daughter to nod, "Don't shy away from saying 'I love you'. I watched as much as I can, and it always seems that both you and Lexington seem to get nervous when it gets to the point of saying 'I love you'. Don't be afraid to say it. Especially if that's how you feel." "This is the first time I've ever had a boyfriend," Candy answered, "And I'm apparently Lex's first girlfriend. We're both nervous. What if I say it at the wrong time?" "When you're in love, anytime is the right time," Abigail answered, "So long as it's with the one you've married and not with some… sorry."

"Lex and I won't end up like you and dad did," Candy told her mother.

Abigail nodded, "The two of you seem to be much closer then your father and I were at the same point and in our lives. I made a foolish mistake. Always remember that I don't want you to do the same."

"I won't," Candy answered, "I know Lex loves me."

"I hope so," Abigail answered.

Caroline and Lawrence sat quietly watching television in the clan's TV room. They were alone as Hudson had gone off to visit Robbins. Amy and Brooklyn were involved in preparations for their ceremony. Lex was doing something on the computer. Candy was talking with her mother. Goliath was reading to Elisa in the library, probably a different section from the one that Demona and Wedrington were in. Sarah, Ian, Ethan, Eve, Angela, and Broadway were playing games in a game room elsewhere. Othello and Desdemona had gone off on a glide, and the Guatemalans were caring for a private greenhouse that Xanatos had somewhere in the castle.

"I'm glad you stayed up to watch with me," Caroline spoke softly.

"No school tomorrow," Lawrence answered, "I don't have to get up early. I'll say it was lucky that you got a night off from your patrols on the same night I don't have school the next day."

Caroline turned her head and smiled at him, "Yes, that was most fortunate."

The blue female then gave a contented sigh and wrapped one arm around Lawrence's shoulders.

"Although," Caroline continued, "With Brooklyn and Amy, and Lexington and Candy soon to have their marriage ceremonies, I'll have a few more nights off from patrolling, so I can be with you until you go to bed."

"Wait, isn't it just Brooklyn and Amy that are getting married?" Lawrence asked. Caroline shook her head, "Candy or Lex, or both, must have gotten brave enough to ask the other. Candy announced it, to me anyway, that she and Lex were ready."

"Good for them," Lawrence replied.

Caroline nodded, "Very good for all of them. Soon they'll forge a bond that only Broadway and Angela, Goliath and Elisa, and Desdemona and Othello have."

"Bond?" Lawrence asked.

Caroline sighed, "It's a gargoyle thing. I found out about it in a rather embarrassing lecture about gargoyle practices, culture, and certain places. Apparently, when a male and female gargoyle… have intimate relations for the first time, both release a scent that is a marker that the gargoyle has a mate. It seems to solidify the bond of love between the male and female. You and I, Lawrence, we are mates, but because we have not… 'gone all the way', we are only paired mates. Broadway and Angela, Goliath and Elisa, and Othello and Desdemona are bonded mates because they have… you know." "And you think that Brooklyn and Amy and Lexington and Candy are just gong to 'bond' after they take each other as 'man' and 'wife'?" Lawrence asked.

"How many movies have we seen where the man and wife haven't 'bonded' immediately after getting married?" Caroline answered back.

"We didn't," Lawrence answered.

"We were different," Caroline retorted, "We got married because it would put an end to the Avalon males thinking they had the right to hit on me. I wasn't entirely sure we were ready, and I know we weren't ready to take our relationship to that level at the time."

"Are you saying you're ready now?" Lawrence asked, confused.

Caroline sighed, "I don't know, part of me says no, and the other part says yes. I think that's a sign that we're both still too young to be thinking about things like this…"

"Are you voicing some opinion about the others?" Lawrence asked.

"No," Caroline shook her head, "What Lexington and Candy and Brooklyn and Amy do behind closed doors is their business, and I shouldn't judge them. I just feel conflicted on the subject."

"I've been thinking," Lawrence commented, "and if you're ready to get married, shouldn't you be ready to go to 'that level'?"

"Normally I'd agree with you," Caroline sighed, "But I just don't know if we're truly there yet, because our situation was different, and even if we were ready, I want our first time to be a romantic moment. I don't want us to just 'do it' for the sake of 'doing it'."

Lawrence put his hand on Caroline's shoulder, "I'm not going to force you." Caroline smiled, "You're sweet."

The two kissed, at first only softly, but it steadily grew more passionate. As it did so, she began to become aroused. Caroline steadily felt Lawrence's arms wrap around her as she wrapped him in her wings.

"Lawrence, we shouldn't," Caroline managed to breathe out, "We're not… ohhhhh…"

"What?" Lawrence asked.

"You just rubbed a spot where I'm very sensitive," Caroline answered.

"I'm sorry," Lawrence spoke and sat back, "I didn't mean to hurt you."

"You didn't harm me," Caroline said back, "Far from it. It felt good actually." "Oh," Lawrence answered, and then looked down, "and I promised I wouldn't force anything."

Caroline smiled and stroked his hair with one hand.

"You're sweet," Caroline said with a smile, "Always a gentleman."

"Thanks," Lawrence shrugged, and then said nervously, "I think I need a shower." "You don't have to go," Caroline said as she scooted closer to him, her wings cloaked, "We can behave ourselves."

"But I thought you said we weren't ready?" Lawrence asked as he felt Caroline's wings wrap around him once more.

"I said I didn't know, and you're the one who said if 'you're ready to get married, you should be ready'," Caroline retorted, "I never said I would say 'no' if and when the right moment came along."

"And this is the right moment?" Lawrence asked.

"You let me voice my opinions and you never try to do anything rude," Caroline answered, "A perfect gentleman. Perhaps we are ready… I think the moment feels perfect. It's quiet, we're alone. The lights are on low."

Caroline then kissed Lawrence once more.

"But, if you don't want to…" Caroline continued.

"You don't have to stop," Lawrence answered as he laid back on the couch, Caroline's wings still wrapped around him.

The two kissed again Caroline began to reach down to her mate's pants while Lawrence moved to rub her back again. Caroline barely managed to stifle a moan as he rubbed the center of her back gently. Working the button and the zipper on his pants took her a little time with her talons, but once they were undone, she had no trouble in pulling his pants down. The two continued to kiss while Caroline began to work with Lawrence's shirt.

"This will work much better if we are both naked," Caroline whispered to him.

Wedrington jumped when he heard a roar echo through the clan's wing of the castle. By its pitch he could tell that it was a female's roar, despite the fact that the castle's stone walls, and the various improvements to the interior that Xanatos had made, muffled the sound.

"What was that?" Wedrington asked.

"That would be a young female sharing an intimate moment with her mate," Demona answered without looking up from the text she was studying.

"What?" Wedrington asked, "That sounds like a roar. How could love making sound like that?"

"Have you ever been with a human woman?" Demona questioned.

"I had a girlfriend in college," Wedrington answered, and added, "Not much worked out with it though."

"Did the two of you ever…" Demona began to ask.

Wedrington's cheeks darkened to a slightly pinkish color from its normal white tone as he looked down for a moment.

"We did," he said weakly.

"Were you quiet?" Demona questioned with an almost triumphant look on her face.

Wedrington looked down again, "Well, no, but…"

"Remember that Caroline is a gargoyle," Demona answered, "I have heard my fair share of human screams of pleasure. More then I'd care to, and if I hear another it'll be too soon. Humans scream. Gargoyles roar, just like we roar when we awaken from stone sleep."

Wedrington nodded, "Always learning new things… say, how do you know that that is Caroline?"

"Do you hear a male's roar?" Demona questioned.

"No," Wedrington answered.

Demona nodded, "That is how I know. That female has taken a human as her mate, therefore the only roar you could hear would be hers. No human could equal a gargoyle's roar."

"Caroline was human once," Wedrington pointed out, "Remember that."

"I am not making any point on my opinions over a gargoyle and humans in a relationship," Demona answered in a defensive tone, "As far as I am concerned, they can have each other."

The sky blue female then returned to her studying.

**Two Nights Later**

"You really didn't have to do this!" Amy gasped as she looked at the cake with eighteen candles lit on it, "I should be patrolling with the others."

"Oh, we had to," her father said with a smile, "While the day… night you've been waiting for is tomorrow night, this is still your eighteenth birthday. It's reason enough to celebrate. What kind of parents would we be if we didn't do something for your birthday?"

Amy only shrugged, "It was very nice of you to do all this."

"Make a wish," Mrs. Axel urged as she pushed the platter holding the cake closer to where Amy was sitting.

Amy thought for a moment and then blew with all her might. She blew all of the candles in one breath. Her parents and Brooklyn smiled as they watched. She carefully began to help her mother pull the candles out of the cake.

"The cake looks good," Brooklyn commented.

"Thank you," Mrs. Axel answered, "Now the three of you just sit tight and wait till I can come back with some plates."

The cake was quickly cut into equal pieces for the entire clan and the others at the castle. Only four slices were served and the rest of the cake was quickly taken to the refrigerator to save for the rest of the clan to return from their patrols. Amy was even surprised when her mother produced a few presents for her to open while the yellow gargoyle chewed on a piece of cake she had taken.

"While I'm sure you're more focused on tomorrow night and your wedding," Judith Axel began, "But your father and I agreed that we had to get you something. We also got you something extra, since society won't let Brooklyn go into a store…"

"I've got something for her actually," Brooklyn spoke up.

"How did you get me something?" Amy asked with surprised look.

"Lex and I made it," Brooklyn answered as he produced a metal chain holding a necklace from his belt pouch.

"It's beautiful!" Amy gasped as she took the necklace, "I love it!"

"Some members of the old clan wore modified suits of armor during the middle ages, and we all learned how to make them to help speed production up for us and for the castle's guards as well," Brooklyn explained, "So we all learned how to make chain mail. Lex and I used pieces of chain link fence to make the chain and the clasp…"

Amy looked closely at the charm hanging at the bottom of the picture and saw that it held two pictures. On one side was a picture of her and Brooklyn together and on the other side was a group photo of her and her parents, a week before she was transformed. It was somewhat strange, as she was almost unable to recognize her human form.

"It's wonderful," Amy smiled, "thank you."

She then turned to show the necklace to her parents. Judith let out an 'oh' noise and smiled from ear to ear. Mr. Axel, meanwhile, took the necklace and looked very closely at it.

"I wondered why the two of you came by asking to borrow a photo album," Mr. Axel answered, "Do the two of you still have it?"

"It's in the computer room sitting next to the scanner," Brooklyn answered.

"How did you make the chain?" Judith asked, "You said you made it like chain mail, but isn't that like a metal shirt?"

"Yes," Brooklyn nodded, "But Lex and I only used one chain and made it in a circle. As for how we made the links, our talons could cut through it and you'd be amazed how many different tools Xanatos has stashed around here. He has a whole welding kit down in the basement."

Amy took the necklace back and hugged Brooklyn, "Thank you so much. I love it."

"Why don't we see what your parents got you," Brooklyn motioned with one hand to the two gifts that Judith Axel still held in her hands.

Amy nodded and accepted the first of the two packages. It was relatively small. About the size of a CD and wrapped in green wrapping paper. Her talons made short work of the paper and she looked at the CD with warm smile.

"The Beatles 'Magical Mystery Tour'," Amy read the album's title, "Where did you find this?"

"There was this little music store that was selling a lot of old music," Judith answered, "Most of them are obviously transferred from records to CDs, and some are actually new recordings of old songs. I was tempted to go for a CD of 'Big Band Hits' for myself. And considering that tomorrow is your wedding day, I thought the last song on the album would be appropriate for both of you."

Amy looked at the back of the CD and read the song list.

"All You Need is Love," Amy read and then turned to Brooklyn, "That ought to be our song."

"I always thought 'Yellow Submarine' was better," Brooklyn commented with a teasing grin, "but okay."

Amy then took the second present that her parents had brought with them.

"You could consider this a birthday - slash - wedding present," Judith explained as Amy began to open the present.

Amy tore the paper away with ease, and found that what her parents had given her was a photo album. She flipped through the pages, seeing spots for wedding pictures, individual pictures. It even had marked pages for children, certain days, celebrations, and basic activities.

"We can the pictures for you to put in there," Mr. Axel commented.

"Thank you," Amy replied, "It'll be nice to have some albums of our own."

**Over Manhattan**

Elisa and Goliath moved slowly over their patrol sector in search of some sign of Thailog or the Pack. Someone that had been giving the clan some trouble recently. Other then a few muggers and other small level crooks, they hadn't found any sign of their real enemies. Elisa noticed that Goliath seemed to be distracted somewhat, and it was probably a good thing that they had not come across their principle foes.

"You okay, Goliath?" Elisa asked, "You seem to be a bit distracted. If the Avalon gargoyles or any of either the male or female trio were here, they would get a lecture about the importance of paying attention if they were doing what you are doing now." Goliath sighed, "I have been thinking about the mating ceremonies tomorrow night. I suppose I am distracted."

"The procedure won't change because Lexington and Candy said they wished to be mated at he same time," Elisa commented as the two came in for a landing on a rooftop.

"I know," Goliath answered, "But I am trying to organize how I will perform the ceremony."

"I'd never figure you to be a nervous one, my love," Elisa teased.

"I am not nervous," Goliath answered, "I am merely planning in advance. There is nothing wrong with that."

"No there isn't," Elisa nodded, "But don't plan too hard, our patrol isn't over yet." "Of course," Goliath sighed, "Come, we are almost done anyway."

The two then leaped into air and continued to glide along the path that they were originally traveling in.

**Castle Wyvern, Dawn**

Abigail Wexmand stood with Judith and Mr. Axel as the sun rose, turning all the Manhattan gargoyles to stone for the day. Even the Guatemalans decided to sleep for today to prepare for the activities of night that would be coming in twelve hours.

"They grow up so fast," Abigail commented as she gazed out up at her daughter's stone form.

Abigail noticed that Candy's tail was intertwined with Lexington's as the two went to sleep for the day, and gave a weak sigh.

"I can still remember when Amy was a toddler," Judith sighed in agreement, "If you asked me what I thought my daughter would be doing in eighteen years when she was born, I certainly never would have guessed this."

"It all worked out well in the end for her though," Mr. Axel commented, "She and Brooklyn have come to love each other, and she appears to have gotten used to everything. Nothing we can do now."

"I know," Judith answered, "And the seem to look good together. I hope they're very happy together."

Abigail only sighed again.

"Is something wrong?" Judith asked her, "Shouldn't you be happy for Candy?"

"I am happy for her," Abigail answered, "but I feel its going too fast for me. I don't want her heart to be broken. I rushed into marriage, and Jacob left me shortly after I became pregnant. I don't want her heart to be broken."

"I don't think you have any worries in that department," Judith told her, "both Candy and Lexington spend a lot of time together. They have to love each other. Plus, if I remember right, Jacob wasn't that great a character to begin with. Lexington is a much better character then he could ever hope to be."

"Thank you Judy," Abigail answered, "That makes me feel a bit better. I hope you're all right and that they are happy together as well."

"I'm sure they all will," Mr. Axel commented, "Now come on. We've all got a lot of work to do before tonight's ceremony."

Abigail and his wife nodded and began to follow him inside. They had taken the task of arranging all the flowers that Puck had Alex conjure up in a manner that would allow Brooklyn and Amy, and then Lexington and Candy could walk down an isle of flowers. They had also agreed that the rest of the clan would stand on either side of the isle, with the exception of Goliath, who would be waiting in the center.

In addition to that, Judith also had to lay out the dress that Amy was going to wear for the ceremony. It was one of the few things that she had insisted upon. Amy was to wear a hand made white dress as opposed to the cutoff shorts and tee-shirt that she wore. Making the dress was the hardest piece of sewing that Judith Axel had ever done, but she managed, and she was sure her daughter would look wonderful in it.

All of them knew they had to get the work done quickly now, so they could get some extra sleep and be ready for what would be coming that night.

**Dusk**

As the sun set each gargoyle slowly awakened from its stone sleep, sending showers of stone down to the courtyard. Both Brooklyn and Lexington were startled to have two hands cover their eyes shortly after they had flicked off the last bits of stone. "What's going on?" Brooklyn demanded.

"It's bad luck to see the bride before the wedding," Mr. Axel chuckled, "Don't worry you'll see her shortly."

"Amy, Candy, why don't the two of you go down to the Axel's rooms in the castle," Abigail Wexmand spoke while holding her hands over Lexington's eyes, "You can get ready there."

The two females shrugged and then went inside. Once they were out of sight, Brooklyn and Lexington were released.

"Who came up with such strange traditions?" Lexington grumbled, "Every gargoyle has seen his or her mate in the past on the day of their mating ceremony. None of them have ever had 'bad luck'."

"I don't know," Abigail answered, "Just humor me. It's been a human tradition that the bride and groom do not see each other until the ceremony."

"Not everyone follows tradition," Lex pointed out.

"Humor me," Abigail answered.

"So, where do we go to get ready?" Brooklyn asked.

"We will be going to my room," Abigail answered, "You need your hair combed and some better attire."

"What's wrong with what we have?" Lex asked.

"It's old and worn out," Mr. Axel answered, "It wouldn't suit well for a formal occasion. Don't worry, what we've got o replace them will not be something you hate."

Candy sat down on the bed in a somewhat depressed mood as Amy's mother began to help Amy change into the dress she had made for her.

"Why the long face, dear?" Judith asked.

"I'm just jealous that Amy gets a nice dress, but because of my wings, I can't," Candy answered, "That's all."

"There's nothing anyone can do about that," Judith replied.

"I know," Candy said, "It's just one of those moments when I wish I had normal wings."

"Just think of Lex," Amy spoke up, "That will make you feel better. And be glad you didn't have to put up with all the measurements it took to get this dress ready."

"I think the dress looks lovely," Mrs. Axel spoke. "I agree," Amy nodded, "But I didn't like all the measurements taking that went into it."

It didn't take long for Amy to get the dress on. The dress fit quite well and looked more like a white 'semi-formal' dress for a date then a wedding dress and it only came down to Amy's knees. But, given Judith lacked the time to sew a more traditional wedding dress, and the fact that she could not afford to buy the material, even if she had the time, left her with making a smaller and less formal dress. But it was still white and it was a dress. It had a fairly low back, to allow for Amy's wings, and she made a special hole for her tail. Judith had also added an extra flap of cloth to make the hole for Amy's tail less noticeable.

"There," Amy announced as she got everything in place.

"You look wonderful," Judith spoke with a smile.

"Thanks mom," Amy answered her.

"New loincloths?" Lexington gasped at what he and Brooklyn had been presented with.

"Yes," Abigail answered, "The ones you have on are too old, and from what I've heard have no underwear."

"These, have underwear with them, which is made out of cotton, and sewed onto the denim cloth, which should last longer then what you're wearing now," Mr. Axel added, "Especially when it rains."

"Uh, thanks," Brooklyn commented as he took the garment.

"The two of you can change in my bathroom," Abigail spoke.

Both Brooklyn and Lex then moved to take their turn changing their clothes.

In the Great Hall, Goliath patiently waited for those who would be the participants in the mating ceremonies that would go on during the night. Much of the clan had eaten only lightly in anticipation of a larger meal after the ceremony had taken place.

"They've done a lovely job with the room," Elisa commented from his side. Goliath nodded, "A very elegant job. And the roses they picked smell very good." "I think they were conjured," Angela spoke up from her position, near the isle, "They smell like the flowers that grew on Avalon."

"Alex has certainly gotten good with his lessons over the years hasn't he?" Broadway commented as stood by Angela.

Angela nodded as the main doors opened to let Brooklyn and Lex make their way into the room. Both were wearing black denim loincloths and both looked rather jubilant. Mr. and Mrs. Axel were close behind them and took one side of the isle to stand by while waiting for Amy and Candy to arrive. Mrs. Wexmand arrived a minute or so later and stood next to the Axels.

"I've just spoken with Candy," Abigail spoke up, "Both her and Amy are doing fine and are on their way."

"I'd better get to my place," Elisa spoke to Goliath and then walked to stand next to Desdemona and Othello.

There was a brief silence for a moment while the group was waiting for the two females to arrive. After a few seconds they could hear the sound of footsteps, and at first thought it was Amy and Candy, but it turned out to be Alex, with Fox chasing after him. "Wait!" Alex cried as he ran up the isle and grabbed Lexington by the tail. "What's this?" Lex asked as Fox came up and tried to get her son to let go.

"Want Uncle Lex to be my friend!" Alex answered.

"He's been afraid that you're not going to be his friend anymore now that you and Candy are tying the knot," Fox explained.

"I'm always going to be your friend," Lex answered as he patted the toddler's head, "But I also love Candy, like the way your parents love each other. Plus, there kiddo, in time you'll grow up make new friends and will be embarrassed to even be seen with me."

"NO!" Alex answered, "My friend!"

"Candy and I will still hang out with you from time to time," Lex said, "Would that be alright?"

Alex sniffled for a moment and then spoke, "Okay. Can I watch?"

"I don't mind," Lex answered the boy.

"It's fine by me," Fox added to give her consent, "But we will have to be quiet." "Okay," Alex answered and slowly followed Fox to a spot where he could watch. Not long after that, Candy and Amy finally arrived and began to slowly walk up the isle toward Brooklyn and Lexington. Candy was still wearing her white tunic while Amy was wearing a specially made white dress. Lex smiled back at Candy as she walked forward, while Brooklyn was clearly breath taken by Amy appearance. He thought the female was beautiful before, but he felt she was absolutely breathtaking now. Once the two females arrived at where Brooklyn and Lex were standing, both turned and took the hands of their respective mates. Goliath then cleared his throat to begin the ceremony. "We are gathered here to join these two pairs in mateship," Goliath spoke in his deep voice, "My Second in Command, Brooklyn with Amy Axel and Lexington with Candace Wexmand."

Goliath allowed a brief pause before continuing.

"In every union, there are responsibilities that must be taken by both male and female," Goliath continued, "Brooklyn, Lexington, every male will be the guardian and friend to the female he has chosen. Do you accept this responsibility?"

"Yes," the two males answered in unison.

"Do you swear to love and cherish you chosen females?" Goliath questioned. "Yes," Lexington and Brooklyn answered.

"Do you swear to honor them in life, in sickness and in health, for richer for poorer?" Goliath asked.

"Yes," the two males answered.

Goliath then turned to address the two females.

"Amy, Candace, a female will be the companion and advisor to the male she has chosen," Goliath said in a firm voice, "Do you accept this responsibility?"

"Yes," Amy and Candy answered.

"Do you swear that you will love and cherish the males each of you has chosen?" Goliath questioned.

"Yes," the two females said firmly.

"Do you swear to honor them in life, in sickness and in health, for richer for poorer?" Goliath asked again.

"Yes," Candy and Amy answered.

Goliath then turned to the group of gathered viewers watching the ceremony.

"Is there anyone present here who does not approve of the unions being forged here?" Goliath asked and waited while no one said anything, "Then these pairs are one. Now and forever. You may kiss your mates."

Brooklyn then took Amy in his arms and kissed her, each puckering the lips on their beaks to make it possible, while Candy and Lex stepped together and kissed as well. "I love you," Brooklyn said to Amy.

"I know," Amy smiled back.

A sudden tug on her tail broke Candy's kiss with Lex. She turned to see Alex clutching the tip of the pink appendage.

"Lex is my friend," Alex spoke.

"The entire clan is your friend," Candy answered.

"We'll play with you from time to time," Lex spoke, "how about you and your mom join us for the 'reception'. Broadway worked very hard last night to make a nice feast."

A few hours later Brooklyn and Amy arrived in a private room in the clan's wing where Amy's clothing had been left after the female had left her mother's room to go to the ceremony. It was the same room that Elisa had had when she was human and visited the castle for longer then one night during her shift. Since Elisa's transformation, the room had become a room for any of the clan's guests.

"You look very pretty in that dress," Brooklyn spoke as she approached the bed and picked up her shorts and shirt.

"You've said that already," Amy pointed out, "Seven times."

"I can't help it," Brooklyn answered as he gripped her waist and kissed the back and side of her cheek, "Such beauty must always be pointed out."

Amy smiled back, not mentioning that Brooklyn's chest was rubbing against the center of her back, "Then I must point out that you're very handsome."

"Thank you," Brooklyn spoke as his kisses then began to go down the side of Amy's neck.

"What do you suppose Candy and Lexington are doing right now?" Amy answered as she began to feel aroused from Brooklyn's kisses and his chest rubbing against her back.

"They've gone to watch a little TV with Hudson," Brooklyn answered as he felt Amy's tail begin to snake its way around his, he himself was beginning to feel his own arousal growing.

"I'm sure he'll enjoy the show," Amy chuckled.

"Who?" Brooklyn asked.

"Hudson," Amy chuckled.

"Lex told me that he and Candy hadn't planned on doing anything of that nature tonight," Brooklyn answered.

"We hadn't planned on doing anything like this earlier either," Amy gave a teasing smile as she turned around to face Brooklyn, her hands moving to the parts of her dress that came over her shoulders.

"We don't have to if you don't want to," Brooklyn told her.

"Does it look like I don't want to?" Amy questioned as he moved the shoulder straps so that the dress fell off of her.

"I love you," Brooklyn spoke.

"I know," Amy answered as her eyes began to glow.

**The End**


	29. Questing Friends

All characters appearing in Gargoyles and Gargoyles: The Goliath Chronicles are copyrighted to Buena Vista Television/The Walt Disney Company. I've taken the idea for the Unseelie Court from the TGS. No infringement of these copyrights is intended, and is not authorized by the copyright holder. All original characters are the property of SN.

Note: I'm disregarding the events of the "Goliath Chronicles", with the exception of "The Journey" because I do not wish to use the rest of the "Goliath Chronicles" as canon to my story. This story takes place two days after "All You Need is Love".

Questing Friends

By SN/TVfan

Email: Sam_Nary

**Castle Wyvern**

Elisa and Goliath slowly came in for a landing in the castle's courtyard after their patrol. Neither had found much in the way of activity. Neither Thailog nor the Pack were active, or at least doing something that would require their attention. Scattered fist fights between various street gangs continued to break out as they continued to squabble over the remains of Dracon's criminal empire.

"Quiet night, tonight," Elisa commented as she caped her wings.

"Yes," Goliath nodded, "And a good thing for the clan members that have just taken mates."

Elisa nodded, "It'd be pretty bad to have to skip your honeymoon because of a bad guy's attack."

Goliath nodded, "And is there anything you wish to do with the rest of our night, my love?"

"I'm in the mood for a good movie," Elisa commented, "You want to go nuke some popcorn while pick out a good one?"

"Nuke?" Goliath asked, raising a brow ridge.

"Use the microwave," Elisa explained, remembering that Goliath and many of the gargoyles older then the male trio didn't completely understand all the terms and ways in which many modern people used modern English.

Goliath nodded and turned to head for the kitchen while Elisa headed for the library. It would be a quiet night for both of them.

Elisa found Sarah seated in one of the isles between the rows of bookshelves looking at a rather large book.

"What are you reading?" Elisa asked.

Sarah looked up in slight surprise and then raised the book she had been looking at.

"I have been reading more and more about the city," Sarah answered, "It is amazing how the humans have been able to build these towers. The winds up here would knock one of the Avalon towers down if they were built this tall."

"You're interested in architecture?" Elisa asked.

"I find it amazing that humans have been able to build buildings so big," Sarah answered.

"Have fun then," Elisa nodded an continued on her way.

**JFK International Airport, Mid Afternoon**

"Man," a woman with brown hair commented as she looked out of the airport's windows at New York City, "And I thought York and London were big cities."

"They are big cities," a middle aged man commented as he came up beside her.

"Not compared with this city," the woman answered, "Man is it a big city."

"Remember that we are here with important business," the man answered.

"I know, Merlin," the woman sighed in a soft voice as they began to walk towards where they would pick up their baggage, "we need to find out more about 'Britain's Greatest Hour of Need'…"

"And your training," Merlin added.

The woman only sighed, "Only to make sure I don't destroy anymore of my clothing."

"It might be best to strip down to your jumpsuit when you feel yourself starting to change," Merlin answered in a weak voice, "If your clothing is that important."

The woman gasped in surprise.

"What if I'm not wearing it?" the woman gasped.

"Rachel, until you have full control over your transformations, you should wear that jumpsuit at all times," Merlin answered, "I'm sure you can get the privacy needed to wash it, but while you have no control, there is always the danger that something could frustrate you and force you to change as a result of stress."

Rachel only sighed. She didn't like the idea of practically stripping off all her clothes or wearing her 'werewolf jumpsuit', but at the same time, she didn't want to transform in the middle of a crowd after losing her temper, only to calm down later, and turn back into a naked woman.

"I hope I can gain control, then," Rachel answered, "that jumpsuit is not very comfortable when I have to put something on over it."

"I could probably fix that with a spell," Merlin whispered, "but we should wait till we get to the Eyrie Building to deal with all that."

Rachel nodded and grabbed her bags. She and Merlin then slowly made their way through the airport and took care of every individual mission that they would have to take as 'tourists' with the United States. They got their English Pounds converted into American Dollars.

After a long cab ride, the two arrived outside the Eyrie Building. Rachel was awed by the size of building, but followed Merlin. Waiting for them was blonde man wearing glasses, who looked like his face was stuck in a permanent scowl.

"Mr. Hawkins and…" Owen greeted, "Ms. Winters, I presume."

"Yes, Rachel Winters," Rachel replied.

"Yes," Owen nodded, "I am Owen Burnett, Ms. Winters, Mr. Xanatos's personal assistant. If you'll follow me, I'll take you both straight to the castle."

"So, how have things been with you?" Merlin asked as they got into the elevator.

"I have been working," Owen answered, "The clan will surely be curious about your visit and they have news for you if you wishing to know."

The rest of trip in the elevator was quiet. Owen didn't say anything, because that was who Owen was. Merlin had nothing really to speak with the disguised fey about at the moment. Rachel was too nervous and shy to say anything.

"I trust you remember where the guest rooms are?" Owen asked once they got to the top of the elevator's shaft.

Merlin nodded.

"Very well," Owen answered, "Have a pleasant afternoon. Mr. Xanatos or I will be available to answer any questions you my have at any time."

"Thank you," Merlin answered and watched Owen depart.

Once he was out of earshot, Merlin turned back to Rachel.

"We'll drop our stuff off in our rooms before we do anything else," Merlin said to her, "And I don't think we'll do much today and tonight. That was a very long plane flight."

Rachel nodded and followed Merlin along. After a few moments of following Merlin through the hallways, Rachel began to get curious about something.

"Say, Merlin?" Rachel asked, "Where are the gargoyles? I thought you said they lived here."

"They do, but it's daytime," Merlin answered, "They're all asleep."

"But where are they sleeping?" Rachel asked.

"Outside," Merlin answered, "The London clan only sleeps inside because the mansion is right in the middle of London and people might see them. The castle is quite safe from most attacks."

"Oh," Rachel nodded.

After a few moments, Merlin began to approach the doors that would lead to the guest rooms that he and Rachel would be staying in. Shortly after Merlin opened the door, a toddler's voice made them stop short.

"Wizzer!" came Alex's voice from behind them.

Merlin and Rachel turned to see young Alex coming up toward them.

"Wizzer!" Alex said to Merlin.

Merlin glanced over at Rachel, who chuckled at the comment and shook his head.

"That is wizard," Merlin told the boy.

"Who is this?" Rachel asked.

"This is Alexander Xanatos, Mr. Xanatos's son," Merlin answered, "Our guest rooms aren't too far away from the wing of the castle where Mr. Xanatos and his family lives."

"Hello," Rachel said politely to the boy.

"Who are you?" Alex asked curiously, although, also backing away at the same time.

Rachel was about to ask when a new voice cut in.

"Alex?" the voice called out, "Where are you?"

"Momma!" Alex called back, "Wizard and strangle lady are here!"

Rachel was about to say 'hey' when she looked to see a female anthromorphic fox with bat-like wings, but no tail, come around the corner. The creature appeared to be in the early to middle stages of pregnancy, and was wearing a tee-shirt and a pair of sweat pants. Rachel began to back away in fear.

"Don't worry," Fox spoke, "I'm not going to harm you. I'm Fox Xanatos."

"Are you a… werewolf?" Rachel asked as she shrunk away.

Fox turned to Merlin, "This is Rachel?"

"Yes," Merlin sighed, "I'm still trying to help her adjust to everything."

"You needn't be afraid," Fox spoke to Rachel, "My husband and I were turned into mutates by an evil geneticist. I look different, but my mind still functions normally."

"I'm sorry," Rachel said weakly, "But I've had some rather bad encounters with wolf-like creatures over the past month."

"I am a fox based mutate," Fox answered, "Not a wolf. That would be David."

Rachel only nervously nodded, "Okay."

"Who are you?" Alex asked again to Rachel.

"Alex!" Fox scolded.

"It's alright," Rachel answered, "My name is Rachel Winters. I'm a friend of Merlin's."

"Well, it is good to meet you, Ms. Winters," Fox answered, "Hope you and Merlin accomplish your mission, and I'm sure David will want to talk with you about it later. But, for right now, there is a little guy here, who needs to return to his play room and let our guests get settled in."

Fox then slowly lead young Alex off.

**Elsewhere**

A man in a dark busisness suit standing near the Empire State Building slowly pulled out a cell phone and dialed a number and waited patiently for he person on the other end to answer.

"Yes?" a voice answered after a second or two.

"I followed the cab that the wizard and the werewolf took," the man said in soft voice so that only the man on the other line could hear, "They have arrived at the Eyrie Building."

"So, it is Xanatos that he goes to," the voice mused, "Excellent. Perhaps we could get our hands on a few of his gargoyles…"

"Sir?" the man asked.

"This will be a very important mission," the voice answered, "Pendragon is not to learn anything of Britain's Greatest Hour of Need. It is imperative that all Illuminati agents in New York are notified of the mission to come."

"Yes, sir," the man nodded.

"Both the wizard and the she-wolf are to die," the voice ordered, "For now, the two of them are to be observed until our strike team is ready."

"Yes, sir," the man acknowledged and hung up.

**Illuminati Headquarters, Undisclosed Location**

The Mage's ghost hovered quietly in a corner of the main conference room as the Illuminati Council met. Until his time of resurrection, he couldn't do much more then torment his enemies or provide the Illuminati Council with instructions.

"I have received a report concerning Merlin Hawkins and Rachel Winters," Six began the meeting, "They have arrived in New York."

"Seeking Xanatos's help, no doubt," Five commented.

"Xanatos will be easy to muzzle," One dismissed the report, "Our main mission does not involve his gargoyles at the moment, so he can simply be told to stay quiet, and if he attempts to refuse, we can remind him that a clan of gargoyles is not the only thing he is protecting."

That comment drew several evil snickers.

"The gargoyles will not be so easy to silence," Two commented, "None of them have any ties to us."

"Then I suppose it is time for us to put some of the equipment we have stored in the Hotel Cabal be put to good use," Three suggested, "Show them that it is for more then interrogations."

"Send instructions to Duval," One nodded, "the Hotel Cabal is to prepare to use its more secret weapons to capture or kill Merlin and the she-wolf."

"Targeting them may be difficult," Four pointed out, "While we know Merlin's main mission is to discover more about Britain's Greatest Hour of need, there are other details that he will have to deal with in Manhattan, particularly things relating to the Second Unseelie War."

"I'm having most of our minor agents observe them for the time being," Six answered, "Those orders can easily be changed to include relaying their position to our strike teams."

"Agreed," Two nodded.

**Castle Wyvern**

It was late afternoon when Merlin and Rachel ran into Xanatos. The black furred mutate had come to inquire about Merlin's mission, and was very curious about it. While Merlin didn't feel like doing any research at the moment, discussing his plans with Xanatos was probably a good idea.

"Everything I've found leads not to when but to what," Merlin sighed as he began to answer the black furred wolf mutate's question, "A war in the east will erupt and men will 'drop from the sky' and the death of the island monarchy."

"So a war, paratroopers, and the death of England's royal family will signal 'Britain's Greatest Hour of Need'?" Xanatos asked.

"Not necessarily death," Merlin answered, "The popularity of monarchy in Britain is slowly fading. Elizabeth is well loved, but few are fond of her children. We aren't too far away from becoming a Republic, which considering how little power he King or Queen currently has in the government, many Englishmen are wondering what the purpose of having a monarch is really for."

"It would still require your Queen's death for a change from Constitutional Monarchy to a Republic to occur, if the people like the current Queen," Xanatos pointed out.

"That's why I want to find out the WHEN of all of this," Merlin answered, "If I can find out when they are going to begin this war, Arthur and I can take steps to stop it before it gets started."

"Well, the library is arranged so that you can find whatever you need," Xanatos answered, "I even have all the mystical texts I've collected over the years catalogued."

"That will keep things organized," Merlin nodded.

Xanatos nodded, "Is there anything else you are planning to do while you're here?"

"Just focusing on training Rachel to control her transformations," Merlin answered, "Why do you ask?"

"Talon believes that the English mutates have adjusted enough that they can return to England if they wish. I thought you would be the best to help them."

"We came on a regular airline, not Macbeth's hovercraft," Merlin answered, "And Rachel and I may not be returning directly to England."

"Then I guess, Owen will have to use his powers as Puck to help them out," Xanatos commented, "Or I could see if they would want to come with you."

Merlin then nodded, "It may take a while to find everything we need."

"Take your time," Xanatos answered, "It's not like I can open up my library to anyone besides you, the gargoyles, and anyone who understands what has happened while Fox and I are like this."

Merlin slowly nodded.

Rachel, was meanwhile lost in wandering through the castle's hallways. She was largely getting a look at everything that was there, as she had never been in a real castle that people were living in. It was amazing to simply wander around without having to worry about guide ropes blocking her off. She continued until she suddenly bumped into a large read snake-like gargoyle.

"I'm sorry," Rachel spoke as she began to pick herself off of the ground, "I wasn't looking where I was going."

"It is nothing," the gargoyle answered.

Rachel looked up to see that it was a gargoyle that she had bumped into.

"The sun's set already?" Rachel asked.

"No, my clan are able to avoid turning to stone thanks to special pendants," the gargoyle answered, "My name is Zafiro."

"Rachel Winters," Rachel answered, "Sorry again about bumping into you. I'm a friend of Merlin's and I was just exploring."

"Merlin has come here?" Zafiro asked.

"Yes, we intend to use Mr. Xanatos's library," Rachel answered.

**Cyberbiotics Tower**

"I'm sorry, but this company is NOT for sale," Vogel told the robot that looked like the human form of Goliath, thankful that Fox had informed him that this 'Alexander Thailog' was a robot.

"It is a most generous offer," the robot Thailog answered.

"Very generous, indeed," Vogel nodded, "But this company is the property of Alexander Xanatos, I and his mother are only managing the business until he is old enough to run Cyberbiotics."

"That doesn't sound very smart," the robot replied, "Leaving an entire company to a child. What if he doesn't want to run Cyberbiotics?"

"He can sell the company then," Vogel answered, "Not before."

"And what if he takes over Xanatos Enterprises?" the robot questioned, "Wouldn't that mean that Cyberbiotics will be put out of business?"

"Not entirely," Vogel answered, "And once young Alexander is old enough, it is his business."

"Sounds an awful lot like a monarchy," the robot commented, "Shouldn't the United States be a republic?"

"We are private citizens," Vogel responded, "Not countries."

"You could still use the money," the robot pointed out, "The loss of two airships has surely had to put Cyberbiotics in danger of going bankrupt as it is."

Vogel inwardly sighed. The Unseelie's destruction of the second airship had left Cyberbiotics in rather sorry shape, and it was right now having to hang onto what it had won from the destruction of Nightstone Unlimited just to keep its head above water. But, Mr. Renard had entrusted his company to his grandson. It was his final set of instructions, and Vogel was set on carrying them out.

"I'm sorry, but the company is not for sale," Vogel answered, "This meeting is concluded."

The robot slowly nodded, and then left. Once the door shut, Vogel let out a heavy sigh. He had had to turn away several potential buyers over the past weeks, many of whom would have never considered such a thing three years ago. Most of the people took the rejection quite well and Vogel took the fact that he had to reject the offer with little emotion. But given what he had been told about the real Thailog, he doubted that the rejection of the robot's offer would truly deter him. Knowing this, Vogel reached for a nearby phone.

It was Fox who answered the phone.

"Mrs. Xanatos," Vogel spoke into the phone, "I believe we may have a slight problem."

"What is it?" Fox asked over the phone in a serious tone.

"Thailog has made an offer to buy Cyberbiotics," Vogel reported, "I've just sent his robot home."

"You refused the offer, of course?" Fox questioned, "Daddy's will stated that Cyberbiotics is to pass to Alex."

"I told him that," Vogel answered, "The robot insisted on making the offer. I doubt my refusal will stop Thailog from making another attempt, this time, more forcefully."

Vogel heard a half sigh come over the line.

"As if the clan didn't have enough to worry about," Fox commented, "Tighten security. I'll talk with David and Goliath. Perhaps one of the patrol teams could sweep by or the Steel Clan could guard the tower."

"Thank you Mrs. Xanatos," Vogel answered, and hung up the phone.

**Castle Wyvern**

Fox, meanwhile sighed heavily as she hung up the phone. Dealing with Thailog as a business rival once more was a source of great strain. David and Owen had to work double time to keep ahead of Thailog's business moves, and the clan had remain vigilant to keep track of what the clone did in a non-legal manner, and since the clan had enemies other then Thailog, they couldn't focus all their strength on crushing the clone at once.

Meanwhile, outside on the battlements, the Manhattan clan awakened for the night to be met by Merlin, standing in the courtyard. Every gargoyle, with the exception of Demona, quickly moved down to meet the wizard.

"Welcome back, Merlin," Goliath greeted, "What brings you here?"

"It's a long story," Merlin sighed, "the short version is that I need to get some information that will help me figure out when 'Britain's Greatest Hour of Need' will occur."

"Do ye have any clue as to when this 'hour' will be?" Hudson asked, "Or do ye just know that the 'hour' will come?"

"So far?" Merlin shook his head, "Only that it will come in the future. Not much more then that."

"Do you need any help?" Desdemona asked.

"All I'm doing is research," Merlin answered, "I shouldn't need any help. If anyone wants to help, I will accept it."

"Research?" Wedrington asked, his curiosity about Merlin returning to New York kept him from following Demona, "I'm willing to help. You'll be in the library most of the time anyway, and Demona is busy researching things of her own."

"Demona is here?" Merlin asked in a surprised voice.

"That is part of a series of events that have gone on since you and your companions returned to London," Goliath explained, "Thailog has taken over Maddox Technologies and in his first attack, he kidnapped Wedrington and I. Demona, Elisa, and Xanatos's Coyote robot were quite successful in freeing us, and Demona has agreed to stay here until her mansion is rebuilt."

"I hope everything is fine," Merlin commented.

"They have been," Angela spoke up, "At least in the sense that she hasn't caused any trouble."

Merlin noticed that there was some frustration in the lavender female's voice, but decided not talk about it. It wasn't his place to pry into their private lives.

"Brooklyn and Lexington have also taken Amy and Candy as their mates," Goliath continued, "That is about all."

"Congratulations," Merlin spoke to the two newly mated pairs.

"Thanks," was the answer that was spoken in unison.

"Where is the traveling companion you said was with you?" Broadway asked.

"Rachel, I believe is currently exploring the castle," Merlin answered, "This being, the first time she's ever been in one that people still lived in."

Meanwhile, Demona found a woman seated in her normal chair in the library, looking at some romance novel. The sky blue female was immediately surprised and shocked by this strange human.

"Who are you?" Demona demanded firmly as she stepped forward toward the woman.

The woman looked up quickly, but didn't necessarily look afraid.

"Who are you?" Demona demanded again.

"Rachel Winters," Rachel answered weakly, "I'm a friend off…"

"What are you doing here?" Demona interrupted.

"I'm just looking at a book," Rachel answered, "I assumed that would be fine."

"This isn't some bookstore for humans to browse through," Demona growled, her eyes immediately becoming red.

"I'm a friend of Merlin's," Rachel answered, "we're here to deal with some important business."

"Why aren't you with Merlin?" Demona questioned, "He is out talking with the clan."

"I was just exploring," Rachel answered, "When I arrived here, I was just looking through the library."

Demona gave a growling sigh and slowly walked deeper into the library.

"Wait, could you tell me who you are?" Rachel asked, "It's fair, after all."

Demona looked back at the woman and growled again, "I am Demona."

Rachel then watched as Demona walked away. She slowly sighed. The gargoyle was clearly upset by her presence in the room. Rachel was sure of that, but didn't know why. Pushing that away from her mind, Rachel got up and slowly began to walk out in search of Merlin.

**Hotel Cabal**

The Illuminatus known as Duval sat quietly in the main control room to the Illuminati's main interrogation center, and the New York City headquarters. At present he was only watching the security cameras that were installed for the hotel part of the building, which was confined to the lower floors. He barely blinked when the phone rang, thinking it was another person staying in the hotel wanting room service. He quickly regained his composure, however, when he found out it was coming from the Council.

"Yes, sir?" Duval asked.

"Tell Xanatos to be 'quiet' for a while," One's voice ordered through the phone, "And send our 'welcome wagon' to pick up Merlin Hawkins and Rachel Winters from the Eyrie Building… with extreme prejudice."

"Yes, sir," Duval smiled and hung up his phone.

Soon after, Duval began dialing another number. After a few seconds he switched the phone from a handset to a speaker system.

"Good evening, Mr. Xanatos," Duval spoke, "I trust I have not caught you at a bad time."

"I had just sat down to dinner, actually," Xanatos answered.

"Anyway," Duval interrupted, "The Council has some explicit instructions for you."

"Yes?" Xanatos asked.

"Do absolutely nothing for the next twenty-four hours," Duval ordered.

"Why?" Xanatos asked.

"There is no 'why' in the Illuminati, Xanatos," Duval answered, "Just do nothing."

"I'm just curious, that's all," Xanatos answered, "You say that like I'm going to miss something."

"A Merlin Hawkins and Rachel Winters are currently visiting your castle, correct?" Duval sighed, knowing full well that the billionaire wouldn't let him hang up until he found out, fortunately for Duval, the Council didn't care whether or not Xanatos knew or not.

"Yes," Xanatos answered.

"I am about to send a little… collection agency to pick them up," Duval answered, "You are not to interfere with that operation in any manner, and that includes warning them."

"The clan will oppose your agency," Xanatos answered, "Merlin is one of their allies, and if you attack him they will fight. And if you endanger the clan…"

"Your precious gargoyles are not our target," Duval answered, "if you want to tell them, tell them to allow us to take them. If you do not, you have three very good reasons to remain silent."

"Three?" Xanatos asked.

"Your wife, your son," Duval counted off, "and the unborn child in your mutated wife's womb. And don't look shocked. We know everything."

"Don't harm them!" Xanatos answered.

"They won't be," Duval promised, "So long as you do as you're told."

"Yes, sir," Xanatos said weakly.

Once the line went dead, Duval smiled and turned and pressed a button. A compartment in the roof opened and two objects quickly flew out of it.

**Castle Wyvern**

Angela and Broadway were slowly making there way out toward the castle walls for their patrol with Ethan and Eve following close behind when they noticed a smoke trail going through the air toward the castle.

"What is that?" Eve asked, pointing at the two objects.

"It looks like two of Xanatos's Steel Clan robots from this distance," Angela commented.

"But Xanatos only uses them when the castle is under attack," Broadway pointed out, "There shouldn't be two Steel Clan robots on the loose."

"Then what could it be?" Angela questioned, turning to look at the aquamarine male.

Broadway only shrugged and looked back at the two approaching smoke trails.

"I don't know," Broadway answered, "But whatever it is, it's coming this way."

A series of laser shots where then fired from whatever was flying toward the castle as the attackers came closer. Most of the shots went wide, but one knocked Angela back into the courtyard while another did the same to Ethan.

"Angela!" Broadway exclaimed as he turned to face her as the lavender female pulled herself back to her feet.

"We're under attack!" Eve exclaimed.

A robotic voice cut them off.

"Of course you are," one voice said.

"You're guarding our targets," a second voice said.

Broadway and Eve turned to see what looked like two men in a mixture of spandex and armor. Both also looked like they had an upside-down fishbowl on their heads.

"Who are you?" Eve growled.

"I am Alpha," the first attacker spoke, "This is my partner, Beta."

"I don't know what you're after, but you're not going to get it," Broadway growled and began to approach the two attackers.

Alpha caught the gargoyle's attack before it really even began and Broadway was surprised to feel Alpha literally pick him up off the ground and throw him down into the courtyard, making him collide with Angela, who was rushing to get back into the fight. Eve, meanwhile, had lunged forward and landed a powerful blow against Beta's chest, but as strong as the blow was, it only knocked the attacker back a few feet.

"What…?" Eve gasped at the sight, "You should have been knocked down!"

"Should have?" Beta asked producing a strange device from inside a compartment in his forearm, "I SHOULD have begun moving toward my target by know."

Beta then fired a strange energy wave at Eve, and the Avalon female soon felt very disoriented. Her vision went blurry, and it appeared that Beta was seemingly twisting and turning into a spiral shaped blob, even though it wasn't moving. Eve gave a pained grown and collapsed to the ground.

"One down, three to go," Beta spoke as he stepped to join Alpha.

"What have you done to her?!" Ethan roared from the courtyard.

"Made sure she will not interfere with the rest of our mission," Alpha spoke and fired its lasers at the Avalon male.

Broadway and Angela rushed up a nearby flight of stairs to try and get at the two attackers, but were intercepted by Beta before they could reach the top of the steps. Alpha continued firing on Ethan, forcing him back toward the main doors.

"I'm afraid you are not to come any closer," Beta spoke and fired his lasers at Broadway and Angela at point blank range.

Both gargoyles screamed with pain under the attack and fell to the ground in the courtyard, out cold.

"Broadway! Angela!" Ethan yelled in surprise as he saw the other two fall.

That distraction, however, allowed Alpha to hit him with one of his own laser blasts. He soon slumped to the ground unconscious as well.

"Phase one, complete," Beta spoke, "Shall we collect them?"

"No," Alpha answered, "Parameters state that it is their leader that the Council wants. These are to be left as they are. Proceed with main mission."

"Right," Beta nodded, "Targeting… Rachel Winters… London Werewolf."

"Targeting Merlin Hawkins," Alpha added, "Fey halfling."

The two then began walking into the castle, although each headed for a different door. Alpha walked quietly through the hallways with scanning equipment running at full strength to locate his individual target. His sensors seemed to almost be scanning the area in ways that were not thought possible. After a few quick turns he ran into a new set of gargoyles that were heading out on their way to patrol.

"What is that?" Caroline asked.

Sarah and Ian nodded in agreement.

Hudson frowned at Alpha and said, "I didnae know. Who are ye?"

"I am Alpha," Alpha answered, activating his laser, "And you are in my way."

Alpha then fired his laser, hitting Hudson's armor, sending the older gargoyle crashing into Ian and hen against a wall.

"Ian!" Sarah cried out.

"Hudson!" Caroline exclaimed.

Caroline then lunged at Alpha and managed to land a punch on the dome that seemed to cover his head. There was a slight cracking sound as the blue female's fist made contact with its target but Alpha barely responded to the attack. The blow had only turned him around and forced him to take a step back. Sarah then added a kick to Alpha's torso, which only succeeded in making the attacker take another step back.

"An admirable effort," Alpha answered and fired a strange wave at the two females.

After a few seconds, both Caroline and Sarah fell unconscious to the ground. Alpha then stepped forward, only to be blocked by Hudson.

"Ye will go no farther," Hudson vowed.

The older male gargoyle then slashed his sword at the strange attacker. Alpha ducked under the attack and fired a laser blast at Hudson again. This time, the blast sent him flying down the hall. Alpha hit him again with another blast once he landed, knocking the gargoyle out. Alpha, merely continued on his way.

Beta, meanwhile moved in an equally deliberate motion in search of his target as Alpha did. He knew precisely where his target was. The only difficulty was navigating the hallways of the castle. Like Alpha, Beta also ran into a group of gargoyles that were on their way to patrol. Two males and two females. One was brick red beaked male while a yellow beaked female stood beside him. A pink female web-winged gargoyle crouched near an olive green male web-winged gargoyle.

"Who are you?" Brooklyn immediately demanded.

"I am called 'Beta'," Beta answered and punched the gargoyle in the face, knocking him down, "And you are delaying my mission!"

"Brooklyn!" Amy gasped and rushed to his side.

Candy and Lexington both leaped backward to avoid being hit by laser blasts as Beta began firing on them. Neither had any clue as to what was going on, other then that they were under attack. Amy meanwhile lunged forward and shoved Beta against a wall while he was distracted trying to hit the two smaller web-winged gargoyles.

"Why are you doing this?" Amy demanded, her eyes glowing in anger.

Beta shoved her off, sending her colliding with Brooklyn as the beaked male attempted to rejoin the fight.

"Because I can," Beta answered, "Because you are guarding my target."

Lexington ran forward on all fours and tripped Beta with his tail, making him fall to the ground. After he landed, Candy leaped and landed on his chest.

"And what is your target?" the pink female demanded.

"That, I'm afraid, I can not tell you," Beta answered and kicked Candy off of him, sending her crashing into Lex as he attempted to make a second attack on Beta, "I must however say that you have proven to be much better adversaries then the four that Alpha and I faced earlier."

"There's two of you?" Brooklyn demanded.

"Yes," Beta answered in a triumphant sounding voice, and fired his lasers at the gargoyle.

This blast sent Brooklyn flying backward until he crashed into a small table in the hallway that the four had originally came from. Beta then turned to take a strong blow to the chest from Amy. The blow, however, did little more then dent his chest armor. The female only stared at the dent in disbelief.

"I put nearly all my strength into that!" Amy exclaimed.

"Pity it did nothing," Beta responded and backhanded the yellow gargoyle, knocking her out.

Beta did not have time to relish his victory over the two beaked gargoyles as Lex tackled him around the neck, while Candy dove and took his legs out from under him. The pink female then gripped Beta's legs, making it impossible for him to you them, while Lex held him in a headlock.

"Now we are going to get some answers," Lex growled, "Just what or who are you here for?"

"I do not remember conceding defeat," Beta answered and ran a massive amount of electricity along the his surface.

The charge quickly knocked out the two web-wings, making their grip on him disappear. Beta got to his feet and slowly continued walking along the hallway that he had originally been walking along.

**Hotel Cabal**

Duval watched in triumph as the cameras on Alpha and Beta gave him a view of everything they saw. As a team, the two had taken out four gargoyles in a matter of seconds. Individually, the two also remained victorious against two more sets of four gargoyles. Now, while both Alpha and Beta had taken some damage, none of it was serious so far and could easily be repaired. Duval was somewhat surprised that Alpha and Beta had actually taken as little damage as they did. With the exception of the web-wings, all the gargoyles had elbow spurs and with the exception of the males and the web-wings, the females had at least one spur on each knee.

He attributed the lack of their causing more damage then they did to the gargoyles assuming that these were merely very advanced 'suits'. In fact, they were robots built along the same lines as the first Coyote robot. They were smarter then any version of Coyote that Xanatos had produced, and while they were not as powerful as Xanatos's current Coyote models, Alpha and Beta were far better combatants. Their superior intelligence and maneuverability would allow them to run rings around Xanatos's robots.

The thought of the mutated billionaire brought another thought to Duval's mind. While he doubted that Beta and Alpha would be able to take a gargoyle with them in addition to their primary objectives, Duval knew that the clan would expect Xanatos to help them defend Merlin, or at least combat the invaders. Duval hoped that once the clan learned that Xanatos had known of the attack and purposefully did nothing to stop it, they would abandon their alliance with the billionaire. The Illuminati Council never wanted the alliance and would have preferred if the clan was on its own, so their plans to capture and contain them would be successful and would not force them to directly fight one of their more loyal members.

Suddenly a screen came on and Three's hood became visible, the hood obscured his face.

"What is the situation, Agent Duval?" Three questioned.

"Everything is going well," Duval answered, "Xanatos is doing as he is told and Alpha and Beta have taken out most of the Manhattan clan."

"Have they found Hawkins and Winters yet?" Three questioned.

"Not as yet, but given their success so far, I don't think we'll have to wait much longer," Duval answered.

"Good," Three said in a sinister voice.

**Courtyard, Castle Wyvern**

Goliath, Elisa, Desdemona, and Othello slowly walked out into the courtyard from an entrance that lead into hallways along the castle's outer walls, expecting to see the rest of the clan waiting for their patrol assignments. Instead they found Broadway, Angela, Ethan, and Eve laying in a pile in the center of the courtyard.

"Angela!" Goliath gasped and rushed to his daughter's side.

"Is she alive, brother?" Desdemona asked in a concerned voice.

Elisa began checking the others.

"Yes," Goliath gave a sigh of relief, "I assume the others are also merely unconscious."

"Yes," Elisa answered, "Although, they were attacked by something that was certainly powerful. Angela, Ethan, and Broadway have laser burns, and Eve looks like something totally messed with her balance and equilibrium."

"Is she truly unconscious?" Desdemona asked.

"Not really," Elisa answered, "but until dusk tomorrow, she might as well be."

"Where could this attacker be?" Goliath rumbled aloud as he looked up from the forms of the four unconscious gargoyles, "and more importantly, what do they want?"

"I believe we'll have to go back inside to find out," Othello pointed out to the two open doors that Alpha and Beta had entered earlier.

"We must go after them," Goliath said firmly, "Elisa, you are with me. Othello, Desdemona, go though the door on the left."

The others nodded and quickly began running as quickly as they could toward the castle's interior. Inside, Merlin was still eating what was for him, dinner. Zafiro and Obsidiana were both still present and conversing with him politely. Jade and Turquesa had gone to investigate some strange noises that they had heard.

"I must ask you why didn't you ask me this during the Unseelie conflict?" Merlin asked.

"Everyone was busy," Zafiro sighed, "and in all the mess that it had started, it slipped our mind."

"Well, I'm afraid that I know little of ancient Mayan magic," Merlin sighed back, "I'm afraid I would only make your situation worse."

"I would not say that our situation is bad," Obsidiana spoke up, "A gargoyle naturally sleeps in stone. It's just that for the time being, the magic that allows us to remain flesh during the day, including while we sleep, is damaged."

"You seemed to remain flesh when I found you," Merlin pointed out.

"So long as we are awake," Obsidiana answered, "If one of us is tired and goes to sleep during the day, we turn to stone. Again, it is not bad, but it does make things more complex four our clan specifically."

"Again, I do not know ancient Mayan music, and I might do more harm then good," Merlin answered.

Zafiro was about to say something when the door suddenly exploded and an unconscious Jade and Turquesa were literally thrown into the room. Alpha then walked into the room. Alpha then made a slow and triumphant approach toward the three, while Zafiro and Obsidiana leaped up to their feet.

"Who are you?" Zafiro demanded.

"I am Alpha," Alpha answered, "And you can not run anymore, Merlin."

"I don't recall running anywhere," Merlin answered.

Zafiro then launched himself at Alpha before the robot had a chance to retort to Merlin's comment. The red skinned Guatemalan tackled Alpha and managed to hold him down.

"Why are you here?" Zafiro growled as he coiled his tail around Alpha's legs.

Alpha responded by running electric current along his surface. As Beta had done with Lex and Candy, the electric current caused Zafiro serious pain. Zafiro, however, was able to withstand the initial shock of the electricity ad released his grip on Alpha. Alpha then kicked Zafiro off of him, forcing the gargoyle to collide with Obsidiana, who was coming up to aide her mate.

Alpha then began to pull himself to his feet. He had just pulled himself up when he was hit in the chest by a lightning spell. The spell did nothing to his armor in terms of damaging it, but the attack did carry a large amount of momentum with it and threw Alpha back against the wall near the door that he had just entered through.

"I do not know who you are or why you are here," Merlin spoke, "But your attack on this castle will halt this instant."

Alpha flipped back up onto his feet and turned to face the Medieval wizard.

"I am here for you," Alpha answered him, "Does that answer the why?"

Rachel was steadily becoming more and more nervous. After briefly conversing with Zafiro, startling and being frightened by Demona, she had tried to find Merlin, and was now lost in the castle while she, though her werewolf hearing ability, heard several strange sounds echoing through the castle's hallways. Then as she rounded a corner the bumped into what looked like a strange man in futuristic armor and a fishbowl on his head. She screamed bloody murder until her attacker shoved her to the ground. Slowly she began to move away from her attacker.

"Who are you?" Rachel asked as she scooted backward on her backside.

Her attacker slowly followed her. Rachel could have sworn he looked triumphant.

"I am Beta," Beta answered, "You need not fear me, the Council wants you alive. Of course you will have to come with me."

"No!" Rachel screamed and ran down a hallway, utterly terrified.

Beta fired some laser blasts at Rachel as she ran off, but every shot missed her. The fact that she was under attack, however scared her out of her wits, and as she ran, she failed to notice her body temperature rising.

"You can not escape me," Beta called after her, "And I am authorized to injure you if you do not come with me peacefully."

Beta then fired again, this time hitting Rachel in the shoulder, making her fall face first into the castle floor. She screamed with pain as she did so. She then gasped in shock as she did so. Her voice had taken a slight growling edge to it. She looked at her hands to see her fingernails lengthening into claws.

"No control over yourself?" Beta asked, "The Council could help you with that."

"Leave me alone," Rachel whimpered, trying to stop her transformation, but failing as she felt her clothing beginning to grow tight around her.

"I'm afraid I can not," Beta answered, and kicked Rachel in the ribs as she attempted to pull herself up onto her feet.

The blow threw Rachel against a far wall. The pain of being kicked and the impact with the wall only served to heighten her fear and accelerate her transformation as she felt her feet tear through her shoes, claws on each toe of her increasingly paw-like feet. She could hear the seems of her clothing beginning to rip as the muscles in her legs, back, and arms began to swell larger. Brown fur was beginning to cover her skin.

"Now, will you come peacefully?" Beta asked.

"Neverrr," Rachel growled back as her ears moved to the top of her head and her canines began to sharpen and lengthen into fangs.

Beta watched silently as Rachel reached the section of her transformation where all she could do was growl and snarl as her normal clothing practically exploded off her growing frame. Brown fur now covered her entire body, although Beta could only see the fur that the special jumpsuit Merlin had conjured up didn't cover. Rachel literally roared as she felt her muzzle begin to push out from her face and the tingling sensation of her teeth growing to fit her now canine mouth. Rachel was then wracked with a new wave of pain as she felt her furry tail begin to grow out of her backside. Once it had grown out to it's full length, she lifted her head and howled.

Beta fired at her again as soon as Rachel shakily got to her feet. The blast pushed her back against the wall.

"You will come with me, werewolf, if I have to drag you out of here by your tail," Beta said in a firm voice.

"NEVER!" Rachel screamed in a voice that betrayed both fear and anger and threw the strongest punch she could manage at what she figured to be her attacker's head.

The fishbowl practically exploded as Rachel's fist hit it with glass shards flying everywhere. What was more surprising is that her furry fit never hit a 'head'. Rachel found herself looking at what looked like a complex system of cameras and other mechanical equipment.

"You're… you're…" Rachel stuttered.

"I believe the term you're looking for is 'robot'," Beta answered and backed the female werewolf, sending her sprawling down the hallway, "And since you've decided to fight, you will be hurt when I return with you to the Hotel Cabal."

Beta then began firing his lasers again. Rachel turned and fled from the approaching robot. Beta slowly followed.

Othello and Desdemona ran as hard they could toward the sound of what had to be massive battle. They ended up back in the dinning room and found Merlin, Zafiro, and Obsidiana battling a strange attacker.

"That must be the attacker," Desdemona commented.

"Let's get him!" Othello nodded and rushed forward.

Desdemona followed him and the two hit Alpha with a strong 'tag team' effort. Othello spun around and clubbed Alpha in his back with his tail while Desdemona leaped into the air and kicked the robot in the side of its knee. The attack made Alpha fall forward and onto one knee. It was then that he noticed that there more gargoyles present.

"I'm beginning to get tired of this," Alpha answered and activated a strange device on his left arm, but didn't get the chance to fire it.

"I quite agree," Merlin answered him and hit him with another lightning spell.

Again the spell only threw Alpha across the room, but this time the blow shattered the dome over his 'head' as well.

"It's a robot!" Obsidiana gasped surprised and when she saw Alpha raise an arm, she grabbed a table and threw it at the robot.

The table hit Alpha's head and splintered on impact. Alpha slowly and unsteadily got to his feat. The cameras and computerized brain damaged from hitting the wall, dome first, and then having a table hit his 'head' shortly afterward. He wobbled forward for a few steps and then fell at Othello and Desdemona's feet.

"Are you alright?" Desdemona asked.

"We're fine for the moment," Merlin answered, "Although, I'll say that I'm certain we've all been better."

Zafiro nodded, "That thing has injured Jade and Turquesa."

"It has also injured various members of our clan as well," Othello nodded, "All are unconscious or might as well be unconscious till tomorrow night."

"At least it didn't kill anyone one then," Merlin sighed, "Come on, let's get it someplace where we can take it apart. Perhaps then we can get some answers."

Rachel found that Beta was very fast. She ran as fast as her legs could carry her, but it stayed right behind her. Eventually it managed to get a laser shot off at her and threw the werewolf through a nearby door. To her surprise, it lead to the library and she crashed into the chair that Demona was sitting in, flipping the table she was sitting at in the process.

"What the…?" Demona began to curse.

"Uh, hello again," Rachel said weakly.

"You!?" Demona exclaimed remembering the brown haired woman that she had found in the library earlier, "Why do you attack me?"

A laser blast then sent Demona flying into Wedrington, who was still too shocked to really do anything.

"Actually the attacker is some strange robot," Rachel answered as Beta entered the library, "Whom I've been trying to get away from."

Beta then fired his lasers at Rachel again, but the werewolf was easily able to roll away from those shots. Demona meanwhile glanced at the werewolf and at the robot and telepathically scanned the robot with her magic.

"Why do you not fight him then?" Demona questioned, "There is no silver in that thing. It can not harm you."

"She just knows that I'm stronger then her," Beta answered and hit Demona with another laser blast.

"That's no way to treat anyone," Wedrington growled and stepped forward, "Now leave them alone."

"Or what?" Beta asked it fired a laser blast at the white lion-like gargoyle.

Wedrington ducked under the blast and lunged forward and landed a punch against Beta's chest, knocking it back a few feet.

"Or I will be forced to use force to make you behave," Wedrington answered.

Rachel watched from her crouching position as Beta staggered back. Once she realized that the robot was off balance and had seemingly forgotten about her, she lunged forward and grabbed the back end of the robot's armor, near where the glass dome had been She quickly began to try and pull the robot's armor off. Wedrington saw what she was doing and moved to help from the other side. The two managed very little before Beta ran a powerful electric current along his surface. Wedrington roared with pain and was thrown back by he electricity, and while Rachel also felt intense pain, once she let go of the robot, her wounds began to heal almost immediately. Beta however backhanded her, sending her back out of the library before she could attack again.

Beta didn't get a chance to do anything more as his computerized brain and camera equipment was hit by a powerful lightning bolt. Without the dome to protect them from lasers or magic, the equipment that Beta relied on to operate exploded.

"You attacked me and you harmed my love," Demona growled as Beta fell to the ground, offline, "Don't think I would let you get away with that."

"Thank you for helping me," Rachel answered, beginning to calm down now that she saw that the robot was offline.

It was then that Goliath and Elisa arrived on the scene. Rachel noticed that Elisa was carrying the rags that had been the clothing that she had been wearing when Beta attacked her. She was unable to say anything however, as she felt her transformation begin to reverse itself.

"You need not worry yourself," Demona spoke before Goliath or Elisa could speak, "The robot has been dealt with. And this is apparently Merlin's companion."

"She's a werewolf," Goliath commented.

"I'm not attacking anyone," Rachel whimpered, now back in human form, "I don't even want to be a werewolf."

"You don't have control over yourself yet, do you?" Elisa asked.

"Yes," Rachel sighed, "But even if I did, I still do no want to be a werewolf. In every movie I've seen a werewolf in, the werewolf is always the bad guy, and while I know that that isn't always true, I do know that I'm not normal. I should be human. Not a freak that turns into a massive wolf creature three nights a month and whenever something frightens me or makes me angry. I want to be like this, but there's no way to reverse it."

"Losing one's humanity is always hard," Elisa commented as she kneeled down next to the woman, "but I'd think that part of making your life as normal as possible would be to accept what has happened."

"And how would you know?" Rachel asked back some frustration evident in her voice.

"For one, I was human once," Elisa said bluntly.

Rachel turned to look at the tan skinned gargoyle. She noted the weak brow ridge, the pointed ears, the relatively large eyes that all the gargoyles that she knew seemed to have. It was hard for her to picture this gargoyle as a human.

"I don't think she believes you, Detective," Demona commented in a teasing voice.

"What?" Rachel asked, now confused that the blue skinned female had said something that would add some truth to the tan female's claim.

Elisa only sighed and looked down, "My name is Elisa Maza. I am the oldest child of Peter and Diane Maza. I was a detective with the NYPD and a good friend of the clan here. Several months ago, on the day I was coming here to marry Goliath, actually, a wizard called the Mage turned me into a gargoyle though sorcery."

"Merlin's never done anything like that," Rachel commented.

"Merlin is not and never was the Mage," Goliath rumbled, "Merlin has a moral code, while the Mage did not."

"Wedrington was also human once," Demona added in an annoyed voice, "Do not assume that you are a special case."

"Don't growl at her," Wedrington spoke to Demona, "We don't want to give her any grief."

"But she…" Demona began.

"I'm not offended," Wedrington answered, "It's an intense change she's going through. Anyone would react in the same way."

**Hotel Cabal**

Duval growled as he watched the last of the two camera screens go dead. This meant that both Alpha and Beta had gone offline. Both Merlin and his werewolf companion had proved to be better at combating their attackers then he had anticipated. The fact that Demona and her companion were also present were also a major shock to the Illuminati agent. He jumped when his phone rang.

"Hello?" Duval answered.

"What is the status?" Three asked over the phone.

"I'm afraid we've hit a slight snag," Duval answered, "Merlin and his werewolf defeated Alpha and Beta."

"The Council will not like this," Three said in an angry voice.

"Then they will like this even less," Duval answered, "Demona played a key role in defeating the robots."

Three only growled on the other line.

"The good news is that we still have the opportunity to keep trying for the time being," Duval answered, "Merlin has not apparently begun his research from what I have been able to obtain through Alpha before he was destroyed."

"Keep up your attempts," Three ordered, "Both Hawkins and Winters must be dead or captured before they can uncover anything about Britain's Greatest Hour of Need."

"Yes, sir," Duval answered and hung up the phone.

**Castle Wyern**

It took half an hour for everyone to get organized and together. All of the gargoyles that had been knocked out were laid down in the medical wing, on beds that would support a stone gargoyle, and the offline bodies of Alpha and Beta were placed and were being dissected. Rachel still found it hard to believe that two of the Manhattan gargoyles were former humans and that there was sorcery capable of performing such a transformation, but she couldn't complain.

"I'd still like to know who built and sent these robots," Goliath commented as he stood over the offline body of Alpha.

"I can answer that," came Xanatos's voice from behind him.

They all turned to see the mutated billionaire enter the room slowly.

"Xanatos," Goliath spoke, "did you know of this?"

Xanatos looked down, "Unfortunately yes…"

"WHAT?!" Goliath roared, "How could you know of the attack and do nothing?!"

"I was told to," Xanatos answered quickly, "Apparently the Illuminati has some beef with either Merlin or Arthur…"

"They are opposed to Arthur saving Britain in its Greatest Hour of Need," Merlin answered.

"That would explain why they attacked then," Xanatos answered, "To make sure you can't gain the information you need…"

"But why didn't you fight?" Goliath demanded, "They attacked your castle."

"Because they threatened to blow it up if I did," Xanatos answered, "Which might have killed your clan in addition to myself, Fox, and Alex."

"Their methods haven't changed much over the centuries," Merlin sighed.

"So what do we do?" Rachel asked.

"For the time being we can only remain on the defensive," Merlin spoke, "Or at least you and I. We do not know New York as well as Goliath and his clan does and we have our own missions that we must accomplish."

"I know," Rachel sighed, "The research and my training."

"We will also need to make a small visit to the Labyrinth before we leave," Merlin added, "I have been told that some of the Unseelie Court's former slaves are ready to return to England. What can you all do?"

"There is noting I can do concerning the Illuminati," Xanatos sighed, "I don't think we've seen the last of their attempts to get at you.

Merlin only sighed in response, "I'm sure they're also giving Arthur plenty of trouble back in England. Is there anything you can do, regarding all of this Goliath."

"Unfortunately, there is little the clan can do," Goliath rumbled, "If the Illuminati have gone as far as to threaten to kill one of their own members and his family, we can not expect any further warning from Xanatos or help from Coyote or the Steal Clan. And while most of my clan is unconscious, there is little that any of us can do."

"What of Demona and Wedrington?" Rachel asked.

Demona prepared to growl something, when Wedrington cut her off.

"If the Illuminati attack the castle again, we will work to help protect it," Wedrington answered, "But we aren't really part of Goliath's clan. We're merely living here."

"Your fight is not our fight," Demona answered, "My fight is to protect my race and keep it as pure as possible."

"Oh," Rachel sighed, "Sorry."

"The best we can do is make sure that the Illuminati can not get their hands on either of you," Goliath spoke, "We will probably end up holding the clan here to guard the castle until you and Merlin are ready to leave, or provide escort if you do leave during the night."

"That will probably help when I need to go down to the Labyrinth if Rachel does not wish to come along," Merlin commented.

"I guess that's all that can be done," Xanatos sighed.

"Not entirely," Elisa spoke up.

"Clan sister?" Desdemona asked.

"I was thinking," Elisa commented, "You haven't gained full control over…?"

Rachel sighed in a half growling tone, "Yes."

"I could take you to my mother's," Elisa explained, "She could help with your training and allow Merlin to focus on his research."

"She's become a werewolf?" Merlin asked.

"Werepanther, actually," Elisa answered, "But I'd assume that she could help Ms. Winters gain control."

"I suppose that would help," Merlin answered, "Are you sure that the Illuminati will not be able to find either of you?"

"I'd doubt that they would go after Rachel while preventing Arthur from learning about 'Britain's Greatest Hour of Need' is more important," Elisa replied, "They'd be more likely to attack the castle then attack my parent's home."

"Well?" Merlin asked Rachel.

Rachel was still slightly confused. She still couldn't believe that the tan female was ever human, and that it was strange that her parents weren't with the rest of the clan, but decided that her life had already been thrown for a loop, and agreeing might help her gain her own answers.

"It'll be alright with me," Rachel answered.

**To Be Continued…**


	30. Weird

All characters appearing in Gargoyles and Gargoyles: The Goliath Chronicles are copyrighted to Buena Vista Television/The Walt Disney Company. I've taken the idea for the Unseelie Court from the TGS. No infringement of these copyrights is intended, and is not authorized by the copyright holder. All original characters are the property of SN.

Note: I'm disregarding the events of the "Goliath Chronicles", with the exception of "The Journey" because I do not wish to use the rest of the "Goliath Chronicles" as canon to my story. This story takes place immediately after "Questing Friends".

Weird

By SN/TVfan

Email: Sam_Nary 

**Maddox Technologies**

"And Mr. Vogel refused the robot's generous offer?" Thailog questioned of Fang, who was the only one who could have followed the actions of the Thailog's robot human look-alike.

"Yes," Fang answered, "Seems like Vogel isn't about to go against the will that Renard left when he died."

"I expected as much," Thailog sighed as he sat back in his chair, "Apparently Owen Burnett has or had a near obsession with Mr. Vogel. The original Thailog, while he still had access to all of Xanatos's files found volumes of references to Preston Vogel in Mr. Burnett's private files. Although, all of them seemed to be guides of a sort. Almost as if Burnett is copying Vogel."

"That guy is copying another guy?" Fang asked, "I thought he was naturally a stick in the mud."

"But why is he imitating Vogel?" Holly asked.

"Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery," Thailog chuckled, "Although I think that Mr. Burnett has very serious reason. And that is not our primary objective."

Fang and Holly nodded.

"But because of the original Thailog's knowledge of Owen Burnett," Thailog continue, "I can guess that Vogel is one, an extremely loyal employee, and two a determined worker."

"So all we've likely done is let Xanatos know that we're preparing to make our next move," Holly pointed out.

"Yes," Thailog smiled, "Xanatos believes we are going to be making a legitimate threat against Cyberbiotics. Knowing that he can't take me on by himself, Xanatos will ask Goliath to help keep Cyberbiotics around. It is the perfect opportunity."

Fang and Holly nodded. Thailog merely kept smiling.

"Goliath will surely send some of his clan to make sure that the Cyberbiotics tower is safe," Thailog continued, "He won't send his whole clan, but only a part of it. This will allow me to test my clan against his. See how well the Pack's training is working out."

"And any member of Goliath's clan that is killed is a bonus?" Fang asked.

"Yes," Thailog kept smiling, "But remember that you and Holly are to be there to pull the rest out, should they fail against Goliath's clan."

Holly nodded while Fang seemed to grumble something under his breath.

"What about the Pack?" Holly asked after a few moments, "They will surely want a piece of the 'action', and Jackal will not allow our clan to do battle without him getting the first shot."

"The Pack will be allowed to take its shots at any patrol team that Goliath sends out that doesn't go near the Cyberbiotics tower," Thailog answered, "That will give them a shot at larger numbers and thus, larger glory. Perfect padding for the cyborg's ego."

"You don't think he can beat Goliath's clan, do you?" Holly asked.

"Not as easily as he claims he can," Thailog answered, "Goliath's clan is made up of true warriors. Most of their original members can remember the REAL Vikings. With such training, it is not impossible to respect their skill. The Pack, while well trained in hand to hand combat, is outnumbered by Goliath's clan. It is difficult for any force to defeat a force that is larger, no matter how skilled it is. Why do you think the Russians were ultimately on the winning side of their war with Nazi Germany? Why do you think the North won the American Civil War? Ultimately, they had greater numbers."

**Castle Wyvern**

"My folks are likely asleep right now," Elisa said to Rachel as the conference broke up, "So you shouldn't have to worry about any lessons tonight. You're free to do what you want, but I'd suggest turning in before dawn, because we'll head straight for my parent's place right after dusk tomorrow."

"Okay," Rachel sighed submissively, "I'm probably going to turn in in a little while anyway."

With that, Rachel walked of, toward the guest rooms that she and Merlin had been given while Goliath and Elisa watched her walk off.

"I don't think she believes me when I said I was human once," Elisa sighed.

"From what Merlin has explained," Goliath answered her, "The world that she has been dragged into is still very new to her. There is probably a great deal of misbelief on her part over the entire issue of magic and so forth. Just as there was in many cases with our current female 'trio'."

"But she's been with Arthur and Merlin," Elisa commented, "One would think that she's gotten used to some of this stuff."

"Merlin is not one to perform such acts of magic, even if it is only to prove a point," Goliath pointed out.

"It's probably good that he does," Elisa nodded in agreement, "but this will make her adjustment a little bit harder. Hopefully she makes it."

"I hope so as well," Goliath nodded as the two gargoyles began to walk back to the spot where they had been relaxing earlier, "Especially since this development with the Illuminati has come up."

"From all the stories Matt has told me, it wouldn't surprise me that they muzzled Xanatos," Elisa commented, "Especially considering what they decided to do to Matt when he helped us against the Mage."

"It is not that," Goliath rumbled, "At least not that they would decide to do that. Attacking the Castle to stop Merlin is not something that I would think that the Illuminati wouldn't do, but it's the fact that they had Xanatos, not only muzzled, but keeping his whole family here. It's almost as if they're not only trying to stop Merlin but punish us and Xanatos."

"How?" Elisa asked, raising a browridge.

Goliath sighed, "Those robots could have caused serious structural damage to the castle in their attack. If the castle collapses, Merlin is not the only one who is in danger of being killed."

"Us," Elisa gasped.

"And Xanatos, Owen, and the rest of the Xanatos family and those who live in the castle," Goliath finished, "It would be overkill. They shouldn't send something that could destroy the castle if their mission is only a singular assassination."

"They won't harm Merlin," Elisa told her mate in a firm voice, "We both know we won't let them."

"Who is to say they will not use a more drastic method when they try again?" Goliath answered, "Trying to figure out an opponent's plan was important in my time. It is now even more important, considering the ways things can be done."

"Well, I'd doubt they'd be willing to blow up the castle," Elisa commented, "So I think you can rule that out. I'm also going to say that you shouldn't worry as much as you do. You tend to over-worry about these things."

Goliath sighed, "That is only our urge to protect. We all will tend to over-worry about things from time to time."

"Then I guess it's something we'll always need to work on," Elisa commented.

**Xanatos's Bedroom**

Fox, meanwhile, was busy pacing up and down in the room she and Xanatos slept in. The phone call that she had received from Vogel plus the sounds of the recent attack made her both nervous and slightly frustrated. Her ears perked up when she heard the door open behind her.

"Trouble, my dear?" Xanatos asked as he approached his wife.

Fox turned to face the black furred wolf-like mutate.

"What was it that just attacked us?" Fox asked.

"Robots, sent by the Illuminati," Xanatos sighed, "They were after Merlin. Apparently they don't want Arthur to save Britain."

Fox only sighed, "The Illuminati won't be our only problem."

"What is it?" Xanatos asked.

"I got a call from Vogel earlier this evening," Fox answered, "Thailog's robot made him an offer to buy Cyberbiotics."

"But he can't buy it," Xanatos answered, "According to your father's will, neither you nor Vogel have the legal ability to sell the company. You can run it until Alex turns eighteen, but you can't sell it."

"That doesn't mean that Thailog can't try to encourage corruption," Fox sighed, "Thailog knows laws a lot better then the Unseelies did, either that, or he pays closer attention to them. He has probably found some way that would make his purchase appear legal."

"My guess is that he's counting on winning a court case saying that company was left to one incapable of making business decisions and that both 'caregivers' were not making the decisions for him," Xanatos answered, "Because from what Owen and I have seen of the will, if he can prove that you haven't signed any of the major deals or decisions that have been made at Cyberbiotics, a court might view his purchase as legal."

"But I can't glide to the Cyberbiotics tower every day to do that," Fox gasped, "Even the company found a way to keep everything quiet, someone else would be sure to spot me, especially during the day."

"So long as Vogel continues to reject Thailog's offers to buy the company, everything should be fine," Xanatos answered.

"Vogel wouldn't sell the company," Fox said, "Despite… despite my actions, Vogel was probably my father's most loyal employee."

"Thailog probably knows that," Xanatos sighed, "I wouldn't put it past him to try and take over the company in a more violent manner."

"So I guess you'll be running trips out to the Cyberbiotics tower, then?" Fox asked.

"On occasion," Xanatos sighed, "I'll talk with Goliath tomorrow night. I'm sure they will want or need to know what Thailog is doing now."

**Hotel Cabal**

Duval sat quietly in a small conference room looking at various notes in trying to formulate another attempt to capture or kill Merlin and Rachel Winters for the Illuminati. He had tried using Alpha and Beta, who, from as far as he could tell, were now both offline. He silently cursed himself for underestimating the strengths of Goliath's clan. While they were likely to be the only defenses that would be active, he believed that the various improvements that the Illuminati had made on Alpha and Beta would be more then enough to offset the clan's numbers. And largely, they were enough. Most of Goliath's clan would be out cold for the rest of the night. But the two robots were destroyed.

The female werewolf, Rachel, proved to be a swift learner, from what Duval had seen. She had no control over her transformations, but she had apparently learned enough to control her limbs and maintain her balance while she was in her wolf form. Duval considered that his first miscalculation. He had assumed that because it had been less then a month since her first transformation that she would be ineffective in capacity. That was wrong.

Duval considered his second miscalculation to be dividing his forces sending one after Merlin and the other after Rachel. Merlin didn't back away from fighting, and while Beta and Alpha were built to withstand magic, the combination of magic and the great strength that the gargoyles possess was more then enough to overcome the two robots.

He considered his final miscalculation was assuming that only Goliath's clan would still be at the castle. The Guatemalan clan proved to be formidable opponents in their own right, and Demona's presence proved to be a deciding factor. The sky blue female was at present, nearly as powerful as the Mage in magic and as strong as any female gargoyle. Such a combination would be difficult with any force. Although he was very curious as to why the gargoyle was at the castle. All Illuminati intelligence files of the gargoyle indicated that Demona and her former clan were fierce enemies.

"What is your status?" Three's voice came over a communications screen that was nearby.

Duval looked up and gulped at the image on the screen.

"I have just been looking over the results from our recent attempt," Duval answered.

"Do you have a plan for our NEXT attempt?" Three questioned.

"Various factors will make that much more difficult," Duval answered.

"What?" Three growled.

"One, I think that Rachel Winters should only be captured," Duval answered, "The screencaps from Beta's battle with her indicate that while she has not mastered her ability to control her transformations, she is capable of being just as fierce a werewolf as any that are in the Illuminati's service."

"You honestly think that woman would willingly serve us?" Three questioned skeptically.

"No, we will need to brainwash her," Duval admitted, "But she will replace the male that the London section lost. She might be able to help that section recover the lost male."

"I am not interested in your theories," Three growled, "I am interested in your plan."

"There will still be complications," Duval said weakly, "Our attack with Alpha and Beta has revealed our intentions to the Manhattan Clan…"

"Capturing or killing them has been one of our minor goals since Malone was running the Hotel Cabal," Three pointed out, "That shouldn't matter."

"Unfortunately, it does matter," Duval countered, "Their physical strength will augment whatever magical abilities that Merlin has. Which means that whatever or whoever we send after them will have to be able to fight multiple gargoyles and withstand powerful magics. And there is also a curiosity in this entire operation."

"What is that?" Three asked, sounding bored and uninterested.

"Our files that say Demona and the Manhattan Clan are enemies are wrong," Duval reported.

"What?!" Three gasped, looking more interested.

"Demona provided one of the final, if not the final, shots to defeat Beta," Duval answered, "Which means she was in the castle before the attack. And according to Beta's screencaps, Demona was not in the castle's dungeon."

Three was silent for a moment and then said in an almost interested voice, "This is interesting. The Council knows that her love for the Manhattan Clan's leader has long since died, and given that he has taken a new mate, we can only assume the feeling is mutual. So if she is in fact there, it would be a great mystery as to why she is there."

"I have received some reports that she has some relation with the lavender female in the Manhattan clan," Duval reported, "But they are from low level sources from Nightstone Unlimited, which is now gone."

"Can you question Xanatos on this?" Three asked, "He must surely know something about the gargoyles in his castle."

"I could," Duval sighed, "But I doubt that even he fully knows. Demona is not one to leave a lot of evidence of her motives around for us to find."

Three sighed. While capturing or killing Merlin and Rachel were important goals, this revelation was a puzzling one. Demona had been a thorn in the side of the Illuminati almost as long as Merlin, but unlike Merlin, Demona was much more direct and much more intent on doing the Illuminati harm. Wiping out humanity being one of those things.

"Send recon drones into the castle to follow Demona's actions," Three instructed, "The Council will need to know why she had rejoined her former clan. In the meantime, what are your plans to deal with Merlin and Winters?"

"Surprise is going to be our best bet," Duval sighed, "We can not assault the castle again. The gargoyles will be waiting for us. Merlin and Rachel can not remain at the castle for their entire stay. I believe an ambush after they've left the castle would be best."

"You think they'd leave?" Three questioned, again sounding skeptical.

"There are still those of English decent living with the other mutates in Manhattans sewers," Duval answered, "With the Unseelies no longer controlling them, they will want to return 'home'. Merlin would be their best chance."

"You're taking an awful risk," Three warned.

"Unless you'd like to blow up the entire Eyrie Building, and then explain to the Council the lost agents, including Xanatos, and the lost money, since we helped fund the construction of the Eyrie Building," Duval pointed out, "I wouldn't consider the idea too much of a risk. It will take months to build Charlie and Delta, and by then, Merlin and Rachel will have to have moved on."

"Given the failure of Alpha and Beta and the success of the 'superman' project, it is doubtful that Charlie and Delta will be built," Three said.

Duval nodded, "Could I get at least a squad of supermen?"

"All the supermen have been recalled to Tibet," Three answered, "These insurgents there have become far bolder then we originally anticipated and they might be needed there to combat the insurgents."

Duval nodded.

"You will need to complete this mission with basic troops," Three instructed.

Duval sighed, but nodded anyway.

**Castle Wyvern, After Dawn**

Rachel wandered into the kitchen to find Merlin sitting down with a bowl of cereal and reading from one old text that he had gotten out of the library.

"You couldn't sleep either?" Rachel asked.

"I actually got a little sleep last night," Merlin answered, "But then, I won't be up all night tonight, hopefully."

Rachel sighed and went about looking for something to eat. She ended up finding a bagel and some cream cheese and a little jelly.

"Do you honestly believe that tan female gargoyle?" Rachel asked.

"About her mother being a werepanther?" Merlin asked, "I wouldn't know. This revelation occurred after the Unseelies were defeated and I had returned to London with Arthur. But I am inclined to give her he benefit of the doubt. Gargoyles rarely lie."

Rachel shook her head, "No, about being human once."

"Surely you don't mean to say you're having a hard time believing in sorcery?" Merlin asked in a surprised voice.

"I find it hard to believe that there is even magic that can completely change something's species," Rachel sighed, "I mean, she has wings, pointed ears, a tail! She's missing one finger and two toes and she has no eyebrows. How could she have been human at one point? Magic couldn't make such drastic changes in something. You've never done that."

"I think you're confusing ability with intent," Merlin sighed, "I've never done that because such a thing would drastically change someone's life. Magic is capable of doing many things. Need I remind you that for three nights a month, you will be covered in fur, have a muzzle, tail, and claws?"

"No," Rachel sighed, "It's just that all of this is still very new to me."

"I know," Merlin nodded, "That's why you should let the Manhattan Clan help you in this regard. Get to know them and you'll learn a lot. Especially because most of their clan's females can help you adjust to the current life you've been given."

"The tan female isn't the only former human?" Rachel gasped.

Merlin nodded, "The small pink webwing, Candy, the yellow beaked gargoyle, Amy, and the plain blue female, Caroline, were all human once. The tan female's name is Elisa."

Rachel only made a weak, almost dog-like, whimper.

"It'll be alright," Merlin comforted her, "I'm sure they won't do anything to harm you."

The day went by slowly. Merlin spent most of his time doing research that he needed to do, while Rachel tried to rest. The clan slept in stone. Those that Alpha and Beta had defeated were in the castle's medical wing on beds that could easily hold the weight of their stone forms. Those that weren't knocked out by the robots hade made their way to their positions before dawn and were resting there. As the sun finally set, small cracks and fissures became visible in each gargoyle's stoneskin.

After awakening, Goliath quickly jumped from his pedestal to begin making his way into the castle. The others followed him. On his way to the medical wing he found Xanatos headed in the same direction.

"Ah," Xanatos spoke, "I thought you would have made it there by now."

"The others should be fine," Othello answered him, "There is not imperative reason to get there."

The black furred mutate nodded.

"Is there something you wanted, Xanatos?" Goliath asked.

"Well, Fox got a call from Vogel yesterday evening," Xanatos answered, "About something that I'd prefer to wait until you're all together."

The group then slowly entered the medical wing to find that the gargoyles that had been knocked out the night before were largely up and moving about. Broadway was in fact about to walk out of the medical wing. They also found Lawrence checking up with Caroline.

"I'm fine," Caroline said, "Honest. That thing just messed up my balance, that's all."

"But you said it never made physical contact with you to knock you out," Lawrence argued.

Caroline patted his shoulder, "I'm fine. Stone sleep does that."

Goliath made a few soft coughing sounds to get everyone's attention. The gargoyles already in the medical wing looked up and gave their leader their full attention. Lawrence looked up as well, but mostly out of respect.

"Now Xanatos, we are all together," Goliath rumbled, "What is it that you must wait until now to tell us?"

"Thailog has recently made an attempt to buy Cyberbiotics," Xanatos said gravely, "Largely hoping Vogel would be corrupt. Now so long as Vogel refuses to sell, Cyberbiotics will be fine, but I doubt that this will not stop Thailog from using more forceful measures."

Goliath gave a low growl while some of the other clan members gave a frustrated sigh.

"I know this isn't something you want to hear, given your current situation with the Illuminati," Xanatos continued, "But if it wouldn't be of too much trouble, could you help me in making sure that Thailog DOESN'T do something that will cost my son the inheritance he's already inherited?"

"We would oppose him because he is evil," Hudson spoke up, "Nae just because his action threatens yer son's future."

"Which isn't all that much danger since he's likely to inherit your fortune and business empire as well," Elisa added.

"But we thank you for the report," Goliath rumbled with a sigh, "I had thought that we should focus on insuring that Merlin and Rachel Winters are safe for the time being, but given this…"

Goliath was silent for a moment.

"Given this development, we will have to try to do a little of both," Goliath finished.

"We'll do what you require of us, Goliath," Brooklyn said firmly, "You can trust us."

Goliath nodded and then began to give his instructions, "Hudson, you and Caroline are to be ready to go with Merlin to the Labyrinth. Make sure he has no trouble in going there or coming back."

"I'll be taking Rachel to my parents tonight," Elisa told Goliath before he could continue.

Nodding, Goliath continued to give his instructions, "The rest of us will patrol as normal. Keep an eye out for anything and especially for any of Thailog's followers. Lexington, I want you to take Candy and Sarah and patrol the northern sections of Manhattan."

"Right Goliath," Lex nodded.

"Brooklyn, Amy, Eve, you three will take the central sections of Manhattan," Goliath instructed, "Ian, Ethan, Broadway, Angela, I'm trusting you to look after southern Manhattan. Contact Elisa if you run into any trouble."

The four gargoyles nodded. Goliath then turned to Desdemona and Othello.

"Brother, Sister, I will need your help in making sure that any violent attempt by Thailog's to take Cyberbiotics is foiled," Goliath said firmly.

"I'll be along with you tonight," Xanatos spoke up.

"We should have breakfast first," Broadway spoke up.

There was a collective agreement on that, and the clan slowly began to make their way back toward the kitchen to eat something before heading out. They found Merlin, still studying the same book, when they arrived.

"Any luck?" Hudson asked him.

"Nothing that I haven't found out already," Merlin sighed, "As I've explained to Arthur and the others at various times, what I need to know is really the 'when'. I can presume I know the 'what' of Britain's Greatest Hour of Need."

"We were told ye wished to make a visit to the Labyrinth?" Hudson inquired.

Merlin sighed, "I've been told that many of the English mutates there are ready to return to England. Now, while Rachel and I may not be heading straight back to England, I feel it would be important to at least give them the address where Arthur and Macbeth are living. That would allow them to get more help then what I can provide."

"Ms. Caroline and I have been told ta guard ye," Hudson told the medieval wizard.

Merlin nodded, "I wouldn't mind the company."

Rachel slowly opened her eyes to the sound of a soft knocking on the door to the guest room that she was in. After the knocking continued for a few moments she sat up.

"I'll be right there," Rachel called to whoever was knocking, and slowly rolled out of the bed.

It was Elisa, who was standing at the door waiting for her.

"I've just got of the phone with my folks," Elisa said in a calm voice, "They're still up and will be waiting for us."

"Okay," Rachel sighed, "Just let me get my jumpsuit."

"You're not wearing it already?" Elisa asked.

"I never wear it to sleep," Rachel answered, "It's not exactly a pair of pajamas."

Elisa nodded, "We should get going, so be quick."

Rachel grabbed her jumpsuit that she would wear in her wolf form and quickly followed Elisa out into the courtyard. Once out there, Elisa led her up a flight of stairs to the outer walls of the castle. Rachel peaked over the edge and made it very obvious that she didn't like being up that high.

"I won't drop you if that's what you're worried about," Elisa spoke up, noticing Rachel's facial expression.

"This will be a first for me," Rachel spoke up, "None of the London clan have ever carried me."

Elisa uncaped her wings and scooped Rachel up into her arms.

"It's alright," Elisa offered, "I was somewhat nervous the first time Goliath carried me."

Rachel nodded weakly and let the tan gargoyle lift her up. She gulped as Elisa stepped up onto the edge of the wall. She then closed her eyes as Elisa leaped into the air, took a short dive before the gargoyle's wings caught an updraft and began gliding out towards where her folks were living. Rachel remained silent for the entire trip out into Queens. As they neared the small home that Diane and Peter Maza were renting, Elisa slowly maneuvered lower in altitude and did her best to stay in the shadows. She eventually landed in the backyard, capeing her wings as she did so.

"Do we knock?" Rachel asked.

"It's my parent's house, and I'll attract unwanted attention if we knock," Elisa answered and slowly opened the back door.

The two stepped in slowly and Elisa entered a small hallway to head toward the kitchen.

"Mom, dad, we're here," Elisa called out as she entered the kitchen.

Her father was the first to round the corner and smiled when he saw Elisa. He also noticed the brown haired woman and that she looked extremely nervous.

"Don't worry," Peter said to the woman with a slight smile, "We don't bite. Come on in. Diane is waiting in the living room."

Elisa nodded and slowly ushered Rachel forward. She was lead into a relatively small sized room a couch and a chair as its only major pieces of furniture. A middle aged African-American woman was seated on the couch. Peter Maza moved to sit in the chair, while Elisa stood behind him. Rachel was busy looking around the room, and was drawn to a small series of photographs hanging on the wall near her. One showed the obvious gargoyle Elisa with Goliath, but what surprised he was a photograph of a two women and a man.

"You really were human once," Rachel breathed out as she looked at the photos.

"I was," Elisa answered.

"They're just old family photos," Diane spoke up from the couch, "So Peter and I can always see our children."

"How do you explain the last one then?" Rachel asked curiously.

"A P.I.T. fundraising shot," Diane answered, "The group does have some photographs of gargoyles that they have sold."

Rachel nodded and returned her attention to the center of the room.

"So, you are Ms. Winters, I presume?" Diane asked.

Rachel nodded, "I prefer Rachel, but yes."

"Elisa's told me you have trouble controlling your…," Diane began, "your transformations."

Rachel slowly nodded, "Merlin's been helping, but between what we're having to research, he hasn't been able to do as much as he would like."

"Well, hopefully we can help you gain control," Diane sighed, "I'm sure you're not wanting to change in front of people."

Rachel nodded, "I'll need to get changed."

"There's a room upstairs that you can use," Peter spoke.

Rachel nodded and turned away to change into the jumpsuit that Merlin had created for her wolf-form. Diane, meanwhile, turned her attention back to Elisa.

"How are things with the clan?" Diane asked.

"We're all good," Elisa answered somewhat weakly, "The Illuminati are giving Goliath a headache with their attempts to try and capture Merlin. And of course, some of the other bad guys aren't taking time off either."

"I take it Goliath's on patrol then?" Peter asked.

Elisa nodded.

**Over the Bay**

Goliath's team hadn't seen a sign of any of Thailog's followers as they headed out toward the Cyberbiotics tower. As the team approached the tower, they saw that none of Thailog's followers had made it to the tower or had made any entrance.

"Everything seems quiet tonight," Desdemona commented.

"Yes," Goliath nodded, "Hopefully it remains quiet."

There was no opportunity for Goliath to answer, as he was suddenly tackled from above. He managed to turn to see a male gargoyle that seemed to bear a striking resemblance to a wasp driving him toward the ground. He saw a pale blue female that resembled a butterfly in many respects following him.

"So much for a quiet night," Xanatos grumbled, as two more gargoyles came diving after him.

More attacking gargoyles then dove at Othello and Desdemona. Above them, Fang and Holly both hovered watching the beginning of Thailog's little test.

"Man, I wish Thailog would let us join this fight," Fang grumbled.

"Yeah," Holly nodded, "This will be an easy one, but if we join in and they rally, Thailog's out of everybody and I don't want to be someone's prisoner. No power that way."

Buzz's attack drove Goliath against the rocky ground that the Cyberbiotics Tower was built on. Thankfully, impacting the ground also knocked Buzz off of him, and only a last second roll prevented Liz from landing on Goliath and driving her toe talons into his chest.

"Why do you fight me?" Goliath questioned as he got to his feet.

Buzz lunged forward and landed a punch against one of Goliath's kidneys, which threw him into a kick by Liz that knocked him against the wall of the Cyberbiotics Tower.

"For fun," Buzz smiled, "You ain't going to be hurting my gang anymore!"

"To show I can be tough," Liz added.

"Gargoyles protect," Goliath insisted, "Thailog has corrupted you!"

"Protect?" Liz growled, "and let a sexist regime punish those who aren't male? The people you protect have held me down!"

"Your kind has also kept folks from making a living," Buzz added, "I'm not gonna take it anymore!"

Buzz charged again, but Goliath simple stepped aside as Buzz missed and ran face first into the side of the Cyberbiotics tower. These two were obviously basic delinquents given the male's protective nature of gangs and the female was obviously angry about something that Goliath didn't entirely understand, and made a point to talk with Elisa about later. He then had to duck under a flying kick that Liz had thrown at him.

"So you're Thailog's plan to take over Cyberbiotics," Xanatos mused as he wrestled with a large grey male, almost as large as Goliath, over the bay, "Pity you picked the wrong side."

Xanatos was about electrify his hands when a jet black female came up behind him and clubbed his head with both fists. It made him release his grip on the male and dive away to clear the cobwebs out of his head. Xanatos looked to see that the female gargoyle had a very masculine appearance. Her musculature was larger then any female gargoyle he had seen before and, like Caroline, had a pair of bat-like wings. Her tail ended a large round bulb, like club and she had four large ram-like horns growing from her skull.

"You're sure YOU'RE not on the wrong side?" the female sneered.

"Good one, Bertha," the male laughed.

"Thanks, Butch," Bertha answered.

Xanatos gave a growl and fired off two electric blasts, both of which hit the two gargoyles.

"More time fighting," Xanatos said, "Less time gloating!"

Thorn's spiked tail knocked Othello back in the air as it hit the chest plate that he wore. Othello looked to see that his chest plate was slightly damaged, but had no time to truly react as Rage dove in from behind and landed a punch directly into his back. Othello roared with pain, but the blow forced him to land. His back ached and he couldn't remain in air if his attackers were going to attack him from multiple directions.

"We're going to win this time!" Thorn said in a jubilant voice.

"Yes," Rage agreed, "Training with those actors has been most helpful."

Desdemona ducked under a fast attack by Lucifer and managed to land one punch to his stomach as he glided over her, but in doing so, left herself open to being tackled by his partner, Granite.

"Why do you do this?" Desdemona asked as she managed to get Granite off of her, "You do not seem to share your partner's anger."

"I was always getting hurt," Granite answered, "It didn't matter what I did. I haven't been graceful and I've always been fragile. I'm stronger now. I can feel it! And I won't let you take that way from me!"

Desdemona grabbed web-wing as Granite began her second attack and then threw her into Lucifer, who was attempting to attack Desdemona from behind. The golden female sighed heavily as she watched the black and grey male recovered and helped grey female to begin gliding again.

**The Labyrinth**

Eleanor Reed greeted Merlin and his two escorts as they made their way into the Labyrinth.

"Hello Hudson, Caroline, and…" Eleanor said politely as she ushered them in, "I'm sorry, but your name escapes me."

"Merlin, madam," Merlin said politely.

"Hello Merlin," Eleanor finished, "Come to check on the clones?"

"That wouldnae be a bad idea," Hudson commented, "But Caroline and I are here to escort Merlin."

"And I've come to converse with the English mutates," Merlin added, "I've been told that they are ready and want to return to England."

"Oh," Eleanor answered, "We'll I'm sure that's possible. Most are eating right now, but no one's gone to bed yet."

Merlin nodded.

"How are Talon and his clan?" Hudson asked.

"Doing well," Eleanor answered, "Although with all these extra mutates around, they've been very busy."

"I don't doubt it," Merlin nodded, "We can wait until he has a minute."

It took a few moments of patient waiting before Talon and Maggie came out from where the Labyrinth's kitchens were, but both looked relatively glad to see Merlin.

"I'm glad you're here," Talon said to the wizard, "Many of the English mutates feel they're ready to go home. Some have even got rather pushy about it."

"I'm afraid that all I can do is really give them my contact numbers with Arthur and Macbeth," Merlin sighed, "The nature of my quest does not allow me to say I will be going directly back toEngland when I leave here."

The panther mutate sighed, "They aren't going to like that. Couldn't you just teleport them back to England."

"If I were a full fledged fey, that might be a possibility," Merlin answered, "But I'm only a halfling. I can teleport them only one hundred miles closer to England at best. Anything further then that, and I could materialize them inside a wall or worse, and this would also mean that I teleport with them. My range is limited to ten miles if I am not going with them."

Talon only sighed.

"I believe Mr. Xanatos has the means to allow them to return to England," Merlin pointed out, "The transportation aspect you'll need to take up with him. I can provide you with the location of where Arthur and Macbeth are staying. They can help the English mutates get back on their feet."

"Is that truly the best you can do?" Maggie asked.

Merlin nodded. Talon meanwhile glanced at Hudson and Caroline, who had remained on guard.

"Have you come to check on the clones?" Talon asked, "Or is there something going on? Are Goliath and Elisa okay?"

"The clan is fine," Hudson answered, "But we are having to deal with some trouble from the Illuminati."

"What do they want?" Talon asked, "What do you have that they could want?"

"It's me they want, actually," Merlin answered, "They don't want Arthur to save Britain during its Greatest Hour of Need."

"We're just making sure that they don't get him while he's not in the castle," Caroline explained.

"Life is never dull, is it?" Talon sighed, "I trust you haven't had any problems tonight?"

"None so far," Hudson answered.

Talon nodded, "Come, I'll take you all to where you can make your announcement."

**Over Manhattan**

"The streets are quiet tonight," Ian commented as he looked down the alley he was standing in.

"Relatively," Angela reminded him, "Apparently Brode's followers and Dracon's followers are still battling each other over who gets Manhattan."

Broadway crushed the only two guns that they had found when they came across a small fistfight in the back alley. Neither gun had been pulled as the men, most of them in some sort of suit, were using brass knuckles.

"It won't be quiet until these people are gone and behind bars," Broadway said in a serious voice.

"We can count tonight as progress in achieving that goal then," Ethan suggested, earning a nod from Broadway.

The aquamarine male had no time to give a verbal answer as an electric blast came from above and knocked him to the ground. Another blast came down shortly after and knocked Angela to the ground as well. Ian and Ethan moved to try and help each up as Jackal and Hyena hovered above the alley on their rocket packs and Wolf leaped from the rooftop into the alley. Canis and Vulpine glided down to block any escape out of the alley.

"Too bad none of you will live long enough to see that goal," Jackal laughed.

Canis and Vulpine fired another set of electric blasts at Ian and knocked the black Avalon male into a dumpster.

"So much for a quiet night," Broadway growled as he grabbed a garbage can lid and threw it like a large frisbee.

The improvised weapon hit Canis in the chest and knocked the mutate to the ground while Ethan helped the aquamarine male up. Angela quickly pulled Ian out of the dumpster.

"Attack as a team!" Jackal yelled as he and Hyena dove down to begin the next phase of the fight.

Wolf lunged forward and leaped at Broadway, snarling and slobbering as he went. Broadway ducked under the mutated Pack-member's attack, and Wolf dove right into an electric blast thrown by Vulpine and was flung back down the alley.

"We must keep the battle close!" Angela yelled out to the rest of the patrol team, "the mutates won't be able to fire their electric blasts so wildly if we keep them close."

The lavender female then landed a punch on Hyena that knocked the female cyborg down, but Hyena easily recovered. Jackal, meanwhile, had landed on Ethan's back and fired his lasers at Ian. The shot missed, but it forced Ian to take a few steps back.

"It doesn't matter what you do," Jackal laughed as he then turned and punched Broadway in the gut, "You're outnumbered and outmatched. You're going to lose!"

Broadway staggered back a few feet and was then tackled by Canis and Vulpine. As the two mutates attempted to wrestle him to the ground, he knew they would have to call for help, and the only way to do that would be to split up and that would be dangerous while they were outnumbered.

**Queens**

Rachel returned to find all three Mazas still waiting for her. She felt extremely embarrassed about walking around in only her jumpsuit. Partially because it wasn't modest enough for her tastes and partially because she didn't like the fact that she was a werewolf.

"Are you ready?" Diane asked.

"I suppose so," Rachel sighed.

"Okay," Diane sighed, "I assume you and Merlin have already figured out a 'trigger' for your transformation?"

Rachel nodded weakly, "The moon, specifically a full moon. Classic werewolf stuff."

"And how has that gone?" Diane questioned.

Rachel sighed and answered slowly, "Well, I can get my body temperature to rise, which in the times that I have transformed is a signal that its starting, but I've never been able to go any farther then that."

"Do you focus on the moon and changing when you do this?" Diane asked.

"I try," Rachel answered weakly, "But it's hard. I don't really want to be like this."

"No one wants to be what they feel they aren't," Diane answered, "I was very embarrassed after I was scratched."

"I was able to adjust to being a gargoyle, but that doesn't mean I wanted to be human," Elisa added, "Caroline, Amy, and Candy are actually the ones who had deal with that more. Mostly because like you, they didn't know much about all this before they became gargoyles."

Rachel slowly nodded, the look of embarrassment not leaving her face. Diane sat quiet for a few moments and then asked another question.

"Now, when Merlin has had you try to change yourself, have you truly WANTED to change to your wolf form?" Diane asked.

"No," Rachel answered, "I hate my wolf form. I'm doing this so that I can control myself and that the only times when I transform is under a real full moon."

Diane sighed and looked down.

"From what I was taught when I was first 'cursed' is that a were must embrace its other form and want to change," Diane said slowly, "Otherwise it will never gain control over its transformations, and eventually its other form will form a split personality fighting for dominance with your human consciousness."

"What?" Rachel gasped.

"You may not want to be a werewolf," Diane said, "But that is what you are. The more you deny it or reject it, the more independent of your human mind your wolf form will become. Your wolf form is a part of you, just as much as the form you're currently holding."

"But Merlin said most werewolves aren't monsters like that," Rachel said weakly.

"Because most of them are able to accept what they are," Diane sighed, "Accepting who and what you are will help you gain control over your transformation."

"You could think of ways where being a werewolf might be helpful," Elisa spoke up, "You could help the London Clan or help Arthur and Macbeth."

"They've already given me that option," Rachel answered.

"Not losing control should be enough," Diane pointed out, "If not, moments of intense emotion, anger, fear will trigger a transformation."

"I have to like being a werewolf so I don't change in front of someone?" Rachel asked.

"That would be preferable," Diane answered, "But if you were simply to not hate your wolf form, that would be fine also."

"I'm not sure how," Rachel replied, "For three nights a month, I lose my humanity."

"There are plus sides to everything, if you look for them," Elisa pointed out.

Diane nodded, "You should be immune to most diseases."

"Merlin has explained that," Rachel answered, "I'm immune to most diseases. It is possible that I could live to be over three hundred. And so long as I don't come in contact with Silver, even a bullet through my skull wouldn't kill me."

"Near immortality," Elisa mumbled.

"The thing is, I don't want to live forever and I'm not likely to catch any of the diseases that I'm now immune to," Rachel finished.

"Accepting what you are is the only way," Diane told her, "There has to be something you'd like."

"I don't know," Rachel answered, "I don't necessarily want to end up like what Merlin said most werewolves were created to be, which would be the only way that the 'positives' you mention would be effective."

"And why were werewolves created?" Peter asked, somewhat curious.

Rachel took a nervous glance at Elisa and then said, "As a replacement for the gargoyle clans destroyed by the First Unseelie War."

"Even if you can't find a 'positive'," Diane spoke, trying to get the conversation on track, "At least don't think of the negative. You may not have to love being a werewolf, but hating it will only cause you problems."

"Okay," Rachel sighed.

"Now let's work on getting you to change," Diane sighed, "Try to focus on the moon while wanting to change. It's a very simple thing."

Rachel then watched as the middle aged woman sighed and then breathed deeply. After a few seconds she saw a coat of black fur begin to grow slowly out of her skin, her clothing seemingly melting into her fur through magic. Rachel saw then when the woman opened her eyes again, they had become golden yellow, and the pupil, while still round, had become far smaller then it was on a human eye. Her hands and feet transformed into paws and a long black tail grew out from behind her. In less then five seconds, the middle aged woman had transformed completely into a black panther.

"Wha… wha… wha…?" Rachel stammered.

The panther gave a questioning growl.

"I told you my mother was a werepanther," Elisa said from her position, "That's her alternate form."

Rachel slowly reached forward and touched the panther's ears.

"But my form is more…" Rachel answered slowly, "anthromorphic. This is a full fledged cat!"

"Diane's teachers said that no two were-creatures transform the same," Peter commented, "Werewolves may transform from human to something that is halfway between human and wolf, but werepanthers transform from human to panther."

"Just focus on transforming," Elisa encouraged.

Rachel nodded and sighed. She then closed her eyes and tried to do what she had been told to do. She thought of herself standing under a bright full moon on a cloudless night. She focused on that strongly, and felt her body temperature begin to rise slightly. As it did so, she consciously reminded herself that she had to want to change.

"I want to change," Rachel whispered, "I want to change."

Rachel repeated this mantra softly as Elisa and Peter watched. For a few seconds nothing seemed to happen. Then, after nearly a minute, Elisa noticed Rachel's fingernails beginning to lengthen. She then began to rise on to the balls of her feet as her arches began to lengthen slightly. A downy coat of brown fur also began to appear.

"Keep going," Elisa encouraged.

Rachel began to give some brief whimpers of pain as she felt her arches lengthen. She eventually opened two golden colored eyes to see that she was in fact transforming. The muscles in her arms and legs were growing larger and she was nearly as tall as Elisa was. Her fur was thickening around her. She ran her tongue over her teeth and found that her canines were already lengthening into wolf-like fangs.

Elisa and Peter watched as Rachel continued to grow taller and larger. She now stood taller then Goliath did and was completely covered in fur. On top of all this, her muscles weren't the only things that grew larger as Rachel took on her wolf form. But, neither Peter nor Elisa paid any real attention to that. They watched as Rachel began growling as her face slowly pushed out a canine muzzle and then as a furry wolf's tail grew out from behind her. Once her tail had grown to its full length, Rachel let out a long howl.

"Well," Rachel sighed as she looked herself over, "I did it."

She then blinked as Peter's, Elisa's, and Diane's panther eyes were all as wide as they could be.

"What?" Rachel asked.

"You can talk?" Elisa asked.

"Can't your mother?" Rachel asked back, confused.

Diane shook her head and slowly shifted back to human form.

"No," Diane answered, once fully human, "I can not talk in my 'were' form."

"It must be because her wolf form is half human half wolf," Elisa commented.

Diane nodded and continued her instruction, "Practice transforming when you can. It will improve your control and the more you practice, the faster it will take to change, and hopefully, less painful."

"I'm sorry if I made too much noise," Rachel answered, ears lowering to her head.

"That's alright," Diane sighed, "Peter's been putting in thicker insulation, in case Goliath and Elisa come to visit and have to spend the day here. Their roars are far louder. Trust me."

Rachel slowly nodded.

"Now let's try changing back," Diane said, "It's roughly the same principle. But this time, focus on being human."

Rachel sighed and began to focus again.

**The Bay**

Goliath dodged another attack that Buzz threw at him. He was quickly becoming tired of the fight. While it seemed that both had received some training, neither was particularly skilled in any real form of combat. As Buzz moved past him, Goliath landed a powerful blow on the wasp-like gargoyle's temple, and he fell unconscious into the bay. He then heard a roar and felt the smaller female leap on his back. Once on Goliath's back, Liz began trying to beat the larger male's head in with on fist, but after her second attempt, Goliath grabbed her fist before it could even make contact his head and then threw the female into her unconscious mate.

"You're beaten," Goliath growled in a low voice.

Liz growled but got no chance to try and attack again as a green light wrapped itself around her and Buzz and transported her away. Goliath shocked by this for a moment then turned around to look to see which members of his team that needed the most needed help.

Xanatos jumped over another sweep of Bertha's tail and was forced to flap his wings and flip away from a punch that the black female threw at him. He had managed to knock Butch out of the fight earlier with electric blasts, but Bertha seemed to be much more adept at dodging that attack when she saw it coming.

"Give up, mutate," Bertha growled as she lunged and Xanatos, talons pointed at him.

Xanatos leaped over her and then heard a cracking sound behind him. He turned to see that Bertha had gotten her claws stuck in the side of the Cyberbiotics tower. He chuckled slightly and readied another electric blast, but this time didn't aim it at the gargoyle, but at the metal side of the Cyberbiotics tower. The blast traveled threw the metal and into Bertha, who was still trying to pull her talons free of the metal. She roared with pain and then slumped to the ground in a semiconscious state. Xanatos didn't continue watching to see her vanish in a flash of green light.

Othello ducked under a punch from Rage, but was knocked to the ground by a sweep of Thorn's tail. His body was crisscrossed with scratches and scars from the various spikes and spurs that the female had.

"This was easy," Rage smiled as he stood over Othello and lifted his foot, intending to drive his toe talons through the grey male's face.

Rage never got the chance as two hands grabbed him from behind and slammed his face into the side of the tower. He muffled a pained roar as his nose broke. Othello then swung his own tail, and hit Thorn in her side with the club-like bulb at its end. This bought him the time to get up.

"You have my thanks, brother," Othello said to Goliath as Rage's body vanished in a flash of green light.

Goliath nodded, "Come, the female will probably still fight."

Thorn turned to see that the odds had changed. Othello was now joined by Goliath and Rage was no where in sight. She leaped into the air, intending to knock Othello out quickly, but was caught as Goliath slashed at her side with his talons while she was in the air. It was only a shallow scratch, but it was enough to keep her from reaching Othello and in her brief sensation of pain, she didn't see Othello's punch coming. The blow knocked green female out. Goliath and Othello watched as Thorn vanished in flash of green light shortly after.

"How are they doing that?" Othello asked, "Are they illusions?"

"They're real," Goliath rumbled, "They have a scent, and they are tangible. My best guess is that Thailog's sorceress is not far away and is teleporting them away as we defeat them."

"If she is here, why isn't she helping Thailog's followers?" Othello questioned, "Demona is not with us, and Xanatos doesn't know magic. They would have won by now."

"I do not know," was all Goliath could answer.

Desdemona's battle with Lucifer and Granite was filled with much more movement. Granite never fully committed herself to any real fight and Lucifer's only real tactic was to dive at an opponent and hopefully landing a blow as he went by. The golden female couldn't make any direct move on either as neither stayed together and both seemed to operate quite well as a team. This left Desdemona with trying to land defensive blows on her opponents and keeping herself from being hurt. As a result, neither she, nor they had landed any significant blow.

Lucifer prepared to dive down on Desdemona from above while he watched Granite prepare to come up from below, but never got the chance as he was suddenly hit by a powerful electric blast that knocked him back several feet in the air. Desdemona then caught Granite and threw the grey female into her partner.

"Need any help?" Xanatos offered as he came up, "Goliath and Othello should be right behind me."

Desdemona turned to see Thailog's two followers disappear in a flash of green light.

"I believe that this battle is in fact over," Desdemona answered, "And that no one needs help."

**The Labyrinth**

"Hey Emma!" a loud voice with a British accent echoed through the hallways of the Labyrinth, "Where are you?"

The bulldog mutate who had yelled continued wandering the hallways until he found a female ocelot mutate sitting with Claw in a small living room. Claw seemed to be teaching the mutate sign language.

"There you are," the bulldog mutate cut in, "Come with me, it's time to go."

"Go where, Boris?" the ocelot mutate identified as Emma asked, "We can't go above ground or we'll be seen. Besides, Claw here was teaching me sign language. You should join us."

"We're going HOME," Boris answered, "Merlin's here to send us back to England."

"Back to England?" Emma asked, sounding both pained and excited.

"Yes," Boris nodded, "Back home."

Emma looked over at Claw, who sighed and held up a sign that read, 'I must stay here'. That only made Emma sigh.

"Come on, Emma," Boris urged, "We'll be going home."

"And what will we do there?" Emma asked, "I can't sell flowers looking like this, and I doubt any work crew would accept you."

"You'd rather stay here?" Boris asked in a surprised voice, "In the sewers?"

"Claw's been nice to me," Emma answered, "And they've said that there are people that aren't afraid of them here."

"Our home is in England," Boris insisted.

"Mom and Dad died three years ago," Emma answered, "And neither of us have any great friends waiting for us. What 'home' is there to go to? We'd at least have a purpose here."

Boris only gave a low growl, "Well, I'm going home. You can stay here if you want. I'd at least like you to say goodbye."

Emma looked over at Claw who only looked rather surprised at everything and then looked over at Boris.

"I'll say goodbye," Emma said weakly, "But I'm staying here."

Boris sighed and then slowly walked out. After a few moments, Emma followed, to say goodbye. When they arrived at the room where Merlin was standing, they found the wizard standing on a slightly raised platform with the gargoyles Hudson and Caroline standing slightly behind him. Emma noticed that most if not all the mutates had some small bags with them that probably contained some personal items that they had gained during their stay in the Labyrinth. Emma also noticed that Merlin also looked incredibly depressed. After a few moments, Merlin began speaking.

"Hello, English mutates," Merlin spoke in a clear voice, tinged with some regret, "I understand that many of you are ready and want to return to England. I am afraid I must tell you that some of the stories of my power have been exaggerated and that I can not merely transport you directly to England."

There were a few gasps and grumbles. Many of which sounded depressed. Merlin, however, continued, trying to provide them with some hope.

"Mr. Xanatos will be willing to fly you back to London and insure that you are able to get to a safe place without being seen," Merlin continued, "I am here to give you the contact information of where Arthur Pendragon and Macbeth have taken up residence in London. Once you are there, they can help you."

Merlin then raised his hand and magically created a map of London on the ceiling of the room. One of the many buildings that made up the city was soon illuminated and clearly stood out.

"This is the mansion where they are staying," Merlin explained, and then changed the image so that they could see what the mansion looked like, "It should be easy to spot."

"You can't send us home?" a mutate in crowd asked.

"Not in the way you are thinking," Merlin answered, "But Mr. Xanatos should be able to get you all home together."

The rest of the meeting went by slowly. Most of the mutates asked largely the same questions over and over again, because they didn't believe that the great Merlin could have any limitations to his power. The Medieval Wizard sighed heavily as most of them finally accepted Merlin's answers and began to head back to their rooms.

"That went well," Merlin sighed, "I'm sure that none of them believe me."

"You gave them the best help that you can provide," Hudson answered the wizard.

"I still could have done better," Merlin sighed, "or at least I wish I could do better."

"If only we could all be like you," Hudson commented, "If only we could be like you."

Merlin nodded, "Well, I guess I should be getting back. I still have a lot of research to do."

The group then made a slow departure out of the Labyrinth. The tunnels were dead silent as they walked. Once they got more then hundred yards away from the Labyrinth, the quiet became ominous.

"I don't like this," Caroline commented, "There should at least be the sound of rats or pipes squeaking or something."

Almost at that moment, she felt the prick of a dart hit her in the back and she tried to run, but only made a handful of steps before she leaned against the wall and fell over.

"So tired…" Caroline said as she drifted off to sleep.

Hudson and Merlin turned to see several small illuminated lights coming up from the direction that the dart that had hit Caroline had come from. None were large enough to see by, but it did indicate that there were at least five men or women following them.

"Illuminate!" Merlin ordered as he raised a hand creating an artificial light that was as bright as day.

That gave Merlin and Hudson a clear look at the five people, all of whom appeared to be male and were all in commando gear. The symbol of the Illuminati was clearly placed on a patch on their right shoulder.

"It's just the old one and the wizard left," one commando spoke, "Let's go!"

The commandos then began firing more tranquilizer darts and some laser fire at the gargoyle and wizard. Merlin created a shield around himself, while Hudson drew his sword and dodged their fire until he could get close enough to slice through the barrel of the first commando with his sword. The second commando then hit Hudson with a laser shot that threw him into Merlin's shield.

Merlin then spoke a phrase in Latin and the pipes above the commandos burst forth with boiling water. The hot water made the men scream and drop their weapons. Merlin then hit each of them with a lightning bolt that knocked each commando out.

"Are you alright?" Merlin asked Hudson as he set about repairing the pipes.

"I'm fine," Hudson answered, "My armor has taken hits from laser blasts far more powerful then what these men were carrying."

"Those robots must have been the best shot the Illuminati had if they're sending plain commandos after us," Merlin commented.

"Aye," Hudson nodded, "But they're still dangerous. Caroline is out cold. When Goliath was hit by a tranquilizer dart, he was slowed down, but it didn't knock him out."

"Goliath is much bigger then Caroline and has a faster metabolism," Merlin answered, "He probably burned through the worst of the sedative a lot faster then Caroline will."

Hudson lifted the unconscious female and began to slowly follow Merlin again.

"Hopefully that was the last of them," Hudson said in a semi-nervous voice.

**Over Manhattan**

Elisa glided slowly as she headed back toward the Eyrie Building with Rachel in her arms. Rachel was silent as they went.

"Well, I think that went well," Elisa commented, "All you should need is practice."

"Uh-hm," Rachel answered as she looked out over the New York skyline.

Rachel had seen the whole thing as a learning experience on many things other then her own transformations.

"Um," Rachel said weakly, "I'm sorry if I didn't believe you before when you said you were human."

"You have no need to apologize," Elisa answered, "You're going through a lot, and learning a lot all at once. I can't expect you to understand or be used to everything."

"I still feel sorry," Rachel replied, "Partially because after seeing those photos your mother has on the wall, your human face and your current one aren't too terribly different. I mean, it's only the eye color, lack of eyebrows, and pointed ears that show that you're a gargoyle when looking at your face."

"I still have the fangs," Elisa pointed out, "But I see your point. My face was one of the few parts of my body that changed little when I was transformed. But if you hadn't seen those photos you wouldn't have known that. You don't need to be sorry."

"Thank you," Rachel said weakly.

The conversation was broken up when they heard the sounds of a battle going on in the alleys below. Both looked down to see the Pack in a fierce battle with Angela and Broadway's patrol team. The fight appeared to be at a draw, but even from that altitude, Elisa could tell that all of the gargoyles had some small burns and scratches. She immediately began to lower herself towards a rooftop.

"I've got to help them," Elisa said in an urgent voice.

Rachel only nodded as they landed on the rooftop above the alley that the battle was going on in. Once Rachel's feet were firmly on the ground, Elisa leaped over the edge of the roof and let gravity carry her down onto Jackal's back. The impact of gargoyle knocked the male cyborg to the ground and knocked him out.

"Elisa!" Broadway called out, "You made it!"

"I'm not about to let you four have all the fun," Elisa answered as she moved to help Angela with Hyena.

Rachel watched from the rooftop as Elisa and Angela grappled with the female cyborg, having to dodge quickly to avoid being caught in Hyena's metallic claws. She saw two males battling two mutates that, other then their fur color, looked exactly like Mr. and Mrs. Xanatos. She then saw Broadway fighting with what looked like a male werewolf.

"Oh no," Rachel breathed, "Another evil one!"

Broadway ducked under a slashing attack that Wolf had thrown at him. He landed a good punch against the mutated Pack member's jaw which knocked him down, but that seemed to only make Wolf angrier. Wolf got up and prepared to jump at Broadway again when he saw a brown furred female wolf creature land on top of him. The female then lifted Wolf into the air and growled into his face.

"You won't be biting anyone!" Rachel growled in a low voice and then threw Wolf against the building.

Hyena also surprised by the female wolf's appearance lost her attention and ended up taking a punch from both Elisa and Angela that threw her against the other building. Wolf was still slow getting up and Jackal was out cold. Canis and Vulpine weren't making any great strides against Ian and Ethan so Hyena growled heavily to herself and decided the night was over.

"This isn't over!" Hyena yelled and fired off a sporadic barrage of laser fire to get everyone to put their heads down, and then ordered, "Canis, Vulpine, get Wolf out of here. I'll take Jackal."

The two mutates nodded and ran as fast as they could, grabbed Wolf and leaped off of a fire escape to get airborne, while Hyena activated her rockets, picked up Jackal and flew off.

"That's Rachel?" Angela asked as the Pack flew off.

"In wolf form," Rachel answered looking down.

"Where are your clothes?" Elisa asked.

Rachel looked back up to the roof, "On the roof. I just put them on over my jumpsuit when we left."

"Thank you for helping us," Ian said politely.

Rachel sighed and looked back up towards the roof and then sighed again.

"I just saw that werewolf among them," Rachel answered, "And his grey fur bore a striking similarity to the werewolf that bit me. I don't want any bad weres out there."

"Wolf isn't a werewolf," Angela corrected, "He's a mutate."

"But he didn't have wings," Rachel pointed out, confused.

"He didn't ask for any," Broadway explained.

Rachel's golden eyes widened, "He had that done to himself? Willingly?"

The present gargoyles nodded, which made Rachel shudder.

"That's strange and disgusting," Rachel spoke after awhile, "He looks like he doesn't even have any control over whether or not he blinks."

"Wolf can't shift forms either," Elisa sighed, "And he's lost any real 'human' quality as a result."

Rachel sighed, "Well, I'm ready to head back. I'm going to need a good bath after touching that thing. It's been a weird night."

The others nodded.

**Maddox Technologies**

Thailog ignored the defeated Pack members as they limped back into the building and focused his questions on Fang and Holly.

"So you lost?" Thailog questioned.

"Yes," Holly answered, "Although, Xanatos was accompanying the group and his electric blasts proved a deciding factor."

"The matchups also played a big part," Fang added, "Our strongest ones got beaten by Xanatos's electric blasts and Buzz and Liz were nowhere near strong enough to face Goliath."

"How did the others do?" Thailog questioned.

"Rage and Thorn did well against Othello," Holly answered, "Lucifer and Granite maintained and obvious draw with Desdemona. But once Goliath and Xanatos defeated their opponents, those battles also ended."

"A vast improvement over their first battle then," Thailog answered, "They will still require more training though."

"The Pack won't like being put back as instructors," Fang pointed out.

"If they argue, remind them that I gave them a chance to have fun tonight and they failed," Thailog said firmly, "Also tell them that they might be wiser to wait until their robots are repaired."

Fang nodded.

**Hotel Cabal**

Duval sighed as he faced Three's image on the screen.

"I'm afraid I've failed you again, sir," Duval said weakly, "The report is that they tranquilized one of the gargoyles, but Merlin then used his magic to knock the team out."

Three sighed and then looked down.

"The Council will be disappointed," Three answered, "Do you have any good news?"

"Our spy drones have determined that Demona is only at the castle because her mansion has been destroyed," Duval answered, "Why she chose to return, I do not know."

Three nodded.

"She has also either taken a new mate or at least has a male suitor," Duval continued, "A white male English gargoyle she calls 'Wedrington'."

"Wedrington?" Three answered, "He disappeared in Egypt."

"Then I've found him," Duval answered.

"Ignore Merlin for the time being," Three ordered, "The Council will have to deal with him later. I want more information on Demona and Wedrington's presence at the castle."

"Yes, sir," Duval answered his superior.

**Castle Wyvern, Three Days later**

Merlin sighed as he packed up his things. The Illuminati hadn't done much over the past three days, but while Xanatos's library was very well organized, and he didn't have to dig through every book that he owned, every text that he had looked in gave him no information that he didn't already know. The only good news about the trip is that Rachel had finally gained full control over her transformations. Merlin attributed this to her having another were teach her and help her practice. Rachel also seemed to be adapting much more to being a werewolf, which he attributed to conversations with the newer females in Goliath's clan.

"I'm ready," Rachel said from behind him.

Merlin turned to face her, "That's good."

"I'm sorry you couldn't find out any more," Rachel told him.

"We'll find something, eventually," Merlin said confidently.

"Where do we go next?" Rachel asked.

"I don't know," Merlin sighed, "Perhaps Canada. We might be able to find a museum that holds the collections of things that wealthy Englishmen took to Canada when they went there."

A new voice cut in before Rachel could answer.

"I don't suppose I could help?" came Xanatos's voice from the doorway.

They turned to see the mutated billionaire standing just outside the door.

"I'm not sure if you could, Mr. Xanatos," Merlin sighed, "At least not any more then you already have."

"You never know," Xanatos answered, "There's this guy I had dealings with who lives out in Montana who might have something of use for you."

Both Merlin and Rachel paid the billionaire close attention.

"His name is Anthony Hiker, and he used to run a small company that was on the river," Xanatos explained, "But a couple of years ago, he just up and retired and sold the company, so we haven't been able to talk by any way other then the telephone."

"And how can he help us?" Merlin asked, "Does he have a library?"

"He does," Xanatos answered, "And he's a very friendly guy. From what he's told me, he's walked up and talked with total strangers about anything and everything from time to time. So I'm sure you shouldn't have any trouble in meeting him."

"What kind of library does he have?" Rachel asked.

"It's tiny compared to the one here," Xanatos shrugged, "But he has collected his fair share of ancient texts. I know he's interested in something 'supernatural', but he's never told me what."

Merlin looked at Rachel, who only sighed.

"Well, I guess any help would be great," Merlin said, "We thank you for your help."

"Should I call Owen, tell him to drive you to the airport?" Xanatos asked.

"No we'll be fine," Merlin answered, "I feel I could use the exercise after all the walking I did."

"Very well," Xanatos said to the wizard, "Good luck."

"Thanks," Merlin answered as he and Merlin turned to walk towards the elevators and head out into the city.

**The End**


	31. Plague

All characters appearing in Gargoyles and Gargoyles: The Goliath Chronicles are copyrighted to Buena Vista Television/The Walt Disney Company. I've taken the idea for the Unseelie Court from the TGS. No infringement of these copyrights is intended, and is not authorized by the copyright holder. All original characters are the property of SN.

Note: I'm disregarding the events of the "Goliath Chronicles", with the exception of "The Journey" because I do not wish to use the rest of the "Goliath Chronicles" as canon to my story. This story takes place one week after "Weird".

Plague

By SN/TVfan

Email: Sam_Nary 

**Matt Bluestone's Apartment**

"What the…?" Matt exclaimed as he walked out of his apartment on his way to work.

Lying out in the middle of the hallway was a dead rat. Matt had nearly stepped on it and the detective was now startled by the appearance of the dead rodent. Especially since he hadn't know the building to have had problems with rodents. A sighing sound broke up his concentration on the dead animal. He turned to see one of his neighbors standing just outside his door. The man looked just as disgusted as Matt did.

"That's the third one this week," the man grumbled.

"What!?" Matt exclaimed, "This building doesn't have rats!"

"Not live ones anyway," the man answered.

"What?" Matt asked again, this time in disbelief.

"Saw one in the lobby two days ago, and saw another in the elevator the day before," the man answered, "Friend of mine said he found another one on his pillow the same day I saw the one in the lobby. Talked with the landlord yesterday, and helped him actually go through the entire building from basement to roof. There's no sign of any nest or colony anywhere. Yet we have these dead rats."

"They can't have all just come in here to die," Matt said, "It's unnatural."

"Mr., we got gargoyles in this city that awaken from stone every night," the man answered, "Don't tell me this isn't natural."

"So what do we do with the rat?" Matt asked.

"I'd just throw it in the trash at the end of the hall," the neighbor sighed, "Not much we can do. The landlord said he might decide to have the entire building fumigated and have the basement sealed up so that no more can get in. But that will take a week to get ready.

Matt sighed and slowly bent over to pick up the rodent by the tail. He shivered as the animal's lack of body heat proved that it was in fact dead.

"Someone has to get animal control or something," Matt thought to himself as he quickly tossed the dead animal in the garbage can as he passed it to go into the elevator.

**Castle Wyvern**

"What's this movie about?" Lexington asked as Candy led him out to the outer walls.

"I read a wonderful review about it," Candy told him, "I think you'll like it."

"What's the movie about?" Lexington asked.

Candy gave a brief sigh, "I will warn you, it is a 'romantic' movie, but it does have some of the Sci-Fi stuff that you like."

Lex groaned.

"Oh come on," Candy answered, "I told you, I read a great review. And it was by a guy so obviously it isn't entirely a 'chick-flick'."

"I'm sorry, but whenever someone says 'romance' as a genre, all I can think about are Angela and Broadway watching 'Pride and Prejudice'," Lex answered, "Most boring movie ever."

"Trust me, the novel is worse," Candy chuckled, "Only three people in that household had any brains. This movie is nothing like anything based off of Jane Austin novels."

"It better be," Lex grumbled as the two leaped off into the night.

Elsewhere in the Courtyard, Brooklyn paced almost impatiently. Amy only watched him walk back and forth.

"They'll be here shortly," Amy said to him, "We promised we help them out. It's the first time that Sarah or Ian have been introduced to anything like 'dating'."

"I would have preferred to go only with you," Brooklyn said to her.

Amy smiled back, "I know, but a promise is a promise. Sarah and Ian have agreed to 'go out' with each other and asked us for help."

"The concert starts in ten minutes," Brooklyn answered, sounding impatient, "How long will it take for both of them to get ready? You didn't take this long."

"They're probably just cleaning up after breakfast," Amy said, "Nothing to worry about."

Brooklyn resumed his silent pacing for a few moments until Sarah and Ian, slowly came walking out together. Amy noted that both looked like they were out on a blind date, even though they had obviously known each other for a while.

"Sorry it took so long," Sarah said weakly, "We were just cleaning up after breakfast."

"It's not your fault Bronx decided to play fetch with Broadway's serving spoon," Brooklyn answered.

The four then took off into the night and were soon gliding toward Central Park.

"So, what does this band play?" Ian asked curiously.

"Rock music," Brooklyn answered with a grin, "And it is loud!"

"I've always loved the guitarist's ability," Amy added, "The music is loud, but you can tell its music."

"And this is a date?" Sarah asked.

"To a New Yorker of my generation?" Amy asked back, "Yes! You'll like it. Don't worry."

"And if you don't like this, you can talk to Goliath and Elisa," Brooklyn teased with a grin, "Or Othello and Desdemona. I'm sure their courtship stories will be far more interesting."

Not wanting to embarrass themselves in front of the older couples did it.

"Okay," Ian said weakly, "Let's see this concert."

"Did I miss anything?" Lawrence asked as he returned from the bathroom.

"Depends on how much of the old Pack reruns you find to be important," Caroline answered, "I'm still amazed that the show did so well. Every episode's plot was completely predictable."

"Momma!" young Alex pointed from Caroline's feet.

"Yep," Caroline laughed slightly as she patted the toddler's head and then looked at Lawrence, "You sure you don't mind babysitting him with me?"

Lawrence nodded, "Candy and Lex deserve a night off every now and then. And with everything that you've gone through, I'm glad that you have a night off from patrols."

"I'm fine Lawrence, honest," Caroline answered, "It was nothing."

"You got knocked out twice in as many nights," Lawrence answered, "And that makes me worry."

"About what?" Caroline asked.

"About you," Lawrence asked, "I understand that you feel you have to do this to help the others, but I obviously can't go with you…"

"Goliath doesn't send us out alone," Caroline answered, "This isn't like Mary Jane Watson waiting for Spider-Man to come home or Lois Lane waiting for Superman. When I'm out there, there will always be at least one other with me. You don't need to worry."

"I know," Lawrence nodded, "But I don't want to see you die…"

"No fighting!" Alex cut in, "Mommy's on television."

Both Caroline and Lawrence smiled weakly and returned their attention to the television while Caroline playfully ruffled Alex's hair.

**23****rd**** Precinct Headquarters**

Matt found the main office completely busy as he entered the main station, looking for Flariaty. He ran into Morgan on his way out, and saw that the man was already looking tired.

"What's going on?" Matt asked.

"It's been a madhouse since I got in," Morgan answered, "You'd think we were pest-control or something."

"Pest Control?" Matt asked.

"Yeah," Morgan answered, "Three dozen people have called in so far claiming that hoodlums have left dead rats on their doorsteps."

"Rats?" Matt asked.

"Yeah," Morgan answered, "Rats. And you thought some of the other pranks that kids play on people's doors were bad."

"And they're all certain that someone's thrown or left the animal at their door?" Matt asked, "I mean, this is a big city. Rats do live here. In the city, I mean."

"Yeah, but at least one of them saw the kids running off," Morgan sighed, "So, they can't all be wrong."

"So you're all going after kids with a bad sense of humor," Matt surmised.

"Pretty much," Morgan sighed, "Have a good night detective."

"Detective," came Maria Chavez's voice from her office, "May I speak with you for a moment."

"Sure," Matt nodded as he saw her and walked toward the Captain's office.

He walked in to sit in one of the chairs opposite Chavez's desk while Captain Chavez walked to her chair.

"You'll have to work solo tonight," Chavez told him, "Flariaty wasn't feeling too well and called in sick."

"Will she be alright?" Matt asked.

"She said she's fine, but she can't come into work tonight," Chavez answered, "This is mostly to give you your mission for tonight."

Matt nodded.

"Since almost everyone else is tied up in these 'rat-hooligan' calls, I need you and a few of the other detectives to pick up some of the slack with some of the basic police work," Chavez explained, "Like giving tickets and so on."

"Back to 'rookie' work, eh?" Matt joked, "I can handle all that."

"Should anything come up that needs your help, we'll let you know," Chavez sighed.

**The Labyrinth**

"Mr. Talon, Mr. Talon!" one of the homeless men of the shelter, who had recently returned to the Labyrinth shelter yelled as he ran through the maze of hallways trying to find the black panther mutate.

The man ended up running into Maggie and Emma. He nearly knocked both female mutates over in his rush, but quickly recovered.

"Talon's off to the river, to see if he can catch some fish, "Maggie said, "What is it?"

"Joey's sick!" the man said in a nervous voice, "He's all covered in bumps!"

The man then began running back towards where he had come from, with Emma and Maggie chasing after him.

"Bumps?" Emma asked, "You don't suppose he's got Chicken Pox now, do you?"

"I don't really know," Maggie answered, "Talon and I have never kept medical records of the people we've sheltered down here. We never had the ability."

They followed the man into a small room that a few people shared and found one man laying on his bed and under the blanket. He seemed to be groaning with pain. Neither Maggie nor Emma could see him, however, as there was a crowd of people blocking their view.

"What is it?" Maggie asked loudly, hoping the gathering would clear so that they could get closer to see what was wrong, "What is wrong with him?"

The group parted enough to let Maggie and Emma get a look at the man lying in his bed.

"He's been groaning ever since we sent for Talon," a woman spoke up, "He's got all these big blisters. We don't know what to do."

Maggie and Emma took a closer look. The man had sores that were visible on his face and on one of his arms, which was over the blanket. The skin in many areas around these sores seemed to have darkened to an almost blackish color. Maggie and Emma both took a step back in horror.

"That isn't Chicken Pox," Maggie stated.

"Do you know what it is?" Emma asked, feeling nervous.

"No, but I know that isn't Chicken Pox," Maggie answered, "I didn't look like that when I had it as a kid."

"Isn't there anything we can do?" the man that had lead them there asked.

"You need to get him to a hospital," Maggie said urgently, "I can do first aid, but this has to be serious."

The man then ran off in search of one of the Labyrinth's pay phones while the others gasped in shock and horror.

Half an hour later, an ambulance pulled up to the main subway terminal that the Labyrinth was closest to. The people who were earlier in the room with the man were working to hold him up. As the paramedics rushed out, they quickly looked the man over.

"When did he start showing symptoms?" one asked urgently.

"About two days ago, why?" a woman asked back.

"Are you the ones who have had contact with him?" another paramedic asked.

"Mostly," the woman answered.

The sick man groaned again.

"You'll all need to come with us," the first paramedic said in an urgent voice and opened up the back of the ambulance, "What is the man's medical history? Is he allergic to anything? Particularly antibiotics?"

"We don't know," one man answered.

"You don't know?" the second paramedic gasped.

"We've never been well enough off to afford any medical coverage," the woman answered, "And we've never really believed in it either."

"Are you related to this man?" the first paramedic asked.

"He's my husband," the woman answered, "the rest here are merely friends who have been staying with us in the shelter."

"Everything should be fine," the second paramedic tried to calm them down, "But I'm going to need all of you to think back as far as you can and try to bring up some form of a medical history. We need to know that, so we know how to treat you. Vaccinations, allergies, any hospitalizations that you've had to go through in the recent past. Anything would be of great help to us."

In another thirty minutes the man had arrived at Manhattan General. Two doctors were silently talking about the issue.

"Your diagnosis, Doctor Kafka?" the first asked.

"Bubonic Plague," Dr. Kafka shuddered, "We've got him hooked up to an IV bag of penicillin. He should be fine. Hopefully this strain hasn't mutated to become resistant."

"Black Plague?" the first doctor asked.

"Yes," Doctor Kafka sighed, "The one and the same. I'd thought the disease was wiped out with the invention of antibiotics. At least, wiped out in the western world, but it's apparently still here. This guy is actually the third guy who's developed this disease in the past few days."

"The THIRD patient?" the first doctor gasped, hardly believing a word.

"Yes," Dr. Kafka answered, "All of the patients so far seem to be from the homeless and lower classes, and none are to the point where their life is in jeopardy. Don't worry. The antibiotics should easily kill the bacterium."

"What about the others who were with him?" the first doctor asked.

"No sign of any infection," Dr. Kafka answered, "One might be developing the common cold, but that was the worst of it among the others."

The first doctor breathed a sigh of relief.

"The really strange thing is where these cases are being found," Dr. Kafka continued, "This recent group came from an underground shelter near Central Park, known only as 'The Labyrinth'. The first came from a shelter in the Bronx, and the second came from one in Queens. None of them have come from the same geographic area of Manhattan."

"Well, remember it effected all of Europe in the Middle Ages," the first doctor pointed out.

"Yes, but it radiated from a specific area," Dr. Kafka answered, "Cases didn't spring up in London, Paris, and Rome simultaneously. We are in what could be an outbreak, considering how fast we've received these three cases, but given the way diseases spread, shouldn't they all have a singular connection to some point in the city. Each of the patients is a total stranger to the others."

"New York is a big city," the first doctor reminded her, "Hopefully we'll be able to contain this."

"Containment is not the issue," Kafka said, "Plague is a bacterium, and so far, it does not appear to be a mutated strain. Antibiotic treatment is killing the bacterium like it's supposed to. I'm more concerned with how and why these people became infected in the first place. Is this a terrorist act? If so, we need to call the FBI and CIA. Or have the rats in this city suddenly begun dying off for some reason, and if that is the case we need to contact any form of animal control as quickly as possible."

**Warehouse**

"Have you set the plan in motion?" Garlon asked as Vermin slowly moved back into the area that served as his command center.

"Yes my Lord," Vermin answered with a slight bow, "My followers are carrying out the plan. They are moving to positions where they may insure our victory."

"Excellent," Garlon smiled.

"I fail to see how killing off Manhattan with disease is going to defeat the Seelie Court," an elderly looking Unseelie fey, called Golom, commented, "Humanity has actually developed cures for practically all the diseases you're spreading."

"One, it's the sheer chaos of the disease spreading," Vermin answered, "And they haven't developed a cure for all of them. Some of them will die. This will help reduce the human population that we'll have to fight when conquering the world."

Garlon nodded in agreement with the fey who served as his primary advisor.

"It will also serve as a beacon," Garlon added, "Our real enemies believe the recent war to be over with the death of Madoc and have relaxed their defenses against our attack."

"They are still hunting us," Golom pointed out, "Out of the few who recently returned to us, all of them reported that the Weird Sisters or some other member of the Seelie Court has rounded up one of the survivors from the battle at the Eyrie Building."

"And I expect them to send the Weird Sisters or some member of their court here to try and fight all of us," Garlon answered, "Titania doesn't want to start a third war. She will try to be as quiet and discreet as possible. She will send one or two fey, or in the Sisters's case, three, and our whole Court will crush them."

"Wouldn't that restart the war?" Golom asked.

"Precisely," Garlon smiled, "But Titania will likely be with out her strongest soldiers. Without the Sisters, the Seelie Court is nothing. Oberon is already gone, and the Sisters as a team are the most powerful. It will not be easy, as Titania is quite powerful in her own right, but we can win. Have a little faith, Golom."

Golom was about to say something when Garlon hovered up into the air, eyes glowing.

"Or I will make you fear me more then you fear the Seelies!" Garlon snarled.

**Central Park**

Brooklyn, Amy, Sarah, and Ian landed on the thickest possible tree branches above the bandstand to listen to the concert as several people began to fill the area in front of the bandstand.

"See, I told you we'd be here in time," Amy said to Brooklyn.

Brooklyn didn't answer, but watched intently as the stage announcer, who was intended to announced band entered. The man slowly approached the mike and taped on it to make sure that it was working. After a few moments, he began speaking.

"Attention, people," the man spoke in a serious voice, with no impending excitement as if he were going to introduce the band, "May I have your attention please."

The noise of people talking slowly dulled to a low whisper. Once everything had quieted down enough that the man thought he had the attention of the large crowd, the man slowly began to speak.

"I know that you have come here tonight to hear the Blazing Dragons," the announcer said in a serious voice.

Cheers interrupted the man.

"But I'm afraid I must report to you, that much of the band has fallen ill with something, and can not perform," the announcer continued, "I'm sorry for the inconvenience."

The crowd was dead silent.

"What does this mean?" Sarah asked.

"It means the band won't be playing," Amy answered, her wings dropping down slightly, "I've been waiting to hear this band play."

"So what do we do now?" Ian asked.

Brooklyn looked to Amy with a questioning look on his beak. The yellow female only sighed.

"Well, if you two are still wanting a 'date' we could try the movies," Amy suggested, "If not, we can go back to the castle."

"Maybe a movie would work," Sarah sighed, "Although a lot of this is strange. The couples that took mates on Avalon were simply together. There was not a lot of these special 'outings'."

"There wasn't a lot this sort of thing back in the old clan," Brooklyn commented, "But, this one of the modern practices that has been very enjoyable. Especially if you're with the one you love."

**Movie Theater**

Lex and Candy landed on the roof of the building opposite the theater that the clan usually went to, to watch movies. Both could make out a sign on the door, and the lights inside the building were out. Unfortunately, neither could get any closer, as street traffic and people walking on the sidewalk made it impossible for them to get any closer without attracting a mob of people.

"Wish I could see the sign," Lex grumbled, "Then we could know why it's closed."

"And it was such a good movie," Candy sighed, "Are there any others that have like an old balcony that we can sit in?"

Lex scratched his head, "Uh, I don't know. I think I read somewhere that this used to be an old theater for plays before movies were invented, and was changed into a movie theater when plays became less popular. I don't know how many of these places are left. As I said before, Brooklyn, Broadway, and I only came across this place by chance."

"I don't want to go tearing apart ventilation systems trying to find another one," Candy sighed.

"I'm sorry," Lex said to her.

"It's not your fault the place closed," Candy answered, not cheered up in the least, "I just wanted to do something nice…"

Lex placed a hand on her shoulder, "You agreed to be my mate, I'd think you've done something more then just 'nice'."

Candy then hugged him.

"Thank you," Candy answered.

**Castle Wyvern**

Demona stood silent and alone along the castle's outer walls, facing the south. The immortal female was silent as she stared out over the skyline of the city. She had made some checks on the progress that the human construction workers were making on the new Destine Manor. So far, everything seemed to be progressing smoothly. The snows from the Unseelie's storm and long since melted to a manageable level and disappeared. She was glad that she would have her manor back soon. The sound of footsteps behind her broke the immortal gargoyle out of her thoughts.

"Wedrington?" Demona asked as she turned around.

"No, sister, it is me," came Desdemona's voice.

Demona turned to see that it was her rookery sister and then returned her gaze to the skyline to the south.

"I have not broken my bargain with Goliath," Demona said simply.

"If we thought you had, I would not be here," Desdemona answered, "You would be dealing with Goliath."

"So why are you here then?" Demona asked, "You and Othello made it quite clear that you don't like my past decisions."

"You betrayed the clan, Demona," Desdemona answered, "And then you ripped Othello, myself, and our evil brother from the afterlife to animate Coldstone…"

"I was trying to bring you and Othello back," Demona answered, "The fact that our evil brother was also brought back was an accident."

"Why did you put us all in one body then?" Desdemona questioned, "And why did you feel you had to bring us back?"

Demona looked down to her feet for a few moments and then sighed.

"Being with Wedrington has made me realize many things," Demona spoke slowly, "He was willing to guard me during the day while I was stone before, even after he learned of some of the darker parts of my past."

"Yes, he's seemed to be the only one to ever get you to control that temper of yours," Desdemona answered, "But you brought us back before you met Wedrington."

Demona sighed again, "Wedrington's ability to 'calm my temper' is what allows me to say this. You all understand that I've made most of the problems that have occurred in my life occur. It took me a long time to even consider it. The 'massacre' was a mistake on my part. I wanted justice for our clan and I not only failed to get it, I ended up insuring its destruction. You and Othello were… aside from Goliath at the time, the closest friends I had in the old clan. It was guilt that made me bring you back."

"Guilt that we were dead or that you were the killer?" Desdemona asked back.

"To a great degree, both," Demona answered, "It was a selfish decision on my part, if that is what you want to hear."

"While it is good to hear that you are taking responsibility for your actions," Desdemona spoke, "Your past is not why I'm here."

Demona turned around, "It is not?"

Desdemona shook her head, "It concerns your present more then your past."

"My present?" Demona asked.

"And concerning your relationship with a member of the clan," Desdemona answered.

"Your clan," Demona corrected, "Thanks to… to my actions, I am an exile. I can not be allowed back."

"Never the less, your daughter is part of the clan," Desdemona answered, "And she is the reason why Goliath agreed to let you and Wedrington stay here until your mansion is built."

"I have wondered why," Demona commented.

"She extended the invitation in hopes that you would try and talk with her," Desdemona answered, "To be a mother to her. Tell her your side of the story."

"It is not our way to be a 'mother' to any hatchling," Demona retorted, "And she already knows the truth."

"Maybe so, Demona," Desdemona replied, "But Angela was raised by humans. She does not accept the traditional 'gargoyle way', and from some of what she's told me, it appears that you have out grown the traditional way long ago. Just talk to her, Demona. The fact that you haven't talked to her has frustrated her. The whole clan can see that. It would make her feel better, and it might even help you maintain a better relationship with the clan then what you've held in the past."

"I'll think about it," Demona answered.

Meanwhile, in the television room, Hudson, Goliath, Elisa, and Othello were watching the news while waiting for the Late Show to come on afterward. The broadcaster had so far reported rather common news. Crime had been down, so the clan was taking a well deserved break. It was then that reporter brought up a piece of news that was rather urgent.

"And now we get to the health warning for New York City and regional areas," the reporter said in a very serious voice, "If you are to come across any dead or live rat, give it a wide berth and call for the proper authorities. Today the third case of Bubonic Plague was admitted to Manhattan General Hospital. The man is currently in stable condition and will make a full recovery, but to prevent the over taxation of our hospitals, please call the authorities should you come across any dead rats."

"Why are they so concerned about a disease if the patient is doing fine?" Othello wondered.

"Past history," Goliath answered in a slightly nervous voice, "In the Middle Ages, well after the Wyvern Massacre, and I and the others were put to sleep, the disease ravaged the European continent. Killing up to a third of Europe's population. The greatest outbreak of disease in history."

"I'm wondering how three people in New York could have contracted it, though," Elisa wondered, "Modern sanitation efforts would have a building evacuated and fumigated if rats were to take up residence in the building. Most rats in New York live in warehouses, sewers, along the docks, and in garbage dumps. There is little human interaction with rats in today's cities."

"Perhaps these people were in a spot that could be one of the places where you say rats live, lass," Hudson spoke up, "What about the Labyrinth?"

"Derek's said he's made it a point to at least drive any rats out with an electric blast, if not outright electrocuting them to keep them down," Elisa answered, "Although, his reasoning was to prevent them from eating the food they have stored down there. And from what I've heard, the mutates have been quite successful in controlling the rat population in that area. Which is good, because these rats are not the kind you get in pet stores. They're mean and nasty looking."

"These people still could have been in an area that these animals have found as habitat," Goliath shook his head, "It isn't inconceivable that they got the disease somewhere, and came into the city."

The others needed.

"Hopefully the city is able to clean all of this up," Othello commented while looking back at the screen.

A new voice then spoke behind them that made each gargoyle jump, as the never heard any footsteps, nor was there any scent that they could detect.

"Unfortunately, the situation will take more then what your city's sanitation crews can provide," the voice said in a grave tone.

The four of them turned around and gasped when they saw who was behind them.

"Titania!" was the collective gasp from the four gargoyles.

**Elsewhere**

Matt sighed as he walked into the apartment building that he received a call from. He was getting complaints of a domestic disturbance from an apartment on the fourth floor and, following his orders, he was there to sort things out. His night had been an interesting one. While he had been told to avoid much of the 'dead rat' calls, he had gotten dragged into at least one, and now that the report had been given that there were three confirmed cases of Bubonic Plague, Matt sighed as the number of 'dead rat' calls more then tripled.

He found a crowd of people gathered outside one of the apartment doors on the fourth floor as he stepped out of the elevator. The sounds of pots and pans being slammed against various objects was clearly through the hallway.

"Detective Bluestone," Matt spoke as he approached the group, "What's going on here?"

"These two have been at it for the past hour, and no one can get in," a large African American male pointed at the door, "How do you expect my kids to sleep with this going on? They have school in the morning and I have work!"

"I'll see what I can do," Matt sighed and approached the door, surprised to find it unlocked.

He walked in to find both battling it out in the hallway. A man, armed with wok was chasing after a woman, who was armed with a baseball bat. Both were screaming at each other.

"Alright!" Matt screamed, "Everyone calm down. Right now. This is the police."

The woman dropped to the ground and the man ran back into the apartment. Matt sighed to himself and gave chase after the male.

"How does Morgan do this every night?" Matt wondered as he went after the man.

It took almost twenty minutes for everything to be sorted out. The man had accused his girlfriend of cheating on him, and when she admitted it, the male flew off the handle. His rage set her off, and everything slid downhill from there. Matt had to call in for another officer so that both could be taken in. The man for domestic abuse, the woman for disturbing the peace. As he left, an older women in the crowd that had gathered came up to Matt.

"My neighbor works with you every day," the woman said with a slight smile, "She says you're weird, but that you're a decent cop."

"You know Detective Flariaty?" Matt asked, suddenly remembering that this was the building she lived in.

"Yes, she's my neighbor," the woman answered.

"I heard she wasn't feeling well," Matt commented, "Do you know if she's okay?"

"I've been trying to check in on her, as much as I can," the woman answered, "She's sicker then she says she is."

"Tell her that I hope she gets better," Matt said to the woman.

"You could tell her yourself, if you want," the woman spoke, "I was just going to check on her when all this."

"I really shouldn't," Matt said.

"Come on, she'll enjoy seeing someone from work," the woman insisted and practically pulled Matt along by the arm.

Matt sighed and followed as the woman lead him into another apartment building. She led him into the lone bedroom, which to the surprise of both was empty.

"Ms. Flariaty?" the woman called, "It's me, Mrs. Stochman. I've brought a friend from your job to wish you well."

There was no answer. Both looked around and the woman then noticed the light in the bathroom was on.

"I'll go check one of the other rooms," Matt spoke, "She might be up and about."

Mrs. Stochman nodded and walked toward the bathroom. Matt hadn't made it very far when he heard a terrified scream come from the bathroom. He rushed back to find Mrs. Stochman staring down at the bathroom floor.

"What is it?" Matt asked, fearing that someone had broken in and killed her.

He came in to find Flariaty laying face down and with her legs in a position to indicate she was leaving the bathroom. Also, to Matt's surprise, she was fully dressed, as if she had been trying to get ready for work. He quickly checked her vitals and found that all were still going. They weren't very strong, but he could tell that she was breathing and that she had a pulse.

"You've got to get her to a hospital," Matt urged, "Can you drive her?"

"I don't have a car," Mrs. Stochman said nervously.

"Help me get her to mine," Matt said, "Come on."

**Castle Wyvern**

"Queen Titania!" Goliath spoke in surprise, "What bring you here, and to us? Why did you not go to Fox?"

"As much as my daughter would fight against this," Titania answered, "I agree with her husband that she should not involve herself in what will require battle until the child has been born. Also, her training in magic is not yet complete and our foes will be of fey nature."

This raised looks of suspicion from the present gargoyles.

"More evil fey?" Elisa asked.

"Not more," Titania corrected, "Returned."

Goliath shared glances to the others and then sighed he saw that they didn't understand either.

"I'm afraid we do not understand," Goliath said respectfully.

"You understand that we defeated Madoc and Maeve?" Titania questioned and waited for the others present to nod, "With the death of its leaders, the Unseelie Court largely splintered into multiple smaller groups or individuals. Since then, I have had as many members of my court searching for these escaped Unseelies. We have brought many in, and found almost as many dead. Probably the Legionnaire and Praetoria's handwork in those cases. It appears however that several have chosen to remain in Manhattan."

"This outbreak of Plague is they're doin' then?" Hudson asked.

"Bubonic Plague is not the only pestilence they have unleashed," Titania answered and raised one hand.

The Queen of the Seelie Court then portrayed a magically generated hologram of a fey that looked like a massive anthromorphic rat. It was gaunt and boney, and its fur was dirty and roughed up in appearance.

"The Unseelie, Vermin," Titania said, "It is his work that my court has detected here."

"So what other diseases are spread by rats that are serious?" Othello asked.

"Bubonic Plague is his primary weapon when using rats as a vector," Titania answered, "And this is not how we detected his presence. What do you know about the Peloponnesian War?"

"It decided who would be the dominant power in Greece, Athens or Sparta," Elisa answered, "Sparta won the war in the end."

"Anything that occurred in Athens during the war that was almost as trying as the war itself?" Titania asked.

Elisa, Hudson, and Othello turned to look at Goliath.

"I don't know," Goliath admitted, looking ashamed.

"During the war a great plague struck Athens and decimated its population, taking with it the great leader of Athens, Pericles," Titania explained, "Thucydides writes of it in his History of the Peloponnesian War. What he, and no one else, has ever known is that the Great Plague on Athens during the war was caused by Vermin. He had been hired by the Spartans to weaken the defenses around Athens since their army couldn't get around the Athenians' walls. And had the Spartans let Vermin do his job, he would have succeeded, but they attacked at various times and when he was hit by an arrow tipped with Iron, he left the city and the war to its own devices. In the end, history proved that the Spartans didn't need his help anyway."

"So he's unleashed this plague again?" Elisa asked nervous.

"Yes," Titania answered, "That is how we were able to detect his presence here."

"Do you know who is infected?" Goliath asked.

"Unfortunately not," Titania sighed, "We only know that he has struck here."

"Who could he be working for?" Elisa asked.

"Hm?" Titania asked.

"Other then for kicks, why would he suddenly decide to wipe out New York?" Elisa asked, "He has to be working for someone, and I'm curious if you know who?"

Titania sighed, "Our intelligence does not know if he has anyone working with him or commanding him. Our only assumption is that he is alone."

"Do you know where he is exactly?" Othello asked.

"At present, Vermin is in the warehouse district," Titania answered, "We can capture him there."

"We'll need Iron if you are asking us to help," Goliath spoke.

"I'm sure there is plenty present or that your former mate can help you in that regard."

"Will this person live?" Elisa asked, thinking back to the fact that only the infection of someone had gotten the Seelie Queen's attention.

"If we can defeat Vermin in time," Titania answered, "That should weaken the disease to the point where the human immune system can resist it."

Goliath motioned for the others to come with him, "We have little time. Come!"

**Manhattan General**

Matt stood outside a glass window that looked into the quarantined room that Flariaty lay in. The doctors were at a complete loss for any explanation as to what Flariaty had. What surprised Matt more was that the members of a band called Blazing Dragons were in similar condition.

"These cases are completely bizarre," a doctor spoke as he came up, "We've managed to get them stable, for now, but the symptoms are such that I've never seen anything like it before."

"Is there anything you can do?" Matt asked.

"For now?" the doctor sighed, "Keep them comfortable."

"I wish I could go in," Matt sighed.

"You know we can't allow that," the doctor answered, "We're running tests on your blood and that of the neighbor. Making sure you aren't infected already. The good news is, apparently that none of the people who were with the Blazing Dragons were infected, so you might be fine."

**Castle Wyvern**

It was nearly midnight when everyone could be brought together. Brooklyn, Amy, Sarah, Ian, Lexington, Candy showed some frustration at the fact that first their planned activities for the night hit a brick wall and then the 'night off' was cancelled. Caroline seemed to also be in a least a stressed mood, but it was decided not to get into it at the moment. Xanatos was a little grumpy at being woken up, but after being told of the situation, he wasn't a problem. Demona was very reluctant to join the group, but intense persuasion that it was the Unseelie remnants that they were fighting managed to get her to agree to help. Although, she had also insisted that Wedrington remain at the castle.

"I thank you all for agreeing to help," Titania spoke to the gathered group.

"As far as I'm concerned, destroying the remnants of the Unseelie Court is the same as fighting them during the war," Demona answered, "We all agreed to work together then… Might as well see everything to the end."

"It is unknown as to whether or not this the entire remnants of the Unseelie Court," Titania spoke, "We only know of Vermin at this time. However, given concerns that Vermin is not acting on his own, we must make a plan that says he has help."

"I'd think in terms of numbers, we should be fine," Xanatos commented, "Especially if Demona decides to come along. You did say that most, if not all, of the most powerful members of theUnseelie Court who survived have already been caught and tried."

"They'll still be dangerous," Goliath pointed out.

"A little iron would even the score," Xanatos answered, "And given the amount that we used during the war, there is enough for everybody. I can also reactivate Coyote. He might be in the middle of his upgrade, but he is immune to magic."

"No, I think we'll be fine without him," Elisa commented, "We'll just have to be quick."

"Where is this 'Vermin' hiding?" Broadway asked.

"Right now he is in the warehouse district in southern Manhattan," Titania answered, "Our best hope will be to strike it from all sides. That way, he can not escape."

"What about teleportation?" Ethan asked.

"I will insure that he is unable to do so," Titania answered, "Now, are we agreed on the plan?"

The gathered gargoyles and mutate nodded in agreement.

**Warehouse, One Hour Later**

Garlon lounged in a small chair in what was his office. Vermin crouched nearby.

"How long will it take for the Seelies to send one of their little gatherers?" Vermin questioned.

"Shouldn't be too long," Garlon answered, "We are waiting for the gargoyles to leave Castle Wyvern in force. The Seelie 'gatherer' will be with them."

"And then we converge on them," Vermin laughed.

"My only concern is that your plague is not acting as fast as I wanted," Garlon said in a displeased manner.

"It took years for the disease to truly take full effect on Athens," Vermin answered, "It will take time. Possibly even longer then it was in Ancient times because medical professions have advanced beyond draining a man of his blood to try and cure him."

"We can not keep up the current strategy for years," Garlon growled, "Eventually Titania will send most her court to insure that we're stopped. What we need to do is wear down her court one by one. Not take them on all at once, especially without Madoc or Maeve."

"This is the only method I know of creating chaos and devastation, which is what you said you wanted," Vermin answered.

Garlon nodded and sighed, "It will have to be the only way then, for now. Once we've defeated the first gatherer, we'll need to focus on strengthening our defenses."

"Of course, my Lord," Vermin nodded.

"Have you learned the location of New Olympus, yet?" Garlon questioned.

"Our wisps have followed the path of the discussions being held in Brussels, and I have followed the now extended Greek delegation in the UN," Vermin answered, "And we have come up with only a general area. Both the Greek military and the Greek government are being rather quiet as to exactly where it is."

"What about their satellites?" Garlon questioned, "They'd sure have to be able to have found New Olympus. It should be the only 'undiscovered' island in the Mediterranean."

"Those countries that have satellite technology have apparently all agreed to keep it quiet," Vermin answered, "I couldn't get close enough to any of their computers to get a look at where the island is located."

Garlon sighed and stood up, "I guess it will be my job then."

Garlon then began to walk toward the door that lead out into the rest of the warehouse and grumbled as he did so, "If you want a job done right, you've got to do it yourself."

Garlon and Vermin had just left the office area when the windows surrounding the upper level of the warehouse shattered and the sound of wind on wings could be heard. Garlon and Vermin then looked up to see the Manhattan clan and the mutate Xanatos standing on the raised walkways above much of the warehouse. Each was armed with an iron spear, sword, knife, or mace.

"What the?" Garlon cursed as he looked up.

"I knew he wasn't alone!" Elisa exclaimed pointing a spear at Garlon, "He has that mousy looking one with him."

"Vermin like to stick together," Candy commented from her position next to Lex.

"Well," Garlon laughed slightly, "This is certainly a surprise. I was actually expecting someone else, but you are on my enemies list. I suppose I can deal with you."

Several of the other Unseelies that had gathered with them began to take positions around Garlon, expecting one or more of the gargoyles to dive down from their positions. Garlon raised one hand and shot out a beam of green light, and suddenly the metal bars that made up the railing around the walkway turned into snakes. Most, turned into smaller, but venomous, but the longer horizontal bars turned into anacondas.

"I truly hate it when people call me 'mouse'," Garlon growled, "Perhaps you'll think twice after these creatures eat you."

A copperhead and a cobra then struck at Xanatos, but the black furred wolf-mutate was able to leap back in time to avoid being bit. He then hit both serpents with a powerful electric blast. Both of them fell to the ground and seemed to have lost all animation. One large anaconda lunged at Broadway while a rattlesnake and black mamba struck toward Angela. The lavender female was easily able to avoid the fangs of both venomous snakes and managed to drive her spear through the head of the mamba. The anaconda, however managed to get a grip on Broadway's ankle, and using the great strength that the largest constrictor in the world possessed, pulled the aquamarine male to the ground and began to try and coil around it.

"Broadway!" Angela gasped and moved to help her mate, stabbing her spear through the rattlesnake's head as she went.

By the time Angela had made it to Broadway, the male had torn the snake's head off of the rest of its body, although he was still wrapped in its coils.

"Are you alright?" Angela asked.

"I'm fine," Broadway answered as he shoved the dead body over the side of the walkway, pushing several smaller snakes off with it, "Saw on Animal Planet once that the big ones aren't deadly… at least their bite isn't. And they aren't as strong as we are."

Two large cobras, meanwhile, had forced Candy and Lexington to leap back and grip the wall. The snakes didn't move other then trying to find a way to pursue them.

"This is another time that I wish we had normal wings," Candy shuddered, "I don't want those things to get close, and these knives aren't exactly a long range weapon."

"Unless thrown," Lex sighed, "And given the Unseelie's magic, that wouldn't be wise decision."

Both snakes were about to strike when they were hit by an electric blast and fell to the metal walkway. Neither snake moved at all. Both looked up to see Xanatos walking in their direction, firing electric blasts at any snake that dared move in his direction.

"Thought you two might need some help," Xanatos spoke as he got closer.

"Thanks," Lex said gratefully, "I wonder why they aren't attacking us?"

"Probably hoping that the snakes wear us down, making their job easier," Xanatos commented, "They have no idea what's coming."

Hudson swung his sword down and beheaded an anaconda that had attempted to strike at him while Caroline swung the sword she had taken and cut the head of a coral snake in half.

"Demona and Titania better make their entrance soon," Caroline growled, eyes glowing, "I hate snakes. Anything on land should have legs!"

"Relax lass," Hudson said as he slashed his sword at another snake that was moving to strike, "They cannae win in the long run."

Desdemona's mace met the head of a cottonmouth as it struck at her while Othello struck at a brightly colored viper with his own mace. Two rattlesnakes moved to take their place, but were soon hit by an electric blast that made them lie 'dead'.

"You have our thanks Xanatos," Othello said calmly, "These serpents have been most difficult to deal with."

"They stand no chance though," Candy spoke up, "Snakes are ambush predators. People are bitten by venomous snakes or the one or two a year that get strangled by an anaconda never know that the snake is even there until the attack is already underway."

"That doesn't mean they're still dangerous as they are," Desdemona spoke, eying the dead snakes.

"True," Candy nodded, glancing at the dead snakes.

Brooklyn thrust his spear forward as a cobra moved to strike at him, and his weapon ended up going through the skull of the attacking snake. Amy, close by was confronted by a boomslang. She hand managed to stick her spear through the snake, but didn't have the luck to get a blow close to the snake's head or any other vital organ. This forced her back to where she was practically clinging to the wall. Brooklyn turned to see the snake menacing his mate, and took his spear and hooked it around the snake and then threw it out into the middle of the warehouse.

"You okay?" Brooklyn asked as Amy hoped down.

"Yeah," Amy shuddered, "I hate snakes."

"After tonight, you and me both," Brooklyn muttered.

Goliath caught the head of the massive anaconda that had lunged at him, while Elisa speared two vipers that were on either side of him. Once he had gotten a good grip on the snake's head, Goliath grabbed the snake by a section just behind its head and then threw the reptile to the ground floor below them. He then grabbed his mace, which he had dropped when the snakes appeared, and used it to help Elisa deal with the last snake in their area, a cottonmouth.

"I miss my gun," Elisa sighed as she looked at the spear she held.

"Gargoyle fingers are too large to use such a weapon, unless it has been specially altered," Goliath reminded her, "You'd pull the trigger before you want to just trying to get your finger into position."

"I know," Elisa answered as she turned to face where Garlon and his followers were standing, "Doesn't mean I don't miss it."

The Unseelie fey meanwhile silently watched the battle. Many were commenting silently about their concerns as to where the gargoyle's other allies were. Some were confident that they would win since they weren't present. Some sounded nervous, as if they expected a trap. Garlon watched with a nearly furious stare. He had hoped that the snakes would kill or wound most of the clan, leaving the remainder weak, and thus creating a problem for any help they might have coming on the way. Slowly he watched the group kill or simply toss the snakes away. Some came flying at his group and the Unseelie fey were forced to kill their own creations. The only thing that was good out of the whole scene was the fact that while defeating the snakes, the clan had actually gathered so that they were all in one place, which gave Garlon the hope that they could be dealt with quickly.

"Aim for the bottom of the platform," Garlon whispered to the other Unseelies around him before speaking aloud to the gargoyles, while charging up two spheres of energy in his hands, "If you were going to help me defeat you, you might as well have surrendered!"

The Unseelies then threw their energized spheres at the metal bars that supported the walkway that the gargoyles were standing on. What resulted was a massive explosion that destroyed those supports and sent the clan flying in various directions. All of them landed hard on the ground. The blast, however, also opened a large hole in the wall where those supports. Once the dust had cleared, a powerful lightning bolt seemed to come from the hole and knocked Garlon back into one of the fey behind and forcing many of the others to lie down. Then, at the same time, the large metal truck door that would normally allow goods to be brought in and out of the warehouse exploded, strangling spraying metal fragments only on the Unseelie fey. Many of the Unseelies screamed with pain.

"It is you, who ought to consider surrendering," Demona commented as she came through the hole that Garlon and his followers created.

"It would appear that the former detective's suspicion was correct," came another more aristocratic voice.

Garlon pulled a metal fragment out of his coat, surprised that it hit a spot on his coat where it would not hit him. He was glad to see that the metal was not Iron. He then looked up to see the clan gathering around Demona and Titania herself.

"Get the Usurper!" Garlon screamed.

Then everything went bad for Garlon. While he and Vermin attempted to get up, the smaller fey retreated for the windows while Golom and a few older Unseelie fey surrendered almost immediately. That left Garlon with only a handful of fey that were willing to fight. Unfortunately, none of them attacked as one or at one individual target. Two charged directly at Demona, who blasted them into the wall lightning spells. Two more charged Titania, but the Seelie Queen easily contained them inside energized spheres and deflected their attacks back at three other Unseelies, knocking them to the ground. In a matter of seconds, Titania and Demona, had through superior power knocked out or contained all that attacked them, most before they even through an attack against the clan, who now began searching for iron chains for the unconscious Unseelies. This left Garlon and Vermin alone.

"Do you yield?" Titania questioned the two fey in a stern voice.

Vermin immediately tried to teleport away, hoping to escape. He phased out for a moment and the phased back in and nearly collapsed to the ground.

"You can not escape," Titania said firmly.

Screaming, Garlon lunged forward and landed an energized punch on Demona, knocking the immortal gargoyle into Xanatos who was attempting to come and help. He then threw a ball of energy at Titania, who managed to avoid the shot. That move however, took her directly into a flying kick from Vermin that knocked her to the ground.

"I will never give in to you," Garlon vowed, "You supported Oberon over Madoc. You refused to accept Madoc's hand. You usurped the throne that was rightfully Madoc's after Oberon's death! I will never submit myself to one who has no right to claim dominion over the fey!"

"My claim was every bit as legal as Madoc's," Titania answered as she stood up, "And Madoc is dead. Conquering this planet and my court in his name will not bring him back."

"I'm doing this for me," Garlon vowed and threw another energy blast at Titania.

The Seelie Queen let it hit her. It did nothing more the singe her clothing.

"Then you are truly mad," Titania answered and then wrapped Vermin in an energy sphere, "Madoc's cause was unjust and unfair. It would have made slaves of those who during the First Unseelie War still worshiped us as gods. Not very respectful, in my mind. Of course, you being Madoc's little 'yes-man', I'm sure you had no problem with Madoc's ideals. I, therefore, hold no pity for what is about to happen to you."

Garlon raised an eyebrow, only to be hit by a lightning spell that threw him against a wall. He writhed in pain for a moment then screamed as two iron spears pierced his shoulders and pinned him to the wall. He looked over to see Elisa and Amy making sure that their spears were into the wall enough to hold him there, while Demona slowly advanced toward him. Garlon's eyes glowed green with rage, but he could feel the iron making his appearance look older and practically drain him of his magic. Once Demona got close, the sky-blue female growled and then turned away.

"I'm going back to the castle," Demona said firmly.

"The rest of us should do the same," Goliath commented looking out, seeing that the sky was beginning to lighten with the coming dawn.

Titania watched Xanatos and the gargoyles leave for their castle before returning her attention to the captured, unconscious, or trapped Unseelies. Her eyes flashed green for a moment, and all of them vanished. She then turned to look at the temporarily paralyzed Garlon.

"Garlon, for the crimes you have committed against the second and first races and for your treason against the Third Race in following Madoc, you will be stripped of your power," Titania said firmly, "And while you will still have your immortality, you will be the mouse that you loathe to be."

A green light then surrounded Garlon's weakened form and both spears soon fell to the floor of the warehouse. When the light faded, a small light brown colored mouse was running back and forth between the two spears, squeaking madly. Titania then turned her attention to Vermin, who was still in the energy sphere next to her.

"Now, before I punish you for your crimes, who did you infect with your plague?" Titania questioned.

**Manhattan General**

Matt sat in a rather uncomfortable chair outside the quarantined area where Flariaty lay asleep, struggling with whatever disease she had. He had called in to say he couldn't finish his shift. It had upset Captain Chavez, but she seemed to accept it when he said it was about Flariaty. Part of him wondered why he had stayed, at the same time. She was extremely by the book. She didn't like the fact that some of their cases required at least talking with clan. Yet he couldn't help but sit there, hoping she'd get better. He decided that it was because he had, for some reason, grown to like working with her. A sudden green flash from inside the room appeared, Matt practically jumped out of his seat. He was about to touch the alarm button when he saw that it was Titania. He watched her place a hand on Flariaty's chest and then say something. Once that was done, the Fey Queen slowly walked out of the room and began to head toward the room that the members of the Blazing Dragons were in.

"You needn't worry about her any more," Titania spoke as she walked past him, "She will be fine."

"What did you…?" Matt asked.

"The disease your present partner and this band have been infected with has magical origins," Titania explained, "I've merely cured her."

"So, she'll get better?" Matt asked.

Titania nodded.

"How did you know she was sick?" Matt asked.

"The fey that created the disease made sure she contracted it through his power," Titania answered, "After I defeated him, he told me in exchange for not being killed."

"Where is he now?" Matt asked.

"On a garbage barge headed for the dump, with the rest of the rats," Titania answered, "He is powerless now and his plague upon this city is over."

"That's good," Matt sighed, "Hopefully there are no more cases like this."

"There shouldn't be," Titania answered and went in to cure the members of the band.

**After Dawn**

Flariaty woke up to find Matt seated in the room, not far away from her bed. Her reaction was not one that Matt thought would happen.

"Bluestone!" Flariaty exclaimed, "How did you get in my apartment? What are you doing in my apartment… where am I?"

"You're in Manhattan General," Matt answered, "Not your apartment."

"How did I get here?" Flariaty asked before Matt could continue, "and why are you here?"

"I had to answer a domestic disturbance call that happened to be at your apartment building," Matt answered, "One of your neighbors insisted I come visit when she figured out who I was."

"Mrs. Stochman," Flariaty commented, "She talked me into to staying home…"

"It's a good thing she did," Matt answered, "We found you passed out in your bathroom, looking as if you were trying to go to work anyway. Both of us had to carry you down to my car."

"I blacked out," Flariaty sighed, "I know. I thought I was better then I probably was."

"You should be better now," Matt said politely, "I'll let you rest."

"Thanks," Flariaty said as Matt turned to walk out, "And don't worry about me."

**The End**


	32. Anarchy in the Streets

All characters appearing in Gargoyles and Gargoyles: The Goliath Chronicles are copyrighted to Buena Vista Television/The Walt Disney Company. I've taken the idea for the Unseelie Court from the TGS. No infringement of these copyrights is intended, and is not authorized by the copyright holder. All original characters are the property of SN.

Note: I'm disregarding the events of the "Goliath Chronicles", with the exception of "The Journey" because I do not wish to use the rest of the "Goliath Chronicles" as canon to my story. This story takes place two weeks after "Plague".

Anarchy in the Streets

By SN/TVfan

Email: Sam_Nary 

**Riker's Island**

Brode sat quietly as his second in command continued to list the progress that had been made in trying to take control of Manhattan from the remains of Dracon's gang.

"You say the gargoyles have been involved?" Brode asked.

"Yes," the second answered, "They've usually found our fights with the remnants of Dracon's men and attacked both gangs. In a technical sense, they are doing our job for us. Although we are also losing men."

"We'll need to be sure that all our operations are kept hidden from them once we have control," Brode said calmly, "We can't have the gargoyles take out both gangs, can we?"

"That might be a bit more difficult then originally planned," the second said in a hesitant voice.

"How so?" Brode demanded from his side of the visitation booth.

"There seems to be more of them," the second answered, "There appear to be two groups of gargoyles. One, we know of at the Eyrie Building, and this new one coming from the MaddoxTechnologies Building."

"Maddox Technologies?" Brode gasped.

"Yes, which means there's either another group of them that we never knew of before or their breeding cycle is quite rapid," the second said, "Although, the Maddox Technologies group doesn't seem to have targeted us. They've gone between Maddox Technology Warehouses and back to the company headquarters."

"Keep an eye on them, and be prepared to deal with them in any means possible," Brode ordered, "I don't want any of those things giving us trouble."

"Yes, boss," the second nodded, "What are your orders concerning Dracon's followers?"

"We need to step up our efforts to eradicate them," Brode said, "the man called Glasses and the upper members of Dracon's gang will be released soon as the police had very little evidence to hold them on. They can not be allowed to take over an operation that is still functional."

"Of course, sir," the second answered, "But this will attract the gargoyles attention."

"Contact the other gangs, tell them that Dracon's criminal empire is falling and there is a free for all for the spoils," Brode answered, "The gargoyles will then take out both Dracon's men and the men of the other families. And we will gain control."

"Of course, sir," the second in command to Brode's gang answered.

**Castle Wyvern**

Xanatos and his family calmly sat down to enjoy a quiet dinner. Sunset wasn't too far way and the clan above them would soon awaken and resume their nightly routine, while the billionaire went through the daily struggle of trying to run the company through Owen. This had been a constant struggle, and while Owen had done a magnificent job as the 'acting CEO', Xanatos Enterprises had lost a lot of its power in the economic field since he had been mutated. Its stocks were roughly twenty points lower then normal, generally still a profit, but not enough to say that the business was as good as it once was.

He looked over to look at Fox for a moment. Her pregnancy was continuing he knew that in three or four months, he would have a second child. Now, neither Fox's pregnancy nor Xanatos's Enterprises really troubled him. The business would surely rebound, and while Xanatos would never admit out loud that he didn't want children, he had enjoyed having Alex around and the new child would be equally precious when it was born.

To a certain extent, it was still the fact that he had been mutated that weighed on his mind. It was a continuing reminder of everything he had done in his past, and really did more to see what he had done wrong. He had largely gotten used to what had happened and he wasn't one to sulk about things, but Fox's mutation and his own only reminded him of what he had done in the past.

"Something wrong?" Fox asked.

"Nothing's wrong," Xanatos answered, "Just a long day today. Leaves me thinking about things."

"Like what?" Fox questioned, sounding curious.

Xanatos answered with a sigh, "Oh, just the current condition we're in."

"What condition?" Fox asked becoming more suspicious.

Xanatos spread his wings and then closed them for emphasis. Fox sighed and pulled Alex's chair back. She then brought her head close to the toddler so that she could whisper her instructions to him.

"Why don't you go off and watch a little TV," Fox told him, "I'll be by later when its bedtime."

Fox watched silently as Alex nodded and slowly walked off. She then turned her face back to Xanatos.

"I thought you were over this?" Fox questioned, "You do have all Genutech's scientists looking for a way to reverse Sevarius's formula. Don't you?"

"I do and I have gotten used to it," Xanatos answered, "It's not that. It's just some frustration with all that's happened. Xanatos Enterprises is drawing less money then before, and it may be awhile before the company's stock rebounds. Not to mention that all this has really shown me just what I did to Talon and his group of mutates."

"You gave that up, by agreeing to let Goliath's clan come back to the castle," Fox pointed out.

"That was only paying a debt," Xanatos sighed, "Goliath saved Alex. I had to end the feud between us and his clan and friends. I couldn't fight him anymore, even in a manner that might have helped both of us. It wouldn't have been honorable."

Xanatos then stood up and walked to a point where he could look out the windows. Fox slowly followed.

"But being like this has really shown me something," Xanatos continued, "We've lost our entire social life, Fox. Not unless Goliath's clan is accepted and the people then buy a cover story."

"I think our social life would be hurt right now anyway," Fox answered as she patted her stomach.

Xanatos sighed, "But what about after the baby is born? We'll still have these wings. Would you be willing to put up with that?"

"Why do you ask?" Fox asked.

"I don't think we should take the cure, Fox," Xanatos answered, "Whenever it's developed."

"WHAT?!" Fox exclaimed.

"I destroyed the lives of four people against their will, and in some cases without their knowledge," Xanatos answered, "Xanatos Enterprises is in no serious danger of going bankrupt and being out on display isn't everything, but there are other things that I have taken away from the others. This is fitting punishment for what I've done."

"You can't be serious?" Fox asked.

"This has all shown me what I did to Talon," Xanatos answered, "Shouldn't I pay for that mistake?"

"You've been forgiven," Fox answered, "And you can look at the experience as your punishment for the past if you have to. Don't give up your own chance to be human again. Do you understand me?"

"Of course, my dear," Xanatos answered, "It's just a guilty conscious that has been awakened after being dormant for years."

"Well don't let your guilt control you," Fox answered, "If we have to live out the rest of our lives as mutates, then fine. If a cure is found, everyone will take it. Including Talon's group."

Above them, the clan slowly broke out of their stone shells to start the new night. The previous few nights had been rather quiet with only the basic street criminals to be fought. The calm however was only allowing for a general uneasy feeling that something was about to happen soon.

"Looks like it'll be a quiet night again, tonight," Ian commented.

"Hopefully it will be quiet," Hudson told the younger male, "But there is something that is tellin' me that the current quiet will not last long."

"We'll make it quiet again, if anyone decides to make noise," Brooklyn said confidently, "We haven't truly lost yet, have we?"

"Don't be overconfident, lad," Hudson warned, "Ye never can be too sure about anything."

"Come on, let's get some breakfast," Broadway urged, "We can worry about winning or losing once we've got a full stomach."

The others nodded and largely followed after the aquamarine male to get breakfast. Demona and Wedrington only watched from their spot on the battlements. Neither made any real move to go inside after them. Demona's eyes seemed focused on Angela as she followed Broadway.

"Shouldn't we get our breakfast as well?" Wedrington asked.

"The clan can eat their breakfast," Demona answered him, "I can conjure up something for you to eat if you are hungry."

Demona was then silent for a moment.

"And then I suppose I should talk with her," Demona finished.

Wedrington looked somewhat puzzled, "Will you…?"  
"No," Demona answered, half firmly half weakly, "I believe I can talk to my daughter on my own."

"Okay," Wedrington replied.

**Maddox Technologies**

"May I enquire as to why you want the original Doctor Sevarius?" Thailog asked the transformed clone, Alex Sevarius, "I have no need for him. And thanks to the Unseelies, you have his scientific knowledge."

"He is in a manner of speaking, my father," Alex Sevarius answered, "Although we used a story that we were brothers when he took control of Nightstone. Either way, he is still family to me."

"Why did you wait until now to bring this to me?" Thailog questioned, looking very suspicious.

"I would have thought that he would have come searching for me," Alex answered, "Besides, I assumed that Anton was a prisoner in the castle. It was only recently that the Pack revealed that Wolf had freed him when the Unseelies assaulted the Eyrie Building."

Thailog thought for a moment. He remembered his dealings with Anton Sevarius, through the original Thailog's memories. The man was rather manipulative and had his own agenda. It had taken Holly's works in sorcery to insure that Alex Sevarius would remain loyal to him, he didn't know what had happened to Anton Sevarius after the fall of Nightstone, and he didn't want to risk having two gargoyle genius's that weren't him. The two might plot to take over everything he had worked to build, and given that he had to keep a tight on Alex Sevarius, he wasn't sure if having two Sevariuses was a good idea.

"You do know that he has a bad reputation for betraying his bosses," Thailog pointed out, "He betrayed Xanatos by falling all too easily into my plans when I was first created and by going to Demona. He betrayed Renard before that by going to Xanatos. He then betrayed Demona by taking over Nightstone."

"Yes, but you could make sure that he couldn't betray you," Alex Sevarius answered, "Like you did with me."

"But then I would have two gargoyle Sevariuses," Thailog answered, "And Anton is likely to use you for his own ends. I can not allow that."

"I wouldn't let him control me," Alex answered, "Besides, if he truly as sneaky as you say, wouldn't it better to find him for the sake of seeing what his intentions are? If you get the impression that he would betray you…"

Thailog again thought for a moment. It was an interesting point. If Anton Sevarius was out there plotting something, it might be best to take control of the situation. Of course, the only way to know was to find him and then they could decide as to whether or not to control him or kill him.

"Very well," Thailog said after a few moments, "I will inform the others that they are to begin a search for Anton Sevarius. After all, we don't want Goliath or his clan to find them, do we?"

"Of course not, sir," Alex Sevarius answered.

**Elsewhere in Manhattan**

Goliath released a frustrated sounding growl as his fist impacted with the skull of a member of a small gang that had tried stealing a parked car. The man was easily knocked unconscious and flew a few feet through the air before finally rolling to a stop. He and Elisa had found the group just as the leader raised a crowbar to smash in the driver's side window, and quickly descended on them. By now, they had largely dealt with all of the gang members.

"You sounded frustrated there, big guy," Elisa commented from the sidewalk where she held two unconscious thugs in her hands, "Something troubling you?"

He turned to his mate to see that her face was somewhat curious, but was slow to answer, since he didn't want to appear overly judgmental.

"I am merely concerned about Demona's request," Goliath answered slowly.

"She just wanted to talk," Elisa answered, "And besides, she's kept her word that she wouldn't go after humanity or the clan."

Goliath nodded.

"She's actually been somewhat of a hermit inside the castle," Elisa finished, "The only one who's been with her still is Wedrington. But that's not the point. I don't think you need to be concerned about anything."

Goliath sighed and thought back to the point before the clan had left on patrol. Just as the clan had finished breakfast, Demona had appeared and asked for Goliath to have Angela remain at the castle for the night. Knowing that Demona hadn't done anything yet to break her word, Goliath agreed. Although when he talked to Angela about it, he made sure that Demona's demand was taken as a request.

"I know," Goliath rumbled, "And I'm certain that she's learned that she can't persuade Angela to leave, but…"

Elisa caped her wings and approached him.

"I'm still concerned," Goliath continued, "Because while she may not have agreed to make war on humanity, it doesn't appear that her opinion has changed of humanity."

"We can't win every battle, Goliath," Elisa answered, "I know we can't entirely trust Demona all the time, even if she's softened her position, we can still trust Angela. Am I right?"

"Of course," Goliath nodded, "I just hope nothing happens that would hurt Angela's feelings."

"She's a big girl, Goliath," Elisa told him as she went to an alley, looking for a wall that they could climb up, "You can't keep remaining so over protective of her."

"I suppose," Goliath rumbled, although in a way that still sounded as if he were focused on the fact that his daughter was alone with her mother, who for many years had tried to wipe out humanity.

She may have made changes, but it was still hard to trust the immortal female.

**Castle Wyvern**

Angela sat down in a chair inside the clan's television room while Demona paced in front of her. She was somewhat curious about what Demona wanted, and hoped that she would finally tell her story to her.

"Father said you wanted to talk to me?" Angela asked.

"Yes," Demona answered after a few moments, "I have recently been told that you feel angry with me… for reasons that I would not expect."

"I'm not angry with you," Angela answered, "I've just wanted to hear your side of the story. I want you to be a mother and part of the clan."

"You know full well that my past prohibits that," Demona answered, "It may have taken me more then a thousand years to admit it, but I am partially responsible for my clan's destruction at the hands of the Vikings, and I made a series of poor choices. I am an exile, Angela, unbound to any clan, but also unwelcome. And to a great extent, I do not wish to change that. As for being a mother, you are too old to need me for those reasons. You are an adult, Angela; you have a mate, and in eight years the two of you will sire your first hatchling."

"I know that," Angela answered, "I'm not talking about you 'raising' me. I want you to be there. To be a mother and provide advice when asked for, to be a friend to me and to the clan. Most of all, I really want to know the truth, or at least your perspective on it."

"If you are looking for that kind of mother," Demona answered, sounding half jealous, "Your father's new mate would be a better option. My advice and opinions would not help you. I may give up trying to destroy humanity… for your sake and… and for Wedrington, but that doesn't mine I suddenly like them. We are different, my daughter."

"People change," Angela argued, "You could change. Elisa is a friend, but more like an older sister. At least try to think about it. Please."

Demona sighed, "Fine. I will consider your request to be a 'mother' to you."

"Now could you at least tell me your side of your past?" Angela questioned, "It's one of the things I've always wanted to know. I want to know the why. Whether or not you had any moments of peace or if you were ever truly happy, not triumphant, but happy. I just feel that I have to understand you."

"You want to know my past?" Demona questioned, "You asked me during the… incident with the clones. During which incident I recall, you said you hated me."

"I was angry that you used my feelings to help carry out Thailog's plan," Angela answered, "That doesn't change the fact that I truly want to know your side of the story. You are my mother, nothing will ever change that."

Demona then took a chair and set it across from Angela. She then sat down slowly.

"I can tell you my past, if that is what you want," Demona answered.

**Polish Restaurant, Bronx**

Brode's second in command sat quietly with several other members of Brode's organization that was not presently in jail in a secluded and rather dark section of a polish restaurant that had been established back in the early 1900s. None of them were eating anything, and were involved in listening to the second in command's instructions.

"Brode wants Dracon's gang destroyed," the second said in a firm voice, "Preferably before his chief lieutenants are released."

"Of course," one lieutenant said in a calm voice, "We all agreed that Dracon's gang was to be wiped out."

"What are his instructions concerning the gargoyles?" a second lieutenant questioned, "They've interfered with several, if not all of our previous attempts to deal with Dracon."

"You are to contact all of the smaller gangs that normally paid 'tribute' to Dracon and tell them that Dracon's gang is finished," the second in command instructed, "They will then get even for all of Dracon's 'injustices' toward them. The gargoyles will then largely battle those smaller gangs then us. Leaving them weak and Dracon's gang destroyed."

"When does he want the operation to begin?" the third lieutenant questioned.

"Tomorrow evening, if not afternoon," the second in command answered.

"Very well," the other lieutenants said in unison.

**Central Park**

A lone mugger screamed as he was thrown through the air, landing in the middle of a small pond with a great splash. He rose back to the surface of the water on his back and unconscious. Caroline only gave a frustrated growl when she saw that the man wasn't about to fight anymore.

"You okay?" Broadway asked from behind her.

Caroline turned to see the large aquamarine male holding the other mugger quietly. The intended victim had already moved on with his money and was no where to be seen. The two had been paired together since Demona wanted to talk to Angela, but that wasn't what was troubling Caroline at the moment.

"It's nothing to worry about," Caroline answered.

"Um, he was practically unconscious when you landed on him," Broadway pointed out, "Almost as if you intended to land on him. You've got to be mad at something."

"I'm not mad," Caroline answered, and then slowly sighed when she saw that Broadway wasn't about to give up, "Just frustrated."

Broadway raised a browridge out of curiosity.

"Has Angela ever expressed that she's worried about you?" Caroline asked.

"From time to time," Broadway answered slowly, "But I've usually deserved it."

"Lawrence has began worrying over me," Caroline answered, "It all began with the incident with those robots and then with the commandos underground."

"The two of you love each other," Broadway commented, "Shouldn't you both worry about each other from time to time?"

"He's worrying too much," Caroline answered, "Saying I should stay out of trouble and stay at the castle. Not patrol and stuff like that."

Broadway didn't know how to answer. Caroline had the hardest time adjusting to be being a gargoyle, so he didn't want to make her feel bad by saying anything out of place. Fortunately for him, Caroline continued without him having to say a word.

"And I know what you're thinking," Caroline continued, "I know gargoyles protect and I know that that seems sorta odd coming from me. And as much as I would like to quit doing all the patrolling and stuff like that, I know I can't, and my reasons have nothing to do with a gargoyle's 'instinct'."

"Then what is it?" Broadway asked.

Caroline moved her wings slightly so that Broadway would notice what she was meaning.

"Becoming a gargoyle has largely destroyed the way my life has worked," Caroline explained, "I can not go to school. I have to live with instincts that I wasn't born with. And whenever most people see me, they scream bloody murder."

"It's a living," Broadway joked weakly, although it did nothing to change Caroline's apparent down mood.

"But your clan was willing to take me in and put up with the worst of my behavior," Caroline answered, "I may never fully act like a gargoyle in the way that many of you do, but you put up with an awful lot of moping on my part."

"You're helping us because you feel you owe us?" Broadway asked.

"Largely," Caroline answered, "The gargoyle urge to protect may be part of it to, but you were kind enough to take Candy, Amy, and me in and help us get used to all of this, so it's only fair that we help."

Caroline then looked down at her hands, still blue colored with four digits, each ending in strong talons.

"Besides, it's not like I have much in the way of career options like this," Caroline answered, "I might as well be good for something then good for nothing. It's all stuff that I feel I have to do."

"I think I understand you," Broadway shrugged, "But even if it is something you feel you have to do, that doesn't mean that it is going to stop a loved one from worrying about you. I'd think that you should be glad he worries. It shows that he cares."

"But how can I make him understand?" Caroline asked, her wings dropping slightly, "How can I tell him that this is something that I have to do, without hurting his feelings?"

"I don't know," Broadway answered, "Angela's usually been by my side or with the patrol group I'm in. We're there to share each other's troubles. I'm not sure Lawrence could do that."

Caroline sighed.

"My best suggestion is to try and talk to him instead of taking your anger or frustration out on these guys," Broadway commented, "They may be crooks, but that doesn't mean we can needlessly kill them."

"I suppose you're right," Caroline sighed as she waded into the pond to pull the mugger she'd thrown in earlier out of it.

**Castle Wyvern**

"Everything that I've done, I've done in the interest of protecting our race, my daughter," Demona said slowly, "I've wanted to insure that the gargoyle race will survive."

Angela sat quietly as Demona continued to explain her story and her past.

"It started, actually, with events that occurred not all that long ago," Demona explained, "When Xanatos first married Fox, actually. Xanatos had persuaded Goliath and I to attend as his best man and Fox's maid of honor."

"And you agreed to go?" Angela asked, "According to what I've learned from father and the clan, you were still bent on destroying humanity."

Demona slowly nodded, "Technically yes. I attended knowing I could get half of the Phoenix Gate from Goliath. My intention was to use it to travel back in time to change the past. To make my past self come to my way of thinking sooner and insure the destruction of humanity quicker or at least the humans around Wyvern disappear, permanently."

Angela gasped.

"To do this, I showed my past self what would happen to Castle Wyvern and the clan in 998, what would happen to Goliath," Demona continued slowly, "At that time I was still deeply in love with your father. Now, while Goliath prevented me from accomplishing my mission, my younger self was still touched by what I showed her, because I remember seeing the Wyvern Massacre twice. Once when I was young, and again after I committed the act."

Demona sighed before continuing.

"The site of the clan destroyed terrified my younger self, and I began see any human action as an intentional act to try and destroy the clan," Demona continued, "Mostly because I never told my younger self the truth that I was a the major player in why the clan was destroyed. I then began looking for what would cause the massacre, and in the end, I ended up causing it."

"Mother?" Angela spoke, sensing some uneasiness coming from the immortal female.

"It is from there that I became the hate filled creature that you met," Demona finished, "I made a series of bad choices and mistakes and that led me to think that the only way I could protect my kind was to destroy humanity. Meeting you and… and Wedrington has changed that."

There was a brief pause for a few moments.

"Destroying humanity won't make gargoyles safer, especially since I would probably end up ostracizing myself in the process," Demona finished, "But I still can not see how humanity and gargoyle kind can coexist. People like the Detective, when she was human, and this PIT organization are far too rare. For now, it would be best if we kept ourselves separate from humans."

"You're wrong there, mother," Angela argued.

"That is my opinion," Demona answered, "I won't force you to agree with me."

"What about happiness?" Angela asked, "Was there ever a time in which you were happy? Truly happy, I mean."

Demona thought long and hard. Her past was not something that she was interested in reliving, as much of it was filled with sorrow. The original Wyvern Clan was destroyed by the Vikings. Her ragtag clan was destroyed by Canmore. The last remaining clans in Spain were destroyed in the Inquisition because of their siding with the Muslims against the Christians during the Reconquista, although she never saw it as religious punishment, but as humans persecuting gargoyles. The last clan of French gargoyles, who had more in common with the ancient Celtic Gauls then with the modern French, died during the age of religious wars in France. It shocked her that in some of the cases, the ones who killed the gargoyles were other gargoyles. There was rarely any real time for her to be happy.

"Strangely…" Demona answered slowly, "I think the only time when I was truly happy was right before… right before I betrayed Macbeth. He had protected my clan for so long that I had begun to believe that everything that I had shown my younger self was wrong. That there could have been a happy ending."

Angela looked on in surprised silence.

"In the end though, I reacted to a conversation that I overheard and went right back to the vengeful creature I had earlier become," Demona finished, "My life was not necessarily pleasant."

"You could always get the chance to be happy again," Angela pointed out, "You and Wedrington could join us."

Demona stood up again, "I already told you that I was only going to think about that for the time being."

Angela nodded.

"Have I answered all your questions, my daughter?" Demona asked.

"Yes," Angela answered softly, looking somewhat sad that Demona didn't agree to rejoin the clan.

"And if you are ever looking for someone to talk to when the clan doesn't suffice, I can always listen," Demona spoke as she turned to leave.

"Mother?" Angela asked.

"I may not be able to be a 'mother' to you, and I may not rejoin your clan," Demona answered, "But perhaps… perhaps we could still be friends."

"Thank you," Angela said as Demona left.

**Elsewhere**

"It was a rather quiet night again," Ian spoke to Hudson while Sarah tied up a couple of attempted burglars with their own crowbars.

"Aye," Hudson nodded, "A good thing too. Quiet nights are what everyone deserves."

Sarah then approached the two and dropped the two unconscious crooks on the ground.

"I believe we've covered everything in our patrol zone," Sarah commented, "Since it has been a quiet night, shouldn't we head back then?"

Hudson nodded, "Nothing more that needs to be done tonight."

The small group of three then moved on in search of a place to get some height in order glide home, and missed a small group of gargoyles glide overhead. Butch and Bertha were both incredibly bored as the glided around checking every abandoned warehouse and condemned building they could find.

"I don't see why Thailog wants this Anton Sevarius, anyway," Butch grumbled, "We've already got Alex Sevarius."

"Two heads must be better then one," Bertha commented, "I just wish he gave us more information as to where he thinks he is. I'm tired of gliding around and finding nothing."

The two then landed on the roof of a warehouse on the west side of Manhattan and looked around. Finding no one in sight, Bertha ripped a main air-conditioning unit out of the roof and threw it to the other side.

"Why does a warehouse have an air conditioner?" Butch asked curiously.

"Why should we care?" Bertha responded and leaped through the hole she had made, her weight breaking the metal duct work that the air-conditioning unit had been connected to, with Butch following behind her.

What they found when they landed in the middle of the warehouse was something each thought was utterly bizarre. According to all records that Thailog could pilfer out of city computer files, the warehouse wasn't used by anyone, yet there was strong evidence to the contrary. Part of the warehouse looked like it had been converted into an office and there were a few metal bathroom stalls set up in a far corner and there was even a shower placed in a different corner. That wasn't the weirdest thing about the place though that surprised them. There were several dead snakes scattered throughout the warehouse, mostly on a raised walkway. Most were venomous and the only non venomous snakes were anacondas. Both gargoyles breathed sigh of relief that the snakes were dead.

"What in the world happened here?" Butch asked aloud.

"I don't know, but I don't want to stay here long to find out," Bertha answered, "Let's check that office over there. It looks like it's the only place he could be hiding."

The two walked in to find it empty, as if there was no one there.

"Nothing," Butch grumbled and turned to leave.

Bertha turned to follow the male when a loud 'thump' stopped both of them. They turned back to face the still empty office. There was still no sign of anyone there, that was, until the table started to move. They both gasped after a few moments when a lynx-like mutate slid the desk over and stuck his head out.

"Master?" the mutate spoke, "I've finished your tunnel. Master?"

"Is it just me, or does he sound like Alex Sevarius?" Butch asked his partner.

"It's not just you," Bertha answered as the two gargoyles began to approach the mutate.

"Master?" the mutate questioned as they grabbed him.

**Next Day**

A small group of men sat in a dark corner of a small restaurant. Each man was merely drinking out of the mugs that they had in front of them. All were discontent and depressed and bored.

"So what do we do?" one of them asked in a weak voice.

"Do what?" a second countered, "All the bosses are in jail. We're just the grunts of the organization."

"We've been sitting around ever since Dracon got arrested," a third added, "again. It might be better if we just went our own way for a while. We'd at least make some money that way."

While they were talking, another group of men entered the restaurant, all with very serious looks on their faces. They brushed aside several of the waiters and walked straight to the corner where the first group of men were talking. The first group slowly looked up as they arrived.

"You work for Dracon?" the leader of the second group asked with a heavy eastern European accent.

"Yeah," the leader of the first group answered, his hand going toward a gun he kept in his jacket pocket.

"Not anymore," the leader of the second group answered as he and his accomplices raised various weapons and fired at them at point blank range.

Screams then echoed through the restaurant as they ran out.

**Castle Wyvern**

Zafiro and his clan sat in the clan's TV room and had been watching a nature program involving the redwood forests of the west coast. Once the program got to the credits, Zafiro calmly changed the channel to see what else was on. They came across a news program that looked is if it was running a breaking news story.

"For those of you just tuning in, all of New York has apparently become a war zone between various organized criminal syndicates," the reporter on the screen announced, "Half an hour ago one small group of men, believed to have ties to various East European syndicates shot five men who are known employees of incarcerated gangster, Tony Dracon. Three of the five have been killed, while the remaining two are currently in extensive care."

"My word…" Obsidiana gasped.

The reporter then continued with the report.

"We've just received word that similar incidents are happening all over Manhattan and in some places have resulted in all out gun duels between the rival factions," the reporter announced.

"I can't believe this!" Turquesa added, "Why are they all fighting about anyway?"

"Control on the city," came a monotone voice from behind them.

The Guatemalans turned to see Owen standing in the doorway with a very serious look on his face.

"Mr. Xanatos is aware of the situation and is trying to contact the mayor by the phone," Owen answered, "I was sent to gather you."

Zafiro nodded and got up.

"What did you mean earlier by control of the city?" Jade asked.

"Organized crime is a business that aims to make money by directly breaking the law," Owen answered, "It can range from controlling even the smallest muggings to drug and weapons smuggling. The problem for these organizations is that greed is almost always the strongest asset and problem. No one organization is safe or satisfied unless they control all of the illicit activity that organized crime deals in. Up until the point when Goliath's clan arrived in New York, Tony Dracon was the chief boss in New York. Now others are attempting to move in."

"We've got to put a stop to this," Obsidiana said firmly, "Before they hurt an innocent or before they start bringing in heavier weaponry."

"That is what Mr. Xanatos wishes to discuss with you about," Owen answered, "As this could all be over by the time the sun sets."

Owen led them to the Steel Clan storage center in the Eyrie Building, below Castle Wyvern. Xanatos was standing around five Steel Clan robots that all looked like they were ready to take off and leave the building. Xanatos sighed when he turned to face them.

"I assume you all know what's going on?" Xanatos answered.

"Only what's been reported on the news," Zafiro answered, "We must find some way to put a stop to this."

Xanatos sighed.

"What is it?" Jade asked.

"Stopping this is the problem," Xanatos answered, "The police are responding to these incidents, but they're all happening at once and the police don't have the man power to stop all of them. But if they aren't stopped, it is not about who controls the New York Underworld, but the consequences of this sudden gang war. Business's caught in the middle generally close and neighborhoods that these fights occur in die because people think they're too dangerous for children."

"We can aide the police," Zafiro spoke, "Can't we?"

"The mayor will allow me to send these robots to the police in order to provide them with the firepower to stop these gun battles," Xanatos answered, "And since they can set their lasers for stun, they are non lethal."

"What about us?" Jade questioned.

"That I couldn't talk to the mayor about," Xanatos answered, "While the city knows of gargoyles, few know of sorcery or really understand it. Very few know just what Anton Sevarius did me and the other mutates, and no one can fully understand how it works. The mayor said nothing about us helping personally, but doing so presents a great risk."

"What sort of risk?" Obsidiana asked.

"When Nightstone fell, Detective Bluestone recovered the evidence that would prove the existence of mutates and that they aren't gargoyles," Xanatos explained, "Now the police have kept that information under tight wraps since Anton Sevarius has not been captured by the police to stand trial. If I go, I will surely spotted and revealed as a mutate. If you go, people will begin to question whether or not gargoyles actually sleep in stone, because no one in New York knows about your amulets, and could reignite the Quarrymen movement, or a least a similar organization."

There was a short pause and then Xanatos finished.

"But if we wait until dusk, the problem could be much bigger," Xanatos finished.

The Guatemalans shared glances with each other. After a few seconds they all turned to Xanatos.

"Regardless of the risks," Zafiro spoke, "We can not allow this sort of fighting to go on. Besides if the problem is already looking to be difficult for the police to handle now without our help, and could get bigger as time goes on, it will definitely be too big for even us if we let it continue."

**Ten Minutes Later**

Zafiro and his clan landed on the roof of an apartment building that was near the sounds of gun fire going on in the street and in the alleyway between the building and another building nearby. Each of them could see the chaos that the sudden gang war had caused. The street was completely disserted, other then those who were in the battle. From their angle on the roof they could also see that any one on the first floor of several buildings was hunkered down below the windows. Two men were also leaning against buildings that were across the street from their location, obviously wounded.

"We must put a stop to this," Zafiro said firmly, "Or at least make it easier for the police to punish these men."

The others nodded and followed Zafiro down in a fast dive toward ground level. Zafiro was the first to approach one of the gunmen as he grabbed him by the shoulders and threw him into one of his associates. Obsidiana landed behind a third gangster and clubbed him upside the head, while Jade landed on a fourth and Turquesa tripped a fifth and a sixth with her tail. Their attack didn't go unnoticed by the crooks they couldn't take out in their first attack.

"Gargoyles?" one of the remaining gangster's gasped.

"It's day time, though," a second spoke in an equally surprised tone of voice.

Zafiro lunged at the closest and drove him face first into the wall of the building, where he fell unconscious. The other raised his gun to fire, but his shot missed as he was tackled by Turquesa before he could aim it at the closest gargoyle in front of him.

"Let's tie these crooks up quickly," Zafiro spoke, "There are still other groups that we will need to stop."

The rest of the Guatemalan clan nodded and began to round up the now unconscious crooks that lay scattered throughout the area. No one came out of the nearby buildings as they gathered up the crooks and tied them together with parts of a fire escape. They then quickly moved to climb up the side of a building to get the height needed to glide in search of the next fight.

Meanwhile, a few blocks away Matt and Detective Flariaty stood with three or four other officers as they tried to contain another gun battle that had erupted not to far from a major bank. Flariaty had recovered from whatever had made her sick two weeks earlier and Matt noticed that she seemed to have the same determination that Elisa had when she came back from being shot. He sighed knowing that that determination wasn't going to be of much help in dealing with appeared to be a city wide gang war.

"Some SWAT team," Flariaty mumbled as she looked over the small group that made up the group that Matt was leading, "Two detectives and three uniformed cops, all without riot gear."

"Well, this isn't exactly a riot," Matt answered humorously before speaking seriously, "And it's all we could muster at this point. Who ever is behind this has these battles going on all over New York. I think I even heard one report that one battle has actually moved INTO New Jersey."

"Maybe it'll clean up the state then," one of the uniformed joked.

"Pay attention to what's going on," Flariaty snapped, "We're lucky that if they decide to charge us, we have our cars here as a shield."

"Yes ma'am," the man answered.

"Thankfully there isn't that many of them," Matt spoke, Overall, as far as numbers are concerned, they aren't that much of a threat."

One stray bullet from the crook's gun battle hit a tire of one of the police cars, making the tire go flat very quickly.

"The fact that they're armed counters that theory," Flariaty answered.

Matt sighed and turned to yell at the gangsters again, "Hey! Listen, this is the police and we have you surrounded. I don't know what started all this, but you're going to stop it now!"

One nearby gangster turned and fired a shot that would have hit Matt if he hadn't ducked down behind his car. He sighed and pulled out his revolver and began loading the chamber.

"Are you crazy?" Flariaty demanded as she watched, "We want to bring these guys in, not kill them."

"We might end up dead if we don't do something," Matt pointed out.

Flariaty was about to say something when the sound of jet engines prevented her from saying anything. She then looked up to see a Steel Clan robot land beside them. It then handed a small notepad to them. Flariaty snatched it and read what was written on it.

"What's it say?" Matt asked.

Flariaty sighed, "As if things weren't weird enough, 'I'm unit 987634 and have been loaned to the NYPD for the purposes of apprehending these present bandits. My lasers have been set for stun, so there is no threat that anyone will be killed or even seriously hurt by them.'"

"Did Mr. X define 'seriously'?" Matt asked.

"That's all that's written," Flariaty answered.

"We'll risk it," Matt sighed, "We've got to do something quickly."

Matt then turned and approached the robot.

"You will follow our commands for the day?" Matt asked.

The robot nodded.

Matt sighed again, "Well, that's good, could you get those five guys to take a little nap for awhile."

The robot lifted into the air and began to fly toward the gunfight. It actually flew into the first crook, knocking him out instantly, before he came to a stop and hovered above the battling gangsters. Two raised their weapons to fire, but were hit by stun blasts that the robot fired, which knocked them out. This left two more gangsters, but both of them were from the same faction.

"I don't know what sort of monstrosity you've called in cop, but you ain't takin' me in!" one yelled and fired a few rounds at the Steel Clan robot.

His partner fired a few rounds of his own. Unfortunately armed with handguns, they did no serious damage to robot's armor. Two bullets hit an upper arm, which would only need to have a few small dents hammered out. Three bullets bounced off the chest plate, which would only need a new coat of paint, and one bullet ricocheted of off one of the robot's feet, and did no damage at all. Both gasped in surprise. The robot only aimed and fired his lasers, still set on stun again.

"Well," Matt commented once the two remaining gangsters fell unconscious, "That was easy."

"A regular Robocop," one of the uniformed officers commented, "Maybe we ought to ask this Xanatos to make some robots for the force."

"Just what we need," Flariaty grumbled, "Gargoyles taking over the night shift and robots taking over the day shift" and then growled at Matt, "These things better return to Xanatos once this is all over."

Meanwhile, the black furred wolf-like mutate, himself, was crouching behind a dumpster as he listened to the sound of footsteps come his way. He had come across a smaller gun battle where one Dracon man was already dead and his two attackers were fleeing and managed to avoid the police by darting down an alley that the police didn't notice.

Xanatos then dove into the far end of the ally to wait for them to cross his path. He would have to be quick, because he could hear the sound of the policemen trying to catch up and capture the fleeing criminals. As soon as the two crooks ran past the dumpster he was crouching behind he fired to massive electric blasts at each gangster. Both screamed with pain. Xanatos then used all his strength to get up a nearby fire escape ladder as he could hear the police pick up their pace when they heard the two criminals scream.

Xanatos breathed a sigh of relief that he made it to the roof before the police made it to the alley, and he carefully looked down as the two officers approached the unconscious crooks. Once he was sure the two crooks were going to jail, he moved toward a different edge of the roof top, leaped over the edge and began to glide away.

**Hotel Room**

Brode's second in command sat quietly as he listened to the various reports come in from various agents that were only to watch the progress of the offensive against Dracon's organization. Some were from the television news sources; others were from what other people were reporting.

"How goes the operation?" the second in command questioned.

"It goes quite well," one agent said with a confident smile, "The police are overstretched in dealing with all of these battles at once and are having to call in many of their night-shift officers to help the day shift. Most of our agents and the agents of the smaller gangs are getting away without being caught by the police."

"Good," Brode's second answered, "What are the casualty reports? Of those the police have caught so far, who do the work for? And how many were caught?"

"Of all the people caught, only four were members of our organization and of the four, at lest three were wounded by Dracon's men," the agent answered, "all the rest were employees of other gangs."

"Excellent," the second command smiled again, and then frowned when he noticed that the second agent was not smiling, "What is it?"

The agent came forward a few steps and began to speak both slowly and carefully.

"Sir, while our current progress has been fantastically successful, I'm not sure how long we can sustain it during the day," the second agent said, "Forces other then the police have stepped in."

The second in command raised an eyebrow and growled, "What?"

"The police have received some help from Xanatos Enterprises, who has provided them with five robots that are bullet proof, at least to hand guns, anyway," the agent reported, "and with their stun lasers could take out each flashpoint rather quickly and at close range. It will allow the police to speed up their capture and arrest of the fighting factions. One of our spies also reported to me of four gargoyles attacking one gunfight on the east side."

"Gargoyles?" the second command questioned, "it's daytime. They aren't expected to interfere until tonight, when much of the operation should be over."

"That's what the spy said," the agent replied, "He saw four gargoyles and noticed that all talked with a definite Hispanic-like accent. He wasn't quite sure, though, about the accent, but he was certain they were gargoyles."

"But so far they haven't done much to harm our organization?" Brode's second in command questioned.

"So far, no one has done damage to our organization," the second agent informed him.

"We'll let the operation continue," the second in command said firmly.

**Castle Wyvern, Dusk**

The clan blinked in surprise as the sound of sirens and sporadic bursts of gunfire greeted them as they burst free of their stone shells.

"Guess it won't be a quiet night, tonight," Elisa sighed as she listened to the sounds rising up from street level.

"Given what the day has been, it IS quiet at the moment," came Owen's voice from behind her.

Elisa and Goliath both turned to face the spectacled assistant while the rest of the clan began to climb up to Goliath and Elisa's level. They found the man looking very serious.

"What has happened?" Goliath demanded in a firm voice.

"Around three in the afternoon, gangs from all over New York began attacking anyone who works or has worked for Tony Dracon in the past," Owen explained in a monotone voice that betrayed to sign of emotion at the destruction the gang war had caused, "Several members of Dracon's organization have been killed and many more have been wounded."

Owen heard series of muttered gasps as the clan heard this and continued to explain what was happening.

"These attacks have caused virtual anarchy throughout the city as the police have been overstretched trying to contain and arrest all of the criminals engaging in these acts," Owen continued.

"What can be done to stop this?" Brooklyn asked aloud, intending for Goliath to answer, but it was Owen who answered.

"The only thing that can be done is to aide the police in capturing these groups before the damage they cause becomes greater," Owen answered, "Mr. Xanatos and the Guatemalan gargoyles have spent the afternoon providing as much help as they can. Mr. Xanatos has even loaned the police five Steel Clan robots."

"Has this slowed these criminals down?" Angela asked.

Owen sighed, "Not by much. They are still a danger to the city, now because most of the street level gangs know that the police are busy with the larger danger and may decide to begin looting stores as the close."

"We must go, now," Goliath said firmly, "Patrol the city. Stop any of these gun battles you come across and if you find anyone trying to capitalize on the police's obligations elsewhere, stop them as well."

The clan nodded and began to depart in pairs, although some left in groups of three, and in the case of the Avalon gargoyles, four. In the end, Caroline was left alone on the tower with Owen.

"Great, they all left without me," Caroline grumbled and then turned to Owen, "I don't suppose you're tagging along?"

"I am required to remain her to make sure the Steel Clan robots return to the Eyrie Building once the battle with these criminals is over," Owen answered.

"Wait!" cried a voice from the stairway opening.

Both Caroline and Owen turned to see Lawrence coming up the stairs.

"Where are you going?" Lawrence asked.

"To help the clan put a stop to this," Caroline answered, "They're killing people, Lawrence. Criminals, yes, but still people all the same."

"But alone?" Lawrence questioned, "What if you get hurt?"

"I'll be fine," Caroline answered, "This is something I have to do."

"But you shouldn't go alone," Lawrence answered, "if you get hurt, there will be no one there to bring you back."

"I don't have time teach a new gargoyle how to glide," Caroline answered, "That took Amy, Candy, and me a couple of weeks to master the basics."

"It also took Mr. Xanatos awhile to figure out how to pilot the exoframe," Owen added, "So the technological means of joining her would not be practical either."

"Who said I wanted to come along?" Lawrence asked, "I want the one I love to be safe. I don't want her being knocked out or hurt by these guys."

"An admirable ambition," Owen answered, "Perhaps there is something you can do, and it wouldn't require much time to teach you."

"What?" Lawrence and Caroline asked simultaneously.

"Mr. Urbis, you could take over the job of monitoring the Steel Clan's activity," Owen answered, and produced a small radio/walkie-talkie and handed it to Lawrence, "This will allow you to speak with the clan, Mr. Xanatos, and Detective Bluestone. Once the present crisis has been stopped, all you need to say is 'return' and the Steel Clan robots will return to the Eyrie Building. That way I can go with the young Ms. Urbis and make sure you have nothing to worry about."

Ten minutes later Caroline was gliding low over the city with Puck hovering along beside her.

"Thank you for doing that, back there," Caroline spoke to the fey.

"Now isn't necessarily the time for the two of you to have a spat over safety," Puck answered, "And besides, it allows me to sample some of New York's night life."

"I don't think this is the sort of 'night life' you'd want to see," Caroline retorted.

"Never be so certain," Puck replied, "tricking a bunch a crooks promises to be quite fun!"

Caroline rolled her eyes and glided on. Eventually the two came across a small gun fight where three men had ganged up on one individual who was trapped between two parked cars. Caroline was prepared to dive on one of the three who were shooting at the lone individual when Puck simply snapped his fingers and all four men watched as their guns turned into daisies.

"What the?" the first gangster gasped.

Caroline was so surprised by this that she actually glided into the gangster, nearly goring him with her horns, and knocked him to the ground. He was soon out cold, but his accomplices quickly came to his aide. One kicked Caroline in the shoulder while the other kicked her in the side. The blue gargoyle answered with a low growl and swiped her tail at the two of them, tripping both. As Caroline got to her feet she then approached the man that kicked her first.

"Let's see how you like it!" Caroline growled and kicked the man.

She then watched him fly ten feet through the air before landing on a large cushion. She then looked down to the other man chained to the ground. Puck then appeared in front of her.

"No need to get that rough with them," Puck cautioned, "Remember you're a lot stronger then they are."

"The blow to the ribs hurt," Caroline answered.

"Well, you made 'em pay for it," Puck almost laughed as he created chains around them.

The two then continued on, although Puck had to wait a few moments to get the height needed to start gliding.

Meanwhile in a business district, not far from Central Park, Ethan, Eve, Sarah, and Ian had found a couple of crooks who were preparing to break through a window of one of the stores.

"I guess those are the looters Owen talked about," Eve commented as they threw a garbage can through the window, setting off alarms inside the building.

"And we had better stop them," Ian added as he dove down, leading the rest of the Avalon gargoyles.

There were only two men who were attempting to loot the store and both screamed with terror as Ian and Sarah hit both of them as they glided by. Both men were unconscious before Eve or Ethan could get a shot at them.

"That was too easy," Sarah commented, looking alert, "You don't suppose there's more around here somewhere?"

"I don't think so," Ethan answered, "These guys are just looters after all. The real gangsters will be much harder to spot."

**Hotel Room**

Brode's second faced a much more nervous looking group of agents by the time it came close to midnight.

"What is the status?" the second in command questioned.

"The police have turned the tide in dealing with our agents," one agent reported, "Unless you want our organization to be destroyed it might be time to end the war."

"What?" Brode's second demanded.

"The rest of the gargoyle clan has come out in force," the agent answered, "And have apprehended nearly all of the smaller gang members that escaped the day's battles and we have lost one fourth of our organization involved in the operation."

"We only sent half of our organization into the fight," Brode's second answered, "If they've lost a fourth of their men, then that means we've only lost an eighth."

"The police have arrested a further fourth with the help of the robots that Xanatos Enterprises has provided them," the second agent reported, "And some furry winged creature has taken out an eighth of our active forces. Over all, the half that we sent out has lost seven eighths of its strength."

"The other gangs?" Brode's second questioned.

"Largely destroyed," the first agent spoke, "We may not have eliminated all of them, but they would have to unite together under Dracon's lieutenants to stand any chance of successfully opposing us."

"We've won then," Brode's second smiled, "Brode will be pleased to hear this. Inform our gang members that we can stop the attack. We'll let the gargoyles finish the destruction of the other gangs."

**Castle Wyvern**

Fox sat quietly on her bed watching a news channel that had been covering the battles that had been going on the streets below. Much of the chaos and anarchy that had begun that afternoon was beginning to come to a stop. Unfortunately, the report did not end with that.

"And while we can credit the police for their heroic efforts to try and contain all the fighting, and were in fact successful in preventing all civilians from being killed during this time period," the reporter spoke slowly, "We as New Yorkers must still be concerned about certain forces that have engaged themselves in this present crisis."

Fox's yellow eyes widened in surprise, fearing that Xanatos had been caught.

"The first are the gargoyles that have taken residence in this city," the reporter continued, "And while they appear to have actually provided aide to the police in this incident, little is known by the general public about them and there is no certainty about how to deal with them. Complicating matters is information that contradicts everything we know about this mysterious species."

The television screen changed to show a scene involving the Guatemalan clan gliding over Manhattan.

"These creatures here are gargoyles, but they are out during the day, while most of the released information that was recovered by the police from the Quarrymen organization says that they hibernate in stone during the day," the reporter continued, "This either means that the Quarrymen were wrong in their investigations of gargoyle behavior or that these creatures somehow have some unknown ability that allows them to prevent their transformation into statues. And all New York wants to know which!"

Fox looked on as the screen changed to show images of the Steel Clan robots directly aiding the police.

"The second are these robots that were sent by billionaire businessman and philanthropist David Xanatos to aide the police," the reporter continued, "Now while these robots performed admirably in helping the police round up these criminals, they are rather gargoyle-like in appearance, and bear a striking resemblance to the robots that stole the Eye of Odin several years ago. If any link is found between these robots and the robots that committed the theft of the Eye, it means that David Xanatos is wanted man for criminal theft and must admit his crime and tell the world where he's stashed the Eye."

Fox gasped at the screen in shock and horror, knowing full well that Xanatos was guilty of the crime, but that the eye could never be recovered. From what Goliath had told them after the feud had ended, the eye went back to Odin, and with the second Unseelie War, Odin was dead.

The screen meanwhile changed to show an image of Xanatos gliding between two buildings. It was too far away for anyone to identify who it was specifically, but it was obvious to Fox that it was Xanatos.

"And then there is this creature," the reporter finished, "Because it lacks a tail, which according to the captured Quarrymen files, all gargoyles have, this creature can not be a gargoyle, yet it is gliding like one, and appears to have the body of a black wolf. Could this mean that Manhattan also harbors a secret 'Doctor Moreau' type project?"

Fox gasped in horror. The doctor who created the mutates wasn't named Moreau, but with this exposure of the mutates would create more trouble then it was worth.

"All of these things raise tremendous questions," the reporter finished, "Questions that need to be answered. If the right people have the courage to answer them."

**Maddox Technologies**

"And you have no ability to break the enslavement spell the fey put on him?" Thailog questioned Holly as the two looked on at Anton Sevarius as he repeated the word 'master' inside the containment cell that Bertha and Butch had put him in.

"It's a fey spell," Holly answered, "You can't mix magics."

"He's worthless then," Thailog grumbled, "Get rid of him."

"Of course," Holly smiled as she watched Thailog walk off.

Once he had disappeared inside an elevator, Holly opened the door to the cell that Anton Sevarius was in, the copy of the Grimorum in her hand.

**To Be Continued…**


	33. Interview with the Gargoyles

All characters appearing in Gargoyles and Gargoyles: The Goliath Chronicles are copyrighted to Buena Vista Television/The Walt Disney Company. I've taken the idea for the Unseelie Court from the TGS. No infringement of these copyrights is intended, and is not authorized by the copyright holder. All original characters are the property of SN.

Note: I'm disregarding the events of the "Goliath Chronicles", with the exception of "The Journey" because I do not wish to use the rest of the "Goliath Chronicles" as canon to my story. This story takes place immediately after "Anarchy in the Streets".

Interview with the Gargoyles

By SN/TVfan

Email: Sam_Nary 

**Labyrinth**

Talon and Maggie stared almost blankly at the television as the reporter finished his report. Claw had already left to make sure the others were calm.

"What will this mean, Derek? Maggie asked.

"Right now it means trouble," Talon grumbled, "I don't know where that reporter got that footage, or where the people who filmed the imaged found the bravery to film them, but it means that Xanatos or the police will have to explain Doctor Sevarius."

"Shouldn't that help?" Maggie asked, "Xanatos has Genutech trying to come up with a way to reverse what Sevarius has done, and they haven't come up with anything. Perhaps if more people knew, more people could be brought in to try and find a cure."

"If more people are brought in, it heightens the risk that we will be hunted the way the Quarrymen hunted the gargoyles," Talon answered, "And while some may want, I doubt they will be strong enough to keep us safe and FREE while researching Sevarius's formula. Our sole defense has been the fact that no one knows we exist. Just as it was the clan's sole defense before the Hunter's Moon incident."

"You can't be so negative," Maggie insisted, "Unlike the gargoyles, we don't turn to stone, and there are a lot more of us then there are gargoyles in New York. If some hate group decides to come trampling through the sewers, we will overpower them."

"You forgot that they caught Xanatos on film," Talon sighed, "The people will want the mutate captured on screen filmed, not us. We will have to be explained to explain Doctor Sevarius, and Xanatos and Fox will have to be explained to explain both the mutate that was caught on camera and why we are what we currently are."

"Which could land Xanatos and Fox in jail," Maggie gasped.

"If they aren't sent there for the 'robots' issue," Talon sighed, "And if Xanatos goes to jail, then the entire effort at Genutech has to be halted for police investigation."

"What do we do?" Maggie asked, "We can't just come out of the subway and explain it ourselves."

"We'll need to talk with Xanatos and Fox directly," Talon answered, "Thanks to this reporter's blabbing everything, our secret is largely out, but it is they who will have to reveal it, although much of the story will either have to be blurred or changed in order to keep Xanatos free and keep Genutech looking for a cure. It'd be best to keep our stories straight."

**Castle Wyvern**

"What!?" Xanatos demanded, sounding extremely angry as he returned.

"Just as I told you," Fox answered with a sigh, "Some news reporter has gotten home videos of you, the Steal Clan, and the Guatemalans fighting with Brode's men and Dracon's 'resistance' groups."

Xanatos snarled at this, cutting Fox off.

"And the guy was incredibly pushy, saying all New York wanted to know the information before any sort of public response to the announcement came out," Fox continued, "He practically accused you without gathering evidence."

"I have no problem with that," Xanatos sighed, "I've received plenty of accusations of that nature during the feud with the clan, largely from Goliath or the Detective. And their accusations were correct, so I have no doubt that this guy's accusations aren't that far off the mark."

"You're not concerned about this?" Fox questioned.

"Oh, I AM concerned," Xanatos answered, "Goliath's and the Detective's accusations were never that concerning because, one for them it was personal, and two, if they took it to anyone else, the Detective would have been thought insane and Goliath would have been killed. This guy has me concerned, because he's generally pulled down my pants in front of the world."

Fox watched him.

"You do know that we'll have to answer this directly, if not to him, then at least to another network," Xanatos answered, sounding depressed, "They won't give Owen, and therefore me a break until we answer their questions."

"Some of his accusations involved the gargoyles," Fox told her husband.

"We'll wait until tomorrow to give Goliath the bad news," Xanatos answered, "As you said, the story's only just come out. For all we know, the city either watched a different channel, or doesn't like that reporter."

**Queens**

"What will this mean?" Diane Maza asked in a nervous voice as she and her husband sat in bed.

"What will what mean?" Peter asked back, "That guy made half a dozen accusations of just about everybody. I can't keep them all straight."

"He exposed the mutates… well Xanatos, anyway," Diane answered, "Suppose people go looking for Derek?"

"They only exposed Xanatos, and they don't even know it was him or where the mutate they caught on tape lives," Peter answered, "I doubt they'll start patrolling the sewers looking for Derek and the others."

"But it will lead to questions, questions that only Xanatos or the clan can answer," Diane replied looking very nervous, "Aren't you worried?"

"I don't think this is something to get worried about just yet," Peter answered as he lay down, "The reporter is new and is trying to simply sound important. You remember how Travis Marshall was when he started. This guy is trying to copy his style."

"But Marshall is intelligent," Diane argued, "I've never heard him accuse anyone in his reports."

"That's because Marshall has been a reporter for much longer," Peter replied, "This guy's trying to make a name for himself, and doesn't know when to accuse someone and when to simply say the news as it is. For all we know, it could blow over in a few days."

"I hope you're right," Diane answered, "I hope you're right."

**Castle Wyvern, Morning**

As Xanatos read the morning paper it was quite obvious to him that the information released from the newscast wasn't going to go away for a while. While the papers didn't accuse Xanatos of any crimes, they did make points that the robots he had loaned to the police were at least suspicious in appearance. They also said he was at least holding some information that might 'clarify' the whole situation. He sighed as he put the paper down.

"Handling this could be a problem," Xanatos sighed as looked down at his coffee mug, really a large thermos, which was the only kind of 'cup' or 'mug' he could drink out of without a straw, given his canine muzzle.

"Sir," came Owen's voice from behind him.

He turned to see Owen standing in his business suit own and fully prepared to deal with any corporate problem.

"What is it, Owen?" Xanatos sighed.

"There is a reporting crew from both the local ABC station and the local CBS station on their way up," Owen answered, "Apparently, they managed to get an appointment this morning."

"You're the one in charge of dealing with it Owen," Xanatos sighed.

"I understand that, sir," Owen answered, "But what do you wish me to say? They will certainly bring up the incident from yesterday."

"Tell them that at this time, Xanatos Enterprises is only willing to answer questions concerning the robots," Xanatos told him, "You do understand the original cover plan if the Steel Clan was ever discovered."

"Of course, sir," Owen answered and walked out of the room, heading for the main executive offices, to wait for the deluge of reporters.

Owen didn't have to wait long for the reporters once he got to the main executive offices. He was barely behind his desk when they came through the door. All of them came blaring questions regarding everything that the reporter from the previous night had reported. Eventually Owen somehow managed to get them to quiet down enough so that he could get individual questions.

"Mr. Burnett, last night's report talked extensively about the gargoyles that have seemed to take up residence in, or on Castle Wyvern," the ABC reporter began, "Was that information correct?"

"What information?" Owen asked, "The information that the reporter reported or that the Quarrymen gathered? The fact of the matter is that Xanatos Enterprises does not know of gargoyle behavior or of all their abilities, and therefore can not answer the question you have just asked. Yes they have taken a habit of roosting on the castle's battlements, but that is about the extent of their involvement in the castle."

"What of these animal-like creatures with wings?" the CBS reporter asked, "Weren't there police reports that linked Genutech, a Xanatos Enterprises sub-company to several unusual experiments?"

"Genutech's chief researcher was involved in various activities that were against the wishes of Mr. Xanatos and had some questionable legal issues," Owen answered, "Which you'll find is the reason why he was fired. At present Genutech is in no way connected to whatever that creature was, if there is one, and if the fired doctor is responsible, then there is no way that Mr. Xanatos or any of his companies are responsible for his actions."

"You're saying you don't know about this creature?" the CBS reporter questioned.

"Yes," Owen answered, "And there will be no further questions on the subject."

"What of the robots then?" the ABC reporter asked urgently, "Will you answer questions about the robots.

"That I can answer, because Xanatos Enterprises knows all about its robots," Owen answered, without changing his tone or showing any relief that he had managed to get them to the subject that he could talk about.

"What were those robots that Mr. Xanatos leant to the NYPD?" the ABC reporter asked.

"They are members of the 'Steel Clan', specially designed robots to serve as bodyguards for Mr. Xanatos and his family," Owen answered.

"Why do they resemble the gargoyles?" the CBS reporter questioned, "And why the 'comic-book' name?"

"Mr. Xanatos merely wished that they have some sort of fitting code name so that if they were needed, he would not have to explain what he wanted, similar to how the military classifies aircraft," Owen answered, "No one refers to F-16 by the official designation, it is referred to as the Falcon. As for their exterior design, Mr. Xanatos has had an affinity for the gargoyles that have taken residence in this city and built the robots to mirror them."

"Are they connected with the theft of the Eye of Odin, which is still missing?" the ABC reporter asked.

"No," Owen answered, "If you are looking for the real perpetrators of that crime, this is not the place to come to, as the exact description of the robots used in that crime is with the NYPD, and from what was spoken on the news then, the Steel Clan bears no resemblance to those robots."

"Then who built those robots?" the CBS reporter asked.

"I do not know that," Owen answered, "As I said, Xanatos Enterprises is not a part of the NYPD and therefore does not have access to NYPD files or evidence."

"Do the gargoyles know anything about the reports made last night?" the ABC reporter asked.

"I am not certain," Owen answered, "You would have to talk to them."

"Could you arrange the interview for us?" the CBS reporter quickly asked.

"Do I look like I'm running a service?" Owen asked back, "If you have questions of the gargoyles, ask them yourselves."

"But they never stay in one place long enough for anyone to interview them, and this place always seems to be off limits after dusk," the CBS reporter complained.

"And when New York's first reaction to a gargoyle isn't to accuse it of any crime imaginable, the present system will continue," Owen answered, "The people of Xanatos Enterprises do not know the gargoyles very well personally, and while Mr. Xanatos does have direct access to them, they are not his 'best friends'."

"What about groups like PIT?" the ABC reporter asked, "Shortly after the defeat of the Quarrymen, Castle Wyvern was opened to them to be used for a celebration by PIT members and the gargoyle clan."

"Mr. and Mrs. Xanatos were not present at the event, and the event was held here because of the gargoyle's affinity for roosting here during the day," Owen answered, "That is all."

"But…" the CBS reporter began.

"That is all," Owen answered, pressing a hidden button under the desk.

Bruno and two other Xanatos Enterprises security guards entered the room, each holding nightsticks.

"Security will show you out," Owen said in a flat voice as the reporting crew gulped at the sight of the security men.

Owen only sighed and sat back as the reporters left.

**WVRN Offices**

"Something's going on there at that castle," the station director commented, "I tell yeah, they're hiding something."

Travis Marshall looked down from the television screen that the two had been watching. It had been the CBS and ABC broadcasts of their interview with Owen Burnett and the station manager looked rather angry.

"They're hiding something," the station manager said again, "And I'm sure those flying freaks are involved."

"I don't think calling the gargoyles 'freaks' is going to solve the problem," Marshall answered, "You saw Burnett's answer to those questions. He won't do anything to try and set up an interview with the gargoyles if all people who see them do is scream and try to hurt the gargoyles themselves."

"They're inhuman monsters," the station manager answered, "Everyone knows that."

"They're inhuman, yes," Marshall answered, "Whether or not they're monsters is a different question. Some, like the Quarrymen have had plenty to say about them being monsters, while Mr. Xanatos and Mr. MacDuff have both spoke on the contrary. We've yet to hear anything directly from the gargoyles themselves."

"What are you saying?" the station manager demanded.

"I'm saying our business is to report the truth to the people," Marshall answered, "There has been a lot of strangeness that has gone on in New York, and that guy last night told the entire city just how strange things are. A full interview with Mr. Xanatos and with the gargoyles themselves could go a long way to answering the questions that an over zealous reporters brought up."

"You mean you want to interview those things?" the station manager gasped.

"If it will bring us to the truth, yes," Marshall answered.

"Fine," the station manager grumbled, "You can start asking them for an interview, but I ain't gonna let you stay on if you get dropped from a high place and killed by those things."

**Castle Wyvern, Shortly After Dusk**

"What?" Goliath questioned again after being told a quick version of what had happened by Xanatos.

"Just as I said," Xanatos sighed, "Apparently we got caught on camera yesterday afternoon and night and an over zealous reporter decided he'd found a big story."

"I don't think the city has gotten used to the fact that the clan exists," Elisa commented, "So, I'd say that any story that talks about 'gargoyles' is going to be a big story."

"But the report didn't just focus on us," Brooklyn commented, "If what Xanatos told us is true, they've also fingered him for the Eye of Odin theft and at least needs to be questioned concerning the mutates."

"A ripe mess is what we have," Hudson grumbled as the rest of the clan began to gather on top of the tower to join in the discussion.

"It is a mess indeed," Xanatos sighed, "Two companies somehow managed to get an appointment to interview Owen, and while he managed to talk them out of running a full expose on Xanatos Enterprises and its involvement in gargoyles, robots, and other assorted weirdness, I don't think it's even curbed their interest in investigating the story."

The gathered gargoyles looked on in shock.

"Several small television news stations have recently tried to call and set up appointments through Owen that they could interview ME directly and talk directly with one of you as well," Xanatos continued.

"They want to interview us?" Othello questioned, "Why?"

"That doesn't sound like too bad an idea," Lex spoke up before Xanatos could answer, "We could tell the world about who and what we are. They won't have to go by what the Quarrymen wrote in their pamphlets."

"Remember that I am also to be interviewed if their wishes are carried through," Xanatos warned the olive webwing, "And they're accusing me of certain crimes… that yes I committed, but I was the bad guy then… and because you live here in the same castle as myself and my family, you would be considered guilty by association despite the fact you the ones I was fighting when I committed those crimes."

The mutate's head and muzzle drooped down as he finished his sentence.

"And let me guess, they also want you to tell them where the Eye of Odin is?" Elisa questioned looking rather suspicious and then continued after Xanatos nodded, "This is major trouble then. The Eye went back TO Odin, and with Odin dead, the Eye is lost forever. You're looking not only at criminal thievery but also at the destruction of private property. You'll get more then six months in prison, and that's if you manage to avoid the whole Dr. Sevarius issue."

Xanatos then moved to sit down on the battlements, looking no better then he was a few minutes before.

"Gotta love it when your past crimes come to bite you," Xanatos sighed, "First Sevarius mutating me and Fox, now this. I know what I'm looking at if we give in and give them the answers they want, but the added problem is that if I tell them now, I will end up dragging you with me, which I feel I can't do."

"Can you keep going and not answer them?" Desdemona questioned.

"Of course I can keep going," Xanatos shrugged, "The real question is how well and for how long. Owen is still turning down interview demands, and one of the NYPD prescients actually called for official questioning, but Owen luckily managed to point out that without a warrant and official evidence besides a TV reporter's announcement, they couldn't officially question me for anything."

There was a short silence for a moment before Xanatos continued again.

"This thing is so big more because of economic concerns more then any real issue of guilt," Xanatos answered, "If it were just guilt, I'd have Owen keep silent about everything and wait for the media storm surrounding this incident to disappear, no matter how long it takes. But, with each new 'crisis' the value of stock in Xanatos Enterprises goes down, and this recent incident is larger then any that's come before and isn't likely to go away for awhile."

"You're afraid that this could bankrupt you?" Goliath asked.

"Not me personally, but the company, yes," Xanatos answered, "And it is the company's profits that largely makes sure that I have the money to make sure that the castle is structurally sound and can keep you safe."

"But you're like a billionaire," Candy commented.

"Yes, but without Xanatos Enterprises, that money won't last as long as you would think," Xanatos answered, "Especially considering the fact that whoever takes over Xanatos Enterprises would then own the building and therefore the castle. I would have to pay rent, and the castle would charge a very large rent and add that to property taxes I already pay for Xanadu, I could be looking at bankruptcy rather quickly."

"So, what do we do?" Caroline asked, "Or don't we know yet?"

"I don't believe there is anything we can do for the moment," Goliath rumbled in a low voice, "Other then the PIT members the direct relatives of those of us that used to be human, most of humanity would not react well to our taking an 'interview' and we would be on the defensive for its entirety, and much of these problems are related more Xanatos's business. It does concern us, but all we can do is at least prepare to move to a safer spot if the castle… if the castle becomes unsafe or uninhabitable for us."

There was a sort of depressed silence that came from each of the gargoyles.

"I'll let you know if anything new comes up," Xanatos said weakly, "Even if it has to be a warning that you need to flee. It's the least I could do."

"Thank you," Goliath answered in a low voice and turned to his clan, "Right now, we can just continue with our patrols as normal. Make sure that Brode has not done any more damage to the city. I'll assign the teams after breakfast."

With that the gargoyles slowly made their way inside, leaving Xanatos to his thoughts on the battlements.

**Maddox Technologies**

"You don't say?" Thailog asked with a smile.

Fang nodded, "Yeah, I've been following the whole thing on the news. The ground floor of the Eyrie Building has been mobbed by reporters since the day started. All of them are trying to get an interview with Xanatos, apparently wanting to accuse him directly of what that other reporter did last night."

"How come you can't remember the reporter's name?" Holly asked.

"I only caught the aftermath reports that have been going on all day," Fang said defensively, "They didn't even mention who the reporter was. They just repeated his accusations that 'gargoyles might be out to get us because a few appeared in daylight', 'Xanatos stole the Eye of Odin', and 'Xanatos is creating an army of mutant monsters to take over Manhattan'. Other then that, they didn't say anything about last night's report."

"Interesting, I wonder how Goliath is reacting to all this 'pressure'," Thailog commented.

"More then likely it's business as normal for him," Fang commented, "He don't have to answer reporter's questions."

"Then maybe we should find out," Thailog smiled and got up, "Fang, come with me. Holly, make sure that the rest of my clan continues with its training."

"Where are we going?" Fang asked as he followed Thailog out.

"Out for some senseless violence," Thailog smiled.

**Castle Wyvern**

Xanatos was still standing alone out on the battlements as Talon came in for a landing next to him. The black furred wolf-mutate barely noticed Talon's arrival.

"Xanatos, we need to talk," Talon said slowly, trying t remain calm.

"I'll take it you saw last night's news report," Xanatos sighed and turned to face him.

"Yeah, I saw it," Talon answered, "That's why I'm here. Someone caught you on home video and gave it to the media. He's pretty much revealed the mutates to the world, and thus Sevarius's own actions…"

"And my own," Xanatos answered, "I know."

"I wasn't actually going to say that, but the whole thing does put us in a very serious problem," Talon answered, "Given how New York responded to Goliath's clan, I doubt they're going to be willing to accept mutates, and if we tell them that we used to be human, it's only going to cause panic as well."

"I know," Xanatos sighed, "That's why I've generally tried to keep the press at arms length, but that is only urging them onward. I think we might have to tell them something."

"The question is 'what do we tell them', though," Talon reminded him, "We in the labyrinth had to deal with one or two Quarrymen incidents before they were finally snuffed out as an organization. I doubt people are going to be deterred completely from deciding to search the sewers for mutates."

"I don't know for sure," Xanatos sighed, "What we need is Sevarius, and he escaped from the dungeon during the Unseelie attack and the clone, Alex Sevarius… he disappeared after the attack on Nightstone. Without one of them, we have no definite evidence that we ever were human, which means the only answer that people will believe will not only be a lie, but will be a more 'unbelievable' story."

"Like what?" Talon questioned.

"I don't know," Xanatos sighed again, "Although I'd think we should get the story straight so we know what to stick to."

"May I say something?" came Fox's voice from the courtyard.

Both Xanatos and Talon looked down to see Fox standing in the courtyard.

"As much of a problem as it already is, it would be better to tell the truth," Fox spoke, "Or at least part of it. Tell them that an evil scientist is responsible and that he's currently gone into hiding to escape any possible attention from the law."

"That may make other people panic though," Talon pointed out.

"They'll also panic if we say that we had always existed like this and had merely hid from humans," Fox answered, "And is more likely to produce a Quarryman-like organization that hunts mutates. We're caught between a rock and a hard place. If we tell the real truth now, there will only be one small instance of panic. If we tell the lie, there will be panic and the possibility that the REAL truth could still be revealed and the original panic that we tried to avoid with the lie is revealed anyway."

Both Xanatos and Talon for silent for a moment.

"It's the only possible way," Fox sighed, "Besides, the news crews are getting much pushier, and a few of them are asking that we try and set up an interview with the gargoyles."

"Goliath's really going to love that," Talon commented.

"Reporters are just pushy," Xanatos sighed heavily.

**Over Manhattan**

Patrol had been relatively quiet for both Goliath and Elisa as they glided over Manhattan's various busy streets. The most serious crime they had run across so far was a couple of pickpockets, who fainted at the sight of a gargoyle. They, however, were not what was on the mind of the two at the time.

"What do you believe we should do, my Elisa?" Goliath asked in a low voice, "Would it be right to give them their 'interview'?"

"You're seriously thinking about it?" Elisa asked back.

"Lexington's point that we could tell our side of the story is correct," Goliath commented, "And with Xanatos's security, I doubt that they could simply use it as a cover to arrest us."

"You still sound conflicted," Elisa commented.

Goliath looked down and closed his eyes, "It is the concern that they might try something sneaky besides interview the clan. That is why I ask your opinion. What should I do?"

Elisa glanced over at him for a moment and then looked down.

"I wouldn't do it," Elisa said simply, "They're bound to ask all of us questions, and when they get to me, some reporters are bound to figure out WHO I am by the sound of my voice. Being an NYPD detective means that you're bound to have to deal with the press from time to time, and I doubt the whole city is ready to learn that Elisa Maza, former NYPD detective is truly a gargoyle now. It will lead to more questions that I don't think the city is ready to deal with."

Goliath was silent for a few moments.

"From a larger perspective, however," Elisa continued, "We might have to. If they truly have a home video of the Guatemalans during the day, we might have to explain that before some reincarnation of the Quarrymen appears."

"What about your private concerns?" Goliath then asked.

"That is only my personal opinion," Elisa answered, "I wouldn't do it personally, but that doesn't mean that we may have to do it. What people are ready for, and what they have to be ready for are usually two very different things."

"You would endure their questions if you felt you had to?" Goliath asked.

"I feel that we might have to give them their interview," Elisa answered, "They may have to learn that there is more to the world then what they think."

There was no time for Goliath to say anything as there was a great scream that echoed up from an alley not too far away. As Goliath and Elisa arrived on the scene, they saw a woman running like made out of the alley screaming that a 'monster' had her purse. They looked into the alley, but saw no one there.

"I new that something like that would bring you out," came Thailog's voice to one side of them.

Both of them turned to see Thailog and Fang standing on the rooftop with them.

"Thailog," Goliath growled in a low voice, "You have a lot to answer for."

Both Goliath and Elisa began to advance on the clone and mutate when Fang fired an electric blast at their feet, which forced them to pause.

"Please, must every time we meat end in violence?" Thailog questioned, "I've merely come to talk."

"A fine way to talk!" Elisa growled, eyes blazing, "You stole some woman's purse!"

Thailog then turned around and picked up the purse in question. He then tossed it to Elisa.

"It will look better on you anyway," Thailog shrugged.

Elisa only gave a low growl, leaving the purse where it was.

"What are you doing here, Thailog?" Goliath demanded.

"Just as I said before," Thailog answered, "I'm here to talk."

"About what?" Goliath questioned, "You should know by now that I am not about to ally myself with you, and I very much doubt you've decided to become a true gargoyle."

"A true gargoyle?" Thailog asked, "Any gargoyle that has a DNA strand that is one hundred percent gargoyle is a true gargoyle. Even if that gargoyle is a former human."

That remark didn't make Elisa stop growling at him, but she remained at Goliath's side.

"A gargoyle is a being that protects," Goliath growled, "Which you do not do. Demona in all her madness at least had something that in her mind, that she was protecting."

"That all depends on your point of view," Thailog answered, "And that isn't why I've lured you out here to talk."

"Why are you wanting to talk?" Goliath demanded, a heavy growl in his voice as he was beginning to lose patience with the black skinned clone.

"I saw on the news that you and your clan were under pressure from the local media," Thailog smiled, "Something about the Quarrymen being wrong in their assumptions and that gargoyles are out to destroy humanity. I wanted to make sure you were okay."

"My clan is NONE of your concern," Goliath rumbled, sensing that Thailog's only real purpose was to taunt him.

"Oh, but what if all this media pressure forces the fact that your present daytime guardian is a mutate out into the open?" Thailog questioned, "Xanatos Enterprises would fall over night, if you'll pardon the expression. You'll then be left alone and helpless. At the mercy of at least a million humans who hate you."

"We'll hardly be at anyone's mercy," Elisa growled back, "and it's gargoyles like you that make humans fear gargoyles."

"Oh bet you will," Thailog answered, "Living in a castle with the entire city knowing you exist won't exactly make for safe roosting places once the media brings down Xanatos Enterprises."

"I doubt that will happen," Goliath answered and turned to leave, using one wing to urge Elisa to leave with him.

"So people will just accept the fact that the owner of a multi-billion dollar company is a seven foot wolf with wings?" Thailog questioned, "If you believe that, your even more stupid then I thought."

"Or what about the robots?" Fang brought up, "If they stole the Eye of Odin, Xanatos is still in trouble."

"If you are concerned about losing your main opponent, then you needn't worry," Goliath rumbled in a low voice, "My clan will always be there to fight you."

With that, Goliath lead Elisa to the edge and the two gargoyles leaped over the side of the building and began gliding away. Thailog and Fang watched them leave.

"They took the purse," Fang grumbled.

"And will probably leave it in a police station for them to return," Thailog answered, "Stealing some woman's money was never our intention."

"We didn't even get to fight one of them," Fang grumbled again.

"In this instance that wasn't a goal either," Thailog answered, "Our intention was to see how far we could push Goliath's sanity."

"Didn't look like you got very far," Fang grumbled.

"On the contrary," Thailog smiled, "I believe we made good progress. He seemed to be in denial of the true nature of the danger that he and his clan are in. The media will either expose Xanatos's current physical state and the people of Manhattan will riot over his condition. Xanatos will then lose Xanatos Enterprises and the gargoyles need to find a new home. Or they will expose his past crimes, Xanatos will be arrested, and the gargoyles will be forced to take a new home as with its founder and CEO in jail for a second time, Xanatos Enterprises will go bankrupt and will be sold. Goliath and his clan will still have to find a new home."

"That's only if the media keeps up its present pressure on Xanatos Enterprises to give them the full interview they want," Fang pointed out.

"I'm sure we can manufacture the pressure," Thailog smiled.

**23****rd**** Precinct**

Captain Chavez sighed as the two reporters set up their impromptu interview. One working the camera, the other making sure his microphone was working well. She recognized the man as the same man who had made the report that was causing all the present trouble.

"Are you two about done?" Captain Chavez groaned, "I have work to do."

"Oh, we're almost done, Captain," the reporter answered, "Do not worry."

Captain Chavez sighed and sat back in her chair as the two reporters worked even harder on setting up their project. Once they were completely set up, the main reporter turned to Captain Chavez and gave her a thumbs up. Chavez sighed and sat up in her chair, looking professional. The reporter then began his report.

"This is Karl Beqwater with Captain Maria Chavez of the 23rd NYPD Precinct," the reporter began, "Captain, I'm sure you understand the strange events that have transpired in the past few days."

"I understand that some criminal faction has recently tried to take over this city and has possibly succeeded in doing so," Chavez answered, "Whatever you may be referring to as strangeness, I do not know."

"What is the NYPD's current effort to apprehend the strange creature that was sighted last night?" Beqwater asked.

"What creature?" Chavez asked back, "We've received no complaints about a creature."

"The wolf-like creature that flew away from one of the scenes of gang violence," Beqwater answered, sounding frustrated that he wasn't getting the answers he wanted, "This Dr. Moreau creature looked sort of wolf-like."

"That film was made by some person with the intent of capturing this city's gargoyle population on camera and was done at night," Chavez answered, "More then likely, that creature was a gargoyle and that there is no 'Dr. Moreau' in the Manhattan area."

"But gargoyles have tails," Beqwater smirked.

"Who says?" Chavez questioned, "We know very little about the gargoyles in this city because certain people decided the first thing that needed to be done when a gargoyle was spotted was to try and hit it with a crowbar in the hopes of killing it. This has made the gargoyle population very secretive and shy around humans they don't individually trust."

"But then certainly, if we don't know, we should have full right to find out?" Beqwater asked.

"The late Margot Yale would be proud of you," Chavez answered, "Most reports from PIT indicate that they are sentient creatures. They can understand our language, communicate in it, and understand right from wrong, so by all means, let's arrest them."

"You're misinterpreting my point," Beqwater said defensively, "They aren't human, which means they are at least animals, and should be thoroughly researched."

"Sentient creatures aren't about to let themselves be treated in such a manner, and as the gargoyles have committed no serious crime that endangers this city, the NYPD will do nothing more then observe their actions," Chavez answered, "Which means, that there will be no investigation to see if all gargoyles have tails or not. It would be a waste of police time."

"While we're on the subject of gargoyles, what do you have to say about the supposed gargoyles that appeared out in broad daylight?" Beqwater asked.

"That I can not even know," Chavez answered, "As we've presently established, human actions have lead gargoyles to mistrust most humans, so we can not know for sure."

"But the Quarrymen files that the NYPD took when the group was taken into custody report that gargoyles MUST sleep in stone during the day," Beqwater responded.

"The Quarrymen were also a racist organization looking for anything that might help them in their cause," Chavez answered, "Using them as a guide to gargoyles is foolish, as they only searched for possible weaknesses, they did not observe them in any way that could be considered scientific, and their leader is a madman. If you really want answers to those sorts of questions, you ought to politely ask the gargoyles themselves."

Beqwater sighed again and changed the topic of the interview.

"What is the NYPD's position on the robots that Xanatos lent them during the past crisis?" Beqwater asked, "Surely you have suspicions about them and the Eye of Odin incident."

"The robots from the Eye of Odin incident are all in three hundred pieces and it is impossible to put them back together and there is no manufacturer's logo on any of the pieces," Chavez answered, "If you're asking me if we suspect Xanatos of stealing the Eye after he'd just donated it, then the answer is no. It wouldn't make any sense for him to steal the Eye back after he'd just donated it, especially since he has the financial means of buying it back again."

"But even the fragments of the robots from the Eye of Odin incident had some gargoyle-like features and the Steel Clan robots that Xanatos loaned to the city resembled gargoyles," Beqwater insisted, "Shouldn't that warrant some investigation?"

"It's circumstantial evidence," Chavez answered, "Besides, since the robots from the Eye of Odin incident are in fragments, there is no way to tell for certain which edges are truly the result of the robot's explosion or its manufacture."

"So you're saying you're not going to investigate Xanatos Enterprises over this issue?" Beqwater questioned, "Letting a potential criminal get away with a serious crime?"

"I'm saying there is no concrete evidence that Xanatos has done anything," Chavez answered, "And Xanatos Enterprises has issued a statement that their robots were not involved in the Eye of Odin incident and have stated that unless we can produce hard evidence and a warrant, they will not allow us entry into the Eyrie Building."

"If evidence were to be found?" Beqwater asked.

"May I ask you a question?" Chavez asked, "Why are you so hell bent on seeing Xanatos arrested? That was all your report last night focused on and that all that you seem to want done now."

"I'm just being a good reporter, ma'am," Beqwater answered.

"Very well, I believe I've answered all that I can," Chavez answered with a sigh, "Now, I need to get back to work."

**Castle Wyvern**

"Karl Beqwater," Xanatos commented as he watched the screen move back to the in studio reporters, "We finally get the name of our reporter."

"Yes," Hudson commented from his chair, "And he seems to have quite the grunge against you."

"Lot's of reporters do," Xanatos shrugged, "Controversy and mystery is big attraction for them. Largely because it holds the people's interest. Although, Beqwater seems to have more of a personal grudge rather then a professional one."

"He at least appears to have angered the police with his manner of questioning," Owen commented, "I doubt he'll be able to put much pressure on you again, sir."

"I'm sure he'll find a way," Xanatos answered, "Especially since he's right… and I have a bad feeling that he knows he's right."

"Sir?" Owen asked.

"Use our files and whatever legally possible to find out about Karl Beqwater," Xanatos instructed his assistant.

"Ye can't do that!" Hudson protested, "He may be an annoyance, but surely he is not deserving of such action."

"He probably doesn't," Xanatos answered, "But I made some pretty serious mistakes in my past, and the Maza family probably wasn't the ONLY family that I harmed. Right now, I think that Beqwater might be related somehow to either the original mutates or someone that might have been hurt as a direct result of my actions in the past."

"Ye do have a long list of past crimes," Hudson commented, "He could hate ye for anything."

"Which is why I need to find out more about him," Xanatos sighed, "If Beqwater is some how a victim of my past actions, I need to find out what it is and apologize for it. Let him know that I've changed. It might end up being the only thing that gets him to stop putting pressure on my company and saves your clan."

"Speaking of which, there have been more calls over the earlier hours of the night, asking if a televised interview with the clan could be arranged," Owen spoke up.

"I wouldnae be the one to talk to about that," Hudson grumbled, "Ye should talk to Goliath if ye're reportin' that."

"Has he returned yet?" Owen asked.

"I donnae think so," Hudson commented, "Caroline and I only finished our patrol ten minutes ago."

Elsewhere in the castle, Caroline was involved in a different discussion.

"You should be asleep, Lawrence," Caroline commented, "You still have school."

"I couldn't sleep," Lawrence answered with a sigh, "Besides, you and I still need to discuss a few things."

"This isn't about you worrying about me is it?" Caroline answered, "I can take care of myself."

"I will always worry because I love you," Lawrence answered, "You got knocked out in two consecutive nights. What's to happen if you end up fighting someone who has the capacity to kill you? I don't want to be widower and under twenty."

Caroline hugged him tightly.

"I don't want to die either," Caroline answered, "and you know that I love you, but I have a responsibility to fulfill. I have to help the clan."

"Do you have to fulfill that responsibility by putting yourself in such dangerous situations?" Lawrence asked.

"I must do what I can to help them, Lawrence," Caroline sighed, "Other then you, the clan was the only one help me get used to being a gargoyle. I can't just tell them, I'm only going to patrol when it looks like there will be no trouble. That wouldn't be fair to the others."

"But… there is nothing I can do help to try and keep you safe," Lawrence said weakly, looking down, knowing full well that Caroline could easily flatten him.

"I don't need you to watch over me like I'm some toddler," Caroline answered, "I know you're concerned, but you should be more mature then this."

"That's not what I mean," Lawrence answered, "I just feel so helpless just sitting here while you're out there."

"If you want to patrol with the clan, talk to Owen and Xanatos, and get them to teach you how to pilot that exo-frame thingy," Caroline answered.

"But…" Lawrence began.

"Your only other option would be to become a gargoyle yourself and that I will not allow," Caroline continued, "I won't allow you to give up your humanity because I've lost mine."

"I don't want to run the patrols with you," Lawrence answered, "To be honest, I think I'd faint at the sight of even a mugger. You were always stronger then me in that regard. I can't help it. I just worry."

Caroline hugged Lawrence again.

"You needn't worry," Caroline said calmly, "I'm tougher then I ever was before and I was always a strong woman. You won't be a widower. If you have to worry about me, fine, but don't let it consume you. Okay? You'll be that nice sweet guy who I love? Who is confident that everything will turn out okay?"

"I'll try," Lawrence said weekly.

The two hugged again.

"Now, it'd be best if you get some rest," Caroline insisted, "I'll even tuck you in, if you want."

**After Dawn**

The rest of the night had not gone well. Goliath had been flustered from an altercation with Thailog, although it appeared that the black skinned clone was only out to torment the Manhattan Clan leader rather then fight him. This left Owen with the job of returning to the work of maintaining Xanatos Enterprises. And that job was not getting any easier. Despite the fact that the NYPD said there was no evidence that linked Xanatos Enterprises to the past crimes or to the incidents that occurred two nights before, the press seemed to latch on to the company as the guilty party. Many still wanted to talk with the gargoyles themselves, but more then half of them sounded as if they were either accusing the gargoyles of being in 'cahoots' with Xanatos Enterprises in the crimes, and the others seemed to be more like obsessed fans, which confused Owen to no end.

The ringing of the office phone brought Owen out of his frustration with both the situation and the work he had to do to keep Xanatos Enterprises running. It was probably another reporter looking to ask a series of invasive questions.

"Yes," Owen answered the phone in a very icy voice.

"Good morning, Mr. Burnett," came the voice of Travis Marshall from the other side of the phone, "I'm not disturbing you am I?"

"You're a reporter looking to implicate this company in a series of crimes in which it was not involved, so yes," Owen answered simply and began to hang up the phone.

"Wait!" Marshall pleaded over the phone, "I know that I haven't exactly covered your boss in a way that would make him look particularly good, but I've never outright accused him of anything."

Owen didn't answer him. Marshall continued.

"Which considering all the hype I've seen in the media in the last two days," Marshall spoke, "My coverage on David Xanatos was a lot better then what you're probably having to put up with now."

"Maybe so," Owen answered, "But Beqwater is the reporter that started all this, and he was clearly trying to imitate your style of reporting."

"The kid's a bit overzealous and just happened to say the right thing at the right time to get the whole city fired up," Marshall commented, "Seeing a furred and tailless gargoyle will do that."

"He got that film from someone else," Owen pointed out.

"I know," Marshall answered, "In fact, I know WHO he got those home videos from. It's some old nut from Jersey who thinks that these gargoyles are somehow connected to aliens or some other such nonsense and has been filming the New York skies ever since they were discovered. I think the guy's also gotten a bit obsessed with the gargoyles to tell you the truth. He has about half an hour's worth of footage of them hovering above the streets, and did I mention that he's done much of his filming from the street level?"

"My word…" Owen spoke in a somewhat shocked voice, knowing that Elisa was the only gargoyle in the clan who wore any real kind of underwear.

"He's sent me half a dozen tapes to air whenever WVRN has a special report on the gargoyles," Marshall answered, "I've seen to it that none of them have made it on to the television and all of them have been destroyed. At least all of the ones he's sent me."

"I'm sure the clan will be grateful for your help in…" Owen answered, "… Containing his perversions."

"Don't mention it," Marshall answered back.

"Now what do you want?" Owen asked in still very cold sounding voice.

"I want to report the truth, Mr. Burnett," Marshall replied.

"I'm afraid that Xanatos Enterprises has already answered all the questions that it intends to answer regarding the events that occurred two nights ago," Owen almost growled.

"I'm not looking for an interview with Mr. Xanatos," Marshall answered, "As you said, Xanatos Enterprises won't be taking anymore questions and after what Beqwater but the twenty third precinct through last night, I doubt the NYPD will be taking many more questions."

Owen was silent again for a brief moment.

"I would like to try and see if I could get an interview with one or more of the gargoyles," Marshall spoke up.

"What?" Owen demanded, "You think we know how to get in contact with them?"

"They spend a lot of time at Castle Wyvern," Marshall pointed out, "And don't worry, I have no intention of allowing for any trap. You can even control the situation if you're afraid that someone might try to harm them."

"Why do you want to interview the gargoyles?" Owen questioned.

"Almost half of Beqwater's accusations and assumptions somehow came back to them," Marshall answered, "And he was correct in saying that there has been some rather strange things that have gone on in New York recently, and while for the most part we either ignored it or at least kept it from being sensationalized, that's obviously been blown apart and we need to try and explain it. Since most of the weirdness in this city revolves around the gargoyles in one way or another, they would be the best to interview."

"Why should I believe you?" Owen asked.

"Because one sensible interview, designed to find the truth of things, and not to sensationalize a story, might be the only thing that will take some of this pressure off of your company's back,"Marshall answered.

**That Night**

"He wants to interview us now?" Broadway asked as he looked at wit a rather confused look on his face, "I thought you said that all these reporters were after you?"

Xanatos and Owen exchanged week glances as the clan eyed both of them with some suspicion. It was Xanatos who answered first.

"The vast majority of the reporters have taken a rather accusatory stance toward my company," Xanatos answered, "But Marshall never truly has. Now yes, he's never portrayed me as that great a guy, but he largely referred to actions everyone knows I've committed in the past. He hasn't accused me of anything that he can't prove."

"Ignoring the fact that you actually did commit the crimes that the other reporters have accused you of?" Brooklyn questioned sounding very sarcastic.

"Why does Marshall want to interview us then?" Goliath rumbled, "Why not you or Owen?"

"He said it was to get at the real truth," Owen answered.

"I'd say no," Othello grumbled, "Many humans have secrets that they hold from their own kind. We shouldn't have to reveal all of ours."

"Marshall isn't that bad," Elisa commented, "All reporters can be pushy, but Marshall has never over sensationalized any issue he's reported on. Plus considering what Owen and Xanatos have already told us, I'm afraid we might have let some 'secrets' out just to make sure we don't wake up to have them swarming the castle."

"They could really do that?" Candy asked, "Swarm the castle?"

"If I go bankrupt, yes," Xanatos answered with a chuckle, trying to keep things light.

"Now is not the time for humor," Goliath rumbled, and turned to Owen, "And he told you that we would have control?"

"I would assume you would have control over the safety issues at this interview," Owen answered, "He's promised not to allow anyone to try and kill you, but I believe it will be Mr. Marshall who decides what questions will be asked and questions will not be asked."

"I don't think anyone has full control of what questions they will be asked," Angela commented.

Goliath was silent for a few moments. He remembered his conversation with Elisa from the previous night, and given the present update, it was clear that the media pressure was quickly taking a heavy toll on Xanatos's business, which his clan depended on for its safety.

"It appears that we have no choice," Goliath said slowly, "If we do not give Mr. Marshall his interview, it appears that if the current media pressure on Xanatos, regardless of his the truthfulness of their accusations, we will lose our home."

Goliath then turned directly to Own, "You may inform Mr. Marshall that he can conduct his interview here tomorrow night, shortly after sunset, in the Great Hall, but he is to bring no outside filming crew and it is not to be a 'live' broadcast. And if any police security forces are required, we will only accept Detective Bluestone and his partner."

"Who will film the interview then?" Owen asked.

"I'm sure Xanatos can provide the necessary equipment and the means of operating it," Goliath rumbled.

"Well then," Xanatos commented as he took hold of Owen's shoulder, "It looks like we've got work to do."

Goliath watched them head inside before turning to the rest of his clan.

"I would prefer it if everyone where there," Goliath said in a calm voice, "But if any of you do not wish to be present, I will understand, and as you to say your piece."

No one said anything for a few moments. He was then startled to hear Elisa speak.

"I'll always be at your side, Goliath," Elisa spoke up, "It won't be comfortable for me, but it might be for the best. Get everything out in the open."

"I always wanted to be on TV," Amy shrugged, "Never thought this would be my chance, but a lot of things have happened that I didn't expect."

"As I said last night, we get to tell OUR side of the story," Lexington piped up, "It won't be some 'traumatized' crook who tells the city what we are, it will be us!"

"Might help Amy's folks and PIT then," Brooklyn commented, "Especially if the people are using the Quarrymen as their guide to gargoyles. I don't think they ever considered us sentient."

That brought up a few voices of agreement, as the entire clan either admired or at least respected PIT for trying to help them.

"There's still one question that needs to be answered, though," Angela commented, "What about mother? She and Wedrington should be involved too."

"I do not believe that the Demona would be interested in talking with a human reporter," Goliath answered, "And she, technically, is not a part of our clan. I can not order to do anything."

"But in the case of Elisa, Caroline, Candy, and Amy, who all used to be human, it would helpful if she could explain magic," Angela pointed out, "He's bound to recognize Elisa's voice and will then ask why she's a gargoyle."

"I agree with your point, but I don't think she'd want to," Elisa answered, "Demona and I never got along well, and in most of our meetings, we've fought and she's tried to kill me."

"But the two of you have gotten past that," Angela argued.

"She won't attack me outright anymore," Elisa answered, "But I'd say that she's still very early on the road to recovery from whatever had driven her to become what she became. I just don't think she'd want to."

A voice then cut in from courtyard door that startled everyone.

"I don't," Demona spoke as she and Wedrington entered, "But Wedrington has found your current endeavor to be an opportunity to paint a clearer picture to humanity about gargoyles."

"You'll be there?" Angela asked.

"Because Wedrington thinks it's a good idea," Demona growled, "Nothing more."

"I'm sorry for spying on you," Wedrington spoke up from behind one of Demona's wings, "It's just that I had nothing to do, and with all that excitement that had been going on, I was just curious…"

"It's nothing," Goliath answered, "You apparently talked Demona into coming tomorrow night, which is rather amazing as we had only just begun discussing the subject."

"Wedrington had been following events from when they started," Demona answered, "He persuaded me to agree to go to any interview that you would consent to give. We were mostly waiting until it was decided to give in to the human reporters."

"Hm," Goliath only answered, "Very well then."

**WVRN Station**

The station manager came out of his office to find Travis Marshall drinking from a cup of coffee and smiling to himself. He then checked his watch, wanting to see that Marshall wasn't wasting the station's time.

"Shouldn't you bet getting ready for your show?" the station manager asked.

"I'm more then ready," Marshall answered, "I just thought I'd talk to you about something."

"And that is?" the station manager asked.

"Burnett just called me to say that the gargoyles will give me an interview tomorrow night," Marshall smirked, "And you thought it couldn't be done."

"You've actually got them to give in?" the station manager asked.

"It would appear so," Marshall answered.

"Marvelous," the station manager beamed, "We'll get our exclusive yet, how many SWAT teams will you need to arrest them all?"

"What?" Marshall asked.

"How many officers and SWAT team members will you need to arrest them?" the station manager repeated.

"What have they done that warrants an arrest?" Marshall asked, "As far as I know, they're fed up with the present media attention focused on their home and wish to put an end to it."

"They exist," the station manager answered, "THAT is what warrants their arrest. Their existence is why there is all this media pressure on Xanatos Enterprises and the residents of Castle Wyvern. Everyone knows that."

"Well, then you've just cost us the interview then," Marshall answered, "Burnett told me that they would not consent to any interview that doesn't take place in Castle Wyvern…"

"The police can go there," the station manager interrupted.

"They also will not allow any interview that runs the risk of them being arrested," Marshal finished, "Meaning if I show up with the police, or even a normal camera team, there will be no interview."

"No camera team?" the station manager asked.

"From what Burnett told me, Pack Media Studios will run all the work to make sure the interview is ready to broadcast on a set day," Marshall answered, "But they do not trust anyone at this station besides myself, apparently."

"But Xanatos Owns Pack Media studios," the station manager grumbled.

"Yes, but our station broadcasted the Pack's television series," Marshall pointed out, "They just don't want us editing out the comments they feel would be useful to their cause."

"In other words, they're controlling the interview," the station manager fumed, "I told you they're nothing but monsters! By the freedom of the press we have the right to ask whatever questions we want…"

"But not to alter what they say or orchestrate an arrest," Marshall answered, "They believe that this station would remove large sections of the interview itself before broadcasting it in order to suit certain… personal beliefs."

The station manager was quiet for a few moments.

"According to what Burnett told me, they'll let me as whatever questions I want," Marshall continued, "And if I feel 'frightened' I can bring two police officers for protection, but nothing more then that."

"But they'll let you ask whatever questions you want?" the station manager asked with a defeated sigh.

Marshall nodded.

"Very well," the station manager sighed again, "Get to your show, you're late enough as it is, and when you have your interview, make sure you get some questions that incriminate those flying monsters of SOME sort of crime."

Marshall only ignored him as he walked out.

**Queens**

"Aren't you worried?" Diane asked, "Or at least thinking about us? When you accepted this?"

"Mom, the Quarrymen sent my transformation to the police and ended up on the news when they took over," Elisa sighed, "How many old family friends have asked you about that, either through the mail or on the phone?"

Diane sighed, "Plenty, but this could get you and us in trouble."

"Mom, I think we're to a point where I'm going to have to let it be known who I once was," Elisa said quietly, "You've seen the news right? Everyone is asking about Xanatos Enterprises and about gargoyles. I don't think that Xanatos can shrug this off without taking some serious consequences."

"So you're going to go on television and reveal who and what you are and where?" Diane asked, "To the world. The Quarrymen went after you when you were human. What do you think that people are going to do when you go on television as a gargoyle?"

"I know the risks, mom," Elisa sighed, "But this may be something you all will have to put up with for a day or two, hopefully, and regardless of your opinion, Goliath is going to be there. My place is with him."

"Where is Goliath now?" Peter asked.

"He and Hudson are checking over the major trouble spots that Brode's men targeted in their little uprising that started all this," Elisa answered, "Other then that, the clan has tonight and tomorrow night off."

"And there's nothing we can do to stop you?" Peter asked.

"No," Elisa answered, "I only came to let you know what was going on. Just in case you get mobbed by reporters in a few days."

"All I can say is that I wish you wouldn't do this," Diane told her eldest child.

"I wish I didn't have to," Elisa replied, "But I think it is something that I have to do."

**Castle Wyvern, The Next Evening**

Travis Marshall looked on at the interior architecture of Castle Wyvern as he stepped out of the elevator. Owen was waiting to greet him as he stepped out.

"Good evening Mr. Marshall," Owen said plainly.

"Good evening," Marshall answered, sounding slightly amazed, "It will always amaze me how many floors this building has."

"It was built to keep the castle above the clouds," Owen answered.

"It's done its job," Marshall commented.

Owen only nodded.

"I don't suppose Mr. or Mrs. Xanatos are here?" Marshall asked.

"Mr. Xanatos took his family out to Xanadu for the next few days," Owen answered, "To recuperate from all of the pressure that the media has seen fit to put on Xanatos Enterprises."

"They weren't any easier on you today, were they?" Marshall commented.

"No, they were not," Owen answered, "And our stocks have plummeted as a result."

"Well, hopefully tonight changes all that," Marshall answered, "Is everything ready?"

"Yes, all the necessary equipment is set up in the Great Hall, and the clan should be awake in a few minutes," Owen answered, "If you'll follow me."

"Who will be filming?" Marshall questioned.

"I will," Owen answered.

"I thought you said that a Pack Media Studios crew would take care of all the filming?" Marshall asked in a surprised voice.

"Pack Media Studios will handle any editing you will require done to the tape, but the filming will be my responsibility," Owen answered.

"Ah," Marshall answered as they entered the Great Hall to hear the sound of the gargoyle's awakening roars on the battlements above.

Marshall looked around the room and saw that in general it would do well for an interview. Despite the fairly high roof, or at least as high a roof as castle builders of the early middle ages would build them, sound easily carried, but didn't echo as much as many old stone buildings he had been to had done. There were actually three different cameras set up that were all connected to a small laptop, and he assumed that Mr. Burnett would control the cameras from there. One thing perplexed him however. Other then the chair for Owen to sit in at the small table on which the laptop sat, there was only one chair in the room.

"You're sure that the gargoyles are going to come?" Marshall asked, "There is only one chair."

"The clan generally prefers to stand," Owen answered, "And if they want to sit down, there are some surprises for you that will answer your questions."

Marshall looked back at the blonde haired assistant with a rather confused look on his face but said nothing as the doors to Great Hall opened. He then watched as the clan entered. The first was a large lavender skinned male with a tan female following close behind. Marshall blinked at the sight of the female, as he had a sudden feeling of déjà vu, but didn't say anything at the moment. Following them was a pair of beaked gargoyles, one brick red male and a yellow skinned female. An elderly male gargoyle followed and Marshall silently gasped at the large sword that hung at his belt. A solitary blue female gargoyle followed. Then came a pair of web-winged gargoyles, an olive green male and a pink female.

They were followed by a pair of beast-like gargoyles that were sniffing around and came right up to Marshall. The larger blue male sniffed one of Marshall's hands, which was hanging by his side, while the smaller black female sniffed the other.

"They won't hurt ye," the old male gargoyle spoke with a heavy Scottish accent.

That didn't comfort Marshall much as he moved to watch the rest of the clan enter. Following the two beasts, was an overweight aquamarine male with a lavender female following him. After them came a grayish male with a golden female on his arm. Four gargoyles in a group then followed them. They bore a distinctly different appearance from those that had already entered. All of them bore a closer resemblance to various reptiles then to more 'demon'-like gargoyles that had come in earlier. The first was a red snake-like male. He was followed by a dark blue female. Then there was a turquoise colored female with a jade green male bringing up the rear of the group. Behind them came the last two gargoyles of the group. One was a sky blue female that didn't look like she was in a good mood, and Marshall instantly began to back away.

"You're in no danger, human," the female practically growled.

This didn't help Marshall as he watched a white lion-like gargoyle enter and stand by the female.

"So, you're all going to be here?" Marshall asked carefully.

"Yes," the large lavender male answered, "This is my clan and a few others that reside here."

"There seems to be a lot of you," Marshall commented, "Are you sure you all can stand for an entire hour?"

"We will be comfortable," the large male answered.

Marshall slowly shrugged and sat down.

"You don't mind if I sit?" Marshall asked.

No one complained. The present gargoyles then moved to stand to one side of the chair. Marshall easily noticed that they were all easily visible to each camera that had been set up. Owen raised up his hand in a 'thumb's up' gesture to indicate that they were rolling.

"Good evening," Marshall began, "And welcome to a special addition of Nightwatch. Because of specific security reasons for all the parties involved in this interview, this special addition has been pre-recorded and is not live as it normally is."

Marshall then turned his head to give a quick look toward the gargoyles.

"Tonight I've been given a once in a lifetime opportunity to interview the mysterious gargoyles that have taken residence in our city," Marshall spoke and then motioned to the large male, "May I ask what your name is?"

The male stepped forward slightly, in a manner that showed that he was not entirely used to being on camera and spoke slowly.

"I am called Goliath," the gargoyle spoke.

"Well, then Goliath," Marshall replied as if they had been friends for years, "I don't suppose you could introduce me to the rest of your group here? Could you?"

"Clan," Goliath corrected, "Gargoyles live in clans."

Goliath then proceeded to point to each present gargoyle and identify them. His identification went in the same order in which the gargoyles had entered the room.

"My mate, Elisa," Goliath began slowly and continued on as Marshall sat in silence, "My second in command, Brooklyn, and his mate, Amy. My clan's elder, Hudson. Caroline. My clan's technological and scientific experts, Lexington and Candace…"

"I prefer Candy," Candy spoke up, "It's shorter."

Goliath then continued with his introductions, "the beasts are named Bronx and… Trixie. My daughter Angela and her mate, Broadway. The last two of my clan are my rookery brother and sister, Othello and Desdemona."

"What about the others here?" Marshall asked curious as to why Goliath stopped at the grayish male and golden female.

The red snake-like gargoyle came forward and addressed Marshall directly with a noticeable accent that indicated he was either of Spanish ancestry or was from a native tribe from Latin America.

"I apologize if this surprises you or if we have misled you in any way," the gargoyle spoke, "My name is Zafiro, my clan and I, at present, share this castle with Goliath's clan, but we are originally from Guatemala. I will introduce you to my clan."

Zafiro then turned to the other Guatemalans.

"This is my mate and second in command, Obsidiana," Zafiro introduced, "and my rookery brother and sister Jade and Turquesa."

"What about those two?" Marshall asked and immediately began to look nervous as the sky blue female stepped forward.

"Stop cowering," the sky blue female ordered, "I'm not going to hurt you. I am called Demona and this is my partner Wedrington. Neither Goliath nor Zafiro mentioned us because we do not belong to either clan. We are simply, for the moment, sharing the same home."

"So you're all friends then?" Marshall asked.

"We aren't enemies," Demona answered, "If that is what you wish to know."

"Well, we should get started," Marshall then gave a slightly nervous sigh, "It is an honor to be given a chance to speak with you all and ask you some questions that will hopefully answer those being asked by the average New Yorker."

There was a brief silence before Marshall continued.

"I'm sure you've all seen the report made by Beqwater?" Marshall inquired.

"We actually did not have the opportunity to see that report directly," Goliath answered, still sounding slightly uneasy with the fact that he was being interviewed, "But we were told about it by the Xanatos family. They saw the report that Beqwater gave."

"They told you?" Marshall asked, "Most of the media has been told that you've only taken to sleeping on the battlements. If they told you, that means you've had to have some sort of interaction with the Xanatos family."

Goliath gulped, "We have had fairly friendly interactions with the Xanatos family for the past three years. We have wished that they cover up our residence here because of preconceived notions by the human populace of this city."

"You wouldn't mind my asking what notions?" Marshall inquired.

"That we're demons and monsters," Brooklyn spoke up, "That we're evil."

"My second is referring to the Quarrymen and their ideology," Goliath clarified, "They were founded shortly after humanity discovered that gargoyles are real, and from their very beginning they have urged the destruction of all gargoyles under the presumption that we are all evil and out to 'eat their children'."

"Surely not the entire population of New York thought you were evil," Marshall commented, "What about the people of PIT?"

"PIT supports gargoyles," Amy spoke up, "But they never attracted enough members to keep the Quarrymen from fully voicing their opinion. If twenty people are violently against something and only three are for the same thing, those three aren't going to be able to stop the twenty."

"Ah," Marshall nodded, "So I suppose you have all received a rather bad 'rap' in the past three years thanks to the Quarrymen?"

"Yes," Goliath answered with a sigh.

"So if the Quarrymen presumptions that you are evil are and were wrong, what is true about gargoyles?" Marshall questioned, "If I may ask?"

"Gargoyles are by nature protectors," Goliath rumbled slowly, "We must protect something. Long ago, my clan guarded this castle when it was still in Medieval Scotland. Today we seek to protect this city and all who live here. Humans or gargoyles."

"So your nightly activities, the vigilante work," Marshall surmised, "Is all to protect people?"

"Yes," Goliath rumbled, "All gargoyles must protect something. It is in our nature. Now what a gargoyle defines as what they are protecting defines their behavior, but those that do not protect are considered corrupt or empty."

"Have you ever encountered gargoyles like that?" Marshall questioned.

"Yes," Goliath sighed, "But they have never been the winner in the resulting struggle."

"So good triumphs?" Marshall gave slight smirk and watched as the clan, and even Demona nodded.

Marshall then decided to move back towards his main question that he initially wanted to ask.

"Well, you may not know this, but the Quarrymen did keep extensive files of facts about gargoyles, and since they have revealed to be a dangerous institution to New York's own human population as to yours, they have been arrested and banned by the NYPD, but for the most part their files are considered the ultimate guide on gargoyles," Marshall spoke, "Now given what you've said is the nature of gargoyles it is obvious that several files that the Quarrymen have left have to considered at least questionable, if not out right lies. And the Beqwater report does reveal some startling footage that would show that some of the Quarrymen's fact files are also false, and these files did not relate to what we have already talked about."

"I assume you mean the footage that was captured of me and my clan battling with those criminals in the daytime?" Zafiro interrupted.

"Yes," Marshall sighed, "According to the Quarrymen's files, gargoyles are stone during the day. Yet that footage showed that your battle was during the day time hours. Now this merely a curiosity compared to some of the questions that Beqwater's report raised, but given that you are gargoyles, I assume this is one that you can easily answer."

"Generally speaking, every gargoyle must sleep in stone hibernation between dawn and dusk," Goliath answered, "But Zafiro's clan has a method of avoiding that transformation."

"Our clan was once protected by the Ancient Maya in the lands that are now part of Guatemala," Zafiro explained, "There, when the Maya were still strong, a shaman created four jeweled pendants that allow us remain in our flesh and blood forms, even in the day time."

"How do they do that?" Marshall asked, "Do they somehow reflect sunlight off of you?"

"They work through what you would call sorcery," Zafiro answered, "They are magical devices."

"Magic?" Marshall questioned, "You can't seriously expect me to believe magic is real."

"It is very real, Mr. Marshall," Elisa spoke in a clear voice.

Marshall practically lost it.

"You're… you're…" Marshall gasped.

"Yes," Elisa gave an apologetic smile, "I'm Elisa Maza, and the footage that the Quarrymen released of me turning into a gargoyle was not faked. I really did turn into a gargoyle. That was part of the reason why I got fired."

"So you really were a gargoyle all along?" Marshall asked.

"No," Elisa shook her head, "I was born human. What happened on that night was part of a plot by the Quarrymen. They employed a HUMAN sorcerer to turn me into a gargoyle in order to help them gain control of the city."

"A human did this to you?" Marshall asked.

"Yes," Elisa answered, "And a very evil human at that."

"And you say he used magic to change you?" Marshall asked, "Are you sure that there wasn't some sort of scientific formula involved?"

Demona from where she was standing raised one hand and chanted in Latin. When she was finished, there was a brief flash of green light and Marshall found himself holding a bouquet of roses, with all of the thorns carefully clipped off.

"I trust you believe her now when she says it was done by magic," Demona answered, "It is quite real."

"So can you return the detective to her proper form?" Marshall asked.

Demona and Elisa shared a short glance, as if gauging as to what the other was going to say.

"Unfortunately, I can not," Demona answered, "Magic has its laws, just as science does. Such as, anything that I could make appear would have to come from somewhere. Either the molecules in the air would be changed and reorganized or some other material would be teleported to the spell caster and altered either in route or on the instant of arrival. Certain spells are designed to last until a certain condition, which could be met by scientific means, occurs. Certain spells are designed to simply wear off over time. Certain spells are technically permanent, but there is a counter spell to them that would reverse the effects of the first spell. And there are some spells that are truly permanent and either have no counter spell, or the spell's original counter spell has been destroyed or the wording lost."

"So thanks to the human sorcerer, you're as you are now, forever?" Marshall asked.

"Yes," Elisa sighed, "I actually didn't want to have to reveal all this, but if it helps people believe that the world they live in is much more then what they know, then I will do what I can to get people to accept and realize the truth."

"I'm sure your story and Ms. Demona's explanation and demonstration will prove that magic does in fact exist," Marshall answered, "And that is the explanation for why your clan was awake during the day? A Mayan Shaman's spell?"

"A spell cast on these pendants that we wear, yes," Obsidiana spoke.

Marshall nodded and turned back to Elisa and asked, "I'm afraid to ask, but are there any more among you that used to be human?"

Elisa gulped and then watched as Amy, Candy and Caroline stepped forward. Marshall's eyes bugged out of his head.

"They were my fault, I'm afraid," Demona spoke with a sigh, "I was researching the spell that the human had used on the detective in an effort to see if there was a counter spell to the one he cast on her. Unfortunately I failed, and the backlash of my failure resulted in their transformation."

"It was an accident?" Marshall asked.

"Yes," Demona answered.

"Our families and friends also know that we've been transformed," Caroline spoke out, "They hold no grudge and the copies of the spell that we had have been destroyed."

"Are there others that you don't have?" Marshall asked.

"It is possible, but unlikely," Demona answered, "I am the only one that has any real magic talent and I can not sense another copy of the spell or at least the spell book that it came from. No one else will be transformed into a gargoyle and I am deeply sorry for what happened to these three."

Marshall slowly nodded and decided to move on. Owen had already answered all the questions in regards to the robots and the police had largely given answers that didn't implicate the clan.

"Now, recently the wolf-like creature with wings was said to be a gargoyle," Marshall commented, "Can you confirm that? Was that thing a gargoyle?"

"Yes," Goliath answered simply.

"But it doesn't have a tail," Marshall commented.

"Not all gargoyles have tails, or at least not all gargoyles have the same type of tail," Candy spoke up, "In fact, no two gargoyles will ever look exactly alike. Lexington and I have webbed wings, while the others have separate wings on their back."

"I'm even an example of the fact that not all tails are alike," Caroline commented as she shifted her dragon-like tail to show the raised scales and spaded tip."

"The 'creature' was nothing more then a gargoyle that did not have a tail," Candy explained, "And if the notion that 'all gargoyles have tails' came from the Quarrymen files, it is another instance of why humanity should not use racist hate groups as official scientific research."

Marshall nodded, "Well, the Quarrymen weren't used for research, but they were the only ones to keep records about gargoyle behavior and appearance. So their files, however wrong they may be, have been the only thing that we have for information on gargoyles."

"Hopefully that will soon change," Lexington commented, "Candy and I have been working on a book to try and explain everything about gargoyles from scientific point of view. That way gargoyles are much more understandable."

"A book!" Marshall exclaimed, "Most amazing, and if people believe that a gargoyle wrote it, it would prove most of the stories the Quarrymen have spread to be wrong."

"That's what we're hoping," Candy nodded.

"When do you think you'll be ready to publish it?" Marshall inquired.

"Hopefully in a few years," Candy answered, "We've been writing the book by experience and there are a few things that Lex and I haven't experienced yet."

"Such as?" Marshall inquired, "If I may ask?"

Both web-winged gargoyles were silent and Marshall was fairly certain he could see the female blushing.

"We would prefer to keep that a secret for now," Lex spoke up.

"Very well," Marshall answered, "I think this largely covers everything that has blown up in the past few days and then even a few mysteries that were never truly confirmed. Thank you for watching Nightwatch."

Owen then motioned that the cameras had been turned off.

"Thank you for giving me this opportunity," Marshall spoke to Goliath, "It has truly been a once in a lifetime shot."

"Hopefully it takes some of the media pressure off of Xanatos Enterprises," Goliath rumbled.

"Hopefully it will," Marshall answered and moved toward Owen who was removing a CD from the laptop he had been working at, "We'll need to edit out Detective Maza's discussion of her transformation and the revelation that three other females are also transformed humans. Leave in Demona's demonstration and explanation of magic, but the transformed humans bit has to go. It will only raise more questions that wouldn't be good for them."

Owen silently nodded. Marshall, meanwhile, looked down at his feet.

"My reaction to all of that wasn't all that professional either, which might lead to reactions that aren't intended," Marshall sighed.

It took several hours before Owen finally returned, to find Goliath and Xanatos waiting for him.

"Everything that we can do, has been done," Owen reported, "We edited out the small portions where Elisa talked about her transformation and the explanation that Demona gave to explain why Caroline, Amy, and Candy were transformed, but we left Demona's explanation of magic in. Although we had to digitally alter some of the things that were said in order to make the explanation work without raising other questions."

"This is not what I agreed to," Goliath growled in a low voice.

"Would you rather have raised more questions, requiring a second interview?" Owen asked, "While I have now doubt that the story of the Detective's transformation will probably have to be told sooner or later, while Thailog has a copy of that transformation spell, it would not be wise to reveal that information now."

"But all the questions that Beqwater unleashed have been answered?" Xanatos questioned.

"Mr. Marshall believes so," Owen answered.

**Three Days Later**

Xanatos sat quietly eating his breakfast as the morning sunlight came through Castle Wyvern's windows. A small television was on and a local news program was voicing its own opinion section.

"The historic interview by WVRN's Travis Marshall has sparked interesting debate over the city's gargoyle issue," the reporter spoke, "While groups like PIT have called it a victory and the PIT organization is looking to have increased membership for the near future, there are still some powerful opinions that the interview was both staged and false."

Xanatos sighed and took another bite of his breakfast.

"Regardless of that, the interview has seemingly made many of the rather invasive questions of Xanatos Enterprises disappear," the reporter continued, "as most of them involved the gargoyles in one way or another. Which means that thankfully, things are returning to normal, for now."

Xanatos smiled as he turned the television off.

**The End**


	34. Surprises

All characters appearing in Gargoyles and Gargoyles: The Goliath Chronicles are copyrighted to Buena Vista Television/The Walt Disney Company. I've taken the idea for the Unseelie Court from the TGS. Characters and concepts from Star Trek are property of Paramount and created by Gene Roddenberry. No infringement of these copyrights is intended, and is not authorized by the copyright holder. All original characters are the property of SN.

Note: I'm disregarding the events of the "Goliath Chronicles", with the exception of "The Journey" because I do not wish to use the rest of the "Goliath Chronicles" as canon to my story. Also, I am altering large sections of the Star Trek storyline, especially concerning events like WWIII and the Eugenics Wars, which without the Cold War as a backdrop probably wouldn't happen the way Roddenberry wrote them, if at all. This story takes place one week after "Interview with the Gargoyles".

Surprises

By SN/TVfan

Email: Sam_Nary 

**Hoboken, New Jersey**

"Such a large city," Fang Shui commented as he and the monks looked over the skyline of New York City, "I've never seen such a city before."

"Only because we did not travel over Tokyo," Yama commented, "But this city does remind me of home."

"You're certain that that is New York City?" Je Lu commented, "According to the map there are many big cities in America. I am rather surprised that we managed to miss them."

"That is because I lead us on a path that would avoid these large cities," Yoshi commented, "From what you have told Yama and I about these 'supermen', I doubt that they don't have the means of finding us."

"You think they are hunting us?" Shi La asked.

"I do not know," Yoshi answered, "but I must assume that they have the capability. And given the news scare that went on when Goliath's clan was discovered in Manhattan, I believe that most people in the big cities would be all too willing to both report us and help these 'supermen'."

"What about Goliath's clan?" Yama asked curiously.

"You don't know?" Yoshi asked the 'exiled' gargoyle.

"I have not had time to watch television during my exile," Yama answered.

"We would also like to hear more about this 'Goliath' and his clan," another Chinese gargoyle spoke up, "Perhaps he can help us find Demona."

"Whether or not he can help us find this 'Demona' is unknown to us," Yama answered, "Goliath and a party of friends visited Ishimura and were involved in preventing a profit minded businessmen from exploiting our clan. It was during this time that I had to go into exile. The businessman had deceived me into thinking that he was helping my clan, so I helped him. Once he was defeated, Goliath and his friends left and I was exiled."

"From what he told us during his visit," Yoshi continued, "Goliath is the leader of the clan that resides here, which is why we should look to him for help. As to the news reports, well that took place shortly after they left Ishimura."

"What happened?" Fang Shui asked curiously.

"The information is rather limited, as most Japanese news programs will not cover many small stories in other countries, and while this story was apparently very big in the US and possibly the rest of the English speaking world, it made little impact in Japan," Yoshi said slowly, "According to what Kai and I saw on our news, apparently Goliath's clan was involved in some sort of attack on a police station and a church. They were then hounded by some group called the 'Quarrymen', although both Kai and Sora were certain that there had to have been a mistake."

"That can not be the whole story," Yama commented, "Goliath and his friends were quite honorable. I doubt he would have just attacked someone."

"And perhaps we'll get the whole story once we contact him," Yoshi commented, "That is if we can find him."

"You mean you don't know where his clan lives?" Je Lu asked, sounding both frustrated and depressed.

"As with what Demona told you," Yoshi replied, "Goliath only told us that his clan lives in New York, but he did not specify which part of New York."

"And even if he did, this is our first time in the city," Yama added, "We wouldn't necessarily know where a specific 'home' for his clan is."

"We'll need a plan to look around then," Shi La commented to her mate.

Je Lu nodded, "We will have to split up and search various parts of the city. Should we run into any gargoyle there, hopefully Coyote's spell will enable us to understand them and we can enquire as to where Goliath is."

Je Lu then turned to the monks and older and younger members of his clan.

"You will all remain here," Je Lu told them, "Once our search groups have found Goliath or at least where his clan resides, we will come back to take you there."

Unfortunately for them, their conversation was not unnoticed. Several blocks away, on the roof of a different building a man with a pair of binoculars and a high tech listening device watched the discussion going on between the Chinese gargoyles, monks, and two Japanese gargoyles. He slowly lowered his binoculars and then picked up a cellphone and dialed a number.

"Yes," a voice answered on the other end of the line.

"Mr. Duval," the man answered, "I believe we have a situation."

"And that is?" Duval answered over the phone.

"I have witnessed a group of gargoyles and humans of Asiatic origin, speaking of contacting Goliath's clan," the man reported.

"Interesting," Duval commented, "I was not aware that gargoyles still existed in the Orient. They are quite a rare species globally."

"They've also mentioned something about Demona," the man continued.

"They know Demona?" Duval demanded.

"Apparently," the man answered, "They also seem to know about our supermen."

"They know of our supermen?" Duval asked, sounding surprised.

"Yes," the man nodded, "They mentioned something about the supermen 'hunting' them."

"And you said they are Asiatic?" Duval asked.

"Yes, sir," the man nodded.

"Keep and eye on them," Duval answered, "I must report to the Council."

**Hotel Cabal**

Duval then hung up his phone and pressed a button to contact him with the Council. Four's hooded face appeared on a nearby screen and Duval quickly turned to face the Council member's image.

"Yes?" Four asked as he looked on.

"I've recently received a report that might be to the Council's interest," Duval spoke in a calm voice, "A group of Asiatic gargoyles have arrived in the city and are seeking contact with both Goliath's clan and with Demona."

"How large a group?" Four questioned.

"I would assume the size of a fairly healthy clan as they also have a small group of humans with them," Duval answered.

"Interesting," Four commented, "Almost all Illuminati records show that the last oriental gargoyles were killed at Nagasaki in 1945."

"Yes," Duval answered, "We will continue to monitor them for that reason alone, but there is another thing that is much more serious."

"There is something more serious about all of this?" Four asked.

"Yes," Duval nodded, "I believe they are connected with the insurgency in Tibet."

"WHAT?!" Four gasped in surprise.

"They know of our supermen and believe that they are being hunted by our supermen," Duval answered, "I believe they are connected to the group that attacked the Tibet facility."

"You're sure?" Four asked.

"Khan talked about being sent out after some attacking force," Duval answered, "The only ones who have the physical strength to battle with our supermen are the supernatural creatures of this world, and the only ones that are sentient enough to create a coordinated plan would be the gargoyle race."

"It still doesn't seem likely," Four commented, sounding skeptical, "Gargoyles are generally defensive creatures. The Manhattan/Wyvern clan protects New York. The London Clan protectsLondon, even though their activities now collide with our interests."

"A gargoyle can define what it protects rather selectively," Duval reminded his superior, "Demona is proof of that, and she is one of the gargoyles they wish to contact."

Four's eyes widened with realization.

"That must be why she's at the Eyrie Building," Four spoke, "She's part of some conspiracy to destroy the Illuminati. That has to be it."

"Should I issue orders to Xanatos?" Duval asked.

"No," Four shook his head, "Xanatos should be best kept in the dark about this. I largely doubt that either he or Goliath's clan is directly involved in this. But you will make an effort to capture these Asiatic gargoyles. They will tell us what Demona's plans are."

"Of course, sir," Duval answered, "It will be done."

**Castle Wyvern**

"Here's the book you said you wanted," Wedrington said politely as he handed a leather bound book to Demona as the two sat in one section of the castle's library.

Demona looked up from the notes she had taken and slowly took the book from him and set it beside her notes.

"Thank you, although, you are free to explore the castle if you wish," Demona answered, "I doubt that either Goliath or Xanatos would have too much to complain about it. You don't have to remain in the library with me."

"I don't mind," Wedrington said as he sat down, "I'm largely curious to see if your overall plan will work."

"To create a shield that will prevent all gargoyles from being shattered during the day?" Demona sighed, "I'm beginning to doubt if that will work. I can generate spells that can create shields, but none that will last all day, and I haven't found a way that would allow the shields to renew itself the next day."

"You've gone through half of the relevant texts in Xanatos's library," Wedrington commented.

"And most of what remains are less likely to be as helpful then what I've looked through already," Demona sighed sounding defeated, "And it would be such a simple spell if I could figure out a way to make it work."

"Maybe it's not something that can work," Wedrington spoke up weakly.

"What?" Demona growled, "This spell could be the only thing that truly saves my race! Saves you! Do you want to die or something?"

"Everyone will die eventually, Demona," Wedrington said slowly, "It's part of life."

There was an awkward silence for a moment before Wedrington began speaking again.

"It was a good idea," Wedrington continued, weakly, "but you've been wearing yourself out with all of this. And, that can't be good for you."

"I'll survive," Demona answered, "I always survive. If I can figure this out, then no gargoyle will ever have to worry about being smashed during the day, and I won't lose another that I… that I… that I love."

Wedrington sighed and wondered if his life was beginning to mirror daytime soap operas. He and the immortal female were in the early stages of what could be a fairly serious relationship, and both excited him and frightened him at the same time. Instincts were driving him to remain close to her and while he had to admit that his mind was attracted to her as well, it was still curious about a lot of things. Largely about what he would do as a gargoyle now and about Demona's past.

"You love me?" Wedrington asked, off guard with nothing else to say.

Demona looked down embarrassed.

"It is something I never thought I could do again," Demona then said slowly, "That's why I can't lose you. I refuse let you get killed."

"Even if it means killing yourself with all this research?" Wedrington asked, "There's got to be something else that both of us can do. We could help the others. We could at least go outside every once and a while. Anything that wouldn't make you feel so depressed."

"But I know I can protect my race, protect you," Demona argued.

"It will take quite a large amount of time," Wedrington answered, "Probably longer then will be in the present clan's lifespan… and there is always the possibility that the spell will never be needed."

"Not likely," Demona gave a heavy sigh, "There are too few humans that would treat a gargoyle the way a gargoyle should be treated. They only like what is like them."

"There has to be more hope then that out there," Wedrington told her, "I mean, no one's attacked New Olympus, and they don't have a human population at all."

"Only because their representative to the human world is a robot and that they have their own little island," Demona answered, "Plus the fact, Greece has declared New Olympus to be a Greek Protectorate, and its allies won't attack it and any possible NATO enemies won't attack for fear of a larger war."

"You shouldn't be so pessimistic," Wedrington told her, "Hope is a very powerful thing. There has to be a bright side."

"I've seen too much to think there is much to hope for," Demona answered.

"Then let me show you that there is hope," Wedrington urged, placing a hand on hers, "Let's do something other then sit here all night."

Demona looked at him for a moment and sighed, "Fine. Perhaps a little time off would allow me to approach this with a clearer head later."

"So what shall we do?" Wedrington asked.

"I suppose…" Demona began slowly, "I think we should talk. Largely… largely about us. I am not known for being entirely sociable. You know that."

"Is this to formally establish the rules or…?" Wedrington asked.

"To let you know what you'll be getting into," Demona answered.

**Over Manhattan**

The trio slowly made their way up the east side of the city, each looking rather bored as the past several nights had been rather quiet. There was still some talk and questions about the interview that the clan had allowed, but the worst of the earlier problems were gone, and most of the ones that remained from that incident were more of an annoyance rather then a problem.

"Is there anything going on that you can see?" Lexington asked as they rounded a building that was taller then many of the others in the area.

"Nothing," Broadway sighed, "It's like no one has anything to do right now."

"They're probably planning something," Brooklyn commented as they landed on the roof a nearby apartment building, "So, what's our count for tonight?"

"I think we got two muggers, one attempted burglar, and…" Lex began, "I think that's about it."

"I think someone was following us to," Broadway commented, "but I'm not sure for what reason."

"Following us?" Brooklyn asked.

"Sorta like we're entertainment," Broadway answered, "I just felt that someone had their eyes on us all night."

"Great," Brooklyn half groaned, "We give one interview, and now we got people thinking we're Letterman."

"Don't worry," Lex offered, "We all think your jokes are funnier."

Brooklyn shook his head when the sound of wing beats suddenly drew his attention to the sky. He looked up to see two creatures that largely resembled drawings of Chinese dragons he had seen in Chinatown. He then looked at Lex and Broadway who appeared to be equally surprised.

"Uh, hello?" Brooklyn offered as the two Chinese gargoyles stood before them, apparently studying them.

The first Chinese gargoyle then slowly approached Broadway with a keen look of interest.

"Are you called 'Goliath'?" the gargoyle asked in a very honest voice and was surprised by the answer he received.

Both Brooklyn and Lex began to chuckle a little bit, and Broadway soon became annoyed by their laughter.

"Have I said something wrong?" the Chinese gargoyle asked, sounding confused.

"My name is Broadway, actually," Broadway answered after a few moments, "You must forgive my brothers, they have a rather loose sense of humor."

"Do you know a gargoyle called 'Goliath'?" the other Chinese gargoyle asked.

"He leads our clan," Lex told the two Chinese gargoyles, "How do you know of him? Or at least know his name?"

"It is imperative that we speak with this 'Goliath'," the first Chinese gargoyle spoke firmly, "Please tell us where he is."

Lex looked to Brooklyn and Broadway for a moment as all three of them looked rather confused about all of this.

"Why?" Lex asked.

"Please tell us where he is," the second Chinese gargoyle urged.

"Our patrols are all getting ready to end for the night," Brooklyn spoke up, "He's probably on his way back to our home. Could you tell us why you need to speak with him?"

"Our mission is of great importance," the first Chinese gargoyle replied, "We would prefer not to tell our story twice, in order to save time. Now where is your home? We assure you that we are not enemies of your clan."

"We're on our way back there now," Brooklyn offered, "We could lead you there."

"Simple directions will be fine," the second Chinese gargoyle answered, "Our party overall is fairly large and spread out. We would only have to leave your home immediately."

The trio glanced at each other again before Brooklyn gave a shrug and turned to point in the direction of the Eyrie Building, which was, thankfully, not obscured by any clouds.

"We live in the castle at the top of that building there," Brooklyn explained as he pointed, "We were just on our way back there."

Both Chinese gargoyles quickly bowed and said 'thank you' and then began gliding away in a totally different direction. The trio only watched them leave with very confused looks on their faces.

"Do you know what that was all about?" Broadway asked as they prepared to resume their route home.

"Not a clue," Brooklyn answered, "Good to see there are more gargoyles out there, but totally weird that they knew about Goliath."

"Funny that they thought you were Goliath," Lex chuckled to Broadway poking him in the stomach.

"Very funny," Broadway answered, "Very funny. When we see them next, should I tell them your name is Einstein?"

"Hey, he was a genius," Lex answered.

"Let's just get back to the castle," Brooklyn sighed, "I have a funny feeling that Goliath will want to know about this."

**Hoboken, New Jersey**

Fang Shui paced silently on the roof of the building that the Chinese clan had originally gathered on. None had returned yet with any news about finding out where Goliath's clan lived or finding where Demona lived. This made him feel somewhat nervous, largely because while the city lights that twinkled across the river from him were the lights of a very large city, the Chinese clan had been relatively healthy and they had split up into teams before heading into the city. One or more of the groups surely had to run into someone in the large city.

He turned to see that the clan's elders and a few other monks were busy keeping the clan's younger generation occupied. He sighed and then turned his gaze back to the city.

"Troubles, Fang?" another monk asked him.

Fang Shui looked to see which monk had asked him the question and then sighed.

"I would have thought that they would be back by now," Fang Shui commented, "I hope nothing has happened to our friends."

"Do not worry," the other monk answered, "This city is very big, and we can only see one edge from here. We do not know how many square miles it covers."

"I hope you're right," Fang Shui replied with a short nod.

The conversation quickly ended with a sudden bang as the door to the roof was blown off of its hinges and flew over the edge of the roof that was opposite it. Fang Shui turned to see several men, dressed in black commando gear run through the opening made by the explosion and point strange looking weapons at him and at the present gargoyles.

"Get on the ground!" the lead commando screamed.

"Supermen!" one of the elder Chinese gargoyles growled and stepped forward to put themselves between the commandos and the younger gargoyles.

The lead commando then fired his weapon, and Fang Shui watched as what appeared to be a bolt of lightning shoot out and knock the elder gargoyle to the ground. Some of the other older members of the Chinese clan then rushed forward, but were knocked out by the strange weapons that these commandos employed. One managed to land a blow on of the commandos, but he was quickly knocked out by another.

The result of all this was chaos. One or two monks had been knocked out in the initial barrage of electricity blasts from the commandos. The younger gargoyles were screaming at the sight of their elders being knocked out. Fang Shui moved forward towards the commandos.

"Please stop this!" Fang Shui spoke, "We've done nothing to you."

"Shut up," the commando growled back and swung his fist, catching Fang Shui upside his head.

The blow hit the leader of the monks rather hard and knocked him to the ground. He blacked out to the sound of more screams and the sound of the commandos' strange guns being fired.

Je Lu felt somewhat optimistic as he returned with the rest of the Chinese clan to area where he had left the clan's elders, hatchlings and younger generations, and of course Fang Shui and the monks. Two members of his clan had come across a group of Goliath's clan and had learned the location of their home. Looking back toward the city, it was a home that would be rather hard to miss. The Eyrie Building stood out as the tallest building in the city. His optimism, however, was dashed as they landed on the roof of the building that they had left earlier in the night.

"What happened here?" Je Lu gasped as he looked at the scene in front of him.

The rooftop was deserted and it looked as if the rooftop had been blown off. Yama and Yoshi took a closer look at a few scorch marks that were on the rooftop itself.

"What is it?" Shi La asked from behind her mate.

"I believe that someone has attacked the building," Yama answered, "Possibly quite recently."

"They can't be dead!" one of the others said firmly, almost as if in denial.

"I didn't say that," Yama answered, "But it is a possibility. There is no one here, and we didn't see the attack."

"You're certain that the building was attacked?" Je Lu asked.

"It had to be attacked," Yoshi replied, "These burn marks were not here when we left. The door to the roof was on its hinges when we left, and since no one is here and the fact that no one came to meet us is enough to say that the building was attacked."

Je Lu looked to the raised structure that lead to the building below them and noticed a piece of paper nailed to the structure. He and Yama approached the paper at the same time. On it was a note written in both Chinese and Japanese. The note read: bring the Manhattan clan to Staten Island if you wish to see your friends again by tomorrow night. The note was unsigned, leaving only an insignia, which was a pyramid inside a circle, with an eye inside the pyramid.

"Who could have written this?" Je Lu questioned, "There is no name."

"I don't know," Yama answered, "But whoever wrote this, he apparently wants both us and the Manhattan clan to show up at this 'Staten Island' tomorrow night."

"By tomorrow night," Yoshi corrected, "Which means if we don't show up by tomorrow night, it is quite possible that these people will kill the others."

"What should we do now?" another member of the Chinese clan asked.

"We'd best make our way to the 'Eyrie Building'," Je Lu answered, "If they want the Manhattan Clan as well, we will have to show up there and let them know what has happened. This in addition to the supermen's attack on our home in Tibet."

"Can they help us?" a different Chinese gargoyle, a female, asked.

"I sincerely hope so," Je Lu sighed.

**Hotel Cabal**

Duval punched an audio button that would allow him to answer the room's phone as he continued to monitor various situations in the Hotel Cabal's control room.

"Duval here," Duval answered.

"This is Isaac, sir," came the voice from the other end of the line, "We have completed our mission."

"Excellent," Duval answered, "Where are you now?"

"We are on our way to the Staten Island base," Isaac answered, "May I ask why were' hiding a group of apparently Tibetan monks and dragon-like gargoyles in a dump?"

"Gargoyles are powerful creatures and I do not wish the Hotel Cabal to suffer damage in the battle that is to come," Duval answered.

"I trust the weapons are being delivered?" Isaac asked.

"Yes, they will arrive sometime tomorrow afternoon," Duval replied, "I trust you remember your training?"

"Of course, sir," Isaac answered.

**Central Park**

Demona and Wedrington set down in a rather secluded part of Central Park, at least as secluded as a place like New York City could be.

"It's a nice night tonight," Wedrington commented, "Not a cloud in the sky."

"Yes," Demona nodded, "Although, that's not why we're here."

Wedrington nodded in agreement.

"You know my past, Wedrington," Demona began, "I have not done 'nice' things and many of them have also been quite cruel."

"That's why I'm trying to get you to see things differently," Wedrington answered, "Show you that humanity is neither evil nor out to get everybody. At least not at its heart."

"And your company is actually one of the things I've come to enjoy," Demona answered, "being alone for so long is not necessarily a good thing, but that isn't going to change my reputation."

"Reputations can be changed," Wedrington answered, "And from what I've see of your past, you gave little thought to actually trying to explain yourself when you established your reputation. It will take time and it should be clan's opinion that matters."

"And if they look down on you because of what I've done?" Demona questioned.

"If they judge me because of your past, then I would have to question their judgment," Wedrington answered, "I will say that their past concerns are valid, but I would like to believe I'm making real progress in getting you to see the error of your ways."

"This will not be easy," Demona told him.

"Who said life ever was?" Wedrington replied, "Getting to where I was when we first met took long and hard work, and since then I've been turned into some kind of anthromorphic lion by a fey out to conquer the world and then into a gargoyle by another gargoyle trying master magic. Nothing necessarily easy in that. You may not have the cleanest of records, but I believe you're coming along nicely and are moving away from what you once were. We'll face any challenge together."

Demona then did something that she though she'd never be able to do, give an honest smile.

"Thank you, Wedrington," Demona spoke slowly, almost as if she had difficulty saying the words, "I thank you for being so understanding."

"Don't mention it," Wedrington replied and then began to walk along the path, "Let's walk a little bit. Enjoy the night."

Demona nodded and followed.

**Castle Wyvern**

"And you have no idea who they were?" Goliath rumbled as Brooklyn finished his report.

"Other then that they were dragon-like and wanted to meet with you," Brooklyn sighed, "Not a clue. I don't even know how they knew you. Did you meet any dragon-like gargoyles somewhere?"

"No, we did not," Goliath answered, "This is most strange."

"So what do we do?" Brooklyn asked.

Goliath shook his head and looked down.

"Most of the clan has already completed its patrols," Goliath answered, "It wouldn't be fair to send them out again after their job is done, and you said they weren't aggressive?"

"They were aggressive about finding you, but it didn't seem to me that they wanted to start a fight," Brooklyn replied, "If that's what you mean."

Goliath nodded, "Whatever has happened must be important. Did you tell them where we live?"

Brooklyn nodded, "They way they were questioning me, I don't think they would have accepted a negotiated middle ground. I think we can trust them not to attack us though."

Goliath nodded again, "We will just have to wait for them then. If their message is that important, they'll come to us."

Brooklyn nodded and then began to move toward the clan's section of the castle. Hudson then moved to speak with the Manhattan leader.

"What will ye do when they ask for help lad?" Hudson questioned, "Unless they live close by, I doubt we can go and help defend their home, at least not effectively."

"I do not know," Goliath sighed, "We could offer to let them remain in Manhattan with our clan, as the Guatemalans have done. I'm Xanatos could afford it, but…"

"That doesn't mean they may want to stay here," Hudson finished with a nod, "This is all most strange. From what I remember of our time, there were few if any other clans that existed outside of our own, at least that we knew of."

"We rarely if ever left the area around the castle," Goliath commented, "The distances we cover to protect this city are much greater then protecting the castle when it was in Scotland."

"Aye," Hudson nodded, "but it is still strange. The gargoyles show up out of nowhere and ask to know you, yet you don't them. That never happened back when we still lived in Scotland, and it's not because of ye were the only one with a name, back then."

"Yes," Goliath nodded, "Strange that they know my name, but I'm sure there is a reasonable explanation."

It was at that moment that there came a great commotion from above them, and they looked up to see a large group of gargoyles landed in front of the past and present leaders of the Manhattan Clan. As Brooklyn had described his report, they resembled dragons that were painted on shop windows in Chinatown. One male slowly moved forward.

"Do you know a gargoyle named Goliath?" the Chinese leader asked in a calm voice, not wanting to repeat what his brothers had reported was the reaction by the three other members of theManhattan clan.

"I am Goliath," Goliath rumbled in a low voice, "Do we know you?"

He was then surprised by a familiar voice that spoke out from the crowd.

"The Chinese gargoyles do not know you," the voice spoke, "But I know you."

Goliath then watched as two Japanese gargoyles emerged from the crowd of dragon-like Chinese gargoyles. One was a yellow skinned male that Goliath couldn't remember the name to, but the other, was a grayish male that Goliath easily remembered.

"Yama," Goliath spoke slowly.

"Yes," Yama nodded, "It is me. I must again apologize for my dishonorable behavior when you visited Ishimura."

"You need not repeat it," Goliath rumbled, "You didn't intend to what actually happened to happen. What brings you here? And who are your compatriots?"

"It is a long story on both issues," the apparent leader of the Chinese leader spoke, "You must gather you clan and take us to a place called Staten Island. We must rescue the others."

This gathered Goliath and Hudson's attention. The fact that there where others and that there was trouble was both big shocks, considering how quiet their patrols had been.

"There are others?" Goliath asked, "And what sort of trouble?"

The yellow male handed Goliath a small note and gave a polite bow. On the note was written words in Japanese and Chinese characters, which Goliath could not understand.

"My name is Yoshi," the yellow gargoyle spoke, "The note is a ransom note. Some one has kidnapped the rest of the Chinese clan and taken them to this 'Staten Island'. It says that if we are to see them alive again, we must bring your clan there."

"Is there any set time that you have?" Goliath asked.

"The note says that if we do not show up tomorrow night the kidnappers will kill them," Yoshi explained, guessing that Goliath couldn't read the characters on the note, which confused him, as he seemed to do fine when he and his companions visited Ishimura.

"Then we should conduct the rescue tomorrow night," Goliath rumbled in a low voice, "Dawn is not too terribly far away, and I and my clan know little of why you are here."

"It is imperative that we rescue my clan members," the Chinese leader insisted, "I can not let them die!"

"And we will not allow them to die either," Goliath answered, "But the symbol at the end is the insignia of the Illuminati Society. If they are the ones who kidnapped your clan members then we must be cautious. They have both the funds and means to make the fight last longer then you might expect and could actually kill you. Since we are not too terribly far away from dawn, it would be wiser to wait until tomorrow night when we have an entire night to deal with this problem."

"But…" the Chinese leader began.

"He is right, Je Lu," a female Chinese gargoyle spoke to the leader, "Let us go inside and talk. I'm sure they still have lots of questions that would help them to help us."

Je Lu slowly nodded and let Goliath and Hudson lead the Chinese gargoyles inside. Goliath slowly led them into a large room in the clan's section of the castle and let Je Lu get his clan together in one group. A few of them took seats in some of the chairs that had been arranged in a semi-circle.

"Now, I would like to begin with some basic introductions and get some background information," Goliath began.

"Where are the other members of your clan?" Yoshi asked, "You had a lavender female and a beast with you when you arrived in Ishimura, and according to Gung Ho and Yao your clan has at least three other males. Shouldn't they be here?"

"It appears that this is to be an official conference," Hudson commented to Goliath as the lavender male looked back at his old mentor.

"Most of them are probably attending to private matters at the moment," Goliath answered, "Is it necessary that my entire clan be here?"

"We would prefer not to have our story repeated," Je Lu replied, "It would save us all time, which apparently will be very important."

"Very well then," Goliath sighed, "It will take a little while to gather everyone. Please wait here."

Goliath and Hudson both moved to go and gather the rest of the clan when Goliath looked back to see Yama and Yoshi. He then turned back around to face the two Japanese gargoyles.

"Yama, Yoshi, there have been some… changes that have occurred since my visit to Ishimura which you will probably find to be rather startling," Goliath explained, "Please do not be alarmed."

Goliath then left with Hudson, leaving the rest of the Chinese clan to look to Yama and Yoshi, who were glancing at each other.

"What was that?" Shi La asked.

"I do not know," Yama answered, "He said something about changes. I can only assume that one or more members of his party were injured somehow before they returned here."

"That thought is dreadful," Yoshi commented, "The female, Angela, I believe her name is was very polite and the beast, Bronx, was very friendly. I hate to think that something has happened to them."

It took a few minutes for Goliath and Hudson to gather everyone. Mostly as they had to move throughout the castle to gather the others. Once they all arrived it was apparent that Goliath's clan was relatively healthy, but still nowhere near as large as the Japanese clan in Ishimura and the Chinese clan what had just now arrived in New York. Both Yoshi and Yama were slightly confused by the fact that both Angela and Bronx appeared to be in excellent physical condition. Goliath was one of the last two gargoyles to enter the room, but it was his companion that made their jaws drop in surprise, although the Chinese gargoyles had no reaction.

"Madam Elisa?" Yama stammered with his surprise fully evident in his face.

Elisa responded with a sort of embarrassed smile and said weakly, "Surprise."

"You're a gargoyle," Yoshi stammered.

"Yes," Elisa answered, "It's kind of a long story."

"How is this a long story?" Je Lu spoke up from among the Chinese gargoyle, "She is a member of Goliath's clan."

"She is one of the travelers with Goliath's clan when he visited Ishimura," Yama explained, "Only she was human when Goliath visited."

"Where you always a gargoyle?" Yoshi asked, all sense of earlier urgency replaced by surprised curiosity, "Or… how did this happen?"

"I was always human," Elisa began to answer.

"But there is no shared hormone between humans and gargoyles,"Yoshi interrupted, "There is a drug that could trigger a transformation like this. I mean, is everything real? Does it work?"

"One question at a time," Elisa urged as she raised her hands to try and calm the two Japanese gargoyles down, "As I was saying before I was always human, at least up until I came in contact with a man called 'the Mage'."

"Who is he?" Yama asked.

"Was, actually," Elisa answered, "The Mage is dead now. He was a powerful wizard employed by a racist organization known as the Quarrymen. He turned me into a gargoyle to help their plans, which I think they had some sort of conscience problem where they couldn't kill me as a human, but wouldn't mind if I was a gargoyle."

"This was done by magic?" Yoshi asked as he almost began to circle Elisa.

"Yes," Elisa nodded, and then decided to answer one of his earlier questions, "And everything works perfectly fine."

"Such tales were told only as fantasy in Ishimura," Yama commented, hardly believing what he saw.

"But don't you have creatures of magic there?" Elisa asked back, "Spirits?"

"Yes," Yoshi answered, "But usually only the creature of magic itself could change its appearance and function. They never used magic to transform humans."

"This is all very surprising for us," Yama added, "We can not deny your story, but it is not what we expected."

"I understand," Elisa nodded, "I've surprised quite a few people that Goliath, Angela, Bronx, and I met on our World Tour that haven't been with us since we returned to New York."

"Hopefully you live a long life," Yama and Yoshi said in unison with a polite bow.

"You will also have to forgive us if we seem overly curious," Yoshi said again, "As far as I know, there is no spell in Japanese that could perform such a transformation, at least not in the Ishimuran library."

"No problem," Elisa gave a slow shrug, "I'll be happy to answer any questions you have. So long as it's nothing too personal."

"Of course," Yoshi bowed again.

Goliath then coughed in the background to gather attention back on himself, which brought both Yoshi and Yama to attention and got some response out of the Chinese gargoyles who looked to be fairly surprised by the discovery that Elisa was once human at one point as well.

"Now that we have dealt with all the major surprises for the night," Goliath rumbled in a low voice, "Would anyone mind explaining what is going on?"

It was Je Lu who stepped forward to respond to Goliath's question.

"Of course," Je Lu responded, "My name is Je Lu and I am the leader of the Tibetan clan of gargoyles. We originally came from around the Beijing area, but that is not important now."

"Why have you come all this way to New York?" Brooklyn asked.

"That is really two stories," Je Lu answered, "The reason why we left Tibet is because of the actions of certain men we can only define as 'supermen'."

"Supermen?" Hudson asked in a somewhat confused voice.

"There are a group of people from Krypton in Tibet?" Brooklyn asked humorously.

Je Lu and the Chinese gargoyles looked rather puzzled at Brooklyn's comment.

"My second is referring to a fictional character portrayed in a comic book," Goliath rumbled, remembering the explanations of modern 'pop culture' that he had received from Lexington, Elisa, and recently from Xanatos, "It is our only real reference point to anything with the word 'Superman'."

"These supermen are not fictional and there are many of them," Je Lu answered, "They are quite strong and appear to be very intelligent."

"Strong?" Othello asked, "How strong?"

"Strong enough to physically trade blows with a gargoyle," Shi La spoke up from behind Je Lu.

"Our only advantage at close quarters is that a gargoyle will weigh more then they do, because we are generally taller, and our wings and our tail add to our weight," Je Lu added.

"How can ye tell that these aren't just mystically enhanced locals?" Hudson questioned.

"There is nothing oriental about them," a male from the Chinese clan spoke up, "They look much more European then Chinese or Tibetan."

"We call them supermen because we have never won a fight against them and therefore have not had the ability to question them," Je Lu continued, "That is how we get to why we left Tibet. Recently they attacked and destroyed our home in Tibet, a home which was largely unknown to the rest of the world, mostly as it was built high in the mountains away from the known trade routes. With its destruction we had no home, but something told me that these supermen were not going to be contented with destroying our home."

"You think they are going to do more?" Goliath asked.

"I can not shake this feeling," Je Lu nodded, "I mean for what purpose would destroying one monastery serve? He has to have something else planned."

"So you've come to us for help?" Elisa asked.

"Actually why we came to New York is a different story," Shi La spoke, "We are in New York, largely to seek a female gargoyle named 'Demona'. When Yama and Yoshi informed us that your clan lived in New York, we assumed you could help us find her."

"You know my mother?" Angela asked, sounding surprised.

Je Lu turned to look at the lavender female, shrugged and then nodded.

"She arrived at our monastery seeking to restore her gargoyle form," Je Lu replied, "She had apparently run into the same magician that your leader's mate ran into."

"There was apparently a mystical artifact in our monastery that allowed her to regain her gargoyle form," Shi La added, "Perhaps there is a way you could restore your humanity."

"In theory there is a way to restore my humanity, but I would need to be extremely powerful in magic and I would have to be knowledgeable in every form of magic on the planet," Elisa answered, "which I'm not. Demona is probably the only 'person' on Earth who could 'cure' herself of the Mage's curses."

Je Lu sighed and nodded, "Well, we believe that Demona could help us deal with these supermen, especially since we helped her regain her gargoyle form."

Some signs of remembrance flashed through the minds of the Manhattan clan as they remembered Demona's comments about her journey when she returned to New York with Wedrington. Je Lu's clan must have been the clan that she encountered.

"If you are looking for my mother, she has taken residence here, with Wedrington," Angela told them.

"Wedrington?" Je Lu asked, "The human whom the lion like fey had enslaved?"

"Huh?" was the general confused response from the others.

"A man named Wedrington," Shi La tried to explain, "Demona apparently met him somewhere earlier and he got attacked and captured by some lion-like fey."

"Sekhmet," Goliath sighed, remembering the Unseelie conflict, and then sighed again, "Demona has not told us much about him before we met."

"We can tell you more of what we know, if you wish," Je Lu offered.

"That won't be necessary," Goliath said slowly, "Demona and Wedrington have taken residence here, although Wedrington has been transformed…"

"Like Elisa?" Yama asked.

Elisa nodded, "The Mage isn't the only one who can perform the spell that transformed me."

This produced a few mumbles out of the Chinese clan. Eventually Je Lu and Shi La got them all to quiet down.

"Where is Demona now?" Je Lu asked.

"She and Wedrington left the castle awhile ago to discuss some things," Desdemona answered, "I believe the two are both courting at the moment."

"We can talk with her later," Je Lu answered.

"So what brings you and clan member along on this journey, Yama?" Goliath asked, still curious about how and why the Japanese gargoyles had become involved.

"I went into exile from my clan after my association with Taro and after you left Ishimura," Yama answered.

"It was only supposed to last a year," Yoshi added.

"But I couldn't rejoin my clan without restoring my honor for behaving so dishonorably," Yama continued, "And it was not until I found Je Lu's clan making their way from China to here that I found my opportunity to restore my honor."

"Helping Je Lu's clan will restore it?" Hudson asked.

"If these supermen are as evil as they say," Yama nodded, "Yes."

"I originally joined the group because Yama does not know Chinese," Yoshi added, "Although, we ran across a friendly fey in Canada who cast a spell that has enabled us to speak our native languages and allow us to understand each other, and all English speakers and allow them to understand us."

"Seems like quite an adventure," Brooklyn commented.

"Everything has been 'quite an adventure'," Shi La spoke, "If it were not for the danger in Tibet, and the fact that our human friends, our clan elders, and our hatchlings have all been captured and taken to a 'Staten Island', this would be a very interesting experience."

Every female gargoyle from Goliath's clan gave a startled gasp at the word 'hatchlings' out of instinct.

"How horrible!" Elisa gasped, "To people to a place known for its dump."

"Do not worry," Goliath spoke, both to assure his mate and the Chinese clan, "We will do everything we can to rescue your compatriots. I assure you."

"Thank you, Goliath," Je Lu said respectfully, "Hopefully Demona will be equally obliging to help us fight these supermen in Tibet."

"That may be rather difficult," Goliath commented, "While Wedrington has been very successful in getting Demona to drop her hatred of humanity to a point where she isn't willing to kill them, she is not necessarily cooperative in matters that are likely to be for human benefit."

"Although you might be able to convince her to help if you say it's vengeance for them destroying your home," Brooklyn quipped with a sarcastic tone in his voice, "She's good with that."

"That is enough," Goliath said firmly, "It won't be long before dawn. I propose we rest before tomorrow night."

**Just Before Dawn**

Demona and Wedrington glided somewhat leisurely as they headed back through the castle. They had spent most of the night walking through Central Park talking and gazing at the stars when there was no tree branch or light post blocking their view. Wedrington asked about her past, although largely trying to find any quiet moments that she had where she wasn't plotting or being hunted. He was also quite willing to share some of the events of his life before they had met. Demona spent much of the time wondering about how much he had really changed her. A few years ago, she would not have allowed herself to event look at Wedrington, human or gargoyle, and it was quite possible that she would have killed him on the spot. Now, she was certain that her once genocidal hatred of humanity had been whittled down to at least a mistrust and she was openly courting with a former human.

"It is strange the way fate goes," Demona commented silently to herself.

As the two came in for a landing, they found there were more gargoyles then the Manhattan clan preparing to take their day's rest along the tower and battlements. As they got closer and saw their oriental dragon-like bodies, Demona quickly realized it was Je Lu's clan. She quickly lead Wedrington down to where Je Lu and Shi La were standing to await the sunrise. The two pairs stood silently staring at each other for a few moments before Demona spoke.

"Je Lu, what… what are you doing here?" Demona asked, surprised to be seeing the Chinese gargoyles again.

"Unfortunately forces that we could not stop," Je Lu answered, "We can give you a better explanation tomorrow night."

"That is after we rescue Fang Shui and the others," Shi La added.

"Rescue?" Demona gasped.

"Yes," Je Lu answered, "The Illuminati have taken Fang Shui and the rest of our clan to a place called Staten Island."

"They will…" Demona began to growl, but was cut off as the sun rose and the gargoyles all hardened into stone.

**Staten Island, Midday**

Something smelled particularly bad as Fang Shui slowly woke up from whatever had knocked him out the night before. He looked around to see himself in a rather old looking and very dirty prison cell. He couldn't see or hear any of the Chinese gargoyles that had been with him the night before and hoped they were still alive. A guard came by the cell and noticed that the monk had awakened.

"Well, lookie who finally woke up," the guard spoke in a teasing voice.

"Who are you?" Fang Shui demanded, "Where am I? Where are the others?"

"And grumpy, first thing in the afternoon too," the guard laughed, "Don't worry everything will be fine."

"Who are you? Why are you doing this?" Fang Shui demanded, "We've done nothing to break any law."

"You didn't break any American law," the guard answered, "But you've broken the law of a higher power, the Illuminati."

"Where are the others?" Fang Shui demanded, "They had better not be harmed."

"Or what?" the guard laughed, "Do not worry, no one has been harmed and no one will be harmed, at least not until at the earliest tonight."

"What do you mean?" Fang Shui asked, sounding more fearful.

"You, your fellow monks, and the gargoyles that were with you are bait for the Manhattan clan and any other gargoyle in this city," the guard answered, "If they do not show up tonight, you and the other prisoners will die. If they do show up, those that fight will die, and any that are taken prisoner will join you as being Illuminati prisoners for life."

"What do you have against gargoyles?" Fang Shui questioned.

"Nothing actually," the guard shrugged, "In my civilian life I'm a member of PIT, but this whole battle is of an issue of loyalty, not race. The gargoyles have not been loyal to the Illuminati, and therefore, must be punished."

"Where am I?" Fang Shui asked.

"Underneath the dump on Staten Island," the guard answered, "Don't worry, you'll be taken above ground after the sun sets."

Fang Shui then only slumped back in his cell. He sat there looking through the bars of his cell for hours without anything really to do, until finally the guard came back with two more companions.

"Time to go watch some fun," the guard said with a smile.

**Castle Wyvern, Shortly After Dusk**

"You can be certain that I will help," Demona said firmly after Je Lu had fully explained what had happened the night before, "These Illuminati will pay for their crimes."

"We're not out to punish them," Shi La answered, "Just get our clan members back."

"I will help," Demona repeated.

It didn't take long for the clan to gather and depart. The Guatemalans agreed to remain and guard the castle just in case something else happened. The rest quickly took off and began gliding in a southward direction for Staten Island. That journey itself didn't take too long as well. As the rather large group of gargoyles approached they saw a series of lights coming up from the dump on Staten Island, and they smelled the dump, long before they saw the lights.

"Three guesses as to where the Illuminati are," Lexington grumbled.

"Bleh!" Candy grumbled back, "They don't need to fight us. The smell will kill us on its own."

Before anyone could answer, a series of laser shots flew up from the ground around the dump, and forcing the whole formation to scatter.

"We must get down and take care of the laser cannons," Goliath yelled, remembering the defenses that had commonly been employed around Macbeth's mansion or the castle during the feud.

There was a quick nod amongst the Manhattan clan and they dove down toward the points where the fire was coming from. Je Lu's clan was close to follow, although not used to facing such obstacles, one or two were knocked out from taking direct hits from the incoming laser fire. As they got closer, they found that there were no fixed cannons, but a group of men with hand held laser rifles that seemed to be slightly larger then similar weapons that the Manhattan clan had encountered before.

"Dirty creep," Amy growled as she clubbed one of the gunmen as she came close to him.

She then landed to see Brooklyn take out his partner and a few of Je Lu's clan land behind them.

"Are these men sorcerers?" one of the Chinese gargoyles asked.

"No," Brooklyn answered, "The only sorcerer that I know of that is here is Demona, and in her case it would sorceress. These guys just have technology on their side."

"But they don't fire bullets," the Chinese gargoyle argued.

"Technology has advanced beyond being able to merely fire bullets," Brooklyn answered, "From what we've learned from Xanatos is that his 'non-projectile' weaponry is being developed and perfected for service with the army."

The groups then regrouped on the ground that was between the rows of compacted garbage and piles of junk that just lay loose as if it had been thrown there.

"They didn't put up too much of fight," Hudson commented, "I suspect this was only an effort to lure us into a battle on the ground."

"On the ground, or in the air, it does not matter," Demona growled, "The Illuminati will pay for this."

"Five of our clan were knocked out by the gunmen," Shi La spoke up, "I'm afraid you're going to lose a good part of our clan to get them back to the castle."

Golitath nodded as a group of Chinese gargoyles began to leave in search of a spot where they could get airborne again with at least one passenger. He then looked to the south to see that they weren't that far away from where the lights were, which were still pointed skyward.

"We should get going," Goliath rumbled, "And be careful. There are probably others."

What followed was practically a maze as the clan followed twists and turns and finally came into a long alleyway of compacted garbage that lead toward the area where the lights were coming from. Goliath could see that it was a series of search-lights pointed skyward and on at full power. He couldn't yet see any signs of the Illuminati's prisoners or of any of the Illuminati members themselves.

"Keep your guard up," Goliath warned as they approached the end of the hallway.

As they approached the end of the hallway they finally spotted the gargoyles and monks that the Illuminati had kidnapped the night before. None were harmed in any real way, but everyone was chained to the ground, including Fang Shui and the monks. There were at least twenty armed commando troops standing around the edges of the opening, which overall looked like a gladiatorial arena.

"Ah, so good of you all to join us," the lead guard spoke in a calm voice, "Do you surrender?"

"SURRENDER?!" Demona roared, pushing her way forward, "You kidnap innocent gargoyles and humans and demand we surrender."

"I'll take that as a 'no'," the lead guard spoke and snapped his fingers.

No one heard the gunshot, the clan then blinked in shock as they saw Demona's advance suddenly stop and then watched the sky blue female drop straight to the ground. Wedrington and Desdemona rushed forward. Rolling Demona over, they found a dart lodged just below her collar bone.

"Strange scent," Wedringon commented as he looked at the dart.

He was about to reach for it when Lexington finally arrived on scene with Candy close behind. Catching a slight whiff of the dart over the pungent smell of the garbage Lexington's eyes widened.

"Don't touch the dart!" Lex screamed urgently.

"What?" Wedrington asked.

"It's coated in a powerful poison that humans can absorb through their skin, and I don't want to test and see if a gargoyle can," Lex answered.

"They can," the lead guard answered, "Although unlike humans, a gargoyle will only go numb for hours."

"Demona will only be like this for a few hours," Wedrington growled.

"We are aware of her immortality," the lead guard answered, "We are also aware of her power in magic. The last thing we need is that treacherous witch killing us all in one spell."

"She wasn't planning anything!" Wedrington screamed at the Illuminati leader that was present.

"Her past activities would lead the Council to believe otherwise," the lead guard replied, "Especially considering that these gargoyles came here specifically looking for her."

"We came to get her help in stopping some force of evil in Tibet," Je Lu growled, "Not to commit evil."

"Khan has told the Council otherwise," the lead guard answered, "and Khan is an Illuminati agent."

A variety of growls were given off by the present gargoyles.

"Attack," the lead guard ordered as his men began to take up firing positions and as the gargoyles began to charge.

What followed was a swift eruption of laser fire aimed at the charging gargoyles. Wedrington lead the way, tackling the closest gun men and driving him to the ground. The guard managed to get one more shot, but it was off badly and only singed a few feathers in Wedrington's wings. The guard was then knocked out by a large white fist impacting with his face.

Je Lu and Shi La, stopped their charge halfway when they saw that Goliath's clan and most of their members had actually forced most of the Illuminati commandos to pull back, as they apparently wanted to keep an optimum firing range.

"We need to free Fang Shui and the others," Shi La said firmly, "This battle could kill the hatchlings."

"Right," Je Lu nodded as the Chinese leaders moved toward the chains that held Fang Shui and his monks, and their clan members in place.

"I wouldn't try that," the lead guard chorused as he ducked under a punch thrown at him by Goliath and rolled toward the prisoners.

"And why not you piece of filth!" Je Lu roared at him and tried to land a blow on him.

The lead guard leaped backward and laid down some cover fire to keep Goliath from getting him while he was distracted.

"Because you need to wait until the battle is over," the lead guard answered.

At that moment the sound of mechanic hydraulics echoed through the night. This got the attention of various members of the Manhattan clan, thinking that the Illuminati also had some army of robots that were coming to aid their human compatriots. Instead three eleven foot tall weapons platforms walked in on two legs. Each of them bristling with laser canons and piloted by a single man.

"Lucus was an Illuminatus?" Brooklyn quipped as he tripped one of the commandos.

"No," the commando answered, "One of our weapons manufacturers just happens to really like his movies."

One of the three platforms fired on his position and forced Brooklyn to dive away. The blasts threw the commando into the wall of garbage that made the walls of the arena. The brick red beaked gargoyle quickly scaled the wall and began to try and maneuver to a point where he was behind the weapons platforms. He looked down to see that the weapons platforms were causing the Illuminati as much trouble as they were causing the clan.

"Any idea about how to beat those things?" Amy asked as she came around the wall of garbage from the other side.

Brooklyn looked over to see his mate crouch down next to him.

"Best solution I have would be to try and knock them over," Brooklyn commented, "They can't be balanced all that well, standing on two legs."

"Right," Amy nodded, "Let's go."

The two then leaped, hoping to have enough room to glide. Unfortunately, their height was only sufficient enough to keep from doing a nose dive into the ground and they barely made it to the back of the two rear weapon's platforms. Digging their talons into the metal, they threw the pilots out of their seats and climbed aboard. Looking at all the different switches, Brooklyn wished that Lex were piloting it. He settled for smashing every piece of equipment on the device, which made it stop and then fall over, nearly pinning both Brooklyn and a few other gargoyles and an Illuminati commando under it. Looking over he saw that Amy had done the same with the other platform.

"Two down, one to go," Brooklyn grumbled as he then looked up to see the third platform approaching toward him and firing all its weapons.

Brooklyn was just getting up when two Chinese gargoyles managed to grab the platform by its legs and force it to topple over sideways. The platform's pilot fell out of his chair as the platform fell over, and left its legs in gear. The platform then proceeded to walk around in circles while on its side.

The rest of the battle did not take long. Without the weapons platforms to keep the gargoyles dodging powerful laser blasts that had less worries about overheating then the handheld rifles that the commandos were using, the Illuminati commandos stood little real chance. The last one captured was the sniper who, at the beginning of the engagement, shot Demona with the dart dipped in poison. While Elisa held the sniper above her head, Je Lu and others began work to free their clan members and friends.

"You failed," Elisa spoke in a low voice, "Now you'll tell us why you've done all this."

"Your conspiracy against the Illuminati will never succeed," the sniper said defiantly.

"We haven't conspired to do anything, human," Goliath rumbled as he approached, "Gargoyles protect."

"Then I suppose Demona is a poster-girl for the police," the sniper answered, "The Council knows of her history and knows that these Chinese gargoyles came looking explicitly for her."

"And how does this make her, us, and the Chinese gargoyles guilty of a conspiracy to destroy the Illuminati?" Elisa questioned.

"You've seen the news reports from China?" the sniper asked, "Concerning the insurgency in Tibet?"

Goliath and Elisa nodded.

"It started with an attack on a base that we control in the province," the sniper answered, largely in fear that one of the two gargoyles would kill him, "Several gargoyles lead the guards of the facility away allowing a group of commandos to go in and kill all the scientists we had there. By the time the guards returned, the commandos had left and all our scientists were dead."

"All the guards left to deal with these 'gargoyles'?" Elisa asked, "Why didn't they leave someone behind to guard this base?"

"And what proof do you have that it was a group of gargoyles that initiated the attack?" Goliath added.

"Khan told us," the sniper gasped, "That's all the Council needed to know."

"Tell your Council that we have not planned anything," Goliath growled, "and are not plotting anything."

Goliath then took the sniper from Elisa and threw him off the wall of garbage and onto the ground below them. The sniper quickly got up and ran away.

"I wonder why he only had one dart," Elisa commented as she watched him go, "I mean, the poison took out Demona and she's technically immortal."

"I am more concerned about this 'Khan' person," Goliath rumbled, "I suspect he is the true cause behind the troubles in Tibet."

"You think he means to cause us trouble?" Elisa questioned.

"I do not know," Goliath rumbled, "But it has been extremely rare that troubles from a place so far away have affected my clan. I fear that everything is about to get very complicated."

**To Be Continued…**


	35. Confusing Choices

All characters appearing in Gargoyles and Gargoyles: The Goliath Chronicles are copyrighted to Buena Vista Television/The Walt Disney Company. I've taken the idea for the Unseelie Court from the TGS. Characters and concepts from Star Trek are property of Paramount and created by Gene Roddenberry. No Infringement of these copyrights is intended, and is not authorized by the copyright holder. All original characters are the property of SN.

Note: I'm disregarding the events of the "Goliath Chronicles", with the exception of "The Journey" because I do not wish to use the rest of the "Goliath Chronicles" as canon to my story. Also, I'm altering large sections of the Star Trek storyline, especially concerning events like WWIII and the Eugenics Wars, which without the Cold War as a backdrop probably wouldn't happen the way Roddenberry wrote them, if at all. This story takes place immediately after "Surprises".

Confusing Choices

By SN/TVfan

Email: Sam_Nary 

**Above New York, Near Castle Wyvern**

The young hatchlings, those looked as if they were about as old as a human eleven year old, of the Chinese clan easily forgot their ordeal as rest of the Chinese clan was escorted back to the castle. They had never seen such a city and been around long enough for the possibility of exploring, and it was even larger then any of the cities that had passed over so far. The castle itself was a very intriguing for them.

"Wow, is this where you live?" one young hatchling asked, "It's so big."

"Bigger then our old monastery?" another added, "Is this your monastery?"

"Where do your monks pray?" a third asked.

"This is our castle," Goliath rumbled in a tolerant voice, "It is where we live."

"Where do your monks pray?" the third hatchling asked again.

"Castles were defensive structures when my clan first lived here," Goliath tried to explain, "We lived and fought along side human warriors. Now the castle is the home of a wealthy industrialist. We live with him and his family."

"You have no monks?" another hatchling asked.

"Unfortunately no," Goliath shook his head.

"Do you want one of ours?" another asked.

"I don't suppose your clan has a rookery that we can take these hatchlings too," Shi La asked Elisa, "The older ones might leave the castle to explore and the youngest are too young to risk being at these heights."

"I think we'd have to 'make' one then," Elisa sighed, "You see, Goliath's clan was frozen close to the time when his clan's eggs would hatch, and when Goliath's clan awakened here, it was 1994. Up until your arrival, we have had no need for a rookery, and probably wouldn't need one until the spring of 2009."

"If you have room for one, that would be good," Shi La answered, "It won't need to be modified until you are ready to lay your eggs."

"In 2009, after the 2008 breeder's moon," Elisa answered.

"Of course," Shi La nodded.

"I'll go see if there is a large enough room available that can be used," Elisa volunteered and began to make her way into the castle.

"Will these Illuminati attack the castle, Goliath?" Je Lu asked while the elders of the Chinese clan began to work to gather the young ones together and take them inside, largely following Elisa.

"I doubt it," Goliath answered, "Xanatos himself is technically a minor member, and the Illuminati have a vested financial interest in the castle itself. They wouldn't attack it directly, at least not with the intent of risking a major battle."

"Then we can safely discuss what we need to discuss with Demona without fear of attack," Je Lu said confidently.

"I would let that wait till at least tomorrow," Goliath answered, "According to what Lexington said about that poison, she's probably 'dead' for the time being."

"Of course," Je Lu nodded in agreement.

**Maddox Technologies**

"Come on," Wolf grumbled in a low voice, "How much longerrrrrrrrr is it going to take?"

"Listen, just because I'm part machine doesn't mean I'm a computer genius," Jackal answered as he checked another manual on computer technology, "And Sevarius somehow managed to insure that Shadow and Dreadnought were completely under his control. I've had to rewrite everything from scratch, and without at least basic computer programming skills, programming near sentient robotics is practically impossible."

"We could let Thailog find someone to do it," Wolf suggested.

"And let Thailog program him to make us serve him without getting paid well for our services?" Jackal asked, "I'm not making that mistake again."

"Then dump the rrrrrobots," Wolf growled, "We don't need them to take on the garrrrrrrgoyles. All we need is to get Goliath while he's alone, and we win."

"That easy, eh, Fido?" Jackal teased.

"NO!" Hyena said firmly from her position in an easy chair as she watched Jackal work and Wolf pace, "We're going to fix those robots and we're going to get revenge on Coyote for leaving me. And I don't care how long it takes."

Jackal shook his head, deciding to keep quiet on his sister's past attempts to be romantic with Xanatos's Coyote robots. Wolf, however, was not in the best of moods and continued arguing.

"He was a rrrrrrrrrobot," Wolf growled.

"That's what I liked about him," Hyena growled back.

"Go marrrrrrrry a toasterrrrrrrrr oven," Wolf growled.

"I don't any women knocking down YOUR door," Hyena shot back, "And even dogs run away."

"Why you…" Wolf began to growl, the fur on his neck standing on end.

"Children, children," came Thailog's voice from the doorway, "Let's not fight. At least not within my building. Besides, I'm sure it distracts Jackal from his work."

"It is a distraction," Jackal smirked, "But one I like watching. Hyena is incredibly vicious when she's angry."

Thailog looked to see both Hyena and Wolf glaring at each other. Hyena had her metallic claws fully extended, while Wolf had his fangs bared. Canis and Vulpine were also watching silently from the other end of the room.

"Do these sorts of fights happen often?" Thailog questioned, "Because I can't have my base destroyed by your infighting."

"No, not really," Jackal shrugged, "We've always had tension, but none of us have ever come to literally fighting each other. And that is a good thing, as Coyote probably would have mopped the floor with all of us while we were still working for Xanatos."

"I trust you can keep this fighting to a minimum?" Thailog questioned.

"Sure," Jackal answered with a shrug, "Now, to what do we owe the pleasure of this visit?"

"I have a slight mission for you to carry out," Thailog answered.

"What about yourrrrrr clan?" Wolf commented, "We want to take out the garrrrrgoyles."

"It is all part of a larger plan," Thailog answered, "which will take some time. And I am keeping my clan 'quiet' for the time being until I'm completely certain that all the insanity with the press mobbing the Eyrie Building about gargoyles."

The Pack nodded in agreement. While they were greatly amused by the chaos that one man's apparent home video delivered to the news had caused, they didn't like the way it ended. Especially since it ended peacefully. Thailog then continued after a few moments.

"There is a chemicals company on the upper west side that would work well under my leadership," Thailog explained, "Only they won't agree to even do business with me, and by that, I mean, the robot 'me'."

"What's about this plant that's so special?" Hyena answered.

"The plant's scientists have been working on a chemical that will be of great value to me in the coming campaign," Thailog said with a smile, "That is all you need to know."

"So what are we going to steal?" Jackal asked.

"You won't be stealing anything," Thailog answered, "I want you to level the plant."

"Level it?" Jackal questioned curiously.

"Level it?" Hyena asked with a grin.

"Yes," Thailog nodded, "The chemical that I am after is not manufactured in New York, and it is not at present stored in New York, either. With the loss of this plant, the company will lose a great deal of money and will have to sell out to 'me' in order to save their retirement funds. I can then obtain the chemical legally."

"Do we have let their security live?" Hyena questioned.

"If they've fled the building," Thailog answered, "But, if they remain inside to either stop you or prevent the plant's destruction, it is of no consequence."

"When do we go?" Wolf asked.

"Tomorrow night," Thailog answered, "That way we can rid ourselves of at a few members of Goliath's clan."

"Now, you'rrrrrrrre talking," Wolf smiled.

"Good," Thailog answered, "Is there anything you need for the repair of your robots?"

"We're good," Jackal answered.

"Very well," Thailog answered and left.

**Castle Wyvern**

Demona awoke to find herself lying in a bed in the castle's medical wing. It wasn't the first thing on her mind, however.

"Where is he?" Demona growled as she sat up, "Where is he?"

"Where is who?" Wedrington asked from beside her.

Demona turned to see the white lion-like gargoyle sitting in a chair beside the bed she was in. It was then that she realized that she had been taken back to the castle.

"What happened?" Demona then asked.

"The Illuminati expected your involvement for some reason and had some guy with a poisoned blow-dart gun take you out before the fight really began," Wedrington explained slowly, "Although it didn't really do them much good. We beat them off and got the Chinese clan back here."

"They're all safe?" Demona asked.

"Yes," Wedrington nodded, "They never harmed the ones they captured, they were only restrained."

"Where is the one that shot me?" Demona asked.

"I don't know," Wedrington answered, "I think he ran off after his job was done. It doesn't matter anyway, as it's close to dawn."

"Je Lu wanted to talk to me about something," Demona commented, off hand.

"That'll have to wait until tomorrow," Wedrington told her.

Demona slowly got up and began to lead Wedrington out toward the battlements. When they arrived she found the castle's tower and battlements practically covered by gargoyles. After pausing to remember that the Chinese clan was only visiting she then slowly walked toward the solitary area where she and Wedrington usually spent their stone sleep.

Meanwhile, on the top of the tower, Je Lu and Shi La had approached both Goliath and Elisa as they prepared for their coming day in stone.

"Is something wrong?" Goliath questioned.

"Not at the moment, but there is something I am curious about," Je Lu answered, "May I ask you both a question?"

"Of course," Goliath nodded.

Je Lu actually addressed Elisa first.

"Now, this does not mean that we were not surprised that you were once human, Ms. Elisa," Je Lu began, "but it has raised some curiosity on my part."

"It's okay," Elisa answered, "Everyone who knew me as a human who knows that I'm now a gargoyle were all very surprised and shocked that this happened. I'm not about to expect ordinary strangers to not be surprised. If my situation were a common occurrence, there would be a lot more gargoyles in Goliath's clan."

Je Lu nodded, "Yes, but it is all part of a series of questions that my clan has been asking since Demona first arrived in our former sanctuary in Tibet."

Elisa and Goliath slowly nodded.

"According to our clan's histories, the only gargoyles that ever existed lived in China," Shi La explained slowly, "But when Demona arrived and retook her gargoyle form, it has raised questions about the accuracy of our histories."

"We are merely curious about whether or not you know if such spells as the ones used on the females of your clan were used before," Je Lu asked, "And where your clan comes from, originally."

"I do not know for certain," Goliath answered, "In response to your first question. The Mage was alive long before I was hatched and could have used the spell at any time, but my clan has never had any association with him, and he quickly became an enemy when we did meet him. As for your second question, my clan originally comes from Scotland and until Elisa was transformed every member had hatched as a gargoyle."

"I don't suppose there are any more gargoyles out there?" Je Lu asked.

"You've met us, the Guatemalans, and the Japanese clan, the only other clan that we know of lives in London," Elisa answered, "Although they've also gained the last two remaining gargoyles from Rome as well. That's about all we know of, although, there could be some clans that have hidden away in areas that are remote, like Tibet."

"Makes me wonder where we all came from, and why didn't our ancestors know of any other gargoyles besides those in China," Shi La commented.

**Hotel Cabal**

"They failed then," Two commented sounding very displeased as Duval delivered his report to the Illuminati Council of the failed attempt to capture the Chinese clan.

"They failed to defeat them, yes," Duval admitted, "But I will say, sir, that the engagement has raised some issues that I don't think we can ignore. At least not entirely."

Duval watched as Two's eyes narrowed on the screen in front of him. The council member was clearly not happy with his answer.

"What do you mean?" Two demanded.

"Well, sir, my men did make side reports that none of the gargoyles, including Demona acknowledged that they knew of the attack on our Tibet facility," Duval answered, "If they are who Khan told us they are, wouldn't they actually gloat about their victory? Especially while they're facing us directly."

"They are lying," Two answered, "The Manhattan clan has been a minor thorn in our side since their arrival. First Malone can not successfully hold one prisoner in the Cabal, and then they really began giving us trouble after they murdered the Mage."

"I'm not saying that they aren't a group that we can afford to ignore, sir," Duval answered nervously, "But I don't think they are entirely connected with the insurgency in Tibet."

"And you believe a group of gargoyles led by a certain female who has harbored a genocidal grudge against ALL humanity for the better part of a thousand years?" Two questioned back, "Demona will never change. This has to be some sort of movement to try and get us to destroy ourselves."

"But wouldn't she then have to be in contact with these insurgents and continually urging them?" Duval questioned, "That would require too much contact with humans, even if it was only to use them as a tool to her ends. I'm just trying to cautious, and make sure that our real enemy is not hiding somewhere while we are distracted with the gargoyles."

"You will leave the master strategies to the council," Two instructed, "We will decide who is the greatest threat to the Illuminati. Not you."

"Understood, sir," Duval answered with a sigh, "What are your orders."

"I want surveillance of Eyrie Building, and particularly Castle Wyvern stepped up," Two instructed, "Xanatos's personal promise to protect the Manhattan clan has made him a liability in forcing their destruction, but we must know what is going on there."

"Sir, if Xanatos has become disloyal to us, then wouldn't it be better to get rid of him?" Duval questioned, "Given what Sevarius has done to him and his wife, we can not profit from his personal appearances anymore."

"True, but without him, we lose the private donations he and his company have made to the Illuminati over the years," Two sighed, "And without those funds, we will lose a lot of our ability to monitor events in the Manhattan area. Just maintain your monitoring operations for the time being."

"Yes, sir," Duval answered with a sigh.

**Castle Wyvern, The next night**

The day passed as it normally did for Wyvern's residents. By the time dusk arrived, and stone gargoyles had broken free of their stone shells for the night, the daytime activities of the rest of the castle's residents was finished. That was not the major concern for the gargoyles, though, as there was still much that had to be settled from the night before. Broadway quickly took Angela and the Avalon gargoyles as assistants and rushed to get a breakfast prepared for the group.

"I will not hand out patrol assignments until we've made sure that the Chinese clan is settled in or at least until they tell us what they intend to do," Goliath spoke to Brooklyn while the rest began to go inside and wait for breakfast.

"Right," Brooklyn nodded, "Although, I think we may lose out on patrolling at all tonight. I overheard some of the Chinese hatchlings talking about touring the city."

"That will depend on what the rest of their clan intends to do," Goliath answered.

"What!?" Demona nearly roared as she and Wedrington sat with Je Lu and Shi La inside the castle's library.

The Chinese clan's leaders had gathered up both Demona and Wedrington shortly after dusk and urged that they speak with each other for a few moments. While both were both startled and upset by what they had been told, there was at least some understanding as to why they journeyed all the way to New York.

"Was it the same men that attacked your sanctuary when Wedrington and I were last there?" Demona asked again.

"We believe so," Shi La answered, "They attacked us again and drove us out, and then destroyed the monastery."

"That's terrible," Wedrington spoke in a slightly horrified voice, "You didn't come all the way to New York to look for a new home did you?"

"No," Je Lu answered, "The reason for our journey to New York was to get help in making sure that these supermen are stopped."

"And we thought you could help," Shi La spoke to Demona, "And if Wedrington wishes to help as well, we will accept it."

"You will have your revenge," Demona vowed.

"Not revenge," Je Lu answered, "We have to stop them."

"Stop them?" Wedrington questioned, "From what it would seem here is that the issue is more a point of justice. These supermen have already committed their crimes."

"Their activities can not be limited to destroying our old monastery," Shi La answered, "We believe it is they who are behind this insurgency in Tibet that is on your news stations."

"And you came to me for help?" Demona questioned, trying to control her temper, but only just barely.

"You were the only gargoyle outside of our clan that we knew of," Je Lu responded, "And given your apparent knowledge of magic and sorcery, we thought you could help us."

Demona felt a strong sense of responsibility for the Chinese clan. It wasn't so much that they had helped her in the past, but this was the first time since the middle ages that a group of gargoyles had actually approached her for help. Of course that group of gargoyles ended up smashed by Canmore, but there was still a determination in the immortal gargoyle to become the entire gargoyle race's leader. It made her consider anyone who threatened gargoyles to be her enemy.

"I will help you," Demona answered after a few moments, "These supermen will pay."

"I'll come along as well," Wedrington volunteered.

"You have our thanks," Shi La responded, "For we truly need your help."

"Do you know if any members of Goliath's clan would be willing to help us?" Je Lu asked.

"All of them would probably want to help," Demona answered, "But they have all chosen to protect this city and the humans in it."

Wedrington winced when Demona said the word 'humans'. It was clear that while she might not be demanding their destruction, she still did not trust or like them.

"Their clan is also rather small," Wedrington added, "If you were to ask some of them to volunteer, they wouldn't be able to protect the city. And they have some rather treacherous enemies."

"We understand," Je Lu answered.

"When do you intend to return to Tibet?" Demona questioned.

"Other then saying 'soon' we do not know," Je Lu sighed, "I can not allow Fang Shui and the monks to return with us, as I fear they will be in danger, and our hatchlings are all too young to be involved in fighting with these supermen. The younger ones are nearly two, and need constant supervision. The older ones are still in 'training' so they understand the rules of living in our clan."

"There are also our clan's elders to consider," Shi La added, "The trip here was not an easy one for them, and I'm afraid that fighting would only worsen their condition."

Demona thought for a moment. Hatchlings and the elderly were always preferred to be kept away from the fighting, when the old clan had had to deal with invaders, but that didn't entirely stop them from joining. The fact that Hudson still patrolled the city from time to time was a testament to that, but over the course of Demona's very long life she had seen many changes. Now, while humans still killed themselves in rather large numbers, they did it at greater distances with more powerful weapons then anything the old clan had faced. And she was privately sure that most trained soldiers could shoot much better then Xanatos's security men.

"That actually may be something that Goliath's clan can help you with," Demona commented after a few moments.

**The TV Room**

Caroline and Lawrence sat quietly as the ending to one of their favorite comedies ended. They had had a quick breakfast and retired to the TV room while the rest of the clan at and everything else was settled out.

"How was your day?" Caroline asked.

Lawrence then groaned, "One of those days that make me wish it were June and I didn't have school."

"Well, at least this is your senior year," Caroline commented, "No more high school after this."

"I'm not too particularly thrilled about college though either," Lawrence sighed, "The only school that accepted my application that is close enough that I can be with you from time to time is Rutgers."

"What about Connecticut?" Caroline asked.

"SAT score wasn't high enough," Lawrence sighed, "And I even had to take it a second time to get into Rutgers, but I don't really want to go there."

"So where is the place you do want to go that you got into?" Caroline questioned sounding nervous, sensing that Lawrence might be going away come the next fall.

"To be honest, I don't really know if I want to go anywhere," Lawrence replied weakly, "I applied to all the same colleges you did. It was my theory that we'd go together and now…"

"That's kind of impossible," Caroline sighed as she looked down at her four fingered blue hands.

"You're sure you'd be upset if I asked one of the magic users here to turn me into a gargoyle?" Lawrence asked, trying weakly to make a joke.

"Positive and I believe you don't seriously want that either," Caroline replied.

Lawrence was about to answer when the sound of footsteps and the opening to reveal four of the older group of Chinese hatchlings entered the room.

"I thought you didn't have any monks?" one of the hatchlings asked, looking directly at Lawrence.

"Monks?" Lawrence asked.

"These are the hatchlings from the Chinese clan that arrived last night, after you went to bed," Caroline explained to Lawrence and then turned to the hatchlings, "This is Lawrence. He isn't a monk. He lives here, but he isn't a monk. He's an Episcopalian."

The four hatchlings only looked on with confusion.

"Sorry, that was a bad joke," Caroline sighed, and decided to explain her relationship with Lawrence using terms that they would understand, "Lawrence is my mate."

"He's human," one of the hatchlings, a female who was a dark forest green, pointed out.

"And I was human," Caroline reminded them, "And even if I wasn't, there is nothing wrong with being with a human."

"But he can't glide," another hatchling, a yellow green male, countered.

"And we can't drive cars, so it all evens out," Caroline replied.

"You know I don't have a license," Lawrence whispered into Caroline's ear.

"What's a car?" the third hatchling, an emerald green male, asked.

"What's that?" the fourth hatchling asked, changing the topic of the conversation.

Caroline looked to what the hatchling was pointing to. The television had now switched to the nighttime local news.

"That's a television," Caroline answered, "Don't they have those in China?"

"Not in our monastery," the forest green female answered, "How do they get the people in there?"

"No one is in there," Lawrence answered, "unfortunately I'm not that great at explaining how technology works, you might want to ask Candy and Lexington."

"Can we watch?" the fourth hatchling asked.

"You can watch me until I go on patrol," Caroline answered, "Lawrence will probably be going to bed soon, as he has to get up early."

**Great Hall, about ten minutes later**

Je Lu and Shi La stood in the center among most of the Chinese clan's adults. They were all mostly trying to settle what they would do in the near future as far as their plans for dealing with the supermen in Tibet.

"Demona has agreed to help us?" one of the elders asked.

"Yes, Wedrington as well," Je Lu nodded, "Although, they will be the only ones we can expect to get to help us here. They believe it would be unfair of us to ask any of Goliath's clan to directly join us, and I would agree. Their clan is quite small, and I fear they may not last for much longer in terms of gargoyle generations."

Some of the other Chinese gargoyles looked slightly depressed, as their clan had been and remained very healthy in terms of numbers and the information they had learned on the history of Goliath's clan had been a shock for them. Even when the Communist Chinese had forced them out of Beijing with Fang Shui and his monks, they had never experienced the sort of troubles that Goliath's clan had dealt with.

"We do not and can not know what the future will hold for them," Fang Shui spoke up, "They may survive, and even if they do not, there is nothing we can do to help."

Je Lu nodded, knowing that the monk was correct. He then decided to move on to the more important business.

"Defeating these supermen will be tough and will require all of us to undertake more 'warrior-training' as we go," Je Lu answered, "Which I'm sure Demona will wish to add to as well as with the training that Yoshi and Yama have been giving along our journey so far."

"We will do what we can," a female spoke firmly.

"It will be dangerous," Je Lu spoke and then turning to Fang Shui and his monks, "Too dangerous for you to return with us during the duration of the conflict. I am sorry Fang Shui, but I must ask you that you and your monks remain here."

"It is your decision to make, Je Lu," Fang Shui answered, "We have sworn off any form of violence. It would probably be easier that we remain here."

"Demona and Wedrington also think that at least some of our elders and our hatchlings should remain here," Shi La added, "They will be safer here as well."

"Goliath's clan might be able to help watch over the hatchlings for the time being," Je Lu added.

"When we be leaving?" one female then asked, indicating that the clan had no contradictory opinion, at least not one they were going to voice.

"At the earliest, tomorrow night," Je Lu answered, "We will spend the rest of tonight organizing things."

**Elsewhere**

Jackal landed silently on the roof of the building that Thailog said he wanted destroyed. Hyena landed behind him while Canis and Vulpine set Wolf down in front of an air conditioning vent that was in front of them.

"I wish we could have brought Shadow and Dreadnought with us," Hyena commented.

"They still aren't ready," Jackal answered, "All I've got in them is the instructions that will turn all the lights on. That's only the basic programming."

"Who needs basic prrrrrrrrrrrogramming," Wolf grumbled, "We don't need them."

Before Hyena could argue, Wolf then tore the air-conditioning vent off of the roof and threw it a good ten feet away.

"Let's go," Wolf urged and leaped through the hole that he created.

"Might as well," Jackal laughed and followed the mutated Pack member into the building.

**Castle Wyvern**

"You're leaving us, mother?" Angela asked as Je Lu finished his report to Goliath and most of his clan with both the two Japanese gargoyles and Demona and Wedrington also present for the report.

"I owe the Chinese clan for all the help that they have provided for me when I was still trying to reverse what the Mage did to me," Demona answered, "even if it weren't for the fact that these supermen are threatening gargoyles, I would have to go. The helped me, it is only fair that I help them in return."

"But you were just beginning to open up to me," Angela said weakly.

"I know, but they need my help," Demona answered, "I promise you that Wedrington and I would return."

"You will?" Angela asked, not wanting to lose her mother.

"I promise," Demona answered.

"When do you plan to leave?" Goliath rumbled.

"Hopefully tomorrow night," Je Lu answered, "That will give us the rest of tonight to prepare."

"I don't suppose there is anything my clan can do to help?" Goliath asked.

"Actually there is," Je Lu answered, "Most of my clan's elders and all of the monks and hatchlings will be remaining here until these supermen are defeated. We would ask that your clan help raise them."

"We will be glad to help," Goliath nodded.

"In a way, we might be helping you," an elderly Chinese female stepped forward, "Given that most of the females in your clan were once human, and of the four that hatched gargoyle, only one has experienced a breeding season and neither has actually raised hatchlings, this might be appropriate training for the years ahead."

"Uh… thanks," Elisa said weakly sounding nervous and then thought, "Great parenting 101. And these aren't even my kids."

"You have our thanks," Goliath rumbled politely.

"You are welcome," Je Lu nodded.

As Je Lu and the gargoyles that would be making the trip to return to Tibet and confront the supermen, Brooklyn approached Goliath and Elisa with some concern on his mind.

"Uh, Goliath, I know we gotta help these guys somehow, but you don't think we can help raise all their hatchlings, do you?" Brooklyn asked, "They have are large bunch that are twenty two and another large bunch that are two. We can't raise them all."

"I can't say I'm too fond of this idea either, Goliath," Elisa added, "I mean… I hopped my first experience at parenting would be with OUR hatchling, our child. These hatchlings aren't ours and we don't have the slightest clue on what would be the proper way that their clan would raise them."

"We will have to do our best," Goliath rumbled, "I would agree with their leader. Sending them back to a war zone without someplace like the castle to protect them would be too dangerous for them. Besides, those that are twenty two can help with the younger ones. They are at the age where most hatchlings begin to take on the responsibilities that they will have when they are adults. Besides,Brooklyn, shouldn't you remember when you and your brothers had to help those that hatched after you?"

"A little, but I was never trusted to do much," Brooklyn answered.

"We can't send them back to Tibet where they have no safe shelter and a major localized conflict," Goliath answered, "This is the only way."

"I still don't like it," Brooklyn answered.

"I understand," Goliath answered back, "I don't think we will patrol tonight, but it might be wise to give the older hatchlings a tour of the city. They're bound to be curious, and we don't want them to leave on their own."

"Right," Brooklyn sighed and moved on, "I guess I can get on that."

Amy meanwhile looked over the cityscape as a group of Chinese hatchlings asked her to point out buildings and any other landmarks from the castle's battlements.

"Do people live in all of those buildings?" one male hatchling asked.

"How do they make all those lights?" a female added.

"People don't live in all of them," Amy explained, "Most of them are actually office buildings where people work, sometimes into the night, sometimes not."

"What about the lights?" the female asked again.

"We use electricity to power the lights," Amy answered, wondering how much the Chinese clan really knew about technology, which confused her, as most of her geography classes seemed to indicate that China was a fairly prosperous country, although she wasn't entirely sure.

"Where do the people live?" a third hatchling asked.

"Some of the buildings here are apartments and people live in them," Amy answered, "Others have homes that are outside the city and they come into the city to work."

"It's a big city," a fourth hatchling commented.

"Yes it is," Amy nodded.

"I want to see it!" the first exclaimed, getting a chorus of agreement from the other present hatchlings.

"Can you show us?" the second asked, "Please."

"You'd have to get permission from your folks first," Amy answered weakly, unsure of how to answer anything further.

"EEEEEK!" came the shriek from one of the Chinese hatchlings as she jumped back and bumped into a standing lamp, that Candy had to dive for in order to keep it from falling and smashing all over the floor.

"What is it?" Candy asked as she looked up from the ground to find the hatchling standing nervously by the doorway.

"That thing made a noise!" the hatchling answered pointing.

Candy looked over to see Lex seated at the computer, trying to pull up a map of New York City on the internet. He looked somewhat confused by the hatchling's response, but was quickly forced to try and keep the other Chinese hatchlings who were curious about the sound and wanted the computer to make the noise again.

"It's just a computer," Candy answered, "Nothing to be afraid of."

"But machines don't make noise," the hatchling said, "Nothing that we used in Tibet made that sort of noise."

"Computers are kinda special that way," Candy answered, "I bet you Lex can find your favorite song on the internet."

That calmed hatchling's nerves and raised its curiosity a bit. Candy's attention was turned back to where Lex was by another hatchling's question.

"What does this do?" the hatchling asked.

"Don't pull that!" Lex ordered, too late as the hatchling pulled the computer's power cord out of its socket, "That is the power cord that the computer draws power from."

"Does it work?" the hatchling asked.

"When it's plugged in," Lex sighed, "Why don't we take this outside and you can run around or something in the courtyard."

That got some cheers while Lex slowly got up and followed them with Candy. He gave a frustrated groan as he did so.

**Ten Minutes Later**

Consent to give the older hatchlings a tour was easily given as it might get them to burn off some of their energy and learn a bit about the city they would be staying in. None of the Chinese clan's elders were particularly interested, and the duty was up to Brooklyn to work out the 'tour' groups. Those available included all four of the Avalon gargoyles that had joined the Manhattan clan along with Caroline, Amy, Lex, Candy, Angela, and Broadway.

"First of all, I'd like to thank you all for agreeing to do this," Brooklyn sighed, "But, seeing that our guests are curious about the city, I think the best way would be to take them on a tour off the city itself."

Brooklyn quietly watched the others nod.

"Now, for the sake of saving time and explanations, we'll break up into groups, much like we would for patrols," Brooklyn spoke slowly, "Amy will come with me and we'll take one group. Candy, Lex, you two will take another group. Sarah, Ian, you two will take the third group. Ethan, Eve, you two will take the fourth group. Broadway, Angela, and Caroline, you three will take the last group."

Brooklyn waited for them to nod again.

"And remember Goliath's guidelines for this," Brooklyn continued, "This is not a patrol. Try to stay out of the bad neighborhoods and make sure the hatchlings don't get involved with any humans, even if they're PIT. If you come across anyone that might attack you, heard the hatchlings back here and make sure that your attacker can't get them."

**Elsewhere**

"Drat, why'd they all run away?" Hyena almost whined as the facility's security guards pulled back toward the exits as the Pack had made their way steadily toward the building's basement.

"Probably because we shot half a dozen of them already," Jackal commented, "Most people aren't suicidal or filled with as much bloodlust as you."

"They didn't even put up a half decent fight," Hyena pouted.

"She's rrrrrrrrright," Wolf grumbled from his position along the edge of the foundation of the building, "We should have had at least one of those flying lizarrrrrrds trrrrrrrry to stop us."

Jackal sighed, he had expected that they would have run into at least one of the groups of gargoyles that would be out on patrol for the night, as they had never had the luck to go through a complete mission without attracting attention. And even if they hadn't been intercepted, the hole in the roof should be a good clue that something was going on inside the building that they were in.

"Maybe they're taking the night off," Jackal commented, "I don't know why we didn't run into them. For right now let's not press our luck, because they always seem to get lucky when we run into them."

Wolf put one of the explosives he had in his backpack at the corner of the room and then slowly began to walk back toward Jackal and Hyena. Canis and Vulpine were close behind him.

"It would at least give us some action," Wolf grumbled.

"I gotta agree with Fido on this one, brother," Hyena added, "This is boring."

"Just think of the money," Jackal answered.

"Can't spend it," Wolf answered, "People would rrrrrrrrrrun away scrrrrrrrreaming."

"They have the internet for a reason," Jackal sighed, "And we'll go garg hunting AFTER we've blown up the building. Okay?"

"Finally, a good idea," Hyena answered, "how many more bombs do we need to place."

"About thrrrrrrrree," Wolf answered.

**Above Manhattan**

Caroline slowly led the way with her group as they maneuvered over the northern sections of Manhattan. There was not that much too really show, but it gave the Chinese hatchlings some idea of how big New York City was. The one big 'highlight' of the northern sectors of he city was taking a brief look at Yankee stadium, which for some reason intrigued the hatchlings as they wondered why the humans had built a building without completing the roof over it, and this lead into a five minute explanation about sports in general and baseball in particular.

As they were about ready to head down the west side of the island before exploring Central Park, they were horrified to see a building literally explode in a ball of flames. This caught the entire tour to a complete halt as the all landed on the roof of a building that was directly across the street. Most of the hatchlings looked rather afraid.

"What happened?" one hatchling asked.

"Someone just blew up that building," Caroline answered.

"Is it the supermen? Those Illuminightie?" another hatchling asked nervously.

"Illuminati, and that can't be know at this time," Broadway answered as he looked over at the smoldering ruin that was the building, and looked as if he were getting ready to leap to go inspect the scene, "Don't worry, you're in no danger."

Broadway then turned to see a laser shot hit Angela squarely in the back and knocked her into him.

"No danger?" came Jackal's voice from above them, "What kind of fun would that be?"

Wolf, Canis, and Vulpine then leaped from a fire escape to stand on the roof in front of the hatchlings while Jackal and Hyena landed on the other side of Broadway, Caroline, and Angela.

"Man you guys must have been busy in the biblical sense," Hyena laughed.

"Great, it's the Pack," Broadway grumbled.

"Get back to the Castle, and go as fast you can!" Caroline ordered as she lunged forward and managed to catch Canis and Vulpine by the neck and took them over the side of the building.

They hit the edge of the fire escape, taking it with them before landing on the ground with a solid 'thud'. While the two mutates were trying to recover from the blow, Caroline quickly wrapped them up in the fire escape. The Chinese hatchling's meanwhile screamed in terror and began moving to get airborne as quickly as possible. Wolf dove at a couple, but missed and slid face first along the roof as a result. He was already snarling madly as he got up.

"We can't let the kiddies escape," Jackal said to cyborg sister, "They'll only call for reinforcements."

Hyena nodded and both activated their rockets to take off after the Chinese hatchlings. Broadway and Angela saw this and immediately rushed after them to try and keep the cyborgs from catching up with their target. Wolf tried to lunge after them, but had his feet taken out from under him by Caroline who had now returned to the roof top.

"You will be staying here," Caroline said in a firm voice to the mutated member of the Pack.

Caroline then leaped over the edge of the building and began to glide after the now aerial duel between Angela and Broadway against Jackal and Hyena. Angela had caught up with Hyena rather quickly and grabbed the female cyborg by ankle and maneuvered to throw Hyena into Jackal. That impacted forced both cyborgs to crash onto the roof of another nearby building.

"You will NOT harm those hatchlings!" Angela growled in a firm voice.

"Fine, we'll just hurt you instead," Hyena laughed as she leaped up and slashed at Angela, metallic claws extend.

"I'll be continuing the chase," Jackal commented as he took off.

Broadway watching all this managed to tackle Jackal before he could get very far. The large aquamarine gargoyle then slammed Jackal onto the roof of another building.

"Mind if I keep the fight here?" Broadway asked.

"Not at all," Jackal answered as he fired his finger missiles at Broadway.

Broadway ducked under the cyborg's barrage, but allowed Jackal to rush forward and deliver an uppercut to Broadway's chin.

The Chinese hatchlings, despite their instructions to retreat to the castle landed on the roof a taller building and then took interest in the fights going on between Angela and Hyena and Broadway.

"Those metal people are mean," one male hatchling growled.

"We should help Broadway and Angela," another male hatchling spoke.

"You heard what they told us if something like this was to happen," a female hatchling spoke up, "we were to go back to the castle."

"No, I want to see how this turns out," the first hatchling argued.

**Elsewhere**

Meanwhile, in Central Park, things were much quieter as Lexington's group came in for a landing along a man made pond in the middle of the park. The hatchlings were all intrigued by the tall buildings, the bright lights, and how a more 'natural' looking park could exist in the middle of this mechanized metropolis.

"It's so peaceful here," one hatchling commented, "The water is perfectly calm."

"We got lucky tonight," Candy whispered to Lex, "No muggers in sight."

"Why do they have this park here?" another hatchling asked tugging on the skirt part of Candy's tunic.

"To unwind I guess," Candy answered, "Some people live rather stressful lives and having something that looks like nature can be relaxing."

While some of the hatchlings moved to explore the immediate area, one came up behind Lex and pocked the back of one of his webbed wings.

"Can you carry anything while gliding?" the hatchling asked, "Can you detach your wings from your arms?"

"Candy and I can carry anything that can fit in one hand and isn't very heavy," Lex answered, "Haven't there ever been any webwinged gargoyles ever in the Chinese clan?"

"Not that I can remember," the hatchling answered, "But I'm not that old. Can they detach?"

"No," Lex answered.

"How fast are you?" the hatchling asked.

"Huh?" Lex raised a brow-ridge.

"You can't glide very fast since you'd lose altitude if you flap you wings," the hatchling said, "So how fast can you glide."

This got Lex slightly competitive.

"Candy and I can glide faster then anyone else in the clan, and we're more maneuverable too," Lex replied firmly.

"Race you then," the hatchling challenged.

"We'll get behind on the tour," Candy cut in, "We still have Times Square to visit."

"But…" the hatchling began to complain.

"She's right," Lex kept him from continuing, "We don't want to stay in one place too long and there is still plenty of stuff to see."

The hatchling grumbled while Candy began rounding them up to continue on the tour.

**Farther South**

"And this is my favorite part of the city," Brooklyn spoke with a grin as his group landed on top of an old bridge on the southern part of Manhattan, "The Brooklyn Bridge."

"They named a bridge after you?" one of the hatchlings asked in awe.

"If he'd been around New York when they built the bridge, then yes," Amy answered, "The bridge and Brooklyn here are named for the borough of Brooklyn."

"Burrow?" another hatchling asked, "but we are above ground."

"Above water," a third hatchling corrected.

"New York City is a big city, but when it was founded it was really only Manhattan Island," Amy tried to explain, "and the city didn't cover the entire island the way it does today. Settlements onLong Island to the south of us were actually considered different towns at the time. But the city obviously grew over time and eventually people were moving into the settlements on Long Island, like Brooklyn and Queens in search of places to live, but still did most of the work in Manhattan. The people then decided that they should all be considered officially part of one city, New York City, but kept a system of boroughs in place for better organization because of the sheer size of the city."

"They're districts?" a fourth hatchling asked.

"Yeah, but we call them boroughs, sounds like burrow, but different spelling," Amy answered.

"Are you named after a borough?" the third hatchling asked.

"No, there is no borough called 'Amanda'," Amy answered, "My parents didn't even name me after any person that they knew. 'Amanda' was just a name that they liked after I was born."

"Hatched," the first hatchling corrected.

"No, born," Amy replied back, "I was born human and turned into a gargoyle."

"So you could be with Brooklyn?" the second hatchling asked.

Amy blushed remembering her 'wedding' night.

"Sure," she answered.

**Elsewhere**

"Weeeeeeeeeeeeeee!" came a chorus from the Chinese hatchlings as one of New York's many subway trains came rocketing through of its many stations.

Sarah and Ian had decided that showing the Chinese hatchlings the New York subway system would actually be the best part of the tour, since despite the bad smell that seemed to be a constant of the areas under New York City, the fact that the trains traveled relatively fast would be somewhat thrilling to the hatchlings, who had probably never seen a train before let alone a subway.

"How fast is the metal snake going?" the first hatchling of the group asked.

"What's that smell?" a second hatchling asked.

"It's probably going faster then we glide," Sarah answered, "Which is fun as it can give us a free roller coaster ride, and you don't want to know what that smell is."

"Why does it smell?" another hatchling asked.

"No person is ever perfect and will occasionally drop old food and garbage down in places no one will see them and it all just sort of lays down here," Ian answered.

"Not to mention that most of the pipes carrying all sorts of waste out of peoples homes and to recycling or treatment plants go through here," Sarah added, "But the subway is fast is an enjoyable thrill."

"Yes, it's an enjoyable thrill," the first hatchling agreed, "But they could clean this place up a bit."

"They probably try too," Sarah commented, "but I don't know how successful they've really been."

**Castle Wyvern**

Elisa fought the urge throw up as a result of the odor that had penetrated her nostrils. She could remember the days in her teenaged years where she helped a few family friends by babysitting their kids and helping her mom and dad take care of at least Beth when she was younger and easily remembered that changing diapers was a smelly business. A gargoyle's enhanced sense of smell didn't make that any better.

"Shouldn't these ones be toilet trained by now?" Elisa asked.

"They're only two," a Chinese elder answered firmly.

"Most human children are toilet trained by the time they're two," Elisa countered as she dropped the soiled diaper in a garbage basket that had been brought in to the new 'rookery', "and since my transformation, I've found that gargoyles do not need to use the restroom as frequently as humans do, so the training shouldn't be as frequent."

"Maybe so, but you must also remember that since your transformation, your aging process has slowed to half its previous rate," the Chinese elder reminded Elisa, "Physically these hatchlings here are not yet the equivalent of a one year old human infant."

"I'd still say it's time to start toilet training this group," Elisa said firmly.

"They're still learning to walk on just their feet, Elisa," Desdemona commented, "I'll agree that the smell is most unpleasant, but it will take time for them learn how to walk without dropping to all fours. The general balance issue of being 'on tip-toe' as humans would call it is always present with hatchlings."

"You will find that patience is a prominent virtue in the years to come," the Chinese elder commented as another hatchling began calling out for food.

**Rooftop**

Hyena pulled her hands inside her forearms and replaced them with spinning circular saw blades and then extended them at Angela in an attempt to try and cut the lavender female in half. The attempt messed as Angela ducked under the attack and then tripped up Hyena with her tail.

"Hold still!" Hyena cursed as she pulled herself back onto her feet.

"And let you kill me?" Angela asked as she leaped away from Hyena's saw blades again, "I think not."

Hyena then rushed forward and in a sweeping kick, knocked Angela to the ground. The female cyborg then stood triumphantly over Angela, saw blades ready to behead the lavender female. She was about to bring her saw blades down when she felt something rip into her back, tearing her rocket engine out. She shrieked with pain as, despite the fact that the metal itself was unfeeling, because of the way it was all connected to her brain, the damage done to the metal actually gave Hyena the sense of physical pain, and she looked over her shoulder to see Caroline standing behind her with the remains of her rocket engine in her talons.

"Missing something?" Caroline asked, her eyes glowing.

"Why you…" Hyena cursed and turned to try and land a punch on Caroline, only to take one directly in the face instead.

The blow knocked Hyena backward into Angela, who used her feet to throw the female cyborg over the street and onto the roof of a building across the street.

"You okay?" Caroline asked as she helped Angela up.

"I've had better nights," Angela sighed, "I can't believe they would stoop so low as to blow up a building to get our attention."

"Considering what they willingly had done to themselves, I'd say that they're not entirely sane," Caroline answered.

Angela nodded, "We should help Broadway and then try to catch up with the hatchlings."

Broadway, meanwhile, managed to dodge another punch that was thrown at him by the male cyborg. The battle between Jackal and Broadway had been much more of a grudge match. Broadway managed to avoid being hit by Jackal's lasers, but as the two closed into closer combat, each had landed some pretty powerful punches on the other. Broadway was quite certain that he was going to be black and blue later.

Broadway grabbed Jackal's extended before the cyborg could pull back and then threw Jackal across the roof.

"You're gonna pay for that!" Jackal growled only to be knocked down from behind.

He then rolled over to see Angela and Caroline standing above him.

"How about you pay for the damages you and the Pack caused?" Angela asked.

Jackal then looked over to see Broadway advancing on him again and decided it was time to make a strategic withdrawal.

"You got lucky again," Jackal growled, "Next time we'll get you."

Jackal then rocketed off into the night sky.

"You're just blowing hot air!" Broadway yelled after him.

"We'd better catch up with the hatchlings," Angela commented, "Make sure no one else attacked them."

Broadway and Caroline nodded and then turned to head back toward the castle when they found all of the hatchlings standing on the roof watching them.

"That was so cool!" the first hatchling, a male exclaimed, "You defeated all of them!"

"You were all supposed to go back to the castle," Broadway pointed out, "You could have been hurt. The Pack is extremely dangerous."

"We wanted to watch," the male hatchling said weakly.

"Don't ever watch a fight like that again," Broadway scolded, "Go to where is safe. What would have happened if they beat us?"

The hatchling didn't have a ready answer.

"We're all sorry," a female hatchling spoke up as she stepped forward, "We were just curious. We didn't mean to do anything wrong."

"Just ask questions about some of our adventures when we're in a peaceful setting," Angela spoke, "There is no need to put yourselves in danger."

"Okay," the hatchlings chorused.

"Now, let's get back to the castle," Angela urged, "I think it would be wise that our tour ended for tonight."

**Castle Wyvern**

"The Pack was behind this bombing?" Goliath rumbled in a nervous voice.

"Yes, father," Angela answered, "We didn't have time to really find out why as we had to get the hatchlings back here."

Angela sighed, knowing she was covering up the fact that the Pack had directly attacked them and that the hatchlings had only fled to a position where they could watch the battle, but she didn't want Goliath to become upset or worried.

"You were wise to bring the hatchling's back," Goliath rumbled, "They weren't too frightened?"

"Quite the contrary actually," Angela answered.

"This is still going to make things very difficult," Goliath sighed, "We can not quit patrolling while the hatchlings are here, but our numbers may be cut short in order to help the Chinese elders raise them."

"Don't worry father," Angela said, "I'm sure you'll do fine."

Meanwhile, Abigail Wexmand was just waking up to begin her day. Her job was still driving her crazy and the fact that she was still looking for a new apartment wasn't helping. She jumped slightly to find Candy slumped in a chair that was in the corner of her room.

"Is something wrong, dear?" Abigail asked, "Lex didn't do something wrong, did he?"

"No, no, no," Candy said quickly, thinking that her mother though something was wrong with her and Lex, "Lex and I are doing great. I just feel exhausted."

"Exhausted, dawn isn't all that far away," Abigail pointed out.

"I know," Candy answered, "We've just decided to baby-sit the Chinese clan's hatchlings until these supermen in Tibet are stopped."

Abigail didn't know how to answer that, as she really didn't know what was going on. It made her curse her job again as it was constantly taking away time with her daughter, although given that as far as the clan was concerned, her daughter was married now, she wondered why Candy had come to her.

"Was I a good girl when I was little?" Candy asked suddenly.

"What?" Abigail asked nervously.

"Was I good?" Candy asked again.

"You were largely very well behaved," Abigail answered, "Always curious about the world around you, but well behaved. Why do you ask?"

"The Chinese hatchlings have asked a lot of questions," Candy answered, "and I mean a lot of questions. They've asked if me and Lex are really gargoyles as our wings aren't on our backs. They've asked a lot of other questions that I don't care to repeat and it's all frustrating."

Abigail only responded with some light chuckling.

"Children are always inquisitive," Abigail told her, "And they do tend to stress out their mothers, such as the time you tried to stick a fork in the electric socket in order to see what would happen. Luckily I was able to stop you."

"I'm sorry," Candy answered weakly.

Abigail paused for a moment and then rubbed Candy's head.

"Don't sound so glum," Abigail answered, "You turned out quite well, even with a few extra appendages. You may have given me most of my gray hairs, but I wouldn't trade any of them away if it meant that I didn't have you. Some day Candy, you'll become a mother yourself, and I'm not going to deny that it won't be easy, but you'll find that there is nothing greater then having a child of your own. Some one you can see yourself in."

"I'm not ready," Candy answered.

"No one is ready until the time comes," Abigail answered, "Besides you're only helping these other gargoyles raise their children. From everything you've told me of your studies, you won't be able to become pregnant until 2008."

"I only hope I'm ready then," Candy answered, "because after today, I feel very very tired."

**Maddox Technologies**

"You've destroyed the building?" Thailog asked as the beaten up Pack presented themselves before him.

"Yeah," Jackal sighed, "Although, I think we paid for our troubles afterward."

"It would appear so," Thailog commented, "Talk with Fang. He will see to it that you are repaired. Your job was well done."

**Castle Wyvern, the next Night**

The Chinese clan, along with Demona, Wedrington, Yama, and Yoshi, departed almost immediately after the sun set. They waited long enough for the elders to gather the hatchlings from the rookery and then said some quick, but still polite goodbyes. Goliath and his clan also said their own polite goodbyes and waved as the Chinese clan and their allies glided out of sight.

"Do you think they will be able to keep away from the Illuminati?" Othello asked quietly once they were out of sight, "They're bound to learn that Demona and most of the Chinese gargoyles have left."

"I do not know," Goliath rumbled, "But given what these supermen have done to the Chinese clan, I fear for the Illuminati if they try to mess with Demona at this time."

**The End…**


	36. Old Friends

All characters appearing in Gargoyles and Gargoyles: The Goliath Chronicles are copyrighted to Buena Vista Television/The Walt Disney Company. I've taken the idea for the Unseelie Court from the TGS. Characters and concepts from Star Trek are property of Paramount and created by Gene Roddenberry. No Infringement of these copyrights is intended, and is not authorized by the copyright holder. All original characters are the property of SN.

Note: I'm disregarding the events of the "Goliath Chronicles", with the exception of "The Journey" because I do not wish to use the rest of the "Goliath Chronicles" as canon to my story. Also, I'm altering large sections of the Star Trek storyline, especially concerning events like WWIII and the Eugenics Wars, which without the Cold War as a backdrop probably wouldn't happen the way Roddenberry wrote them, if at all. This story takes place one week after "Confusing Choices".

Old Friends

By SN/TVfan

Email: Sam_Nary

**Midtown High School**

Lawrence sighed as he sat down in the library to work on some homework, while he had a free hour. His senior year of high school had promised to be a great year. Between dances and other senior class events, all leading up to graduation he had hoped that he would be able to propose to Caroline shortly after graduation, so the two could go to the same college. Of course, the changes that had occurred in his life weren't all that horrible. He still got to marry Caroline, but she was presently in stone sleep on the towers of Castle Wyvern, and would be shot at by police if she tried to follow him to college.

"Life will never be easy," Lawrence sighed to himself, "Besides, your 'wife' is happy, that should be all."

The he suddenly heard a discussion coming from a reading area on the other side of the bookshelf that his study desk was at.

"Why are we still doing this again?" a girl's voice asked again.

"You saw the interview," another girl spoke, "The gargoyles have been this city's great 'attraction' ever since that clock tower incident. Then they're in that interview on television. They're celebrities."

"Plus the fact that two of them look like a couple of students that used to go here," a third commented.

"Oh, come on, they're probably being home schooled," a fourth spoke, "but I'd agree that the gargoyles have to be celebrities."

"But none of them stop long enough for us to make contact," the first girl spoke again, "We chased one group for five blocks, and by the time we got to the roof of a building we thought they landed on, they were off again, and headed toward the Eyrie Building."

"We need to find some way to fly," the second girl commented, "If we could fly, we could keep up with them."

"None of us have the money to rent a helicopter, and I doubt any of the pilots would want to go 'gargoyle chasing'," the third commented, "Especially since they might think they're being attacked and go after the helicopter."

"How could they take out a helicopter?" the first asked, "The rotor blades would tear them to pieces."

"They could go under it and pull it down," the second spoke, "They're like, superheroes."

"Okay, okay," the first gave a defeated sigh, "I understand, I just wish we could have more success at this. It's almost as if they don't want to be met by anyone."

"No, they met with the PIT people," the second argued, "I just don't think they saw us."

"So where do we meet to finalize our plans?" the fourth asked again.

"At my house, before dusk," the third answered, "We'll be able to watch the castle from there and will know which way they're all going."

"So how will we keep up, since we can't fly?" the first asked again.

"I think the only way would be to grow wings and fly, but that's impossible," the third commented, "So I guess we'll be running along alleys again."

"What if we could use some magic, like that one gargoyle in the interview?" the second asked.

"And how many people do you know that know magic?" the fourth questioned back.

"I'm sure we could find a book somewhere," the third commented.

"Those are all going to be 'show' magic, like on television shows and that guy who made the statue of liberty disappear," the first spoke in a defeated tone.

Lawrence then sighed again as he heard the group apparently left the library. Their conversation had startled him a little bit. It wasn't that he hadn't heard of celebrity fandom or the fact that they were talking about the gargoyles. It was the fact that they combined the two. PIT was trying to argue for basic integration of gargoyles into society, but of the few meetings he attended, non of them were about to call the gargoyles 'celebrities'. And he knew the clan didn't consider themselves celebrities, and there were various things that he was curious about, he wasn't about to go as far as that group went in suggesting that they actually play with magic to get wings.

"I'm sure that will go over well with the clan," Lawrence sighed to himself.

**Maddox Technologies**

Harold Bainsville sat down quietly in a lone conference room with a few of his board of directors waiting for a high priority meeting with one 'Alexander Thailog' over the possible sale of the company that Thailog had taken an interest in buying. After a few moments a powerfully built man slowly walked in carrying a large briefcase with him.

"I'm sorry to keep you all waiting," the man spoke, "I just got out of a different meeting."

"It is not like we have much to do for the rest of the day, Mr. Thailog," Harold answered, "That is, if you have the funds to buy off a struggling company."

"We have the funds, I can assure you of that," the robotic human 'Thailog' answered, "And it would be preferred if you do no layoff your employees as a result of this buyout."

"We have no intention of laying off our employees, if we can carry out this sale effectively," Harold answered, "We just don't have the funds to be competitive after what happened with our New York facility."

"Yes, I read about that in the paper," Thailog answered, "Any idea as to what they were after?"

"We don't know, all we kept in the building that was blown up were basic house cleaning chemicals that we deliver to other companies," Harold replied, "There was nothing of any financial value that people like the Pack would be interested in."

"I think they're just becoming anarchic terrorists," Thailog responded, "Just causing chaos in the name of chaos."

Harold sighed, that was probably as good a guess as anyone could make in regards to the destruction of his New York facility. His company had always struggled, and now as a result of the Pack's attack, he couldn't afford to replace the building or the products that had been destroyed.

"Now, as we're getting into the business section of this meeting, my I inquire as to what your company has been working on, and what it would do to help Maddox Technologies?" Thailog asked in a business-like fashion.

"Mostly in the research of various chemicals for various purposes, most of which are for cleaning products," Harold answered, "although, our R & D division has come up with something that might work in various fuels."

"What is it?" Thailog asked.

"It's an artificially made chemical, that was designed to react with oxygen with great force," Harold answered, "The idea was to use it as a rocket fuel for the space shuttle and rockets that would 'burn' cleanly and without pollution."

"Amazing," Thailog commented.

"Yes, but it's dangerous," Harold answered, "We had to rent land in Arizona that we could safely test it as, as the reaction to oxygen is still too violent t be trusted in more densely populated areas."

"But this couldn't have been a major part of your company, or the destruction of your cleaning facility wouldn't have put you in this situation," Thailog spoke.

"Well, it is, but it's still a side issue to what our normal crews were working on in terms of producing the perfect cleaning products," Harold answered.

"I see," Thailog responded, "What is the asking price that you have?"

"To cover the cost of everything, and paying for the executive's departures, I would say 500,000 dollars minimum would be the best price," Harold sighed, "Sorry if this sounds too expensive."

"Expensive would be trying to buy out Xanatos Enterprises," Thailog answered, "I'll give you $750,000. That way you have something for yourself."

One of Harold's board of directors then cut in before Harold himself could answer.

"We would like you to answer one question for us," the man spoke, "Why did you make the offer so soon after the destruction of our New York facility?"

"Does that matter?" Thailog answered, "I am to understand that you have received other offers."

"Yes, but all of those companies have been making offers for months," the board director answered, "You made your offer only minutes after the authorities reported the Pack's attack to the people."

"I'm sorry if that sounded offensive, but it was purely coincidental," Thailog answered, "I have had eyes on your business for a while, but it took me a while to convince MY board of directors to accept to my making of the offer. By the time I delivered it, I had not yet known of the attack."

"It's understandable," Harold answered, "We were just concerned as to whether or not you were only making the offer now because we can not afford to continue on our own."

"I'm not, I assure you," Thailog answered.

"Well, thank you," Harold sighed, "And your offer is more then acceptable. We'll take the 750,000 dollars."

"Very good," Thailog smiled and pulled out the business check book.

**Castle Wyvern, Dusk**

Lawrence stood quietly behind Caroline's stone form as the sun slowly set over the western horizon. He thought it would be best to let at least Caroline know what he had overheard. If that group was so willing to meet a gargoyle that they would follow them on their patrols, they were liable to get hurt as a result of the clan's engagements with both the criminal element and against their more dangerous foes.

He was forced to take a step back or two as Caroline's stone form cracked and then practically exploded off of her as she woke up. Caroline gave her roaring yawn as she stretched her wings and turned around to face Lawrence and quickly took him in a strong hug.

"Good evening," Lawrence replied as he returned the hug, "Sleep well?"

"I told you," Caroline answered, "I can't even tell I'm sleeping when the sun rises. I just see blackness when the sun rises, and then 'boom' it's dusk and I'm waking up."

"Well, I couldn't think of any way to great you other then asking if you slept well," Lawrence sighed.

"How was your day?" Caroline asked as she began to lead Lawrence inside while the clan began to head in for their breakfast.

"It was good, although there is something you might want to talk to the others about," Lawrence replied.

That got Caroline's attention.

"You didn't go following gangsters around, did you?" Caroline asked.

"No, it's nothing like that," Lawrence answered, "It's just something you might want to pay attention to. Just a head's up."

"What is it?" Caroline asked, looking a little confused.

"Do you remember Sally Hay and her little click of friends?" Lawrence asked.

"Wasn't she the one who always wanted to be there whenever some superstar singer or actress came to New York?" came Candy's voice from behind them.

Caroline and Lawrence turned to see Lex and Candy following behind them.

"Sorry, but I couldn't help but overhear," Candy answered.

"It'd probably best if you heard, anyway," Lawrence sighed, "but you're right. Unfortunately, the latest celebrities she wants to meet is you guys."

"What's wrong with supporting gargoyles?" Lex asked, sounding borderline annoyed.

"It's not just support," Lawrence answered, "It's borderline obsession. She and her friends have been trying to follow you guys on your patrols trying to meet you."

"Following us?" Caroline answered, "She hasn't managed to recognize at least Candy and me from the interview?"

"The interview is what's caused their looking, I think," Lawrence answered, "but I'm pretty sure that they still believe that you two, and Amy have all decided to finish of the year in home schooling programs."

"That's a relief," Candy commented.

"Unfortunately, you guys apparently aren't staying still long enough and that is only making her more determined to make contact," Lawrence answered, "and given the war stories from the middle ages and the enemies you guys have made nowadays, she's liable to get herself killed as a result of this fandom."

"Unfortunately, having one of us land in front of her and tell her to stop, won't necessarily stop her," Caroline sighed, "Fandom will always bring out strange reactions."

"At least it's a step up from random people hearing about us and deciding we're demons that need to be wiped out," Lex commented, "We might be able to talk this girl out of it."

"Yeah, but groups like PIT are not widely accepted in New York, and barely have any members outside of the city," Lawrence pointed out, "and there are enough people who are on the fence concerning gargoyles and there are enough that don't like gargoyles, that one minor accident could erase all the progress PIT has made since the fall of the Quarrymen. I can't be the only person to have overheard their conversation today, and who knows who might have overheard any other conversations they've had. If she gets hurt following you guys, people are going to blame you, because of her fixation with 'celebrities', not her for following."

"So they've been planning to follow us for autographs, and stuff?" Lex asked.

"Not planning," Lawrence answered, "Have been. Apparently they've been following you guys around for awhile."

"For awhile?" Lex asked.

Lawrence nodded.

"Broadway was right," Lex commented.

"About what?" Candy asked.

"Broadway was convinced that someone was following us the night the Chinese gargoyles arrived," Lex explained, "But he wasn't sure who it was or why they were following us."

"Well, now we do know," Caroline nodded, "We'll be able to make sure that Sally doesn't do something that will get herself hurt."

"Yeah, but it's our turn to watch the Chinese hatchlings tonight," Candy pointed out, "Goliath and the older ones will be patrolling tonight. We'll need to tell them about this."

"How has that been going?" Lawrence asked.

"About as well as can be expected," Caroline sighed, "and it makes me grateful that when we become parents, Lawrence, there will not be so many hatchlings to look after."

"I'd be more then happy to help, if you need it," Lawrence volunteered.

"You don't have to get up early, tomorrow, do you?" Caroline asked.

"Well, I do, but surely I can help out for a little while," Lawrence commented.

"So long as you go to bed on time," Caroline replied.

"Yes, dear," Lawrence answered back.

**Maddox Technologies**

"The day was a good one," Thailog smiled as he looked over the written reports that his robot 'doppelganger' left on his desk.

"I don't see how buying this business really helps," Fang commented, "Sure it gets you more money, but it isn't going to kill Goliath's clan."

"It is all part of a larger plan," Thailog answered, "You see, defeating Goliath's clan will involve taking over the Eyrie Building and Castle Wyvern. That will require the defeat of the electronic shield that Xanatos uses to protect the building when it's attacked."

"And how will throwing money at it solve the problem?" Fang questioned, "Last I heard, currency isn't a weapon."

"The chemical fuel that they are developing in Arizona," Thailog explained, "The chemical combusts when it comes into contact with oxygen. With the right spell from Holly, and exposure to oxygen, we can trigger an explosion that will take out the shield, and possibly do damage to the buildings that surround the Eyrie building."

"We commit acts of terrorism to defeat Goliath?" Fang asked.

"Terrorism is such a dirty word," Thailog answered, "I'm not seeking to terrorize the masses with this. I'm seeking to destroy Goliath's clan. It will take an explosion of that magnitude to defeat the Eyrie Building's shield. If other people are killed as a result, that is merely collateral damage."

"So what is our next move?" Fang asked.

"I need to build up my own powers to a point where I am not so dependent on the copy of the book that you stole from Demona to cast the spell that will make the fireworks better," Holly answered, "That will take time."

"You can do that?" Fang asked.

"The book is written in languages other then Latin," Holly answered, "I found one spell towards the end that is actually written in the language of the ancient Etruscans. The spell must be cast in Latin, but it was apparently written in the Etruscan language for secrecy."

"What does it do?" Thailog asked, "And how do you know it was in Etruscan?"

"I had to run it through the computers to identify the language, but once it was translated it was easy to figure out what it does," Holly answered, "The spell drains the life force, the thing that connects every living thing, sentient beings like gargoyles and humans, non-sentient beings like animals, and plants to magic and takes it to the spell caster. It is a sort of 'magical vampire' spell. The spell caster takes the life force of its victim."

"Does it work?" Thailog asked curiously.

"I tested it on the mumbling mutate Sevarius," Holly answered, "It worked perfectly. I already feel stronger."

"I didn't want him dead," Thailog answered in firm voice.

"He was next to useless," Holly answered, "He wasn't speaking in any sane manner, and we already have the clone doing the work that he would have been expected to do."

"Maybe, but we could have used him to examine whatever spell the Unseelies placed on him," Thailog pointed out.

"The book has an enslavement spell in it," Holly dismissed it, "we don't need to know how the fey did it. Besides, mixing magics is dangerous."

"Very well," Thailog sighed, knowing that the dead could not be brought back to life.

"So, how powerful can you get?" Fang asked.

"The book doesn't say, but I'd assume it is possible that the amount of raw magical power that I could wield would be limitless," Holly answered, "After all, people have found ways to increase their output of power in the form of energy many times over the years. The water-wheel, the steam engine, electricity, and now nuclear fission and the possibility of nuclear fusion, all of these are examples."

"Hmm," Thailog spoke while he thought over this report.

"I would think that in time I wouldn't need anything other then the words to the spell in order to cast hem," Holly continued, "It would allow you to expand recruiting and make the ultimate attack all the more spectacular."

"So I suppose you're looking for possible victims right now?" Fang asked.

"For the time being," Holly answered, "Although, I would prefer to handle that on my own."

"Take Fang with you," Thailog answered, "He'll provide cover for you if you run into any members of Goliath's clan. And you are not to drain them. If one dies as a result of the fight that is one thing, but you are not to purposely drain them, understood?"

"Crystal clear," Holly answered and turned to walk out, Fang slowly following.

**Apartment building roof**

Sally Hay slowly lowered the pair of binoculars that she was holding as she watched a few pairs of gargoyles depart the castle that sat atop the Eyrie Building.

"Do you see them?" one of the three girls behind her asked.

"Yeah," Sally answered, "A grey male and a golden female are headed north. A red male and dark blue female are headed west. A turquoise female and green male are headed east, while we have a lavender male and a tan female headed our way."

"They're headed south?" the second girl asked.

"Yep," Sally answered, "And they're the one's we're going to follow."

"Can you tell where they will be going, exactly?" the third girl questioned, "because half the time on these chases, we lose them when we go to ground level, and by the time we find them again, they're headed back to the Eyrie Building."

"This is the part where we could really use something that could fly and carry us," Sally answered, "None of us can pinpoint exactly where they're going, and since they fly through the air, we're bound to lose them when we go to the ground level."

"Maybe we should just watch them from here," the second girl commented, "If they fly over us we can shout and get their attention."

"That didn't work the last time we tried it," the first girl pointed out, "They never even turned their heads."

"They were flying home and were more then a block away from us," the second argued, "If they go right over us, they'd have to hear us."

"There's no guarantee they'll fly over this building," Sally answered, "We have to follow them and get closer. Now, come on."

Sally then rushed to get the stairwell that they had taken to get to the roof and make her way to the ground level of the building. Her friends quickly followed after her as she was the only one with a pair of binoculars.

**Over Manhattan**

Goliath and Elisa continued on their way south to patrol the city's southern sectors. They were relatively quiet as they went, and Goliath seemed to be rather concerned about something.

"Why would people do this?" Goliath grumbled aloud after a few moments.

"Do what?" Elisa asked as they continued on their way.

"What Caroline reported these former classmates of hers are doing," Goliath answered, "Putting themselves in possibly dangerous situations because they want to meet a gargoyle."

"Lots of people do rather stupid things at times," Elisa sighed, "We should be grateful that in at least these girls aren't trying to kill gargoyles. If we can find them, maybe a meeting would calm them down and get them to stop."

"That doesn't change the fact that they could be putting themselves in great danger," Goliath rumbled, "Yes it is good that they are supporting gargoyles, but we aren't to be some sort of 'celebrity'. We protect because that is who we are, not because we want attention."

"You're preaching to the choir with me here, big guy," Elisa answered, "but overall, it is progress. Hopefully we can find these girls and tell them that it isn't smart or safe to be following us."

A sudden scream coming from an alley below them caught their attention away from the conversation they were in. They then turned and dove down into the alley to find Thailog's sorceress standing over the body of some man with Fang standing guard over her.

"What luck, we've got some real fun now!" Fang announced as Goliath and Elisa landed in front of them.

The cougar mutate then fired an electric blast that knocked Goliath back, and nearly out of the alley way completely. He then leaped after the male gargoyle in the hopes quickly defeating the Manhattan clan's leader. Elisa and Holly, meanwhile, faced off in the alleyway.

"What have you done?" Elisa growled at the blood red female.

Holly answered by throwing a lightning spell at Elisa, forcing the tan gargoyle to dive away to avoid being hit.

"Be grateful that I am under orders not to give you the same treatment," Holly spoke in a threatening voice.

"You killed that man!" Elisa pointed and dove at Holly trying to knock the book out of Holly's hands.

The attempt failed and Holly hit Elisa in the back with another lightning spell. The blast forced Elisa to skid along the concrete sidewalk that made up the alleyway, her talons and knee spurs leaving a decent sized groove in the concrete. Holly stood triumphantly in place with one hand on her hip.

"Thailog has no qualms with killing you," Holly answered, "But the means by which I will kill you must be different from how I dealt with that person."

"You're an evil witch," Elisa growled in a low voice.

Goliath, meanwhile, scrambled to his feet and caught Fang as the mutate attempted to club the male gargoyle with his fists. Goliath then slammed the mutate against the wall of a nearby building.

"What did you two do to that man?" Goliath demanded.

"Me?" Fang commented, "I actually didn't do a thing. That was all Holly's work. She's found a way to get stronger and is going to light up your clan like a Christmas tree!"

The mutate then hit Goliath with another electric blast, forcing him to stagger back, and continued his gloating.

"It's a shame really that she can't your power," Fang commented as he threw a series of punches at Goliath, "Because you and your little girl friend would do much to help her cause."

The thought of Elisa being harmed in such a manner infuriated Goliath, and with a roar, he unleashed a powerful blow on the mutate, which knocked him across the alley and into the far wall. Fang bounced off the wall and landed face down on the concrete. Goliath then turned to help his mate.

Elisa again tried to swipe the book that Holly was holding out of the sorceress gargoyle's hands. She missed again at that, but managed to land a slashing blow against the red female's shoulder, forcing Holly back. As Holly staggered back she saw Fang laying unconscious on the ground and Goliath moving to help Elisa. She cursed under her breath and cast a spell that lifted Elisa into the air and threw her at Goliath.

The two gargoyles slid backward along the ground, and slowly struggled to get up. Holly, meanwhile, rushed to where Fang was lying.

"You just live to screw up don't you?" Holly growled at Fang and lifted him up into the air.

Elisa and Goliath struggled to get to their feet while Holly slung Fang over her shoulder.

"You got lucky this time," Holly growled, "The time is fast approaching when you will not be so lucky."

Holly then chanted a few words in Latin and began to vanish from sight. As she and Fang faded out of sight, Goliath dove at where Holly was standing, only to land on the ground where Holly had been standing as Holly was now gone. He gave a frustrated growl as he got up and turned to face Elisa.

"Things have become more dangerous," Goliath said in a low voice.

"I don't doubt it," Elisa answered him, "She killed this poor man."

"Fang mentioned something about Holly getting stronger," Goliath commented, "That is what I mean, and I'm sure this man has something to do with it."

"Stronger?" Elisa asked, "I assume he meant in magic. She doesn't strike me as one who would be spending her time working out."

"It would have to be," Goliath answered, "Our real concern is how is she doing it."

Elisa looked back at the man that Holly had killed. He looked seriously drained and weak. On closer inspection, he also looked fairly pale as well.

"The guy looks like he's been drained," Elisa commented.

"We'll need to tell this to Owen," Goliath rumbled, "Perhaps he will know what Holly has done."

Elisa nodded and began to follow Goliath in climbing up the side of one of the buildings in the alleyway that they were in.

"Why do you think that Thailog wouldn't allow Holly to do to us what she had done to that guy?" Elisa asked our of curiosity.

"No doubt it is some twisted game in Thailog's mind to see us suffer, himself," Goliath answered.

"We'll find some way to stop him Goliath," Elisa spoke as they leaped into the air and began gliding back toward the Eyrie Building, "We'll stop him."

"It may be more difficult to do so," Goliath grumbled in a low voice, "With us caring for the Chinese hatchlings, all of our clan can not patrol at once. It is where our clan's numbers are a problem. There are too few of us."

"For the time being there is nothing we can do about that," Elisa reminded, "It'd be best not to dwell on it. Right now, let's just focus on defeating Thailog."

Meanwhile Sally and her group had just finished scrambling up a set of fire escape ladders to see Goliath and Elisa glide off. Seeing that they were again too late to catch anything more then a glimpse of the gargoyles, made all of them give a sigh of frustration.

"Hey!" one of the others screamed after the two gargoyles, "Come back!"

Neither gargoyle heard them, and continued gliding away.

"I think we ought to give up on this," a second girl commented, "all the running and watching is wearing me out, and we don't even get the opportunity to meet any of them. We can find something better to do with our nights. We might be able to even call and ask them if we can meet them. I mean there has to be a phone in that castle."

"No, we did much better this time," Sally argued, "We got the right building to go to. They just left it before we could get to the roof."

"But that happens almost every time," the second girl answered, "We never get the opportunity to meet them."

"No, we've usually been off by a building or two," a third girl commented.

"Oh, that's so much better," the second girl argued, "I think we ought to give this up."

"No," Sally argued, "they're popular and the only real famous people that anyone could easily meet."

"If it's so easy to meet them, how come we've never gotten the chance?" the first girl asked, "They leave or are too far away whenever we try to contact them."

"We'll get another shot tomorrow night," Sally argued, "We now know that they will come near this building, so we just have to meet here tomorrow night and wait."

"Fine," the first girl sighed, "But if they do not show, I'm through with all of this."

The group then dispersed and left the rooftop. Unfortunately, they had not been alone, nor had their conversation gone unnoticed. After a few moments, Holly stepped out of the shadows, Fang, still slung over her shoulder.

"This will prove interesting," Holly commented and then leaped into the air to head back to the Maddox Technologies building, carrying Fang as she went.

**Castle Wyvern**

Brooklyn and Lex slowly walked out of the castle's makeshift rookery as Broadway and Angela took over watching over the youngest of the Chinese clan's hatchlings. Helping the Chinese elders raise the hatchlings wasn't easy, and they were still technically responsible for helping Amy, Caroline, and Candy watch over the older hatchlings for the rest of the night. That, however wasn't on Lex's mind at the moment.

"Do you think we'd qualify as celebrities?" Lex asked after they'd gone a few paces, both headed toward the clan's TV room, where the female trio was.

"Huh?" Brooklyn asked, knowing that he'd missed something.

"It's something that's been on my mind since Lawrence told Caroline about that group of students that had been following us," Lex explained, "He said they think we're celebrities."

"That's what you've been thinking about all night?" Brooklyn asked.

"It's been on my mind," Lex answered, "I just find it strange that someone would think that we're celebrities."

"Some people are weird that way, I guess," Brooklyn replied, "But hey, we are 'popular'. Didn't you say something about us being one of the top internet searches or something?"

"Yeah, but that's a web search," Lex answered, "Half of the sites were about stone gargoyles, as in ones that don't wake up when the sun sets. Those that are about us will vary between PIT sites arguing for toleration to various Quarrymen supporters who have been left to 'blogging' their hatred."

"I guess that makes us infamous, doesn't it?" Brooklyn sighed.

"Maybe," Lex sighed, "Still doesn't explain everything about this to me."

"I don't think anyone can explain these sorts of things," Brooklyn commented, "As I said, some people are just strange that way."

"Maybe, but we try to live average lives," Lex pointed out, "We don't do anything that would normally be done by celebrities."

"But we do live in a castle wit a 'celebrity'," Brooklyn countered, "That might be enough."

"No, because all of this with those classmates of Lawrence's is coming as a result of that TV interview," Lex argued, "Xanatos wasn't in it."

"Maybe it's because this girl saw us on television," Brooklyn shrugged.

"In the sense of it being an interview, which hadn't been done before, you could be right there," Lex sighed, "But there'd have to be something else that would influence her to think we're 'celebrities'."

"Still wrestling with what Lawrence found out about Sally and her friends?" came Amy's voice as the two of them entered the television room.

Brooklyn and Lex entered to see the female trio seated on a couch with the older Chinese hatchlings seated on the floor watching the television, and fairly intently at that. Brooklyn moved in to sit next to Amy, while Lex moved around to sit with Candy.

"That's the major question," Brooklyn answered as he sat down, "Mostly as to why they think we're 'celebrities'."

"There has to be some rational explanation," Lex explained, "I just can't think of what it is."

"Sally's only a freshman, right?" Candy asked.

"Yeah, I believe so," Amy nodded.

"I don't think there will be a 'rational explanation'," Candy the spoke to Lex, "Sally is only a freshman this year and hasn't been exposed much to the 'grown up' world."

"We were much the same way when we first came out of middle school," Caroline added, "It's just a phase. Hopefully though, one of tonight's patrol teams was able to persuade them to have some interest in something other then us, for their own safety."

Lex and Brooklyn both nodded in agreement.

"So what are you watching?" Lex asked.

"Xanatos had a copy of 'Homeward Bound' in his collection of movies for Alex to watch," Candy answered, "So we thought it would be appropriate for these guys."

Meanwhile, Goliath and Elisa landed in the courtyard to find Hudson waiting for them with Bronx and Trixie nearby.

"How did things go?" Hudson asked as the two approached him.

"Not the way we would have preferred," Elisa answered.

"Thailog is up to something, which involves his sorceress gaining more power," Goliath sighed in a low voice.

"That can not be possible," Hudson commented, "Can it?"

"It has to be," Goliath grumbled, "Mortal sorcerers need some sort of conduit, and that would include Demona, but she no longer requires such a conduit or the Grimorum to cast spells."

"The real question is 'how' is Holly doing this and what can we do to stop her," Elisa answered, "Which will require us talking to Owen."

"He's somewhere inside the castle," Hudson answered, "although I think he's been busy with business related work."

"How have things been here?" Goliath asked, "Hopefully better."

"Not too bad," Hudson replied, "Although these two donnae appear to like being used as chairs or pillows. Most of the older hatchlings have been kept busy with the television or some basic board games."

"It's good that things here have been calm," Goliath answered, "Will you inform Brooklyn that I will need to speak with the rest of the clan before dawn."

"Of course lad," Hudson nodded.

Goliath and Elisa then made their way through one set of doors that lead to the interior of the castle. They found both Owen and Xanatos talking in his office, and looking intently at a computer screen. It was Owen who looked up first as Goliath and Elisa entered the office.

"Good evening, Goliath, Elisa," Owen spoke, "Is there something you require?"

"We need to speak with you, or more specifically with Puck," Goliath rumbled in a very serious voice.

"I see," Owen answered in the same bland tone he always had, "If you could spare a few moments, there is some business I still have to conclude with Mr. Xanatos."

"It might actually be good that they stay," Xanatos spoke, "I believe we should keep them informed on Thailog's activities."

Elisa and Goliath looked at each other.

"What is this?" Goliath asked for a few moments.

"Thailog bought a chemical company during the past day," Xanatos explained, "Now, they normally only make cleaning products, but one of their known experiments is a powerful fuel they were testing as a rocket fuel."

"And the purpose is?" Goliath asked.

"From what I've read from their research releases, the chemical that is to be the main ingredient in their fuel is highly explosive," Xanatos explained, "If Thailog gets it, he could use it to destroy the Eyrie Building's shield, leaving the castle open to direct attack."

"He doesn't have the numbers to assault the Eyrie Building," Goliath commented, "Even with the Pack as an ally."

"He can still recruit more if he still has that sorceress of his," Owen pointed out.

"That's what we wanted to talk to you about," Goliath rumbled.

"What is this?" Owen asked.

"We've recently had an altercation with Fang and Thailog's sorceress," Goliath rumbled, "Fang boasted of her having the ability to get stronger in regards to her powers as a sorceress."

"It is possible," Owen answered, "Both the Mage and Demona have undertaken the same activities."

"Yes, we know that," Elisa sighed, "But how is this female able to do this? We found them with some guy that had been killed. Looked rather pale, they guy they had killed, I mean."

"The man had been drained of his life force," Owen answered, "That is why he looked pale."

"What?" Goliath asked.

"All beings possess some natural level of magic in them," Owen answered, "In most, it is so low that they do not know it, and in the fey, there is enough natural magic in them that they are able to cast spells completely on their own."

Owen's form then vanished to be replaced by Puck, as the fey thought that his true form would be the most appropriate being to explain what was going on.

"Now, mortal sorcerers have more natural magic then most people, but less then any fey," Puck explained slowly, "But, as the Mage proved, that is not to say that mortals can not increase the amount of natural magic within them."

Puck paused as he saw that Goliath, Elisa, and Xanatos were all listening very closely.

"The Mage did this by largely draining a living being of its life force, which houses all of the magic that a being will possess, regardless of how large or small, and then absorbing the magic that he had drained from the victim," Puck continued, "The process generally kills the victim as well."

"So Thailog's sorceress took that man's life force as her own?" Elisa asked.

"Yes," Puck nodded, "The spell is a form of vampirism, but unlike vampires who feed off of blood, this takes a beings life force directly. When the doctors examine the corpse, they will find no logical cause of death."

"Is there any way to restore a person's life force?" Goliath asked.

"Ms. Holly would have to willingly give it up, but yes it is possible," Puck replied, "I wouldn't hold my breath if I were you, though."

"How powerful can she become?" Goliath questioned.

"I do not know," Puck answered, "What I know is what I learned about the Mage before Oberon banned us from Avalon."

"I hope Demona and Wedrington are able to defeat this Khan character quickly," Xanatos answered with a sigh, "If Thailog's sorceress is able to become as powerful as the Mage, we might be in serious trouble."

"And given her brief alliance with the Mage, she would be a better expert on him then I could," Puck added.

Goliath nodded and then turned to Elisa, "We should still inform the clan as to look out for Thailog's sorceress."

**Maddox Technologies**

Thailog, meanwhile, was involved in a very different discussion.

"We you successful in absorbing at least one person's life force?" Thailog asked.

"Yes, I was successful in that," Holly answered, "I got one guy, and then Goliath and his mate showed up. Too late to save the guy, but they got even with Fang for that."

"I could see that when you returned," Thailog commented, "How much stronger do you feel?"

"Not much," Holy answered, "The guy that I got didn't have much natural magic in his life force, so I wasn't able to absorb as much."

"Is there an easier way to get more?" Thailog questioned.

"I don't think this is an exact science," Holly replied, "No two people will ever have the exact same level, and most have so little that they can not even cast magic, even with a conduit."

"Then we'll just have to abduct larger numbers of people," Thailog sighed, "Just to make sure that when we're gambling on how much magic a person's life force contains, we're at least drawing from a larger barrel and we'll have a better shot at finding someone who has more."

"That is actually the good news of the night," Holly answered with a smile, "There is apparently a group of four teenaged girls, can't be more then freshmen in high school, who have taken to gargoyle watching."

"Gargoyle watching?" Thailog asked, with some degree of interest.

"Yes," Holly nodded, "They apparently have developed a fan based obsession with Goliath's clan and have taken to following them on their patrols."

"Why would they not just join this PIT group?" Thailog asked, "From the news reports that Fang has gathered, they have met Goliath's clan on occasion."

"As I said before, they're probably high school freshmen, and PIT as an organization is not popular with the majority of New Yorkers," Holly responded, "In actuality, the Quarrymen are probably still more popular with most New Yorkers despite the fact that their organization has been destroyed."

"Do they know about us?" Thailog asked.

"I doubt it," Holly answered.

"Then this is an opportunity," Thailog answered, "We may have to move most of these actions into kidnappings and bringing them here, but these girls should be taken in the open. And if they don't know about us, taking them will be no problem."

Holly nodded.

"The real question will be how to find them," Thailog spoke in a sinister voice.

"I know where they will be," Holly answered, "I do not suppose you would mind accompanying me on the next run? They might respond to you better then to me alone."

"That will do better then Fang, as I think he will need some time to recuperate," Thailog answered.

**Elsewhere, the next night**

Sally stood quietly on the roof of the building that she and her friends tracked the gargoyles they had been following the night before with her binoculars firmly in her hands. She checked the Eyrie Building again and saw that there was no sign of activity on the castle's battlements. She had seen them wake up and go in, but she hadn't seen them leave yet.

"Anything happen?" came a voice from behind her.

Sally turned to see that it was one of the three other girls that were helping her in the tracking of the gargoyles.

"I think they've gone in for dinner or something," Sally answered.

"Wouldn't it be breakfast for them, as they sleep during the day?" the girl asked.

"We'll have to ask them that when we can flag one down," Sally answered, "That is when they come this way."

"And if they don't show up?" the second girl to arrive asked as she approached the group.

"They were here last night," Sally pointed out.

"Yes, but this is a big city," the second girl argued, "And as far as I know, there aren't all that many gargoyles in the city. They could patrol a different area tonight."

"Still makes me believe we ought to find a way to get some form of flying transportation," the first girl commented, "be it wings of our own or some sort of device."

"Yeah, but that's impossible," Sally sighed, "So we'll just have to flag them down when hey come this way."

"Have they come yet?" came a third girl, who had just finished climbing the fire escape up onto the roof.

"No, I don't think they've even left their castle yet," Sally answered, "But I have a good feeling about tonight. Tonight we'll finally get to meet them."

"You had better be right on this," the second girl commented, "I don't want to waste any more nights on wild goose chases. My folk are already wondering what I'm doing at night."

"What have you told them?" Sally asked.

"That we've been out stargazing on long island," the second girl answered, "but I don't know how much longer my folks will buy that."

"We all ought to think of something to tell them then," the third girl commented, "it won't be long before they start calling each other to collaborate our stories."

**Castle Wyvern**

"Remember you are to keep an eye out for Thailog's sorceress," Goliath reminded the patrol team for the night, "It is imperative that you get that book of hers away from her if you find her."

"Right, Goliath," Brooklyn nodded as he, Lex, and Broadway began gliding toward the northern end of New York City.

"She will not win if we find her, father," Angela spoke as she lead Ian, Ethan, Sarah, and Eve out to patrol the central part of the city.

"What about Sally and her friends?" Caroline asked as Goliath turned to the last remaining patrol team for the night, "They could easily become targets."

"If you happen to run into them, tell them that they need to stop and join PIT if they wish to have the possibility of meeting the clan," Goliath rumbled, "I'm sorry, but Thailog's recent actions make it impossible for us to do anything more then that."

"We know that," Amy commented, "But, if Holly goes after them, we might not even have time to tell them to leave. It'd be going straight into the fight."

"Just do what you can," Elisa offered, "with recent events, this thing that Thailog has cooked up has really thrown us a curveball. We're just going to have to wing it and do the best we can."

"We'll try," Caroline answered, "hopefully everything goes well."

The female trio then leaped from the castle battlements and began to head south for their patrol. This left Goliath and Elisa to watch all three groups glide off into the night sky.

"I don't like this," Goliath rumbled after a few moments, "There should be more of us out there."

"But the Chinese elders can't raise all these hatchlings alone," Elisa sighed, "Even if gargoyles raised their children individually, parent to child, there are more hatchlings here then there are adults. We agreed to give them a home while their parents return to Tibet. We can't just abandon them."

Goliath nodded, "You're right, and that's partially why Thailog's actions are so frustrating. We can't do much because of our responsibilities to watch over the Chinese hatchlings. It does not make things easy."

"Yeah, but things would be much less exciting if things were easy," Elisa commented, "There always has to be something interesting going on, if you just have a dull routine, you'll end up in a rut."

Caroline, Amy, and Candy meanwhile slowly glided south.

"This whole thing has him pretty worried," Candy commented, "You could see it on his face while was giving the assignments."

"It's not surprising," Caroline replied, "First we find out a group of freshmen from school have been following us, and then we learn Thailog's sorceress is draining people of their life force. All in the same night. And with the Chinese hatchlings to look after, we can't do everything as effectively as we would like."

"Well, hopefully, we get lucky and we're able to stop all the bad guys," Amy commented.

"Um, what do we do if we run into Sally and her friends?" Candy asked, "I mean not that I don't know what to say, but for us, meeting them might be a bit more complicated then telling them not to follow us around."

"What do you mean?" Amy asked.

"Well, they know us, or at least the human forms that we had," Candy pointed out, "and Caroline and I still have fairly similar faces to the ones we had before we were transformed…"

"And our voices haven't changed at all," Caroline finished, "They'll identify us almost immediately."

"Oh crud," Amy sighed, "Maybe she'll miss something."

"If not, we're going to need a really good explanation," Caroline sighed.

**Rooftop**

"Can you see them?" one of the other three girls asked.

"Yeah, this group is larger then last night's group," Sally answered, "there's three of them in this group."

"Which ones are they?" the second girl asked.

"It's that trio of females," Sally replied, "Two sorta look like those senior girls that showed us around school at the beginning of the year."

"I still say that can't be them," the second girl commented, "But they do look similar."

"This is going to be so cool!" the third girl commented.

They were then interrupted by a new voice that came from the side, which startled them immensely. They all in fact jumped several inches into the air when they heard the voice speak.

"Excuse me," came a deep voice, "but what are you four doing?"

They all jumped and turned to see two gargoyles approaching them. One was a large male gargoyle with black skin, wearing stylized armor. The other was a blood red female in black leather pants and a black leather vest. She was also wearing a white tee-shirt under the vest, but the sleeves had been torn off.

"Wow, real gargoyles," the first girl spoke.

Sally nodded in amazement and then took a closer look at the male.

"You look an awful lot like one we saw around here last night, except he was purple," Sally commented.

"That would be my twin brother," Thailog answered with a sly smile, "Who are you people, and what are you doing on a roof? Spying on people?"

"No, we were just watching for gargoyles," Sally answered.

"Watching for gargoyles?" Thailog asked back, "You are certainly a strange one. Who are you?"

"My name is Sally Hay and these are my friends, Lorie, Megan, and Marie," Sally answered, "Man this is so cool."

"Yes," Thailog answered, "Why are you four watching for gargoyles?"

"Didn't you see the television interview?" Sally asked back, "They're like celebrities."

"Interesting," Thailog commented, "I've never met gargoyle fans before."

Sally and her friends looked at the two with some amazement in their faces.

"Do you want to see something?" Thailog asked after a few moments.

"See something?" Lorie asked, "You just met us."

"Yes, but it is something of a test to see if you are truly trustworthy to be a friend of the gargoyle race," Thailog explained.

"Oh, sure," Sally spoke, "We'd love to. What is it?"

"It isn't here," Thailog answered, "But we can take you there."

"Take us there?" Megan asked.

"We can carry you," Thailog answered, "Gargoyles are very strong creatures. Holly here is strong enough to flip a car over if she wanted to."

"The motorists have no reason to worry, however," Holly spoke, "I have no intention of flipping any cars."

"You won't drop us will you?" Marie asked.

"Of course not," Thailog answered with a smile.

"So, where is this thing you want to show us?" Sally asked.

"It's in a warehouse on the southwest side of the city," Thailog answered, "It is something you just need to see."

Not that far away, Caroline's patrol team continued on with the patrol and was nearing the rooftop that Sally and her friends were meeting with Thailog. The night had gone fairly quietly, with only one mugging broken up. That was until Candy spotted something.

"Uh, we got some problems ahead," Candy spoke in a voice that was half mixed with fear and nervousness.

Caroline looked to where Candy was motioning and saw Thailog and Holly take to the air with at least two passengers with them. One was in their arms, and the other was on their back, hanging on their neck.

"It's Thailog!" Caroline exclaimed, "It looks like he's kidnapped four people."

"Two of them are hanging onto their back," Amy commented, "kidnapped might not be the right word, although I wouldn't say those people know what is probably going to happen to them."

"Not if we have anything to say about it," Caroline growled, her eyes glowing, "After them!"

The three females then began following Thailog and Holly to a warehouse on the southwest side of Manhattan. They landed on the roof of a nearby building to plan how they were going to get Thailog's intended victims away from the black skinned clone.

Thailog, meanwhile, quietly opened the skylight window to the warehouse and slid it open, allowing for easy access.

"Who owns this warehouse?" Sally asked.

"Maddox Technologies," Thailog answered, "They are another friend of my clan."

"I thought you guys were friends with David Xanatos?" Lorie questioned.

"That is Goliath's clan," Thailog answered, "There is more then one clan in New York. My clan is affiliated with Maddox Technologies."

"Ah-ha, so what's in here?" Sally asked.

"Your death," Holly said in a very evil voice and used magic to summon chains to throw the four girls inside the warehouse.

The landing for them wasn't hard, but they all quickly found themselves chained to various support girders.

"What? Why are you doing this?" Sally asked in surprise, "We've done nothing to you."

"You've done nothing," Thailog answered, "However, I have plans for this world that involve Holly increasing her powers as a sorceress. To do so, you have the honor of sacrificing yourselves to the cause."

"But the gargoyles on TV said gargoyles were protectors," Lorie said.

"We are," Thailog answered, "But we can define what we protect, which means that we are not bound to keep humans safe. Goliath's clan is the only clan in New York that believes that nonsense."

"You're evil," Megan accused.

"Thank you," Thailog answered with a smile, "You may proceed, Holly."  
"With pleasure," Holly smiled.

Holly slowly approached and raised her hand to cast the spell that would drain all four girls of their life force, but couldn't do any more as she was interrupted by a roar and something crashing into her back. This surprised Thailog somewhat as he looked over to see a pink web winged female gargoyle clinging to Holly's back and trying to get her book away from her.

He then turned back to see a yellow beaked female and a blue female gargoyle land between him and his intended victim. Both gargoyles had glowing red eyes.

"Your evil has gone far enough," Amy growled in an angry voice, "Surrender now!"

"I wondered when Goliath would send some of his clan to try and stop me," Thailog smiled.

He didn't get much more then taking Caroline's fist off of his chin.

"We will stop you," Caroline growled.

Candy meanwhile managed to grab a hold on Holly's book and threw it across the warehouse. The move, however left her open to being thrown into a nearby crate by Holly.

"You may have gotten rid of my book, but I have more then enough to take care of you," Holly growled at Candy, irritated that the web winged gargoyle had taken her book from her.

"Prove it!" Candy roared back and dove at Holly's midsection, taking the blood red female to the ground.

Candy then managed to land one cross on Holly's check, before she was kicked off again. Candy was forced to roll behind another series of crates as Holly quickly tried to knock her unconscious with a strong kick. Candy then scampered on all fours through the maze of crates that were in the warehouse while Holly slowly followed after her. She eventually made it far enough ahead that she was able to duck behind one crate without Holly knowing where she had gone.

"Come out and fight!" Holly challenged as she walked by the crate Candy was hiding behind.

Candy peaked out from a thin space between the crate she was hiding behind and another nearby crate to see that Holly had stopped and was looking rather frustrated that Candy was no longer directly in front of her. Candy gave a triumphant grin and then pushed the crate she was hiding behind over and onto Holly. The crashed on to her and knocked her over. Candy meanwhile scampered over the fallen crates and crouched next to were Holly had been buried by the crates.

"Never fight harder when you can fight smarter," Candy spoke to the furious Holly and elbowed the red female in the face, knocking Holly out.

Thailog paused when he heard crates crash somewhere in the warehouse. When he heard Candy speak he was certain that the pink female had managed to knock out his sorceress somehow. He decided to ignore that for now, and delivered a powerful blow that sent Amy skidding back into Caroline.

"You can't win," Thailog spoke calmly, "Even if Holly has been knocked out, you still can not beat me."

"There are three of us and one of you," Caroline answered in a growling voice as she and Amy got up and took positions to flank Thailog.

"Even still, you can not beat me," Thailog pointed out.

"But we will attract plenty of police attention," Amy counted, "It would be bad for you to get shot at, arrested, and all on private property."

"Ah, yes, but I OWN this property," Thailog answered with a smile, "This warehouse belongs to Maddox Technologies."

"Yes, but you're still a gargoyle, and your witch is unavailable at the moment to keep you disguised," came Candy's voice from another side as the web winged gargoyle hoped on top of another crate near Thailog's position.

"Fine then," Thailog commented, and knocked Candy off of the crate with his tail.

Thailog then vaulted the crates and fled the area, leaving Candy, Amy, and Caroline alone in the warehouse, with the clone's intended victims. Caroline and Amy quickly moved to get Candy back on her feet. They then turned to see Sally and her friends still secured in place, with the greatest possible looks of surprise on their face. The two groups stared at each other uncomfortably for a few moments before Sally finally spoke.

"You're… you're… you're really gargoyles?!" she spoke is shock and surprise.

"Yes," Caroline sighed after a few moments more as she began to free the four girls.

"How is this possible?" Lorie asked as she rubbed her wrists, "How could you be gargoyles?"

"Through magic," Caroline answered, "A sorcerer was trying to turn himself into a gargoyle, and the consequences left us like this."

"When are you going to change back?" Sally asked curiously.

"We can't," Caroline answered in a soft voice, "The spell was permanent. This is who we are for the rest of our lives."

"I didn't think that was possible," Megan commented, "You didn't mention that in the interview."

"We didn't want to create a panic," Amy replied, "There are a lot of people who's answer to this would be to try and kill us."

"Why did that guy do what he was doing?" Marie asked.

"Thailog is like that," Caroline answered, "He's evil."

"But that one that looks like him said gargoyles are protectors," Sally argued, "We saw the interview."

"Gargoyles are protectors," Candy answered, "Every gargoyle has an instinctive urge to protect something. But, we are sentient creatures, like humans, and therefore we can define what we protect. Goliath's clan, of which Amy, Caroline, and I are now members, has chosen to protect the city. The gargoyle sorceress in the interview, Demona, protects the gargoyle race. I don't know what Thailog protects though, probably himself or his profit margin."

"So how do you tell which ones are good protectors and which ones aren't?" Sally asked.

"Our clan knows who the bad ones are and who the good ones are," Amy answered, "but you shouldn't try to go around and figure that out. Tonight's incident should be enough to prove that you shouldn't be following us around."

Megan and Lorie gave sharp glances at Sally.

"I'm sorry," Sally answered both their glances and Amy's comment, "It's just that… I thought you guys were rather cool."

"We ARE rather cool," Candy answered, "But you shouldn't be following us around. It's too dangerous. Being attacked by our clan's enemies wasn't the only thing that could have happened."

"If you really want to meet 'us', PIT would be a better option," Caroline added, "Amy's parents are part of the organization."

"And that was before we were transformed," Amy nodded, "They'll accept anyone as members who is truly a 'gargoyle supporter'. It doesn't truly matter how old they are."

"Is the sorcerer that changed you still out there? Megan asked.

"Thankfully, no," Caroline told a slight lie, as while Demona was still out there, she wouldn't cast the spell that had transformed her and her friends again.

"And I suppose you'll want us to continue the story that you're all in home schooling programs?" Sally asked.

All three of them nodded.

"May I ask a question?" Sally asked towards the three in general, "What's it like? Being a gargoyle?"

"It has its perks and it's downsides," Caroline shrugged, "It takes a lot of getting used to."

"So other then the figure, what would be some of the perks?" Lorie asked.

"What?" came a chorus from the three females.

"Oh come on, surely you've seen yourselves in a mirror," Lorie gave a slight smile.

"Our measurements are not part of what we consider to be the perks of being a gargoyle," Amy answered, "They just happen to be our measurements."

"The biggest perk is the ability to glide," Caroline explained, hopping to get the conversation away from where it appeared to be headed, "The slightest breeze can hold even the heaviest gargoyle up for a while, which is a thrilling thing to see, or experience."

"That's all?" Sally asked.

"That's not all, but it is the biggest perk," Candy sighed, "and it shouldn't be enough to make people want to be gargoyles, before you go there."

"Huh? Why?" Megan asked.

"We spend the day in stone," Caroline answered, "We'll never see the light of day again without the further aide of magic."

"The various instincts that gargoyles have are also fairly difficult to get used to, and if you're really stuck with a specific set of beliefs, many instincts that gargoyles have will directly conflict with them," Amy added, "All of us struggled with the idea that we now have an instinct that urges us to protect something."

"But you got used to it, obviously," Lorie commented.

"In time," Candy answered, "And it took a lot of help for us to get used to it. And the time that it took varied. Amy and I adjusted fairly quickly."

"But it took me a fair bit longer," Caroline finished, "A lot of it all hit me pretty hard, and all I wanted was to be human again, but I knew that wasn't possible, and that depressed me a lot."

Sally and her friends stood quietly for a moment.

"Say, who were those two that you were so close to in the interview?" Sally then asked toward Candy and Amy.

Candy and Amy looked at each other for a moment and then sighed.

"The brick red gargoyle that I was close to is named Brooklyn," Amy spoke after a few minutes, "The olive green web-winged gargoyle that Candy was close to is named Lexington. They are our 'mates'."

"Mates?" Megan asked, looking very startled.

"It's the gargoyle equivalent of a husband or wife," Candy answered, "Because so many people are so against gargoyles, it would be too dangerous for us to go before a priest or government representative."

"So you've married these gargoyles?" Lorie asked, "We they born gargoyles or were they transformed?"

"They were hatched," Amy corrected, "Gargoyles lay eggs, at least that's what they told us. And yes, we married them."

"Why?" Marie asked, "Couldn't you have just told someone that you were transformed?"

"And expect them to believe us?" Amy asked back, "We've been attacked by Quarrymen in a few of our first patrols after our transformation. People won't believe us, and even if they did, there's no guarantee that many would want to date a gargoyle."

"And what is wrong with Lex and Brooklyn anyway?" Candy asked back, a obviously challenging tone to her voice, "They're strong, they're smart, they were of great help to us while we were adjusting to being gargoyles, and they're very nice."

"But they're gargoyles," Marie protested, "And all this apparently happened just before last Christmas."

"We were transformed before Christmas last year, the marriage didn't happen until much more recently," Amy answered, "Besides, the three of us are at least 18. Legally old enough to get married, and free to choose WHO we marry."

"They didn't force themselves on you?" Marie asked.

"No," Candy answered, "Each was a perfect gentleman."

The sound of sirens soon echoed through the air nearby.

"I'm sure you have more questions," Caroline spoke, "But we need to get out of here. The police won't treat us any better then Thailog, and with you hear alone, you could be in danger of getting arrested as well."

Sally and her friends nodded and quickly followed them out of a back entrance. Once outside Caroline urged Amy and Candy to begin scaling the wall. The blue female then turned back to face Sally and her friends.

"Remember what we told you," Caroline said firmly, "It is too dangerous for you to be following us or any other members of the clan on our patrols. Join PIT if you want to be gargoyle supporters, and keep the fact that Candy, Amy, and I are gargoyles a secret. Do you understand?"

"Yeah," Sally answered, "Can we visit?"

"You can visit to see Candy, Amy, and I," Caroline answered, "But don't try anything that would seem like an obsessed fan trying to get autographs. We aren't celebrities, and if the clan was able to be part of New York society without the risk of being assaulted by various Quarrymen type people, we'd probably living rather normal lives. Now, head home for tonight. We'll be gliding behind you to make sure you get home safe, but I think we've all had all we can deal with for tonight."

"Okay," Megan spoke, "And thanks, for, uh, telling us everything. But while you guys may not be celebrities, I'd still think you're cool, and that will go for you three even while you were human seniors in high school."

Caroline gave a sort of embarrassed smile, "Thanks, get going now."

**Maddox Technologies, Hours later**

Holly was greatly aggravated as she woke up to find herself in Thailog's clan's sleeping room.

"Beaten by a runt with webbed wings," Holly growled, "And of a disturbingly cheerful coloring."

"From what I can remember, I would not describe the female that attacked you as a runt," came Thailog's voice, "Both Lexington of Goliath's clan and Granite of my clan are of similar size. I think most webwings are around that size."

"It's still embarrassing," Holly growled in a voice that indicated that she was not willing to accept much comfort.

"They won't be able to for long," Thailog answered, "I did manage to recover the book after they left. Apparently they never made an attempt to look for it, but that is good for us. You will continue your efforts, although, this will have to be an undercover effort. We can not afford any more encounters with Goliath's clan for the time being."

"Of course," Holly nodded.

**Castle Wyvern**

"Do you think she listened?" Candy asked as they returned to the castle.

"I don't know," Amy commented, "I think she and her group freaked out when they found out WHO we are and the fact that we 'married' two gargoyles."

"Maybe, but she won't be following our patrols anymore," Caroline commented, "I think Thailog's little plot scared her more then we did."

"Too bad we couldn't get that book that Holly had," Amy sighed.

"I'm sorry I didn't see where it landed, and besides, I don't think I could have managed to beat her without removing the book from her hands and quickly," Candy answered defensively.

"Thailog probably wouldn't be able to find it either," Caroline shrugged, "We can at least report that as good news to Goliath."

**Elsewhere**

Sally sighed as she made her way into her parents apartment after all of the mess that had gone on that night. She was tired from all the activity and still had a lot of things going through her head concerning Caroline, Amy, Candy and the other gargoyles. Things were certainly more complex then she ever imagined. She also found her mother waiting for her.

"Uh, hi, mom," Sally said weakly.

"You were supposed to be back three hours ago," her mother said firmly.

"I'm sorry, we lost track of time," Sally said weakly, "and some of the problems were harder then we thought."

"I know you're trying to do well in school, but the city is dangerous at night," her mother continued, "You never know what will grab you and carry you off."

"I'm sorry," Sally answered, looking off at the window.

"You had better be," her mother answered, "Do you know what I would do if I was to hear that you had been mugged or worse?"

Remembering that she had nearly had her life force drained out of her, she sighed, "I don't know. I'm sure you'd be heartbroken though."

"That's right!" her mother answered, "I'm glad you're finally… Sally, what are you doing?"

Sally blinked, realizing she was now absent mindedly staring out the window.

"Just thinking," Sally sighed, "Can we discuss my punishment tomorrow morning? I'm really tired right now."

"Fine," her mother replied as Sally began to walk toward her room, "What were you thinking about?"

Sally turned back and looked at her mother and saw that she was wearing her favorite nightshirt, colored deep blue with a gold circle in the center. That circle also had a hammer crossing through it so it looked like a capital letter 'q'.

"Just about old friends," Sally sighed and went into her bedroom.

**The End…**


	37. Smugglers

All characters appearing in Gargoyles and Gargoyles: The Goliath Chronicles are copyrighted to Buena Vista Television/The Walt Disney Company. I've taken the idea for the Unseelie Court from the TGS. Characters and concepts from Star Trek are property of Paramount and created by Gene Roddenberry. No Infringement of these copyrights is intended, and is not authorized by the copyright holder. All original characters are the property of SN.

Note: I'm disregarding the events of the "Goliath Chronicles", with the exception of "The Journey" because I do not wish to use the rest of the "Goliath Chronicles" as canon to my story. Also, I'm altering large sections of the Star Trek storyline, especially concerning events like WWIII and the Eugenics Wars, which without the Cold War as a backdrop probably wouldn't happen the way Roddenberry wrote them, if at all. This story takes place one week after "Old Friends".

Smugglers

By SN/TVfan

Email: Sam_Nary

**Manhattan Apartment**

"You sure this is the place?" one man in dark clothes asked.

"Yeah," another in similar clothes replied, "The family is poor. The law won't notice if some of them go missing."

"What about those gargoyles?" the first man asked nervously, "They supposedly took out Dracon's gang when they tried stuff like this."

"Dracon never did anything as big as this," the second man answered as he thrust a crowbar into the crack between the window-frame and the bottom of the window, "and the gargoyles have already flown over this part of the city. They won't be back again."

The second man then put his weight onto the other end of the crowbar and forced the window up, breaking the locks to it. The two men then slipped inside the apartment. The first man quickly drew a handgun while the second merely looked ready.

"You might want to get a weapon ready," the first man spoke, "Opening that window may have woken them up."

"You'll take care of any 'security' this group has," the second man said firmly, "I will deal with the target."

The two then slowly made there way into the bedroom of a girl in her early teens. She lay there peacefully until the second man approached and appeared to cast a shadow over her. She slowly opened her eyes only to see the second man grab her and place one hand over her mouth to muffle her screams.

"Just be quiet and you won't be hurt," the second man growled softly at the girl.

The girl continued to struggle to get free, but most of the noises she had been making stopped. The second man then turned to his partner.

"It's time we leave," the second man whispered.

The first man nodded and began to move out. Getting caught by anyone, even if it was someone he could easily defeat was not what he wanted. His partner quickly followed with their captive firmly in his arms. They left the apartment almost as silently as they came.

By morning, a middle aged man, who looked like he had had to work hard just to break even stopped by the bedroom door that the two men had earlier left.

"Come on, Mary," the father said calmly, "Time to get up… Mary?"

He then looked in to find the bed empty.

"Oh my God!" the father exclaimed before screaming for his wife to call the police.

**Half an Hour Later**

Matt sighed as he looked over the apartment again. He was exhausted and having to pull a longer then desired shift was the last thing on his mind, but the case description matched a series of crimes that he and Detective Flariaty had been working on for the past week. All of the cases had frighteningly similar details.

So far, all of them stood as kidnapping charges, with the victims being girls between the ages of twelve and sixteen. All of the victim's families had been in the lower classes, and that was the only thing that Matt could say was truly consistent with each case. Much of the rest was absolutely confusing. There was no ransom note with any of the kidnappings and none of the kidnappings had occurred at the same time or place. The first girl had been kidnapped on a Sunday afternoon just outside the church she was exiting. The second had been snatched from a recreation center on Tuesday evening, but still before dusk. The third had been carried out of a restaurant shortly after dusk on Thursday, and this girl had been kidnapped out of her own bed in the middle of the night.

"And you never even heard them enter?" Matt asked again.

"No," the father sighed, "I work a very long day, and I'm already fifteen minutes late because of all this. Can you please find her."

"We'll do our best," Matt sighed.

"You might want to check with your super and see how much time he actually spends on maintaining this building," Detective Flariaty commented.

"Did you find something?" Matt asked as he and the father walked over to the window that Flariaty was investigating.

"Well we know that they used some sort of prying device, probably a crowbar to open the window from the outside," Flariaty explained, "But many of these windows come with set locks to keep that sort of thing from happening."

"Those locks won't last long against a determined crook," Matt commented, "Especially if they have something like a crowbar, and even if they didn't they could have still broken the glass."

Flariaty nodded, "The locks last for an even shorter amount of time when they're barely screwed into the window frame as it is."

She then lifted up one of the screws that had held the window's locks in place and placed it in the hole in the side of the window frame. The screw barely went into the hole.

"Now, I'm no carpenter," Flariaty began, "But that screw should go a little deeper into the window frame, don't you think."

"If only to make sure the lock was on tight enough, yeah," Matt commented, "That looks that the only thing that lock would have stopped was a slight breeze. Any attempt to open it from the outside would have broken the lock, and broken it rather easily."

"And that is probably why you didn't hear their entrance," Flariaty spoke to the father who was still watching all of this, "If you and your wife work as long and as hard as you say you do, the noise generated by the forceful breaking of a screwed in window lock that wasn't screwed in tight wouldn't have been enough. Shoot, some light sleepers might actually be able to sleep through it."

"Do you know where they took her?" the father asked nervously from behind the two detectives.

"Only where they took her immediately after leaving your apartment," Matt sighed, "and we still do not know specifically who did this, but that will not last long. We need to get going."

"Just bring my daughter back safe," the father sighed.

Matt and Flariaty nodded and then began on their way out. They were silent until they got to the stairwell.

"So who do you think is behind all this?" Flariaty questioned, "You aid 'specifically' like you at least had an idea who it could have been."

"It has to be Brode or some other organized crime syndicate," Matt replied, "Outside of some one with a personal grudge against these people, that is the only option that I can think of."

"What about one of the weirdoes that your gargoyle friends deal with?" Flariaty asked.

"No," Matt said firmly, sighing as Flariaty still felt annoyed towards the clan, "If it was one of them, they would have handled it and we would have either found the perpetrators left for us or they would have called us to give us at least a head's up. This 'crime wave' has a distinct human element."

"Finally a nice NORMAL investigation with no calls to the Eyrie Building," Flariaty said with a smile, "This will be a good break from the usual stuff that has gone on recently."

Matt decided to ignore her gargoyle related frustration.

"Anyway," Matt sighed, "I'd think it has to be organized crime, and since Brode is the new 'top dog' he's the new chief suspect. This whole thing seems to be far too well organized to merely be a bunch of random kidnappings."

"But there's very little in common among the victims," Flariaty commented, "And there is nothing in common with the times that they've been abducted. It's all very irregular. Organized crime is just that ORGANIZED crime. There should be a better fit pattern to all of this if it was organized crime."

"Patterns are easy to figure out," Matt countered, "A good mobster would have to avoid committing crimes that leave a pattern because then it would either indicate a crime out of habit, meaning his victim, place, and time can be predicted. The more unpredictable the crime, the better protection the criminal has. I mean, if this isn't a wave of activity in organized crime, it's a wave of random kidnappings that need to be investigated individually, but there are some things that just don't add up to it being that way to me."

"Like the fact that a some of our victims have been grabbed in some rather public places with few or no real witnesses?" Flariaty asked.

"And the few that we have are either unreliable or couldn't see enough to even remotely identify a possible kidnapper," Matt nodded, "It's all too well organized for something that on the surface is so small."

"So what do we do now then?" Flariaty asked.

"We relay the information to the day shift and rest up," Matt sighed, "tonight we begin 'keeping our ears to the streets'. Someone is bound to know more about this then what we know now, and may spill the beans about something."

**Elsewhere**

The girl, earlier identified by her father as Mary, shook as she awoke, as if to try and shake off some oppressor. She quickly found herself alone in a fairly dark room with three other girls.

"We're locked in," the first girl spoke with a defeated tone in her voice, "We can't get out."

Mary blinked in surprise at finding that she wasn't alone and sat there silently for a few moments.

"Where am I? Where are we?" Mary asked after awhile.

"We're in a basement, somewhere," the third girl answered, "But I don't know where exactly. Everyone was unconscious when they were brought in here."

"What do they want with us?" Mary asked nervously.

"I heard someone outside the door mention something about a 'market', but I don't know for sure what they were talking about," the first girl commented.

Outside the door and up the stairs, Brode's second with the two men who had earlier kidnapped Mary.

"You've done very well," Brode's second commented, "Did you encounter any of the gargoyles?"

"No," the first man said, "We waited until they went back to their castle. They gave us no problems."

"Good," Brode's second spoke, "We will hold them here until we can send them back to Europe where our associates can properly train them and then make a profit off of their sale."

"I was under the impression you wanted their training to begin immediately," the second man commented.

"Give them enough food to keep them alive," Brode's second ordered, "Keeping them close to starvation, but not quite at that point of starvation, will leave them open to suggestion. They'll be here or a couple of days."

"Of course," the first man answered.

"You are also to keep adding to our collection of 'guest'," Brode's second spoke as he turned to leave, "We'll need a lot of financial money to be ready to truly build the infrastructure of power to make sure that no one can come and replace us later."

"I'd think taking out the gargoyles might be the only way in my mind to make the other gangs respect us," the first man commented, "They've defeated most of the gangs in this city and if we defeat them, the others will be afraid of us."

"That was Dracon's idea," Brode's second spoke firmly, "And that is what opened the door for us. You are to try your best to avoid the gargoyles at all costs."

**Castle Wyvern, Dusk**

Elisa awoke to find Owen standing just behind her pedestal as she and Goliath threw off their stone-shells to wake up for the night. The blond haired assistant held a cellphone in one hand and appeared to have been waiting there for a few moments.

"You have a phone call, detective," Owen spoke in his usual voice and handed Elisa the phone, "It is Detective Bluestone. He says it is important."

Elisa took the phone and spoke into it, "What's up, Matt?"

"Good evening, Elisa, sorry to bother you, but I have a favor to ask of you guys," Matt spoke through the phone, "Do you know about the kidnappings that have gone on recently?"

"The one ones that the news has been following recently?" Elisa asked.

"Yeah, them," Matt spoke through the phone, "And the hits keep on coming. A fourth was kidnapped last night. Girl was kidnapped right out of her bedroom."

"Man," Elisa sighed, "I don't know how much we can help, Matt. Last nights patrols didn't report anything that they didn't stop, I don't think we can give you any hard evidence."

"I know that," Matt replied, "Flariaty and I will keep checked into every possibility, but I can't help but think that Brode's organization is behind this. The whole case seems to stink of organized crime to me, and Brode is the only one in a position right now to try something like this."

"You're certain that this isn't just a string of coincidences?" Elisa asked him.

"I'm fairly certain, but that isn't something I've ruled out yet," Matt replied, "But I can't shake this feeling. Can you get the others to at least keep an eye on Brode's gang?"

"Sure," Elisa nodded, "Although his operation has pretty much gone underground since they took over Manhattan. We might not even be able to find him in order to follow him."

"I'm only asking that you try, Elisa," Matt spoke through the phone, sounding urgent, "They're kids. Their parents are all on the verge of doing something they'd regret. I can't let them down."

"Don't worry," Elisa said back, "We'll do our best."

"Thanks Elisa," Matt spoke and then hung up.

"What was that about, Elisa?" Goliath rumbled from his position, "Is something wrong?"

"Nothing is wrong with Matt," Elisa replied as she returned the cellphone to Owen and began to walk to the stairs to go in for breakfast, "He just needs some help with a case he's been assigned to."

"Thailog hasn't done something that we haven't noticed, has he?" Goliath asked, his mind dwelling on the dark skinned clone and his recent activities.

"He might have," Elisa answered, "But he isn't behind what Matt's been assigned to, at least Matt doesn't think he is. Do you remember the kidnappings that have been in the news lately?"

Both Goliath and Owen slowly nodded.

"Matt thinks that its Brode's gang that is behind them," Elisa continued, "Matt wants us to keep an eye on them. If we follow them around from air, they might lead us to where they have they have the girls that they've kidnapped locked up or at least catch them in the act of committing a crime, which would confirm that Brode's people are behind this particular crime wave."

"We will look," Goliath rumbled in agreement, "Although it will need to be brought up when tonight's patrol teams are set."

Breakfast went by as it usually did, and once it was over, Goliath's clan gathered around their leader to learn their assignment for the night. Some of the Chinese clan's elders gathered around, as they were interested in who among Goliath's clan would be assigned to helping them watch over the Chinese hatchlings.

"Tonight's patrols will be somewhat different from what we normally do," Goliath announced in a strong voice, "Largely as Detective Bluestone is need of help with his present investigation."

"These kidnappings that have been on the news?" Hudson asked curiously, "I know they're wrong and evil, but I donnae know how we can help solve these crimes, lad. Elisa is the only one who knows how to be a detective and at present, people would nae appreciate her help."

"Matt will be doing all the detective work," Elisa pointed out, "And he already has someone that he thinks is behind these kidnappings. He just wants us to follow them while he deals with the other possible paths to follow."

"Who does he think is behind these kidnappings?" Broadway asked.

"Brode's gang," Elisa answered.

"And the patrol teams are to follow them, brother?" Othello asked, "Why not just grab them and make them reveal the location of their captives?"

"Because we do not know for sure that Brode's followers are actually behind the kidnappings," Goliath rumbled, "So far, all Detective Bluestone has is a suspicion and has asked us to follow them to try and confirm that suspicion. If we simply grab some of Brode's followers, and learn that they are not behind this, we could inadvertently warn the real kidnappers and lose any chance at stopping them."

"Not to put a damper on this adventure, but do you know where Brode's guys have gone to?" Brooklyn asked, "We haven't noticed any major trouble from them since they took over Manhattan from what remained of Dracon's gang."

Goliath gave a heavy sigh, "We must find them. I'm afraid that tonight's mission might require everyone to patrol in order for this to be effective."

"Not allowed," one of the Chinese elders spoke firmly, "You have a responsibility to watch over our clan's hatchlings and that takes precedence over what is going on in the human city. If you do not know where these 'gangsters' are, you will not go looking for him and you will politely tell your detective friend that he will have to do his own work."

"Matt is a good friend, you can't possibly suggest we don't help him after he's done so much to try and help us?" Elisa gasped back.

"The decision is not based on any negative opinion of humanity or their societies," the Chinese elder responded, "but a gargoyle clan's first responsibility is to its children and then its protectorate. My clan is trying to win back our home in Tibet and there are not enough Chinese elders here to look after the hatchlings adequately. We need the extra pairs of eyes and hands, and particularly younger eyes and hands that can keep up with the hatchling's energy. I do not like the fact that this rash of crimes has broken up, but if you can not provide my clan with at least half of yours to watch over our hatchlings, I can not allow any action that would cause that. My clan's responsibility to its hatchlings comes first, as you will well understand in time."

Goliath sighed again. He had promised to help the Chinese clan and he could sense that Elisa was getting close to actually attacking the Chinese elder for making her friendship with Matt seem unimportant and something to be ignored if it wasn't convenient. He had to do something quick to prevent a fight.

"You're right," Goliath sighed as he spoke to the Chinese elder, "I did agree to help watch over your clan's hatchlings while the rest of your clan is away."

The Chinese elders gave a triumphant smile to each other. Goliath meanwhile turned to the rest of his clan.

"Brooklyn, I will trust you to lead the group that I leave here to help the Chinese elders," Goliath spoke, "Candy, Amy, Caroline, Angela, Broadway, Sarah, Ian, Ethan, and Eve will be with you."

"Right, Goliath," Brooklyn nodded.

"Hudson, Elisa, Brother, Sister, and Lexington, you will compromise the two patrol teams for tonight," Goliath spoke, "We will have to patrol looking specifically for any sort of activity of someone trying to continue this wave of kidnappings."

"You think they will continue their crimes?" Desdemona asked.

"If it's organized crime, they might very well continue," Elisa answered, "They'll have some money making plans behind their activities."

"But why are they kidnapping girls?" Lexington asked curiously, "Kidnapping and ransom has never been an activity of gangsters in any of the movies, and Dracon never did anything like that."

"If it is Brode's gang, I fear I have a good suspicion about why they're doing this," Elisa spoke in a somewhat nervous voice.

"And what is that?" Broadway asked nervously.

"Slavery would be the simple answer, although the issue is quite complicated," Elisa answered.

"How so?" Goliath questioned, "I assumed that the world has outlawed slavery."

"Largely," Elisa answered, "And it isn't slavery as many people would think of as slavery. It's not millions of people laboring for no money. The entire operation is underground and those running it try to conceal it from governments of the world. Many times it is used as a form of 'sexual slavery' as the poor in search of some form of employment are grabbed in many places with the idea that they will have a job or at least a safe place to stay."

"And this goes on?" Goliath asked sounding borderline infuriated.

"From what I've read, most of these 'slaves' aren't recruited in the US, but they are sent to the US in various ways," Elisa answered with a sigh, "Every nation that has outlawed slavery has been trying to stop the practice, but criminals like Brode find the trade profitable enough to the point where they'll try to cover it up."

"So now Brode is trying to expand this wicked practice," Goliath spoke in a growling voice, "We must stop him."

"And we will," Elisa said firmly, "If this is their intention, they'll be looking to gather more and if we go looking for where they might try and kidnap someone, we might be able to catch them in the act."

**Elsewhere**

"Well, I think your theory that it's the mob that is behind all this is beginning to get a bit stronger," Flariaty sighed as she and Matt got back into their car and return to the station.

They had done their best to go through all of the possible people and witnesses to the first crime again to try and see if they could pinpoint any specific suspect out of those that knew the kidnapped girl. They had had no luck in that department. The girl didn't seem to have made any personal enemies and no one seemed to hate the family enough to want to commit a crime.

"Maybe," Matt sighed, "We still need to check with the friends, family and witnesses of the other kidnappings to double check against any sort of personal vendetta."

"Well, not everyone works the night shift," Flariaty replied, "So, what's next?"

"Mostly for right now we head back to the precinct," Matt sighed, "Try to put together as much as we can from what we have."

"Shouldn't we have that already?" Flariaty asked, "I mean, know what happened?"

"We know the basic outline of what happened in each instance," Matt answered, "But not everything. Mostly the why of several specific events. In one of the crimes, the guys drove up and grabbed the victim and drove off. In this most recent one, they broke into an apartment in the middle of the night and abducted the victim, and it's unknown whether or not they even had a car. We're just assuming they did for the ease of escape from the scene."

"Well, a car wouldn't survive a crash through the outer walls of an apartment building," Flariaty commented, "I think THAT is why they didn't just drive by and grab the latest victim."

"Yes, but they didn't drive up and grab the one in the restaurant from the street, and the one in the recreational center was actually taken into a nearby parking garage before their 'getaway' car drove off," Matt answered, "There's also the fact that while the few witnesses that we have say that the criminals were two white males in dark clothing, but no specific facial description, none of them agree on what the car they drove away in. The kidnapping at the church involved an old Lincoln model, I don't think they ever said which model though. The kidnapping at the restaurant involved a stolen BMW, actually, and the kidnapping at the recreational center involved a Chevrolet."

"Could be part of some plan to avoid being persecuted for each crime," Flariaty commented, "Or, if organized crime truly is involved in all of this, we have multiple kidnappers that are taking orders from one guy."

"But then, why have all these kidnappings occurred on different days?" Matt asked, "It'd be a lot easier for multiple groups to grab several victims at once in one day when no one is investigating them, rather then do it one day at a time."

"How should I know how criminals think?" Flariaty asked, sounding frustrated, "No law abiding citizen does, and that includes your gargoyle friends."

Matt only sighed, "I still think there are some things we need to look over and think over. At least for tonight. I don't want to go around waking people up to try and get clearer explanations about everything."

**Castle Wyvern**

"Why do you have all these knives?" one of the older hatchlings asked while Broadway and Angela worked to clean the dishes from breakfast.

"Each knife is specifically designed to cut specific foods," Broadway answered, enjoying that a small group of the Tibetan gargoyles was interested in cooking, and that their questions kept his mind off of the kidnapping investigation that the police and now part of the clan was undertaking, "several of the larger knives are used for butchering meat while some of the smaller ones are for cutting stuff that is much softer, like vegetables."

"But why not have one good knife that can cut through any of them?" a different hatchling asked, "Meats or vegetables."

"We did, back in the middle ages," Broadway commented.

"And the Avalon clan's cutlery is much the same, although the technological capacity to manufacture all the different types of knives easily does not exist there, so they've made due with making one type of all purpose knife to save work and energy," Angela added, "Although, that might have changed now that the fey have returned to Avalon and can do a lot of 'that' sort of work through magic."

"Middle Ages?" the first hatchling asked, "What does that mean?"

"It's a historical period," Broadway answered, "Goliath read about it in a history book. It is supposedly between 476 CE and the 1400s of the Common Era."

"Why?" the first hatchling asked.

"I don't know," Broadway answered, "It's a term the people today use to refer to that timeframe. I don't know why. It was in that book that Goliath read."

Broadway and Angela returned to cleaning the dishes while the small group of hatchlings discussed something that they couldn't really overhear. They knew they were whispering something, but they couldn't tell what was being said.

"How are you guys from that time?" the second hatchling then asked.

"Yeah," a third hatchling piped up, "476 has to have been a long time ago and not even our elders are that old."

"The original part of our clan isn't that old either," Broadway answered, "We're from 994, which is still a long way off, but not as long as 476..."

"You're getting away from the point of the story," Angela reminded him.

Broadway nodded, "Anyway, the castle, here, was sacked by the Vikings and our clan was destroyed. The castle's magician, whom we called The Magus, accused us of killing the castle's princess and cast a spell that put us to sleep for a thousand years, at which point, Mr. Xanatos had bought the castle, brought it here, and broke the spell."

"You were asleep the whole time?" the first hatchling asked.

"Yes, and since stone doesn't age, each of us remained the same physical age that we were when the Magus placed us under the spell," Broadway nodded, "and his magic also protected us from things like weathering, I think."

"Did you sleep with the others too, Miss Angela?" a fourth and female hatchling asked.

"No," Angela answered, "At the time of the castle's sacking by the Vikings, I hadn't hatched yet. I'm physically as old as Broadway because the Princess and the Magus were good people, who felt sorry when they realized they had made a mistake on that night. They then took the clan's eggs with them to Avalon where I and my brothers and sisters were raised. Avalon, however, has a spell on it that made one year on Avalon equivalent to several years out in the rest of the world. By the time that Goliath and Elisa journeyed to Avalon, my rookery had grown up to be physically as old as Broadway's generation."

"Can we go there?" the first hatchling asked.

"No, I think it'd be best if we stayed around here," Broadway commented, "Wouldn't want anyone to get lost, especially while Goliath's out. Tell you what, when we're done with the dishes, we'll check on one of the other hatchling-sitting groups and see if you want to play tag or something out in the courtyard."

Elsewhere, in the castle, Candy paused to look out a window into the night sky. She hoped she could catch a sight of where the patrol teams were in the city, but had no luck.

"Miss Candy," came a stern voice from behind her.

Candy whirled around to see one of the Chinese elders, a male, standing there, looking rather firm and almost like a principal ready scold disobedient student.

"I can understand you wish to be with your mate, but you must tend to your responsibilities here," the Chinese elder commented.

"Unfortunately, I can not write in Chinese calligraphy," Candy answered, "I barely got the hang of cursive writing in my English classes when I was in school."

The Chinese elder sighed. While the hatchlings had come a long way from their ancestral home, they had agreed that the older hatchlings should not lose any of the teachings that were important to their clan. Unfortunately, not all of the older hatchlings could be taken through their 'schooling' at the same time, and most of the Chinese elders were needed to help with the younger hatchlings.

"I do not expect you to read Chinese calligraphy," the Chinese elder sighed, "I expect you to at least make sure that they are focused on their lessons and are writing. I will determine if what they are writing down is correct."

"It feels like I'm just in your way like this," Candy commented.

"It will help you prepare for your future," the Chinese elder spoke, in what had become a frequent mantra for the Chinese elders since they had moved in, "In time you and your mate will have hatchlings of your own. At least this way you have some experience in raising gargoyle hatchlings."

"I'm not ready to think that far down the road," Candy answered, "It'll be eight years before Lex and I can have an egg, and it will take ten more years to hatch."

"That will be fixed, in time," the Chinese elder replied, "And besides, for one who is uneasy about her future as a parent, you have done a very good job when you pay attention to what needs to be done, and I have rarely seen you or your clan mates let yourselves be distracted in your task."

"Uh, thanks, I guess," Candy answered.

**Docks, Northeastern part of Manhattan**

Brode's second stood quietly as a moderately sized yacht-like pulled into dock between two small cargo ships. After a few moments a man calmly lowered a gangplank and began to approach Brode's second.

"Do you have the goods?" the new man asked in Romanian.

Brode's second nodded, and then answered in Romanian, "Yes. Got them locked in the basement of an old apartment on the south side of the Bronx. Although we should have some new stock being taken tonight so you will have a full load to take back for training."

The man smiled briefly, but it did not last long.

"We need to up the schedule of the transfer back to facilities in Europe," the Romanian answered, "I do not think our European offices will last long without our leadership there."

"What?" Brode's second asked.

"It's these gargoyle creatures that we've been seeing news reports on," the Romanian answered.

"There aren't any gargoyles in Eastern Europe," Brode's second growled, "The ones that foiled Brode's attempts in Prague turned out to be New Yorkers. They are here."

"Yes, but many of our offices in the Balkans and in Romania have become spooked by these news reports and as a result have made some rather clumsy mistakes and gotten arrested," the Romanian answered, "Half of our offices in the former Yugoslavia and in Romania are currently under intense observation in those countries. Most of the people from this operation are being taken to our offices in Northeastern Europe."

"There haven't been any serious arrests, have there?" Brode's second asked.

"No serious ones, but there have enough small ones to indicate that there is something bigger going on that they do not know about," the Romanian answered.

Brode's second sighed and nodded and then waved toward a nearby alley. After a few moments a truck then appeared from the alley and parked next to the two men.

"I trust you have brought the arms cache to sell to the Americans, illegally of course?" Brode's second asked.

"Of course," the Romanian answered, "We can load the truck and then you can make your call about upping the schedule."

Nearby, three gargoyles landed on the roof of a beat up apartment building. At least what might have been an apartment building at one time.

"No sign of these kidnappers," Othello grumbled, sounding frustrated that the worst they had come across so far was a mugging, "And it appears that even Thailog is taking a rest tonight."

"We'd best begin to 'patrol' our way back," Lexington commented to the other two gargoyles with him, "the news said that all of these kidnappings have been done in Manhattan, so maybe they'll stay in Manhattan."

"Either way, we've gone as far as our protectorate extends," Desdemona commented before spotting something a block or so away, "Wait, do you see that?"

Othello and Lex turned to see where the golden female was pointing. She was pointing towards something that appeared to be closer to the docks. Between looking down a narrow alleyway, and the darkness of the night and most of New York's lights behind them, it appeared to be a truck parked near ship of some kind.

"You don't suppose they're smuggling them out of New York or something?" Lex asked aloud.

"We can not let them get away!" Othello growled and launched himself into the air, with Desdemona and Lex following after him.

"What's the plan?" Lex asked as they glided toward the site where they thought they saw the kidnappers.

"Desdemona and I will deal with the two kidnappers near the boat," Othello answered, "You will insure that the truck does not leave and that their prisoners are freed."

The other two nodded in agreement and then dove down on the surprised gangsters.

Brode's second jumped almost a foot in the air when he heard the roars and looked up to see one pair of white and one pair of red glowing eyes. He immediately dove for the ground, while the Romanian lowered himself to a crouching position.

"Things get interesting, now, no?" the Romanian asked as he pulled a handgun out from underneath his coat.

"Those things have beaten everything that Dracon threw at them and they got our best sniper arrested," Brode's second answered, "they weren't supposed to see this."

"Well then," the Romanian replied, "Then I'll have to be the first to beat them, because I am not going to any prison. American or other country's."

The Romanian then fired on Othello and Desdemona as they landed a few feet away from them, but his short 'conversation' with Brode's second gave the gargoyles time to prepare a new attack, and his shots went wide. As he got closer, Othello slashed at the Romanian's gun wielding hand, and successfully managed to knock it from the gangster's grasp. Unfortunately, Othello's momentum allowed the Romanian to duck down and use his legs to propel Othello into an unintended dive into the pavement a few feet away.

"I'm not going to prison," the Romanian muttered and began to run back to his ship.

Brode's second meanwhile curled up into the fetal position, not wanting a piece of any of the attacking gargoyles. Desdemona stopped her attack to see that he wasn't going to fight and sighed.

"The Vikings were infinitely braver then you," Desdemona commented to Brode's second and lifted he man off the ground, "Lex, the other one is getting away!"

Lex looked up from the door side window of the truck to see the Romanian run up the gangplank onto his yacht-like ship. Othello was already running to catch him, but if the ship got moving, he might not be able to get airborne, and since Lex had already knocked the lone truck driver out, it fell to him to join the chase. Lex climbed onto the op of the roof of the truck and began to glide after the ship while Othello ran up the gangplank.

The Romanian had managed to start the engine and begin to pull the ship away as they got onto the ship. Both Lex and Othello were thrown to the deck as the ship moved and the gangplank was torn off and dropped into the water.

"You know, I get the distinct impression he doesn't want us to catch him," Lex commented trying to sound humorous.

"Come on," Othello spoke firmly as he got up and began to walk toward the bridge of the ship that the Romanian was piloting.

As they got close to the door, however, both heard what sounded like a gun being cocked. Both then dove to the deck as a shotgun was fired through the door, sending a shower of splinters onto them, but leaving them unharmed.

"I'm not going to jail!" the Romanian screamed.

Othello only growled and lunged through the damaged door before the Romanian could fire again and slammed the gangster against the floor, knocking him out. Lex then calmly entered the bridge area and approached the helm.

"Can you pilot this ship?" Othello asked.

Lexington looked over the ship's controls and sighed.

"Maybe well enough to beach it," Lex answered, "Most of the manuals I've read have actually been flight manuals for things like helicopters."

Othello muttered something under his breath, largely concerning a winged creature wanting to fly a mechanical device, but Lexington had already focused on steering the ship.

"Thankfully he didn't get this ship going very fast," Lexington commented, "If we do any damage at all, it will be to the ship itself."

Othello nodded and lifted the Romanian into the air, so if he regained consciousness, he couldn't do anything.

"Could you understand what he was saying?" Othello asked.

"No," Lexington shrugged, "Whatever it was, it couldn't have been good."

"It sounded like the Latin that the monks spoke in mass back in our 'home time' that Desdemona and I listened to occasionally," Othello commented, "But not exactly."

"It could have been a language that is descended from Latin, like French or Spanish," Lexington commented, "But that guy looks like he's from Eastern Europe. What Eastern European country speaks a romantic language?"

"The police an figure it out," Othello grumbled, "Did you free the hostages?"

"There weren't any in the truck," Lex answered, "They're probably in the hold somewhere."

"I'll find them then," Othello grumbled and walked out, still holding the unconscious Romanian.

"Might want to tell them to brace themselves, we're about to hit the concrete part of the dock," Lex warned.

"Can't you slow us down?" Othello asked.

"We're already going slow, and I still don't know all the knobs and switches to control the ship," Lex answered, "For all I know, I could actually speed the ship up, rather then slow it down."

Their argument then became pointless as the yacht-like ship crashed into the concrete part of the pier. Due to its slow speed, it did no damage to the pier, but the front part of the bow did buckle a little, and both gargoyle felt a slight shudder pass through the ship. Othello and Lex both sighed, but were grateful that the impact wasn't serious. If the hostages were on the ship, it was unlikely that they were hurt.

Both Lex and Othello searched the ship, but found no sign of the kidnapped girls anywhere. What they did find however, wasn't something that the Romanian should have had in the US though, either.

"Oh man," Lex sighed, "I think we've stumbled on to something else completely."

"At least we stopped them, then," Othello commented, "Can you contact the police?"

Lex nodded.

**Central Park**

The two kidnappers employed by Brode's second ducked underneath one bridge as one man walked over the top of the bridge. They remained quiet until he had gotten far enough away that he would not hear them talking.

"This will be quite a trick," the first man whispered.

They then peaked out into a clearing where a teenaged male and female were playing catch.

"You move around to the right and take the guy out," the second spoke and handed the first a nightstick that they had stolen, "I'll deal with the girl."

The first sighed quietly and then ducked into the bushes nearby.

Above the park, Goliath, Elisa and Hudson were on their way back after failing to find any sign of the kidnappers that had been plaguing the city recently. The fact that they had found no sign of anything was rather frustrating.

"We'll have try again tomorrow night," Goliath grumbled in an angry tone, although it was clear that he was angry and the situation and not at any individual.

"And we will," Elisa spoke up, "And on the hopeful side, maybe there won't be any kidnappings tonight."

A sudden scream from below them broke off the conversation before either Goliath could answer or Hudson could add to it. They dove through the trees, and were forced to make a quick landing, as maneuvering among the branches forced each of them to contract their wings so that they were closer to them. They found two men trying to apprehend a teenaged girl. They also saw what looked like a teenaged male laying unconscious in the grass.

"It's the kidnappers!" Goliath gasped.

"Or at least muggers," Elisa countered, "Either way, we gotta chase them off."

Goliath nodded and then leaped out, eyes blazing. At the sound of his roar, both men stopped their attack on the girl to see the three gargoyles coming. The girl was immediately dropped.

"I thought they'd already gone by here," the first commented.

"They must have doubled back," the second answered, "Come on, let's get out of here."

The two men then began running away, heading for the bridge that they had originated from. Goliath and Hudson continued chasing them while Elisa stopped to kneel by the fallen girl. She sighed as the girl looked even more afraid of Elisa then of the kidnappers.

"Easy, I'm here to help you," Elisa spoke softly, caping her wings over her shoulders, "Are you alright?"

"They knocked out Jerry," the girl whimpered, scooting away from Elisa.

"I think they might have been those kidnappers that have been on the news," Elisa commented as she turned to look at the teenaged male, and gave a sigh of relief that he was breathing, "and he looks like he'll be alright, although you might want to take him to hospital."

"They said you're coming with us," the girl said weakly.

"They wanted to kidnap you," Elisa answered her, "But you should be safe now. Can you call the cops? Let them know what those guys did?"

"You're not going to guard me?" the girl asked, "what if they come back?"

"It will be dawn soon," Elisa answered, "And trust me, those two won't be coming back here for a good long while. At least I don't think they will, not with Goliath and Hudson chasing them."

The sound of approaching sirens then made Elisa turn her head.

"Besides, you might be getting more help here sooner then you think," Elisa commented, "Don't worry, everything will be fine."

The girl then watched as the tan female gargoyle began running after Goliath and Hudson, although both had disappeared from sight, and she would have to try and track them down.

The two men, meanwhile, ran as hard as they could, hoping to get away from the pursuing gargoyles. They were lucky that the area they were in was rather forested, and dodging around tree branches kept their pursuers from easily catching up with them, but they could tell that even the scarred older gargoyle was catching up with them.

"We gotta split up!" the first guy spoke, "I'll go right, you go left. We'll meet up back at the base, if we can get away from these two."

"Sure," the second man nodded as they ran, "I'll go right, you go left."

With that the second man turned right and then ran through another grove of trees, hurdling a bush as he did so. The first man then turned left.

"We can not let them escape," Goliath spoke to Hudson as they saw the two kidnappers split up, "You take the one that was armed, I'll follow the other one."

"Right," Hudson answered, and turned quickly after the kidnapper who went left.

Hudson didn't feel he could chase after this guy for a long while and decided his best option to catch him was to try and cut the distance he had to travel in order to catch up. The chase continued for about a hundred yards before Hudson managed a final desperate dive at the gangster's legs and knocked him over. Both quickly recovered and in desperation, the gangster swung at Hudson with his stolen nightstick. Hudson cut the improvised weapon in half with his own sword and grabbed the man with his free hand.

"Don't eat me!" the gangster pleaded.

"Gargoyles donnae eat people," Hudson answered as he held the gangster up.

It took a few minutes for Hudson immobilize the man by using his belt as a rope to tie him to a tree branch that could support the man's weight, but was high enough up that the guy wouldn't consider trying to escape. As he made his way back to where he and Goliath had parted ways, he ran into Elisa, who was still trying to catch up.

"Where's Goliath?" Elisa asked as Hudson walked up.

"He chased the other gangster off in that direction," Hudson said pointing, "I got the other one dangling from a tree."

"Come on, hopefully we can catch up with Goliath before he catches the other one," Elisa replied and began to sprint in the direction that Goliath had gone, still tracking him.

"What? Why?" Hudson asked, sounding confused.

"If these are the same kidnappers from the earlier kidnappings, we need to learn where their hideout is in order to rescue the victims," Elisa answered, "And if we just leave them for the police, they'll likely get off on some thievery charge and will never mention the kidnappings."

Goliath found that the crook that he was chasing after was far faster and far more nimble then the one that Hudson was pursuing. He also found that his path had lead him out of the park rather quickly and he was forced to climb a tree and take to the air. Once gliding, he quickly found the man again and noticed that he was constantly looking over his shoulder, as if he expected Goliath to chase him on foot through the busy sidewalks and streets. As soon as he moved into an alley, he would dive down and grab him.

The chase went on much longer the Goliath would have hoped. The gangster never went up an alley, seemed to stick to rather busy streets. By the time he saw the gangster disappear into a seemingly condemned building, his wings were exhausted and he had to land on the roof of a nearby building. He turned after a few moments to see Elisa and Hudson land behind him a few minutes later.

"So, this is his headquarters?" Elisa asked as she leaned over the edge.

"This is where he ran to," Goliath answered, "I was about to go in and get him. The building looks like it's been condemned."

"I'm afraid we can't, big guy," Elisa commented.

"What?!" Goliath asked, half angry half confused.

"Matt thinks these kidnappings are part of an organized crime operation," Elisa answered, "Which means, most of the evidence that they need will be hard to find. We may have found what we think is their headquarters, but if we go in now, because we are 'outside' the law, all evidence that links Brode's followers to the kidnappings becomes circumstantial and won't convict them."

Goliath gave a really heavy sigh making no attempt to hide the fact that the situation frustrated him.

"The best we can do is call Matt and let him know where they are," Elisa answered, "If he didn't see you following him, that is."

"He looked behind him, but he never looked up," Goliath answered, "I do not believe he saw me."

"That's good," Elisa commented, "Let's head back and call Matt then."

**23****rd****Precinct Headquarters**

"What is it, George?" Matt asked as he and Flariaty walked into the hallway just outside the interrogation rooms.

"I think I've come across something that might actually tie in with your kidnapping investigation," the other detective, named George, answered.

Both Matt and Flariaty looked at George with a great deal of curiosity. George then decided to continue his explanation.

"Anyway, I got sent off on an anonymous call about some 'foul play' by the docks near the Bronx," George explained, "I get there and I find a truck that has it's driver's side window destroyed, a yacht-like ship crashed into the concrete and three men tied up with metal bars sitting on the pavement near the ship."

"The gargoyles must have found something on one of their bouts of vigilante justice," Flariaty commented.

"Probably," George commented, "But I'm not complaining. Anyway, one of the guys is apparently Brode's chief lieutenant and has been running his organization since we arrested Brode. One was a nobody within Brode's organization, and the third was some strange guy that can't speak a word of English, and I have no idea what language he is speaking. I had to place a call into the FBI to ask for some help figuring out where he's from."

"He's probably from Eastern Europe," Matt answered, "Most of Brode's organization is."

"Yeah, but it's hard to get anything out of him when I can't understand a word he says," George replied, "I need an interpreter."

Matt and Flariaty nodded while George continued on.

"And that isn't the end of it," George continued, "I checked both vehicles, because while the gargoyles may be 'vigilantes' they've yet to attack someone who hasn't committed a crime, which is amazing, as most vigilantes end up taking out an innocent by mistake. The truck was empty of anything, but the yacht was loaded with all sorts of weaponry, mostly Russian AK-47s. Some of them were even already modified to fire at a greater rate."

"Gun smugglers," Flariaty growled.

"You might want to talk to the FBI about them too," Matt commented, "Bringing military grade weapons INTO the country is a bit beyond our jurisdiction."

"They'd probably muscle in even if we found them making them here, part for part," George muttered, "I got no choice on that, no offense, Bluestone."

"None taken," Matt shrugged.

"Anyway, it's once I got them into the interrogation rooms that the really interesting stuff started happening," George continued, "As I said earlier, there is one that I'm going to need an interpreter for, but the other two could speak English."

George paused to scratch his head before continuing.

"The gargoyles appeared to have truly scared the pants of Brode's second, though," George continued, "and he's gotten a little careless with some of his answers."

"What do you mean?" Matt asked.

"Well," George sighed, "I asked him about the gun smuggling charges that he'd have to face and whether or not he was 'ashamed' of it, and he answered, 'that too'."

"That too?" Flariaty asked back.

"Yeah," George nodded, "I then asked if he meant his violent takeover of New York crime and all the potential people that Brode's organization has murdered over the years, both here and in Europe."

"What did he say to that?" Flariaty asked.

"He said, and I quote, 'oh, yeah, that'," George answered, "Except, he sounded more nervous like he was hiding something and knew that he had gotten caught."

"And you think he's hiding something about these kidnappings?" Matt asked, "I assume that's why you called me and Flariaty."

"If he isn't directly involved, he at least knows something that might help you out," George answered, "And if you get some answers, it might help me work with why we got a guy who can't speak English bringing high powered weaponry into Manhattan."

Matt was the first to enter the interrogation room that Brode's second was sitting in. He did look particularly nervous, although Matt expected that.

"Are you the other guy's partner?" Brode's second asked, trying to sound tough, but obviously failing.

"No, I'm hear to ask you a completely different set of questions," Matt replied.

"I don't swing that way, detective," Brode's second answered, trying to sound confident.

"I don't either, I'm here to ask you about these kidnappings that have gone on recently," Matt replied.

Brode's second visibly blinked and tried to recover his composure.

"Oh, that has been very bad," Brode's second commented…

"Yeah, and since the detective that found you and your friend has already proven that you are connected to the criminal organization under the command of Thomas Brode, I figured you might know something about these kidnappings," Matt commented back.

"I didn't order those kidnappings," Brode's second blurted.

"I never suggested that you did," Matt told him, "But these kidnappers had to have bragged about it in the circles that you or your men frequent."

"Bragged?" Brode's second asked, sounding confused.

"Yes, you know, came into a bar, had a few drinks, and then once drunk, said, 'guess what? Me and Fred grabbed some girl right out of her bed!' something like that," Matt explained.

"No, I've never heard any of that," Brode's second shook his head heavily.

"Any of your men?" Matt asked, "You probably will be convicted for the gun smuggling charges that will be laid against you, if you can give us any information that might have accidentally fallen into your organization's hands regarding these kidnappings, it might help your present situation."

The mention of the 'gun smuggling' charges made Brode's second remember the gargoyles that had attacked him and his small team on the docks. He had heard of Brode's failed battle with them in Prague and of his failure again in New York, but he had never been close enough to see them up close or realize the power that the creatures truly possessed. When he took over as Brode's second in command, after the failed attempt to crush Dracon when Brode first came to New York, he thought little of the gargoyles. In fact, he felt that they had only won in the earlier engagements because Brode's men on the site were either of poor quality or because they had been unused to having something come out of the sky and grab them.

His attitude hadn't really changed during his time as second in command, although there was frustration with either the failures, or the difficulties suffered as a result of the battles with the clan. The failed attempt to collect on Dracon's hit and then the nearly catastrophic second attempt to take over New York's criminal scene. They frustrated him, but he had always in where the fighting wasn't and continued to believe that the opposition he faced was not as good as it really was.

Now, after seeing one gargoyle shatter the window of a truck with one punch, and then knocking out his driver, while another two took him out and sent the Romanian running, and then watching two of them take out the Romanian and 'beach' his yacht, it was enough to see that the gargoyles were truly fearsome creatures when they wanted to be.

Of course, being jailed was just as big a fear for him, but it appeared that that might end up being his only real destination. He had no lawyer and he didn't want to face the gargoyles again. He decided the only thing he could do, was sell out the kidnappers and say they weren't part of his organization.

"Some of my lieutenants might have heard something," Brode's second finally answered, "Two lower lieutenants came in hearing a story of a couple of guys who were trying to pass off as Serbians, but have been living in America for generations. Their names are Vlad and Yeer were all that they were able to learn about them."

"And that's all they found out?" Matt asked.

"The mob is not like what it is in comic books, detective," Brode's second answered, "We aren't 'Kingpin's' with a vast array of intelligence gatherers."

"Thank you," Matt answered, and then got up, "Make what you just told me part of your plea bargain and the law might reduce your sentence."

Matt then left the room to find Flariaty and George waiting.

"How'd it go?" George asked.

"The gargoyles terrified him alright," Matt nodded, "He'll probably go for a plea bargain to reduce jail time or at least switch it from jail time to probation, depending on what we can make stick on him specifically."

"What did he say in reference to our case?" Flariaty asked.

"He says that a couple of people of Serbian descent named Vlad and Yeer," Matt answered, "He says they aren't part of Brode's gang, but I think that he's trying to cover his tracks. We won't be able to prove it though, without any further evidence."

"Well, we might have an opportunity to get some more," Flariaty commented, her voice sounding fairly frustrated, "While you were in there talking with the head mobster there, your old partner called me, well you actually, but you had your cellphone out here so it wouldn't be a distraction in there."

"Do you always answer other people's phones?" Matt asked, sounding suddenly annoyed.

"I do when the phone's built in speaker answering machine delivers Maza's voice saying that, 'we might have found something that could help'," Flariaty responded, "You asked them for help. How could you?"

"We needed the help with this, the help that might technically be bending a few rules," Matt answered, "These guys have given us next to nothing because there is a lot 'procedure' that we must do in order to go as far. I asked them to find where these guys were operating out of. That's all."

"We didn't need their help to find where these kidnappers were hiding," Flariaty answered, "Helping humanity accept them is one thing, giving them our jobs is quite another!"

"We would be looking for another five months before it would be changed to a possible rape and homicide investigation," Matt answered, "This way we might be able to find the victims before these kidnappers decide to rid themselves of their 'problem'."

"Not to mention that without them the guns that we now Brode's followers brought in would have made it onto the streets and would have caused greater damage across the country, as a lot of that sort of 'merchandise' is sold to buyers from all around, not just one specific area," George added, "I know you're a very by the book cop, but I think the 'book' might actually be changing and the sooner we can adapt to it, the better."

Flariaty grumbled, "I worked long and hard to become a detective. Do you think I'm going to get used to a bunch of gargoyles being brought into the police force and being fired because the city doesn't want to pay me in addition to paying a bunch of gargoyles that they only hired because of political correctness?"  
"I doubt that they would fire you to hire the gargoyles," Matt answered, "I told you this before, the clan would more likely volunteer as ordinary police officers and patrol."

"What about your friend? Your old partner?" Flariaty asked, "If she could be a detective again, do you think she wouldn't jump at it?"

"I don't know," Matt sighed, "But I would think that she would want to stay close to Goliath, and he probably wouldn't ask to be a detective. I'm also going to say that you need to lighten up on the gargoyles about these things. You're beginning to sound paranoid."

**Castle Wyvern, Near Dawn**

The clan began to take their positions on the tower and battlements for day as was normal for them. Goliath and his clan specifically rested on the tower closest to the interior of the castle. When one or more of the Guatemalan gargoyles decided to sleep for the day, they rested on the inner battlement walls overlooking the courtyard's gardens. The Chinese elders, and usually the older hatchlings preferred to rest on the outer most walls of the castle. Goliath and the others tried to warn them away from this, fearing that the high winds that regularly blew by the Eyrie Building combined with the narrow ledge of the outermost walls would make sleeping there unsafe. The Chinese gargoyles insisted they would be fine, and Goliath eventually found it easier to let them sleep there.

As Goliath and Elisa climbed up onto their pedestals for the day, they were stopped briefly by a couple of the Chinese clan's older hatchlings.

"Mr. Goliath, can we speak with you?" the first hatchling asked.

"Speak quickly," Goliath answered, "It's nearly dawn, and it's just Goliath. No mister attached."

"Did you catch the bad men on the magic box?" the hatchling asked using the word that the Chinese clan, including the elders, used to refer to the television.

"We've found where they're hiding for the police," Goliath answered, "They will capture the bad men and free the hostages this time."

"Why do they do this?" a second hatchling asked, "Miss Caroline wouldn't tell us and changed the image in the magic box, so the lady in it wouldn't tell us why they do these things."

"That is something that might be better explained to you lat…" Goliath couldn't finish his answer, as the sun rose and the gargoyles turned to stone.

**Elsewhere**

Mary looked at the meager offerings of food that she and the other kidnapped girls had been given with despair. She was hungry and she wanted to go home, and to top it all off, none of them knew how long they had been there or what day it was. Earlier there had been sounds of shuffling outside the door that kept her and the others prisoner, and occasionally they could make out muffled talking, but that had all stopped recently, and in fact, the building sounded quieter then a tomb.

"I wish they' give us more," the first of the other girls commented.

"I wish they'd just tell us what they want to do with us," a second girl spoke, "Sitting around in silence down here is getting rather boring."

"I don't want to know what they're going to do with us," the third whimpered, "We've been kidnapped. Whatever they want can't be good."

Mary only sighed, "I hope someone will rescue us."

What followed was what could only be the answering of her prayers as a load 'bang' echoed through the building and heavy footsteps began to pound on the floors above them.

"What do you suppose that is?" the second girl asked.

They heard a lot of shouting and the sound of someone being dragged along the floor immediately above them.

"I think it's the cavalry!" the third girl exclaimed, "We're saved! Should we pound on the door to let them know where we are?"

Before either of them could do anything, however, there was a loud 'bang' again and the door was knocked off it's hinges. A SWAT team member holding a one man battering ram stepped in, saw the girls and then turned around.

"Yeah they're here," the officer shouted up the stairs, "Let Detective Bluestone and Flariaty know."

The officer then turned to the four girls and asked, "You want to go home?"

**Castle Wyvern, that evening**

"So that's how it went?" Elisa asked as Matt finished telling the story.

"Pretty much," Matt nodded, "the whole plan was to ship them off to Europe and sell them as 'escorts' to various crooks there. The gun smuggling operation was only a cover-up so that they would have some means of getting them out of the country."

"That's what Elisa thought they were kidnapping those girls for," Goliath commented.

Matt nodded, "And as I said, Flariaty and I pulled a double shift to get all the warrants and supervise the search and arrest."

"It's good that you caught these kidnappers then," Angela commented from where she was standing, as most of the clan had gathered to listen to Matt recount how the case with Brode's agents and the kidnapped girls ended.

"How long will they be locked away?" Broadway asked.

"Brode's chief lieutenant will probably get off rather easy as he's probably going to end up filing a plea bargain with the DA," Matt answered, "The foreign mobster we don't know yet, as we're still waiting for the FBI to send someone to figure out what language he speaks, but the kidnappers themselves should see a good long stay in a Federal penitentiary."

"We all knew you could do it, Matt," Elisa patted him on the shoulder.

"You guys made my job a lot easier," Matt answered, "And for that, I thank you."

**The End…**


	38. Super-Powered

All characters appearing in Gargoyles and Gargoyles: The Goliath Chronicles are copyrighted to Buena Vista Television/The Walt Disney Company. I've taken the idea for the Unseelie Court from the TGS. Characters and concepts from Star Trek are property of Paramount and created by Gene Roddenberry. No Infringement of these copyrights is intended, and is not authorized by the copyright holder. All original characters are the property of SN.

Note: I'm disregarding the events of the "Goliath Chronicles", with the exception of "The Journey" because I do not wish to use the rest of the "Goliath Chronicles" as canon to my story. Also, I'm altering large sections of the Star Trek storyline, especially concerning events like WWIII and the Eugenics Wars, which without the Cold War as a backdrop probably wouldn't happen the way Roddenberry wrote them, if at all. This story takes place one week after "Smugglers".

Super-Powered

By SN/TVfan

Email: Sam_Nary

**Castle Wyvern**

Fox leaned heavily against a wall having completed her latest magic lesson. She had managed to accomplish what her mother was trying to teach her, but she felt extremely exhausted. She tried, but found herself unable to keep from panting.

"You've done well, Fox," Titania commented, "Very well as a matter of fact, considering that you had no training when I should have given it to you."

"I've been thinking a lot actually," Fox commented, "Maybe you were right not to show me who you really were when I was younger."

"Hm?" Titania asked back confused.

"Alex was asking me the other day about school," Fox replied, "I want him to get a good education, and David and I can easily afford any of the private schools in the city, shoot, most of the private schools in the New York area. And the public schools would love to say that they educated Alexander Xanatos."

"And that is a problem?" Titania asked, "There is nothing wrong with an education, and most of the public schools in this country specifically are not as bad as you think. I can not speak for other countries, as my other children were the children that I've had with Oberon and did not require a mortal's education."

Fox nodded, "Yes, but Alex is human, mostly, and needs a 'mortal's education'. But, Alex also knows the clan, shoot he refers to Lexington and Candy as Uncle Lex and Aunt Candy. He knows about and David's and my… condition. He knows about you and a lot of things that the clan, David and I, and your people want to keep secret for the time being."

"And you're afraid he might deliberately tell someone?" Titania asked.

"Not deliberately," Fox answered, "But he's a kid and he could accidentally mention it. It happens, I'm sure there are some things that I said as a child that I shouldn't have said, and getting back to it, that's partially why it may be a good thing that I didn't know who you really where. Because if you wanted people to know about the Third Race, you would have revealed yourselves on your own."

On that, Titania had no answer. Similar incidents had occurred in the past with someone trying to expose the Third Race in a manner that could be potentially destructive, but all of these had occurred while Oberon was alive. And while Oberon had forbidden his children and his wife from making magic on humans, Titania, despite her love for her first husband, secretly believed that Oberon had no qualms with Oberon using magic on mortals and that he made the people either forget or kept them silent on the subject through magic. Titania could not see herself using magic to keep her grandson quiet, for whatever reason.

"You may need to talk to your son when he does go to school," Titania sighed, "I can see your problem, but the only real help I could give in this case, would be to use magic on him to make sure he can not mention your condition, his friendship with the gargoyles, or my people, which I will not do because I feel that would be wrong and could cause more damage later."

Fox didn't answer.

"It isn't an easy situation," Titania sighed again, "But you will have to trust your son, as every parent would. I will also say that if he does accidentally say something he shouldn't have, Avalon will establish 'diplomatic relations' with the mortals."

"You would do that?" Fox asked.

"My people can not hide forever," Titania answered, "Eventually human technology will become so advanced that the Third Race's magic will not be able to hide the from human scanners and detection gear. And if they discover Avalon and learn how old it is and how powerful many fey are, they could feel us to be enemies and attack out of fear. My people may have to make 'first contact' to prove that we are good friends and desire no harm to come to humanity."

After a second or so, Titania continued.

"Besides," Titania continued, "The people of New Olympus have been revealed and there has been no serious attack made against them. Revealing Avalon can be done well, and if Alex reveals my identity, Avalon may have to reveal itself to the outside world, and there are many who would feel that has been overdue."

Fox was silent for a moment.

"But that does not change the fact that you will have to trust your son can keep Avalon a secret," Titania cautioned, "Because the more certain method is morally wrong in my mind."

"I'm still going to be nervous about this," Fox answered.

"All parents are," Titania answered, "Not necessarily for the same reasons mind you, but all parents have some concern about their children."

Titania then looked over at Fox to see that through the course of their discussion, Fox's pants had only become slower and she was still leaning against the wall.

"And speaking of being concerned, I believe you've reached the point in your pregnancy where it would be unwise for you to continue with your magic lessons," Titania then spoke, "We will continue at a point when your body is not so focused on something as precious as a child."

"But I'm only in the second trimester," Fox argued, her hand unconsciously going the slight bulge that her womb had been creating for the fast three plus months, "I'm fine. Really."

"You're exhausted," Titania countered, "I might have even pushed you too hard with this week's lesson. Magic can be very draining at times. Puck was probably at the very limit of his powers when Demona stole my mirror. In your case, it is even more serious, as you are only learning to use your powers, even the more basic spells are potentially taxing as you have never used them before. And given your present pregnancy, your body and your magic are working to insure that the child is healthy, which means that using magic could strain the magic naturally being used to protect the child, just as blows to the stomach or super intense physical exertion could cause problems."

"But we're so busy otherwise," Fox spoke back, "you with Avalon and me with either business related stuff with working with Vogel behind the scenes with Cyberbotics until Alex is old enough, not to mention helping the clan from time to time."

"One would think you wanted me around," Titania commented.

"I think we've learned more about each other and have changed a great deal over these lessons," Fox answered, "And after becoming a mother, myself, I think I've become more of a family type person in many ways."

"I will try to visit," Titania answered, "Perhaps I can teach you some other things about your ancestry, such as Seelie History and general histories of the Third Race, and probably more about myself when I was closer to your age."

"The history might not be a good idea, but learning about what you did as a child ought to be interesting," Fox commented, "Considering how many people today talk about how their childhood was."

Titania only raised an eyebrow at the comment.

**Alleyway**

Jordan Jinks dove down as he heard the rush of wings dive down on him. He looked up to see a pink female gargoyle glide back up with an olive green male following. He grumbled something under his breath and got up to try and run in the opposite direction. He was then grabbed from behind after taking a few steps and was taken to the ground.

"It's not nice to steal from people," Lexington commented to the fallen gangster.

"Let me go!" Jordan growled and tried to kick the web winged gargoyle off of him.

Lex hopped back and avoided the kick easily as the pink female landed on the other side of Jordan.

"I don't think he's going to listen, Lex," Candy commented.

"Best knock him out then," Lex commented and clubbed Jordan on his head and knocked him out.

"We got nothing to tie him up with," Candy commented looking around alley.

Lex turned an ear to hearing the sound of sirens getting closer and then motioned for Candy t come with him.

"Come on, the police are coming," Lex spoke, "and the guy is out, so he won't get away before the police arrive."

Candy sighed and then followed Lex and began scaling up the side of one of the buildings that made up the alley way. They were quickly gone and a few moments later, a police car stopped at the edge of the alley and two policemen ran down it to find the man laying on the ground, the purse he had grabbed laying beside him. He groaned slightly as they lifted him up to put him in handcuffs.

"Just our luck," one cop said to the other, "End of our shift comes, and we get called to respond to a purse snatching."

"Yeah, but the apparent victim is watching us from across the street, and our perpetrator is unconscious at our feet with the stolen goods with him," the other cop answered, "We might be a little late, but it will only be a little."

"Thank goodness," the first cop answered and began to help his partner get Jordan to their car, "What about his Miranda Rights?"

"We'll have to give them to him when he regains consciousness," the second cop sighed.

"Gargoyles…" Jordan mumbled in a weak voice before passing out again.

"Well, now we know who helped us out tonight with this," the second cop chuckled, "I've never attended that PIT group, but I've got to say, that having these gargoyles around has certainly been helpful."

"Until we try to make any charges stick," the first cop sighed.

"Yeah, but a lot of these guys get out on some technicality or lack of other evidence anyway," the second cop answered, "And they're only human. Eventually constantly being captured for us by the gargoyles is going to make them decide to go straight."

"I don't know, a lot of crooks seem to be pretty dumb," the first cop answered, "Like someone who just doesn't get it that they can't win."

"Maybe," the second cop sighed, "Maybe."

**Elsewhere**

Brooklyn and Amy closed in on a lone crook who had attempted a mugging. The intended victim got away and didn't lose anything, but that was only half of their responsibilities. The other half was making sure that the crook couldn't get away. Like the crook that Lex and Candy had chased elsewhere in New York, Brooklyn and Amy chased their crook down an alley. This alley, however, was fenced in on three sides and made it impossible for the crook to escape without going through Brooklyn and Amy first. He quickly pulled out a knife.

"Give up," Brooklyn growled at the crook, "You can't escape."

"You won't send me back again!" the crook growled.

"We've beaten this guy up before?" Amy whispered to Brooklyn as they advanced closer.

"Either that or someone else in the clan has," Brooklyn commented before addressing the crook again, "Give it up and I promise we won't hurt you."

The crook answered by slashing at Brooklyn with his knife. Brooklyn jumped back and brought one of his wings around to act as a shield. The knife harmlessly bounced off the stronger skin that made up the back of his wing. Amy then dove forward at the crook, knocking the knife from his hand and tackling him to the ground. She quickly pinned him to the ground and sat on his chest.

"Get off of me!" the crook wheezed as he found it hard to breath with Amy sitting on his chest.

"Only if you give up and turn yourself in," Amy answered back, not flinching from her position.

The crook then tried to throw a punch at Amy, but as she was holding him down at the shoulders, it wasn't very powerful and he ended up barely slapping her bicep with one fist. She then clubbed him upside the head with her other hand knocking him out. Only once he was unconscious did she get up.

"Well, that went rather easy," Amy commented.

"Yeah," Brooklyn commented back, "I guess this what we get when our main enemies continue to either lay low or at least do things in a way that they are able to hide them from us."

"We should be grateful though that guy like Thailog and the Pack are in hiding," Amy spoke, "We won't get killed that way, or at least stand less of a chance of being killed."

"Yeah, but as Hudson and Goliath have always warned, that when things are quiet like this, our foe is likely planning his next attack," Brooklyn sighed, "I don't want to let Goliath down."

"You won't," Amy commented, "and I don't think there's any real reason to worry about failing. Just do your best, that's the best anyone can do, human, gargoyle, or whatever."

"Thanks," Brooklyn commented with a weak smile as he and Amy tied the crook up with a part of a fire escape that was nearby.

"Any time," Amy replied, "Although it's probably getting close to the time when we should be getting back."

Brooklyn nodded and moved the crook so that he would be spotted by the police more easily. The two beaked gargoyles then climbed up the wall of the alley and began their return glide to Castle Wyvern.

**Hotel Cabal**

Duval sighed as he looked at the Illuminati Councilmember known as Three faced him on he viewer to the main communications screen. Three wanted a report on the activities of the Manhattan clan and their Chinese guests.

"I'm afraid they haven't done much, sir," Duval commented, "They have continued about protecting the city from what they feel to be threats to it."

"Does the Chinese clan take part?" Three asked.

"Not that my agents have seen in the city," Duval replied, "Our robot drones have found that they remain at the Castle almost continually, looking after the Chinese hatchlings."

"The Chinese gargoyles are fairly sound strategists," Three then mused, "They enlist the services of Demona to help create chaos in China and perhaps around the world and they take their elderly and young and leave them in a way, in our care."

"Xanatos would never willingly betray the clan again," Duval reminded Three, "The man has made it clear that he will honor his promise to protect and aid Goliath's clan."

"Yes, but having him share information with us does not necessarily betray their confidence and we would actually prefer that they know he's observing their actions," Three replied.

"Of course," Duval answered, "What are the orders?"

"Demona has stepped up her actions elsewhere," Three answered, "And it is clear that the Chinese gargoyles are helping her."

"Yes," Duval nodded, "I've already sent most of my best 'fighting' agents to the areas that Demona and her group will be traveling through."

"We must make sure that the Manhattan Clan is in no position to fight us when Demona makes her final move," Three spoke firmly.

"But I have nothing at my disposal, other then the Hotel Cabal itself, and those creatures have already proved themselves capable of escaping it," Duval pointed out, "They destroyed our robots, beat up our commandos, and trashed or walking weapons platforms."

"We still have some commandos in the area," Three commented.

"Not enough to risk in covert operations against a clan of gargoyles, particularly the Manhattan gargoyles which would expect to be attacked by such forces," Duval answered, "What we need is someone who could battle them on their own level."

"I'm sorry but the supermen are to remain in China to protect our bases there from the insurgent attacks, and the Council will not tolerate the mass transformation of humans in gargoyles, werewolves, or even mutates if we had Sevarius's formula. All of these creatures have their downsides, in either personality or in their own bodies," Three said firmly.

"Then I'm afraid we may have to ignore them until new robots can be constructed, or until the supermen are available," Duval replied, "Because the forces I have are in no condition to fight the gargoyles and win."

"Surely you can at least scout the city for others who would be willing to fight for us," Three commented.

"I could, but all of them would be common criminals," Duval sighed, "Foes that the gargoyles take down rather easily, and arming them with more powerful weaponry might not be that much more of a factor as many times they are armed with a gun or something a long those lines. Some even have non-projectile weapons that have been copied from the first ones that Dracon stole."

Three did no have an answer for the moment while Duval tried to think for a few moments.

"The only way that might work would be make these crooks more powerful then what the gargoyles would suspect," Duval commented, "The Council has plenty of trained sorcerers at its disposal, perhaps one of them could provide the necessary spells to do so."

"I told you we would not be transforming people into non human creatures," Three answered, "We turn them into gargoyles and they might join the Manhattan clan on us, making our problems larger. We turn them into werewolves and we must train them to make sure they do not go 'feral', and we do not posses Sevarius's formula so we can not create mutates."

"I wasn't thinking anything quite that drastic," Duval commented, "But couldn't we do something that would make them stronger then normal or give them some other ability that would be considered super-human with changing their species?"

Three thought for a few moments.

"It's a rather 'comic book' suggestion, Duval but it is possible," Three commented, "So long as they wear an enchanted pendent that carries the abilities necessary. Begin searching for suitable volunteers, by which I mean criminals. They will have good motivation to destroy the gargoyles."

"Of course," Duval nodded.

**Castle Wyvern**

Amy and Brooklyn came in for a landing to find Lex and Candy finishing a report to Goliath, who seemed to be waiting for the night's patrol teams to return. They landed and slowly approached the clan's leader.

"Hey, Goliath," Brooklyn spoke as they got close, "How have things been?"

"Quiet so far," Goliath commented back, "The older hatchlings have managed to stay out of trouble so far, and from what the others have reported, none of the patrol teams have run into anyone more powerful then a common mugger."

"I'm afraid it will be more of the same with us," Brooklyn reported, "No sign of anyone more dangerous then that. I'd think that Thailog and Pack are only off plotting something."

"That is what concerns me," Goliath grumbled with a sigh.

"They've never beaten you before," Amy spoke up.

"Yes, but in most engagements with them he has gone up against a larger number of gargoyles then he might face now," Goliath sighed, "Because we are helping the Chinese elders look after their hatchlings, the number of gargoyles that can patrol each night is weaker then what Thailog or the Pack would normally face, and they could attack us in full force."

"Then it's been thankfully quiet," Amy commented, "He hasn't taken advantage of our weakened numbers, and hopefully we're ready for him when he does."

Goliath gave a polite smile at the beaked female's optimism. The fact that he did not know what his clone was up to at the moment made him nervous, but the fact that young Amy always seemed confident that things would go right was something that was rather relieving.

"I hope you're right," Goliath answered with a nod.

"I think we'll go in to get something to eat," Brooklyn spoke as he and Amy had finished their reports and were preparing to go in, "Will you need any help with anything else, Goliath?"

"No," Goliath rumbled, "There is only one more patrol team that I am waiting for, and as things have been quiet, I will not go looking for a major fight."

"Okay then," Brooklyn commented and went with Amy to go inside.

The two quickly caught up with Lex and Candy as they were also headed in the same direction.

"So, how'd your night go?" Amy asked as they caught up.

"Boring, really," Candy answered, "Nothing more serious then a mugger or two and one very clumsy burglar."

"Clumsy?" Brooklyn asked.

Lex chuckled a little bit, "Yeah. The guy saw us coming, fired two shots from a handgun and fell off the fire escape he was on. He landed in a garbage dumpster and knocked himself out. I don't think he even got into the apartment he was trying to break into."

"Things have been quiet lately," Brooklyn commented shaking his head, "So, what are you guys going to do now?"

"Probably get something to eat and then we'll probably end up doing some more work concerning the sort of 'guidebook to gargoyles' that Candy's been working on," Lex answered, "That is if we aren't recruited for babysitting duty now that we're back."

"You're still working on that thing?" Amy asked, her voice sound very surprised, "You've been working on that thing practically since we were transformed!"

"I want to make sure everything is accurate," Candy answered, "And right now, most of what we've been doing is editing. Mostly with things like appearance of gargoyles, you know trying to scientifically explain how we, resembling demons from an illustrated bible, the English and Roman gargoyles that all either resemble other mythical creatures or animals, the Guatemalan gargoyles that resemble local reptiles, and now the Chinese gargoyles that resemble the Chinese depiction of a dragon are all one species, gargoyles. Generally in the animal kingdom and with humans as well, there isn't all that much that is different about animals within the same species. Humans come closer to the way gargoyles are by the fact that there are Caucasians, Africans, Asians, and Native Americans, but even then, all of them share a lot of physical traits and their differences are not enough to say that one group isn't human."

"I'm not sure I understand," Brooklyn commented.

"People may not understand that the Chinese clan and our clan are both gargoyles at first," Candy tried to explain again, "Our physical appearances are to blaring for them to say that we are all the same species, which from what I have learned from talking with them and obviously with you guys is the case. I'm trying to think of any possible way to explain how gargoyles from two different parts of the globe and each looking so very different from the other are still both the same 'creature'. Otherwise, scientists will categorize us as a different species from the Chinese gargoyles."

"Couldn't you say that we all turn to stone during the day and have the same instincts?" Brooklyn asked.

"No, scientists would largely dismiss that as that both our clan and the Chinese clan had similar evolutionary paths that produced similar instincts, but are still two different species. And they would merely be following what they've been trained to do."

"Sounds like you've got quite a project," Brooklyn commented.

"Mostly because know one knows how the first gargoyles appeared, as with many mythical creatures," Candy sighed, "If I knew where, when, and how gargoyles first evolved, I might be able to make some form of explanation for all of this, but all you guys have is Hudson's stories, which would be more interesting to sociologist then a scientist and much the same can be said about the Chinese elders and their belief on gargoyle origins."

She then paused for a moment.

"There are also a few things I haven't put in, mostly because I do not want to ask anyone about that sort of thing in the name of science," Candy finished.

"Like what?" Amy asked curiously.

Candy then looked very embarrassed as she answered.

"Generally the cycle that goes around gargoyle reproduction," Candy answered, "Mating and so forth. I'd feel rather uncomfortable asking any of the members of our clan that have done all that already as it isn't an easy subject to discuss, so I'd rather wait until after Lex and I have gone through all that stuff and then describe it afterward."

"You and Lex could do the mating part now," Amy commented mischievously.

"I'd prefer to wait until I'm personally ready and when there aren't several little gargoyles that do not give anyone any significant amount of time that is private," Candy answered pointedly.

"I don't think anyone wants to explain the 'birds and the bees' to them at the moment, so I'd agree with you on that one," Brooklyn nodded, "I think we'll see what's on television, actually, so if you guys want to take a break from all the science work, you'll know where we are."

**Jail Cell**

Jordan Jinks sat quietly inside a jail cell that he and five other men had been placed in. Like many failed street criminals, he wasn't necessarily the smartest of men and he tended to grumble about things.

"Stupid gargoyles," Jordan grumbled under his breath, "think they're tougher then me."

"They nabbed you too?" another man asked from another bench that he was seated at.

"Yeah," Jordan answered, "Has to be the twelfth time this year they've gotten me, and I had it all worked out. If it weren't for them, I coulda escaped the cops easy."

"Luckily these guys got no evidence to put us away longer then over night," the third crook commented.

"Yeah, but they'll be waiting for us all again tomorrow night," Jordan answered in a depressed voice, "I can't figure out why they got to butt their noses into our business. I mean, it's not like any of us joined the Quarrymen or anything."

"Yeah, but when you think about it, they could have saved us a lot of these little trips here," the fourth man commented.

"It's too late to help them now," the fifth man in the cell sighed, "we're either going to have to get tougher, or start mugging people in much larger groups."

"I won't be doing that," the second man commented, "there are a lot of guys in this city that hardly have anything on them, and I don' want to rob someone who only has ten bucks on him and split it among five guys."

"We've got to do something about them though," Jordan commented, "For the benefit of crooks everywhere."

"Save the cartoon speeches for Saturday morning," the third man told him.

"Fine then, I want to get even," Jordan answered, "Does that suit you?"

"Sure," the third man replied.

"Unfortunately," the fourth man cut in, "Regardless of our reasons, we all got nabbed by them tonight. The best we have is a gun, or tire iron, or a knife, and the gun would be the best weapon possible. But them gargoyles have fast enough reflexes that they can dodge bullets."

"Maybe we ought to get into the occult," the third man suggested, "Find some magic spell or something that will make those gargoyles sleep at night or something."

"What you think magic exists now?" the second man demanded.

"Five years ago I didn't think gargoyles existed," the third man answered, "And that belief is now currently wrong. Why wouldn't something like that sort of stuff exist. Shoot, some archaeologists in England found the Scrolls of Merlin a few years back, and Merlin was supposed to be a wizard with King Arthur in the stories. Maybe they're real, since these gargoyles are real."

"Well, if that stuff is real, then please enlighten us as to how it all works and where it's all kept," Jordan instructed, sounding annoyed.

"So I guess we'll have to settle for whatever weapon we can get our hands on and hope we get lucky," the third man sighed.

The group sighed and tried to wait out the rest of the time that could be held there. It was well after dawn when they were finally released, while it took a few of the five a little longer then others to get back on the street as some had gotten a little further with their attempted crimes then others and were actually released on bail. They didn't know who posted the money, but they were grateful.

"So where do we go?" Jordan asked as the group gathered, somewhat conspicuously in front of the police station that they had just spent the night in.

"I got an apartment up in the Bronx that we can use as a hideout," the fifth man said quietly, "Store weapons and at least map out how we're going to take them out tonight."

"Excuse me," a new voice cut into their discussion, surprising each man.

To their surprise it was the officer who had sat outside their cell for most of the night.

"We haven't done nothing," the second man commented.

"Of course not, Mr. Bragg," the officer answered, "But I did hear a lot of talk about how the gargoyles in this city have ruined your criminal lives."

"No crime against talking," Jordan pointed out, "and that's all we did in that cell."

"Of course," the officer answered, "But my shift with the NYPD is over for the day, and my other employers might be much more interested in your discussion ten the police."

"Who are you?" the man the officer had identified as Bragg asked.

"I approach you now, not as a police officer but as a representative of a group that is very interested in the destruction of the gargoyle clan," the officer spoke in a low voice, "They are short handed and can not handle them alone, and would gladly take volunteers to help them."

"Why should we help some other group of guys?" the third man asked, "They're likely to be some guy that will want us to do other things for them. We just want to make things the way they were before the gargoyles showed up. Life was better for us then."

"Yes, but you'd still have to deal with the police," the officer warned, "And remember they are not exactly a pushover. The organization I represent, however, is too powerful, even for them."

"More powerful then the police?" the fourth man asked.

"They could make all your present legal troubles, whatever they are, if you go to this address and say you're a volunteer," the officer answered holding out a card to them.

Jordan took the card and asked, "These guys can get rid of all our legal problems? You mean they can erase my criminal record?"

"Among other things," the officer answered, "You might also learn some things that even with the gargoyles here now that you've never heard before."

The officer then walked off leaving the five men looking after him, and each was completely confused.

"That was weird," Bragg commented.

"Yeah, but I say we go to this address," Jordan commented, "If they can erase our criminal records, who knows what else they can do."

"Maybe they could give us some fancy suit of armor or something," the fifth man commented.

"Or give us better weapons," the third added, "better then a handgun anyway."

"The whole thing still creeps me out," Bragg commented.

"Well," the fourth man announced, "I'm not turning down an opportunity to get something that might defeat them gargoyles and if I can clear my record at the same time, that's even better."

"I'm with Joe," the fifth man answered.

"So am I," said the third man.

Jordan nodded in agreement, "We can always back out if what they're offering turns out to be something that won't help us. I'm in."

Bragg sighed and looked down, "Very well, I'll go too."

**Castle Wyvern**

Xanatos looked up from his desk as Fox entered the small room that he now used as an office since his mutation by Sevarius's formula. He smiled as she came in and sat down.

"How's your day going?" Xanatos asked as he looked up from his own work.

"Not too bad, I guess," Fox sighed, "Although my present condition is beginning to seriously limit what I can do."

"You're still dwelling on your magic lesson from yesterday?" Xanatos asked.

"I was panting, David, PANTING!" Fox answered, "I felt fine afterwards, but I was panting immediately after. Pregnancy never made me feel that exhausted before."

"You weren't practicing magic the last time you were pregnant," Xanatos answered, "I've asked Owen some questions about his past as Puck and some things in relation to his teaching Alex, and he did tell me that there are certain spells that can exhaust even him, particularly if they are at the limits of his powers."

"My mother said roughly the same thing last night," Fox answered, "Some spells are tougher then others, and combined with the fact that I'm still learning, I am at greater risk for becoming exhausted then ever."

"I've never thought of becoming exhausted to be a risk," Xanatos answered, "It might be easier for you to become exhausted, either because of your pregnancy or because you're learning to use your fey abilities. But becoming exhausted isn't a risk. Although, there is the risk that exhaustion could cause some very unfortunate consequences."

"I know," Fox answered, "It makes me feel so weak. There isn't much that I can do, and there are quickly becoming fewer and fewer things that I can do."

"You know you're not weak," Xanatos answered, "I was attracted to you because you are a strong woman with a strong personality."

"But in my present condition I can't do much," Fox sighed, "If we're attacked, or the clan needs help, I can't participate."

"Well, the clan hasn't really needed my help recently, and Thailog hasn't made any visible move to attack us recently, so I don't think you have much to be worried about," Xanatos answered, "Besides, once the child is born, you can volunteer to help as much as you want if you're bored with just sitting around."

"I guess that's the best I can hope for right now," Fox sighed, "You really don't think me weak for all of this?"

**The Hotel Cabal**

Jordan whistled as he looked in at the interior of the lobby of the hotel that they had entered.

"Man what a swanky joint," the third man commented, "we shoulda considered robbing this joint, they have to have a lot of money."

"I would seriously consider reconsidering that wish if I were you," a man spoke up as he approached he group of men.

Bragg looked up to see a man in a dark suit approaching them. He noticed a small pin on his lapel that looked like an eye inside a pyramid. The man looked like had approached the group directly.

"Who are you?" Bragg asked.

"My name is Duval," Duval answered, "I trust you are 'volunteers'?"

"Yes," the second man of the group nodded, "Yeah, we want to get even with the gargoyle clan."

Duval visibly smiled, "Then you've come to the right place, as I am in need of some people to defeat them for me, but we can not continue this conversation here in the lobby, so if you will please follow me."

Duval then lead the group of released street criminals to a series of elevators, swiped a card through a small slot and then entered it. Jordan and his group quickly followed. Once the elevator doors closed, Duval began speaking again.

"There are many things in this world that you may not realize," Duval spoke, "And I am not merely talking about things like the gargoyles."

"You mean like magic and stuff does exist?" Jordan asked.

"Yes, things like that," Duval nodded, "What I am talking about is about the avenues of power."

"What do you mean?" Joe asked.

"You know of all the governments that run every country in the world, correct? And the laws that they use?" Duval questioned.

"Yes," the fifth man replied.

"This may come as a shock to you, but those governments have a singular boss that controls them covertly and sees to it that global order is maintained," Duval spoke slowly.

The five men blinked in surprise, but did not say anything.

"That 'boss' if you will is an organization called the Illuminati," Duval answered, "We make it our business to make sure that the world remains at peace and under our control."

"We ain't lookin' for the peace corps," the second man growled.

"Do not worry," Duval smiled, "We may want to insure peace, but our reactions to various problems or perceived threats to our organization are not peaceful in the slightest."

The elevator doors opened and Duval lead them into what appeared to be a large exercise room.

"At present there is a vast conspiracy launched by the one race that seems to completely know of our existence," Duval answered, "Gargoyles, specifically. They are presently behind the current uprising in Tibet that you've probably seen on the news."

"So why do you want our help?" Jordan asked.

"Because we can not truly go all out against them as such action would reveal our presence to the world, and could damage our ability to control it," Duval answered, "And at the moment, the few covert operatives that we normally keep in New York have been sent after another group of these global insurgents, which has left the New York area unguarded against them."

"Just give us some good guns and we'll take care of them," the third man spoke.

"We have actually found that going after them with merely handguns or even rifles is a faulty tactic as they have reflexes that are much faster then any human's," Duval replied, "That is why you have volunteered to take part in a little experiment."

"Experiment?" Joe jumped back, "I don't want to be no science nerd?"

"Relax," Duval answered, "The experiment involves a little bit of sorcery actually and we believe that if it is successful, you will gain the abilities needed to directly challenge the gargoyles directly, and if it fails, then nothing will happen at all."

"What are you wanting to do?" the fifth man asked.

"If I may explain something first," Duval spoke, "We have long analyzed the gargoyle clan in Manhattan and those that they've battled. The average criminal or an unarmed man have all failed miserably to defeat them in close combat. An attempt using a trained sniper was made awhile back, but hitting a moving target is difficult and from what we observed the gargoyles were able to develop tactics to counter that threat. Military grade commandos with semi-automatic to automatic weapons have been more successful, but need to outnumber the gargoyle or gargoyles by about eight to one."

Duval paused for a moment.

"Commandos, however, are not the main solution that the Illuminati wish to use," Duval sighed, "such action would raise suspicion and could result in our organization being revealed."

Duval then pulled a small remote out of his pocket and a screen dropped down out of the ceiling. Jordan and his associates looked at the screen to see images of a large lavender male fighting with a black male gargoyle who's facial features were strikingly similar to the lavender male's. The second picture on the screen was that of a brick red male gargoyle fighting with what looked like a mountain lion with bat-like wings. The third showed a lavender female fighting with the cyborgs Jackal and Hyena. The fourth showed a small olive green gargoyle being pursued by two gargoyle-like robots.

"Only those things that have some ability that is greater then human norms have been able to really have a fighting chance against these gargoyles," Duval continued, "other gargoyles, mutates, cyborgs, robots, and sorcerers would also be on the list, but we've never caught a gargoyle battling one."

"So you're going to turn us into one of these freaks?" Jordan asked, looking horrified at the prospect of being suckered into a bad deal, "Something that isn't human?"

"No," Duval shook his head, "The gargoyles have trashed our robots and we were never into the business of making it impossible for individuals to go through airport security."

Duval pressed he button again and the screen was raised.

"Our intention is to do something that would grant you abilities beyond the human norm, but will leave you completely human," Duval continued, "free to come and go as you please."

"You mean you'd just give us super powers or something? Like on TV?" the third man asked.

"In a way," Duval answered, "My superiors have sent one of best sorcerers the Illuminati has in order to accomplish the task. I will leave the distribution of the 'powers' to him, that is if you're willing to accept them?"

"Anything to get rid of them," Jordan spoke with the rest of the released criminals nodding behind him.

"Very well," Duval nodded and stepped aside as a man in a red robe stepped through another door carrying a tray that looked like it held the type of medals that athletes won in the Olympics.

"And these are our volunteers to deal with the gargoyles?" the robed mans spoke.

"Yes," Duval replied, "They actually have their own grudge against them, so motivation is not a problem."

"Good," the robbed man answered.

"You're going to give us powers?" Bragg questioned.

"In a way," the robbed man answered, "Such things are not easy, unlike the comics or in cartoons where someone gains superhuman ability from being exposed to various energy fields that in reality don't exist or are deadly, giving humans the ability to do things that the human body normally can not do is no easy task. It would actually be easier to use science and create a human that could naturally do things that normal humans could not."

"So why don't you do that?" the fifth man asked.

"We actually have, but all of them are busy dealing directly with the insurrection in Tibet," Duval answered, "That is why we are asking you for help."

"So what is that that you got there?" Jordan asked the robed man.

"These are special pendants, with which you five will gain abilities beyond normal humans, and will hopefully allow you to defeat the gargoyles that presently threaten global order," the robed man explained, "They have been enchanted with powerful magic."

"Enchanted?" Jordan asked.

"Yes, like Excalibur in the stories of King Arthur," the robed man replied.

"Huh?" the third man asked.

The robed man sighed, knowing this was commonly the result of dealing with common criminals.

"According to the Arthurian legend the sword that King Arthur wields is actually named, and is called Excalibur," the robed man explained, "and there are almost as many stories about the sword as there are about the man who 'supposedly' wielded it. It is largely agreed that the sword was enchanted by some form of magic, sources argue as to whether it was Merlin, the Lady of the Lake, or God who enchanted the sword, but enchantment is the reason why the sword lasted throughout Arthur's reign in the Arthurian legend."

"So you're going to enchant us?" the third man asked.

"No the pendants are enchanted," the robed man answered, "They will give you abilities you desire."

Jordan and his group then grabbed one of the presented pendants that were on the robed man's tray. They then placed the pendants around their neck.

"Now, each pendant only grants one power," the robed man explained and approached Jordan, "Yours should allow you to move at extremely high speeds, faster then any human or even gargoyle can run."

"Does it work?" Jordan asked.

"Try it out," the robed man instructed, "Go to that wall and then run to the opposite wall and back. We will time you."

Jordan shrugged and walked to the wall and then began a dead sprint toward the far wall. He didn't notice that the pendant he was wearing began to glow and he was covering much more ground with each stride. He nearly skidded into the far wall and then began to sprint back to the wall he started from. We he arrived he found his compatriots looking at him with a rather surprised look on their face.

"Well?" Jordan asked.

"You beat the known world record for the ground that you covered by nearly thirty seconds," Duval answered, "And the record for going back and forth is less then a minute to begin with."

"Wow," Jordan gasped.

The robed man then approached Bragg.

"Yours should give you the ability to fly," the robed man spoke, "To activate the pendant, I would suggest jumping into the air."

Bragg jumped, but nothing seemed to happen.

"Try raising your hands like Superman does in the comics," the robed man spoke.

Bragg tried again. This time the pendant glowed and he flew head first into the ceiling and knocked himself out. The robed man ignored this for a moment and went on to the third man.

"And you are?" the robed man asked.

"Jake, sir," the third man answered, still looking at Bragg.

"Yours should give you superhuman strength," the robed man spoke and then motioned to a weight set near where Duval was standing.

Jake slowly approached it and grabbed the bar and lifted it. His pendant glowed as he did so.

"How much weight is on here?" Jake asked as he put he bar over his head.

"The world record for the amount of dead weight ever lifted by a human being," Duval answered.

"It feels as light as a feather," Jake spoke in a triumphant voice.

Jake put the bar down as the robed man then pointed a finger at it and said something in Latin. A second later four more large weights appeared on the bar.

"It should now have the weight of a small automobile," the robed man announced.

Jake again grabbed the bar and lifted it. Again his pendant glowed and he was able to put it over his head, although just barely. Jake was certain it had made him stronger.

"Wow," Jake gasped in surprise as he set the bar down.

The robed man meanwhile approached Joe.

"Yours should allow you to generate and throw fire," the robed man spoke.

Joe blinked and then moved his arm in a throwing motion. His pendant glowed and as his arm went forward, a fireball appeared and then flew forward and hit the far wall. Joe blinked at the results and the surprise that the wall did not catch fire.

"The entire building is fireproof," Duval answered, "Do not worry."

"Cool," Joe smiled.

The robed man then approached the fifth man.

"And who are you?" the robed man asked.

"Brad, sir," the fifth man answered.

"Yours should allow you to render yourself invisible," the robed man spoke, "To activate your pendant should activate with a hard blink."

Brad did so, and after his pendant glowed for a moment, he seemed to vanish from sight, earning gasps from the others.

"Can you see me?" Brad asked, making a few of the others jump.

"No," the robbed man smiled, "the pendant should deactivate by the same means and I now wish you well on your endeavors. I do have a word of warning, however, do lot let yourselves become separated from the pendants at any time. You must keep them on you. Mr. Duval will escort you out."

About ten minutes later Duval returned to find the robed man waiting for him.

"I gave them a non-projectile weapon to aid them in their coming fight," Duval spoke, "I felt that if the pendants somehow fail them, they might be able to hopefully outgun them."

The robed man nodded.

"Is there anything you wish done, Three?" Duval asked.

"Nothing for the moment," Three answered, "Now, all we can do is watch the results of their actions, for we may need to deal with them after the gargoyles are defeated."

**Castle Wyvern, Dusk**

Goliath felt no shock or surprise to discover Owen and Xanatos standing behind him and Elisa as they awakened as the sun set. He did feel somewhat nervous, however, as their appearance on the tower generally meant there was a serious problem that meant the clan's immediate attention.

"What is happening?" Goliath rumbled in a low voice.

"Nothing super dangerous, but something that you might find interesting," Xanatos commented.

"What is it?" Goliath asked again, "Has Thailog done something?"

It was Owen who answered.

"What has happened is not conducive with any actions taken by Thailog that we know of," Owen answered, "The actions taken have been basic robberies and other street level crimes, things that I'm sure the clan is familiar with."

Goliath nodded.

"What could be strange about robberies?" Elisa asked curiously.

"It's the nature of how these robberies were done," Owen answered and held up a small cellphone-like device.

Goliath and Elisa looked at the screen and saw a security camera image of a grocery store somewhere in Manhattan. They watched as one man ripped both doors off of their hinges and tossed them into the store as if they were nothing. A second man came in, threw a fireball at the far wall and set the building on fire while the blurred image of a third man ran in, opened the cash register and began handing the money in it to something, although he appeared to be handing it to no one. Then to their surprise, the money seemed to float for a few moments before disappearing. Another man flew in with a bag in his hands and collected the rest of the money from the cash register and then the group left.

"Sorcerers," Goliath grumbled, "Sorcerers have resorted to petty crime."

"What about the man who pulled on the doors and threw them?" Elisa asked curiously, "I don't think it's a sorcerer."

"Whatever he is, this is a serious problem," Goliath rumbled.

"This small gang has perpetrated several robberies of this nature," Owen explained, "And have also managed to elude the police."

"They will not elude us," Goliath answered as he lead Elisa inside.

As they ate breakfast, Goliath informed the rest of his clan about robberies and the believed sorcerers behind them.

"This donnae make sense to me," Hudson commented, "Why would sorcerers rob stores?"

"I do not know," Goliath sighed, "It is probably part of something larger, or they are directly trying to challenge us and these actions are intended to draw us out."

"I'd think it's part of the latter," Brooklyn commented from his seat, "Why else would they do that."

"Yes, and for tonight our patrolling gargoyles will all go in one group," Goliath spoke, "If they are trying to draw us out, we must have enough numbers to provide a force that they can not resist."

"What will be the patrol team tonight, brother?" Othello asked.

"Other then myself and Elisa, I would prefer that you, Desdemona, and Caroline come along," Goliath answered, "That will give us five gargoyles to match their five, and it is possible that Xanatos may come with us tonight."

"My clan will keep an eye on the rest of the city if you are going to be looking for these sorcerers," Zafiro volunteered.

"I thank you," Goliath answered.

"It is no problem," Zafiro answered, "To be honest, my clan could use the night 'out'."

**Later, Over Manhattan**

Xanatos did join Goliath's team for the night, largely arguing that they would need help to deal with the one that was throwing fireballs. The group was largely headed in the direction of the last known site that the group had robbed.

"What business did they rob last?" Elisa asked as the began to move over Central Park.

"From what Owen and I saw over the day, they started somewhere in Bronx and have made their way south," Xanatos answered, "The last place was a bank just south of Central Park. If you're searching for a pattern for, it'd be pretty hard as everything appeared to be at random. They could strike again at any business from here to Queens."

"What confuses me is that they all did one thing," Caroline commented, "if they're all sorcerers, why did only one guy do one thing?"

"What do you mean?" Goliath asked.

"Well, according to what has been said, on man ripped the door off the buildings that they've robbed, and another guy threw fire," Caroline tried to explain, "From what I've heard, they've followed the same pattern with each crime, which means the same guy did the same task each time. If they're all sorcerers, why is it that only one of them is ripping every door of its hinges and one guy throwing fire. Why aren't everyone of them throwing fireballs?"

"She does have a point," Desdemona commented, "Neither the Magus nor the Archmage before him relied on one spell and only one spell. These people may not be sorcerers. It doesn't change the fact that they are dangerous, but it might change how we are to approach them."

"Maybe," Goliath then sighed, "But we can not be certain until we find them and figure out what they are, if not sorcerers."

The group kept on going until all of a sudden a ringing alarm was heard and the smell of smoke quickly made its way up to their nostrils. They were now well into the southern part of Manhattan and not all that far away from the bridges that would lead the group of robbers to Long Island. They all paused to see smoke rising from a smaller building about a block to the east of them.

"There they are," Elisa commented, "They must have just struck again."

"They are trying to draw us out," Othello growled, "But why? We don't know these people?"

"We will soon find out," Goliath growled in a low voice and lead the charge toward the rising smoke.

They arrived to see four men run out of the building, which was quickly becoming engulfed in flames. They also saw one bag seem to float out of the building and follow the others.

"Hm," Xanatos commented, "one must be invisible. All of them are only holding one bag each."

"Brilliant deduction," Caroline commented.

"Considering the things that we deal with, I would say so," Xanatos commented, "Besides, doesn't someone always point out the obvious in these sort of situations?"

Goliath only gave a growling sigh and then spoke to Xanatos, "I would advise you to remain back until we find out which one throws fire. Then you make sure that he can't use his abilities or magic against us."

"Sure," Xanatos nodded, "I'll try to stay out of sight as well."

Goliath and the others dove down. Goliath, himself, dove down toward the lead man in the group in an attempt to grab him and lift him into the air. Just as he was getting close however, the man looked over his should and saw that Goliath was there.

"We've drawn them out!" Jordan yelled and then sprinted off toward Queens at high speed.

Goliath immediately pulled out of his dive and began to try and regain some altitude. The man was extremely fast, and faster then even he could glide, but fortunately, not fast enough that Goliath couldn't track his movements. To his surprise he saw the man run into an alley about a block away. Goliath followed and landed at the end of the ally and looked down it to see that it ended in a dead end.

"You can not escape, villain," Goliath growled into the ally, "Surrender and you will not be harmed."

Jordan then stepped out from behind a dumpster, the paper sack he had been holding earlier was no longer in his hands.

"Surrender?" Jordan asked, "We've been trying so hard to draw you monsters out, we're not going to surrender. We're going to get even for everything you've done!"

"I do not know you," Goliath rumbled, "and I do not wish to harm you."

"Then you'll let me kill you!" Jordan said triumphantly and ran forward, his pendant glowing.

Goliath noticed the glowing pendant, but had no time to react to Jordan's charge. The man closed with him and landed two punches to his stomach. The blows were no where near the strongest blows he had taken, but they landed in much faster succession then any blow had ever been delivered, and as they were blows to his stomach, he still felt the wind being knocked out of him.

"See, you ain't so tough now that we got superpowers!" Jordan said triumphantly.

"Impossible," Goliath growled, his eyes beginning to glow slightly, "There is magic involved here."

Goliath threw a punch at Jordan, but he managed to dodge back and then move forward and kick Goliath in his side. The blow again did not have the strength to make Goliath consider backing down. Judging his opponent's abilities to be coming from the pendant that he wore, he decided to force Jordan toward the end of the ally, where a brick wall waited for him.

Slowly, Goliath advanced, his wings spread wide so that Jordan wouldn't get the chance to run around him and easily get away. Jordan continued to use his speed to land several blows against Goliath's stomach and sides. Goliath tried his best to block or deflect the blows, but Jordan was still too fast for him to do that effectively. Jordan's attacks slowed Goliath down, and some areas might be sore later from being repeatedly hit, but there was not enough strength behind the blows for them to truly hurt, and Goliath could easily endure Jordan's attacks.

Eventually, Goliath's advance forced Jordan back toward the wall, and as the crook had been focused at attacking Goliath at high speed, and he wasn't paying attention to where he was going. In recovering from his latest attack on Goliath, he ran into the brick wall and bounced off. Goliath took the opportunity to grab him and lift him into the air. Jordan struggled, but between the fact hat he was only five feet ten inches while Goliath was seven feet tall and the fact that the gargoyle was still stronger then he was, he was held in the air and couldn't run away.

"You have lost," Goliath growled in a low voice, "I do not know who you are, but you will be punished for the crimes you and your accomplices committed today."

Jordan then felt Goliath's large fist club him upside the head and knock him out.

Caroline blinked in surprise as the man she was diving toward suddenly lifted up into the air and moved out of her way. She had all she could do to pull out of her dive and begin to try and pursue after him. Bragg, however, quickly reversed course and landed boot first on Caroline's back, driving her to the ground.

"You care to give up, now that it's clear that we're your match?" Bragg questioned from his position on her back.

Caroline only growled in response and grabbed one of Bragg's legs with her tail.

"That won't work," Bragg warned and took off again, "I can fly."

Caroline struggled to grip the ground, and found that Bragg didn't have the strength to go any higher then the length of her tail would allow.

"And even if you could lift me," Caroline answered as she pulled herself to her feet, "I have wings, heights are no problem."

Caroline's answer surprised Bragg so much that he did not see her fist coming and was quickly knocked out. Jake, meanwhile, was well prepared for Othello as the grey male dove at him. Othello hit him with a great deal of force, but Jake managed to catch and throw the gargoyle into a parking meter nearby, knocking machine to the ground and scattering the change that it held.

"See now, freak?" Jake challenged, his pendant glowing, "I'm just as strong as you now!"

"The only 'freak' that I see is you," Othello growled, "in a man who would ignore his own laws and who would willingly consort with evil to gain an edge to allow him to ignore his laws better."

Othello then swung around and slammed his club-like tail into Jake's face, forcing the man back. He then charged and landed a punch or two to Jake's face forcing him to a knee. To Othello's surprise, Jake not only remained conscious, but had a determined look on his face. He then swung one fist around and Othello in the side of his knee. Othello roared with pain and hobbled back as he felt that the ligaments and tendons in his knee were injured.

"I told you, I'm as strong as you now," Jake smiled as he pulled himself up and advanced on Othello.

Jake then landed another punch on Othello that threw him into the street and laying on his back. He was about to finish the grey gargoyle off when he felt something leap onto his back and grab a hold of the back of his pendant. Whoever this was also quickly pulled back on it so it was beginning to choke him slightly. He struggled to get his hands up to pull the pendant forward, but whoever this was had enough leverage that he couldn't pull it forward. He looked up to see that it was Caroline, her eyes blazing red.

"Get him, Othello!" Caroline yelled, "I don't know how long I can hold him!"

Othello looked over to see the crook that Caroline had tackled out cold and that Goliath was also on his way back with the crook he had gone after and the bag of money that the man had tried to steal. He slowly got to his feet and prepared to land a strong blow to Jake's face when the ribbon that held Jake's pendant on finally lost the tug of war battle between Caroline and Jake and snapped in half, and Jake then falling to the ground with Caroline on top of him.

"My pendant!" Jake cried, "My powers! All gone."

Othello finished him off with another blow with his tail.

"It seems their powers are connected to these medals they're wearing," Othello commented as he held up Jake's pendant.

"Seems to explain why each only did one thing," Caroline commented, "I suppose, now the question would be 'who gave them these pendants?', although I don't know if they would even give us the answer."

"Stopping them should be all that matters anyway," Othello responded, "Come, we must help the others."

Desdemona was barely able to avoid being burned alive as her target whirled at Jordan's warning call and threw a massive fireball in her direction.

"At least we figured out which one throws the fireballs," Desdemona thought to herself while dodging more of the flaming projectiles an then turning over her shoulder to shout, "Hit him Xanatos! I'll distract him!"

On the ground, Joe was somewhat confused. He had heard the gargoyle call for Xanatos, and while everyone knew or suspected that the gargoyles knew the Xanatos family, Joe didn't expect a human man to be able to join their patrols. What then surprised him more is that a dark shape appeared from behind one of the buildings nearby and began to dive toward him. Joe decided it was another gargoyle and quickly threw two fireballs at it.

Xanatos dodged the two fireballs thrown at him rather easily. He noticed that his target was preparing to throw more, but Desdemona dove at him and forced him to duck down. While Joe became distracted by Desdemona's attack, Xanatos quickly closed the distance he needed to hit the criminal with an electric blast. To Xanatos's surprise, the man screamed with pain when the blast hit him and then fell the ground unconscious.

"That wasn't much of a fight," Xanatos commented as he landed.

Desdemona was about to answer when she heard Elisa roar.

"Where are you?!" Elisa roared at the top of her lungs.

Elisa was quickly becoming frustrated with the last crook. He was already invisible and had dropped the bag he was carrying and she could no longer tell where he was. She could tell he was nearby as she could feel his attempts to try knock her down or grab at her. She was very thankful that half the time he had grabbed her wings and the rest around her waist, but her reactions were only a defensive one that could only stop him once got close. There were too many scents in the are for her to determine which belonged to the 'invisible man' that she was fighting at the moment.

"Can you smell him?" Desdemona asked as she and Xanatos approached, hoping to encircle the guy.

"Not through our scents, these other guys and the car exhaust," Elisa growled as she frantically looked around.

Brad, standing behind the tan female then moved to make sure he could easily finish the gargoyle off. He jumped at the back of Elisa's legs, forcing her to her knees from the surprise of the blow. He then reached inside his jacket for one of the weapons that Duval had given the group earlier, knowing he didn't have the physical strength to go toe to toe with what he believed were five more gargoyles. His actions didn't go as planned.

Desdemona watched in surprise and horror as a small laser pistol suddenly appeared to be pulled out of an invisible coat and hovered in mid air.

"Look out Elisa!" Desdemona urged pointing to the weapon.

Elisa turned her head to see Brad's gun being aimed toward her and immediately swung her tail to take his feet out from under him. Thankfully for her, Brad had come close enough so that her tail would reach him. Brad lost his footing completely and hit his head on the sidewalk when he fell. As a result he squeezed his eyes shut and his pendant stopped glowing and he became visible.

"Now we got him," Elisa said triumphantly.

Five minutes later, after removing the pendants that the five crooks had been given and destroying their weapons, the patrol group regrouped on the roof of a nearby building.

"I can't believe this," Desdemona commented as she looked over the side of the building and to the tied up criminals, "all this because we sent them to jail?"

"Didn't you guys have to deal with guys have to deal with other guys wanting vengeance before?" Caroline asked.

"Things were different back then," Desdemona answered, "And the people wanting vengeance were not wanting vengeance for something so petty."

"Well, there are no more Vikings around now, so you can't expect there to be many modern people claiming vengeance for something a gargoyle did to be complaining about anything serious," Elisa sighed.

"It still seems to me that people today have lost a great deal of common sense," Desdemona responded.

"I don't anyone can truly understand the criminal mind," Xanatos commented, "The important thing is that these guys were not as dangerous as they could have been."

"I think the one that super strength was plenty dangerous," Othello pointed out, still rubbing the side of his knee.

"Maybe, but considering the belief that they might have been sorcerers when all of this started, they were far less dangerous then anticipated," Xanatos replied.

"I don't think the danger of this 'battle' will ever truly die away," Goliath rumbled, and held out one of the pendants they had confiscated, "These pendants provided them with their powers, and once they lost them, it was quite clear that they lost their powers. Only a sorcerer of fairly great power could have created something like these pendants to give people powers while they wore them. And none of these hoodlums either knew or were willing to tell us who this sorcerer was."

"We'll find out eventually," Xanatos answered, "Eventually this sorcerer will get tired of sending guys like those five out and will come and face you, himself, or will send a guy who might reveal a little bit more the simple revenge rants."

"Hopefully," Goliath sighed.

**Hotel Cabal**

"I'm sorry, sir," Duval spoke as the screen from their insect-sized robotic drone was shut off as the gargoyles left the rooftop they were on.

"No apologies are necessary," Three responded, "Those five were merely crooks and had no strategy of what to do after they'd lured the gargoyles out. This was only a test for things that are currently being debated by the Council."

"The Council has been debating this issue?" Duval asked.

"The Council has been trying to think of useful alternatives to the supermen we have been cloning in Tibet, largely as a failsafe, should someone ever corrupt them," Three answered, "This engagement will help decide the debate for the long term."

Duval turned s Three moved to leave.

"In the meantime, you will be allowed to recall half of your commando units that were sent after Demona's party," Three replied, "while our robots are still being rebuilt and this decision is up in the air, the Council does expect you to continue to try and remove the Manhattan Clan before they take part in whatever plan is launching in Tibet to take over the world."

"Of course, sir," Duval nodded.

**The End…**


	39. Politics

All characters appearing in Gargoyles and Gargoyles: The Goliath Chronicles are copyrighted to Buena Vista Television/The Walt Disney Company. I've taken the idea for the Unseelie Court from the TGS. Characters and concepts from Star Trek are property of Paramount and created by Gene Roddenberry. No Infringement of these copyrights is intended, and is not authorized by the copyright holder. All original characters are the property of SN.

Note: I'm disregarding the events of the "Goliath Chronicles", with the exception of "The Journey" because I do not wish to use the rest of the "Goliath Chronicles" as canon to my story. Also, I'm altering large sections of the Star Trek storyline, especially concerning events like WWIII and the Eugenics Wars, which without the Cold War as a backdrop probably wouldn't happen the way Roddenberry wrote them, if at all. This story takes place two days after "Super-Powered".

For this story only, it might also be important to read Tribun's story, "Countless Ways" in order to understand some of the things discussed in this story. In that story, his "Elisa" journeys through various universes, including my own. For the sake of continuality, the section of his story where his "Elisa" enters "my" universe actually happened. I won't be using his scene, so I'm not repeating what Tribun wrote, but it should be obvious, at least in the beginning of the story, that my characters are still reacting to what happened in "Countless Ways".

Tribun might have all of his gargoyles stories here on this site, but if "Countless Ways" isn't here, it IS on the Gargoyles Fan Website. His penname there is the same as it is here.

Politics

By SN/TVfan

Email: Sam_Nary

**Manhattan Street**

Judith and Mr. Axel slowly came out the side of the street and signaled for a taxi. Things for them had been good since the end of the Unseelie War that had destroyed their original apartment. Watching Amy pledge her love to Brooklyn was one of the highlights of the recent 'clan' events. Meanwhile, they had moved on to try and get their lives back in order. The Unseelie's destruction of their apartment had left them with very little in the way of cash or money on hand, and getting the insurance company to reimburse that had been a serious pain. Thankfully, the Xanatos family continued to let them stay in the castle while they looked for a new apartment and got their 'things' in order. They were even paying the rent so far.

Once they were settled into their new apartment, they begin reworking the PIT organization that they had been working with before the Second Unseelie War. The 'gargoyles tolerance' group had survived the fey conflict untouched and were all curious that two of its most prominent members for a period of time suddenly stopped attending meetings without giving any sort of warning. They had to use a series of 'family emergencies' as an excuse for why they had missed the meetings. They explained that they had successfully dealt with them and that everything was fine, but those 'emergencies' were so sudden and so big that they didn't think to contact anyone else. They were so far amazed that no one had asked what these 'family emergencies' were.

But, that was thankfully all behind them. They had a new apartment, they were back to their PIT meetings, and they had seen their daughter get married. Everything seemed quite well and they were on to their PIT meeting for the week at the moment.

"Did you call Amy, to see if any of the clan would be visiting?" Mr. Axel asked as they got into the cab and gave the driver the address to drive to, "I've noticed from time to time that they will attend meetings. Although they always stay in the rafters."

"Well, I called, but it was little Alex who answered, and I'm afraid that there was something weird going on that caused a great deal of commotion," Judith answered, "So I don't know if I was able find out what their plans were."

"For them, I'm sure what was going on was perfectly normal," Mr. Axel said with a chuckle, and then sounded very serious, "They're some of the few in this world who know how 'big' things really are."

"Well, the Quarrymen have been out of the way for a fairly long time," Judith commented, "Maybe we can get the beginnings of 'civil rights' movement. Get the government to recognize the clan as citizens. Make it legally impossible for anyone to deny them rights and equal treatment."

"That would take a lot," Mr. Axel commented, "We're only a small group arguing for the fair treatment of the clan within New York City. Where they are. Where they're active. We have no clout, nothing that anyone in this city who could make a real impact in doing what your suggesting would ever consider listening to us. Shoot, we can't even get in to see the mayor, and he's a local authority."

"We could talk with Xanatos," Judith offered.

"He would only be good for funding such a movement," Mr. Axel sighed, "Given what that Sevarus has done to him, I'm surprised his company hasn't fallen flat on its face because it's made him become somewhat of a recluse."

"I just want to give them what's best," Judith said weakly, "What's best for them. What's best for Amy. It's not fair to her that everyone else is so closed minded toward gargoyles."

"I know," Mr. Axel sighed, "It tears me up inside that some people believe this way. For now, I think we can only be content that they're all safe in Castle Wyvern and that PIT's membership has gone up since the Quarrymen disbanded. Maybe in time we'll get enough people so that the city of New York will treat gargoyles like citizens. Realistically, that is the best we can hope for, unless there are other gargoyles in America."

"They don't know," Judith sighed, "It's just that I' sort of an idealist with a lot of these things. They're intelligent, they're social, they believe in everything we do. If people could just get over their appearance and the few quirks about their lifestyle, gargoyles would be no different then you or me."

"You're preaching to the choir with me, dear," Mr. Axel answered.

It was at that point that their cab reached their destination. Mr. Axel paid the man his fee and helped his wife out. They found Abigail waiting for them.

"You're here early," Judith commented.

"I got off work fairly early," Mrs. Wexmand answered, "Also, I wouldn't expect any additional 'security' dropping into the rafters tonight. The clan was pretty busy with some weird stuff that happened recently."

"Those five guys the police arrested?" Mr. Axel asked, "The ones who supposedly had super powers?"

"No, not them," Abigail answered, "From what Candy told me, it was something out of the old 'Sliders' tapes I had."

"Sounds like quite a story," Judith commented, "One that will require some explaining."

"I'll try my best, but from what I was told, the clan is still trying to figure out the situation themselves," Abigail sighed.

**Castle Wyvern**

"I am surprised it is you who is curious about this sort of thing," Owen commented as he turned to place a book on the bookshelf in his own study.

"I'm not supposed to be interested in science fiction?" Caroline asked back, "And it's not like I want a rundown of every universe. I just want to know how it all works."

"Well, first of all it is not 'science fiction'," Owen answered, "What you saw was quite real."

Owen then sat down behind his desk and looked into the eyes of the blue female gargoyle who had been confused by recent events as had the rest of the clan.

"Now, I will say that your referring to recent events as 'science fiction' is not to be unexpected," Owen began, "People have always asked 'what if' type questions."

"Yeah, I know," Caroline answered, "but the only place where someone from one of those 'what if' scenarios enters the mainstream world is in science fiction."

"That is because it is technologically impossible for any sort of scientific device to cut a hole in our reality and open up a door to someone else's reality," Owen replied, "Only magic can do that, and usually it is uncontrolled magic that will result in such a gateway opening."

"Why is that?" Caroline asked curiously.

"Because science can not prove that there are other dimensions where the 'what if' scenarios exist and technology depends on science to prove or demonstrate what it can accomplish," Owen explained, "magic, which is limited more by mystical 'laws' then by scientific ones is able to accept the possibility that there are other 'earths', although the process of opening that gate would extremely difficult for even the most powerful spell caster."

"That other Puck said it only took him ten minutes," Caroline pointed out.

"It takes me less then a second cast most other spells," Owen answered, "as Puck. Accidents may be done 'faster' because the spell caster does not know what he or she is doing."

Caroline slowly nodded, "So, how could all these other 'what if worlds' exist?

"There are an infinite number of possibilities as to what can happen in any given situation," Owen answered, "how all these 'what if worlds' came into existence is unknown. The most accepted theory that my people have forwarded is that at some point a powerful being in magic asked the infamous 'what if' question which split reality into its infinite number of worlds."

"So this whole 'multiverse' came as the result of an accident?" Caroline asked.

"No, curiosity," Owen answered, "and even then that is only the most believed theory."

"So how come we haven't run into this sort of thing before?" Caroline asked, "If there are infinite worlds out there, surely there has to have been enough accidents and explorers that there are people from other worlds crossing over."

"While there are the occasional accidents, that does not mean that anyone always ends up in one world or the other," Owen answered, "When there are an infinite number of them, there are an infinite number of possibilities, which is another reason why she may not have met you in any of the other worlds she visited. And no magic user ever intentionally opens up these doors."

"Why is that?" Caroline asked.

"Because one of the mystical laws that govern all magics, is that no one can exist in any 'world' that they were not born into," Owen answered, "That other Elisa would have died eventually if the other version of myself hadn't found a way to not only find her, but return her to her proper dimension."

"They all seek to avoid being killed?" Caroline asked.

Owen nodded, "Most times, the magic user only would open the 'gate' to watch from his own world, and if done right, those he's watching will never know that he's being watched, but they would never step into that other world."

"So how do we know which 'earth' is the real one?" Caroline asked, "The one from which all these infinite ones split from?"

"That is unknown," Owen answered, "Although every 'earth' will claim that it is the prime earth, and for the people living on that 'earth', that 'earth' is the prime one to them, and since no one explores between these worlds, I doubt if anyone will ever find out which 'earth' is the original one."

"Hmm," Caroline commented.

"I take it that answers your questions?" Owen asked.

"I guess so," Caroline shrugged, "but I'll still be wondering about several things, and before you decide to play Puck on me, no I don't wish to go exploring."

"Should you have any more questions you have only but to ask," Owen answered, sounding as bland as ever.

Caroline slowly nodded and left the study to return to the clan's section of the castle. Owen had answered all of her questions, but it still left her wondering about many things, things she couldn't quite place, but she thought she'd best keep her pondering to herself.

Elsewhere in the castle, Caroline was not the only one dwelling on these recent events. Elisa sat alone on a bench in the courtyard staring off into space, while a group of the older Chinese hatchlings played a game of tag among the trees of the small 'garden' that was in the courtyard. She was somewhat surprised by Goliath's arrival as he moved to sit with her.

"Is something troubling you, my love?" Goliath asked as he sat down.

Elisa jumped slightly and then sighed heavily as she settled back down.

"Oh, no, nothing is troubling me," Elisa sighed, "I was just thinking about something."

"It wasn't about that other version of you, is it?" Goliath asked curiously.

"It's all so weird," Elisa commented, "She looked just like me."

"Not just," Goliath commented, "when the Mage transformed you, you grew elbow and knee spurs. That other version of you did not have them."

"I was referring to facial features and so forth," Elisa answered, "Same eyes, same ears, same nose, probably same teeth. I can't believe there are other versions of me out there in other dimensions or something like that."

"At least she didn't cause us any trouble," Goliath commented, "Although I find it difficult to believe that you would ever cause anyone any sort of problem."

"Anyway, I just can't stop wondering about it," Elisa sighed, "I really don't want to, but I can't help it. I mean, she came from a universe where 'I' was changed into a gargoyle again after Puck did it… or Puck never turned me back in her world, and 'we' were obviously… happy together…"

"And you wonder if there are worlds where things turned out differently between us?" Goliath asked.

"Not between us, but you know, a world where I didn't get transformed," Elisa replied, looking out at the stars again.

"I'm sure there are probably plenty," Goliath rumbled, "although I would prefer the one I'm in now."

Elisa looked back at him.

"We are affected by the lives that we lead and the choices we make," Goliath answered, "and if there are alternate dimensions where either different events have happened or we've made different choices, we would obviously be different from what I know."

"So if I were gone and that other me was here again, would you chose her?" Elisa asked.

"Not immediately," Goliath answered, "She is different from you because of her own choices and experiences. I would not deny that there would be any 'attraction' to her as biologically you are both the same 'person', but it would probably take a great deal of time before I would be willing to treat her as I would treat you, and I would prefer not to think of that. I would prefer to live my life out with you, as the Goliath of that universe would want to live out his life with his Elisa."

"The whole thing is weird and I just want to forget it," Elisa sighed.

"I am glad it was peaceful," Goliath commented, "Just as strange as those crooks that attacked the city the night before she dropped in on us, but she was peaceful."

"Yes, I'll agree that it was good that she didn't cause trouble," Elisa nodded, "But as you said, it'd be hard to imagine me causing anyone trouble."

**PIT Meeting**

"It is again good to see so many new faces here at People for Interspecies Tolerance," Judith Axel spoke as the weekly meeting began to come to an end, "Where our goal is the peaceful coexistence and the acceptance of the gargoyle clan into New York and into society."

She then paused and looked to see that no one was getting up and leaving in disgust.

"For those new faces, if you wish to formally join PIT, you can leave your name and mailing address on the 'address book' in the reception room, and we will mail the membership certificates and newsletter to you," Judith continued, "we encourage every new member to urge those who are not members to join PIT and to spread our message as much as possible."

She then paused and bit her lip and then began speaking again.

"As a finishing remark, we may be approaching a point where we must prepare to deal directly with the local government and try in someway, short of violence, to persuade them to recognize the gargoyles as legitimate members of our society," Judith spoke to end her announcement, "Although all official 'organizational' matters of dealing with being an 'interest group' will be dealt with in future meetings. We will now adjourn the meeting to go to the reception room."

"An interest group?" Abigail asked as Judith left the speaker's platform and they began t head towards the reception room.

"I think the official word for what I meant is 'lobbyist', but that sort of thing has never sounded 'nice' to me," Judith sighed.

"I still don't think that this is the best way to go," Mr. Axel commented, "We have a lot of good people, but no one with any real political skill. I don't think that any of them would be willing to listen to us."

"That may be true," Abigail sighed in agreement, "the Quarrymen are gone, but their ideology isn't. The Quarrymen were closed down because they were accused of committing crimes against humans, not against gargoyles. It wouldn't surprise me if some new guy comes along and forms a new 'anti-gargoyles' organization."

"Which may be another reason why we need to get at least the city government to pass laws protecting the gargoyles," Judith commented, "The Quarrymen could have murdered the whole clan and not received any criminal charges for the act. They're a racist group that went farther then any sane person would go in dealing with something different. Our society is making progress in dealing with other hate groups. I mean if they were to kill someone, they'd get charged for murder and book would be thrown at them."

"But only because other hate groups target other humans, which human governments have decreed to be a crime, and try to the best of their ability to prevent murders," Abigail commented, "the gargoyles aren't human and a lot of people won't accept that they are humanity's equal."

"I'm sure we can find some way to persuade them, and we're only going to deal with the city government," Judith sighed, "Which might persuade the State of New York and the country as a whole to recognize gargoyles as citizens."

"Maybe," Mr. Axel commented, "But I think this will be a long road ahead."

A pair of dark eyes blinked from the shadows of the meeting area as they watched the PIT members went into the reception room. From their position, they saw that gargoyles had visited the building before, probably to watch the meetings. Once all the PIT members had gone into the other room, the eyes blinked, and their owner quickly left through an air vent. That owner then glided swiftly and yet carefully to an office building a few blocks away. The image of two red eyes glowed as a large figure came out of the shadows.

"Were you successful?" Thailog asked as he approached Granite as she crouched near where she landed.

"I did observe this PIT group that your robot heard your human employees talking about," Granite answered.

"What is this PIT group?" Thailog asked.

"Apparently, sir, they want to bring gargoyles into to human society," Granite answered nervously.

"Interesting," Thailog commented with a slight smile, "It is certainly an improvement over the Quarrymen who wanted to kill all gargoyles."

Granite looked on as Thailog thought for a moment.

"I believe their leader said something about wanting to influence the mayor to protect gargoyles legally or something," Granite spoke up.

"Good," Thailog nodded, "You may join your 'mate' for the rest of the evening. I believe he is in the training room with the others."

Granite then quickly left to join the rest of Thailog's clan inside the Maddox Technologies building. Holly, meanwhile, moved out of her spot in the shadows to stand in front of Thailog.

"And what are you thinking?" Holly asked in a fairly demanding voice.

"If the Quarrymen still existed I expected having to fight them once the clan was defeated," Thailog replied, "and I feared that this 'PIT' organization might only be a new version of the Quarrymen."

"But they aren't," Holly commented, "They're a sort of hippie commune that argues to be peaceful with things they do not understand."

"No, they want humanity to accept Goliath's clan," Thailog answered, "Which would mean that they understand some gargoyles very well. Goliath wishes for gargoyles to peacefully coexist with humans."

Thailog turned back to face Holly with a smile on his own face.

"I seek to conquer humanity and while we will 'peacefully coexist' with humans, it will be as their rulers in the end," Thailog continued, "I highly doubt that PIT knows I even exist, which is what makes PIT a wonderful opportunity to forward my plans."

"I doubt they will help us fight the clan and Xanatos," Holly commented.

"They won't, and if things go according to plan, they will not know of our involvement in that battle," Thailog answered, "They will think of us as honest protectors seeking to be protected from the violence of the mob."

"So what purpose will they serve in your plan?" Holly asked, "I doubt they will accept us ruling over them."

"They won't but they will fit into my long term plans," Thailog answered, "Once Goliath and his band of misfits are destroyed, we can begin the conquest and domination of this city and from there, the planet. They will say we are 'good protectors' to the world while we gather the best of the common gangsters and those who are dissatisfied with the 'establishment' and add them to our clan giving us greater numerical strength to the point that we will be able to begin taking control of this city by force."

"So they are a smokescreen?" Holly asked.

"Essentially," Thailog replied.

"And you still want to expand the clan?" Holly asked and after Thailog nodded asked another question, "why not do that now, so we can outnumber Goliath's clan?"

"May I ask how your work at increasing your own powers are coming?" Thailog questioned.

"It will take a little while longer, as it is difficult to grab people that no one will miss without raising some suspicion," Holly answered, "But I feel far more powerful then when we entered into our partnership."

"Good," Thailog answered, "It would be preferable that we wait until you do not need the book to cast the spell. Goliath and his friends would likely spot us if we tried bringing new recruits here before transforming them, and they aren't stupid. They might even recognize the new gargoyles that are created by the spell."

"And the humans won't?" Holly asked.

"Not if it is only in brief, and when it comes to using force, it won't matter," Thailog told her, "That is the beauty of my plan, and soon the real battle will be coming."

"Ah-ha," Holly commented, "So after we crush Goliath we use this PIT as a front?"

"Yes," Thailog smiled.

"Then I suppose we will need to meet with their leaders now," Holly commented, "Tell them how we 'are'. Set the stage so to speak."

"Actually meet with them?" Thailog asked.

"Yes," Holly replied, "People would turn on you if they don't know you personally."

"Perhaps you're right," Thailog smiled, "We'll have to ask Granite if she heard when they will be holding their next meeting."

**Castle Wyvern**

It wasn't super late when Abigail Wexmand made it back to the castle, although, it was late enough that it would be best that she went to bed and prepare for her next day at work. Unlike the Axels, she had remained in Castle Wyvern after Unseelie War, although she had largely been there as a 'guest' since the Quarrymen trashed her own apartment. They hadn't thrown her out and, she was afraid to admit it, but the city itself had begun to frighten her since the Quarrymen attacked her apartment. She felt vulnerable on her own and she found herself feeling much safer in the castle. She chuckled at the irony of it all that when all of this had been introduced to her, she had been a member of the Quarrymen organization, herself, and now she had joined PIT and considered herself a strong supporter of the clan. It was amazing how things could change over time.

As she slowly made her way to her room, in the clan's wing of the castle, she was surprised to find Hudson wandering through the halls.

"Oh, I'm sorry," Hudson spoke, sounding startled and backed away.

"No it's alright," Abigail answered, "I was just heading on to bed for the night. Are you alright though? You look sorta stressed."

"Tis nothing madam," Hudson answered, "Nothing to worry yourself with."

"This wouldn't happen to be related to some of the weirdness that's gone on recently has it?" Abigail asked.

That surprised Hudson somewhat, as Abigail's work schedule rarely allowed her time to visit with the clan and he did not expect her to know what was going on.

"Candy told me about it last night after dinner, if you're wondering how I know," Abigail commented, "and don't worry. I found the whole thing to be as weird as I'm sure you find it."

"Ye're right there," Hudson nodded, "It was weird, but the fact that there are other universes out there is nae what troubles me."

"Do you want to talk about it?" Abigail asked, "It'll bother you more if you bottle it up."

"I don't want to impose on ye," Hudson replied, trying to sound polite.

"You're not, and you have been so kind as to let me stay here, I might as well try and help out," Abigail spoke, "We can go into my room and sit in the 'living room'."

Hudson nodded as Abigail lead him to the rooms she had been given to stay in. She lead him into one small outer room which had a small writing table and some chairs, along with a bookshelf. Abigail motioned for Hudson to sit in an easy chair near the window while she turned the chair at the writing desk around.

"So what is it about what happened that is troubling you?" Abigail asked.

"Well…" Hudson began, "I suppose I should explain something to ye before I tell ye 'what' is bothering me. One is to say that gargoyles are very much like humans when it comes to those that they love."

"I can see that in Lexington and my daughter," Abigail answered, "Far better actually, then some human relationships I've seen."

"Yes, well, long ago I had a mate of my own, and one I loved very dearly," Hudson spoke slowly.

"What was she like?" Abigail asked politely.

"She was very beautiful with a skin tone the same color as Broadway's," Hudson answered, "and she was very wise and a skilled teacher in our clan. I've always had some amusement that Goliath referred to me as 'mentor' when it was really my mate that was better at teaching the younger generations."

A thought came into Abigail's mind, but it wasn't her place to mention it, and now wasn't the time even if it was her place. After a short pause, Hudson worked up the strength to continue.

"Unfortunately she numbers among many members of the clan that died a fairly unnatural death," Hudson spoke, his voice growing weaker as he went.

"Yes," Abigail replied, cutting him off, "Candy has told me what she's learned. The massacre and so on."

"My mate did nae die in the massacre," Hudson informed her, "She died in a battle with Viking warriors almost a year before Goliath officially became my second in command. I will nae go into details as that is too painful."

"I understand," Abigail answered, "There is much that I have not told Candy about how her father and I separated, although that was very different from your situation and Candy does know enough that her father and I did not part on good terms."

Hudson nodded and continued, "When that other Elisa returned to her home, I saw my mate in that other universe with their version of me."

"You think your mate somehow fell into that universe?" Abigail asked, now sounding confused.

"Nae, that version of my mate belonged there," Hudson answered, "It's just that if she was alive there, it means she somehow survived there. I guess it just makes me wish she could have survived in our universe."

"Maybe if you could travel in time you could bring her here," Abigail suggested, "If you love her so much."

"Nae," Hudson sighed, "I was with her when she died. The Phoenix Gate wouldnae work."

"I'm sorry," Abigail spoke, sounding embarrassed.

"Ye needn't be," Hudson replied, "It happened long before the massacre even, and ye weren't responsible, and even if yer ancestors were, I can't hold ye to what they did."

"Well, before eleven I'm always available to talk," Abigail commented, "and the others will certainly understand that you miss your former love."

"I know," Hudson answered, "but I do nae want to appear to one to be pitied. All the others either have a declared mate or is involved in some sort of relationship. I do nae want to raise the impression that I'm desperate for that."

"Just talk to them as you've talked to me here," Abigail answered, "You don't seem desperate to me. And don't worry. It's perfectly natural to miss someone you love, and with the weird things that go on here, sometimes we'll all get a reminder that we didn't expect."

Hudson sighed, "Thanks for letting me get this off of my chest."

"You're welcome," Abigail answered and then looked at a nearby clock, "and it is now to the point where I need to get ready for bed. I hope you 'feel' better. Feel free to visit again if there is something bothering you that you don't think the others would understand. I'll always have an open ear."

"Again I thank ye for letting me get this off my chest," Hudson said again trying to sound as polite as possible, and headed for the door, "Have a good night."

**Elsewhere, The Next Night**

"You're sure this is where they met?" Thailog asked as he, Holly, and Granite stood in the rafters of the large room that the PIT group had meet in the evening before.

"Yes," Granite answered, "I'm positive, and they had a lot of people here."

"What is here now is the exact opposite," Thailog growled, sounding frustrated, "In fact there is no one here."

"Maybe they don't meet at the same time every night," Granite suggested, "I know they were in this building."

"More likely the organization only meets once a week," Holly commented, "Which means it is probably not organized enough to be politically influential."

"That would be a pity," Thailog commented, "but then things can be changed. A little money and pressure can do a lot."

"What is this?" Granite asked, sounding confused as they began to head out.

"Thailog is only laying the ground work for what will happen after we defeat the clan," Holly answered, "Using this PIT organization as a shield seems to be the best idea."

"It is the best idea," Thailog answered, "I can not shield my own actions myself. We will need a group like PIT to do that for us."

The small group then moved to the roof to return to the Maddox Technologies building. As they began gliding a thought came to Thailog's mind.

"Can you remember what their leaders looked like?" Thailog asked curiously.

"And you expect to get to them by merely looking at faces?" Holly blurted, "We'd be better served waiting until next week and appearing at their meeting. There are too many people in New York City to just glide around and look for people."

"Isn't there something you could do with that book?" Thailog questioned.

"I might be able to find them if **I** had seen them," Holly answered, "But I can't just pluck an image out of someone else's head and find them."

Thailog then sighed heavily, "It appears we'll have to wait then. The combat training will have to be upped, just in case we end up running into any members of Goliath's clan in the process."

Granite silently cringed, knowing what that meat.

**Axel Apartment, Two Days Later**

"I don't know, what were you planning to do with this?" Amy asked as she looked at a potential flyer that her parents had handed her.

"Hopefully to ask business that support us to put these in their front windows so people walking by will see them," Judith answered, "We hope it will help change minds."

"It looks sort like a political flyer," Brooklyn commented as he looked over his mate's shoulder.

"That's sort of what it is," Mr. Axel commented, "The hope is that with the Quarrymen gone, we can urge that laws be passed that would allow you to legally enter places like Macy's without being legally shot by some sort of radical."

"That could potentially happen anyway," Brooklyn commented, "Just because they pass a law saying we're protected, doesn't mean that people are just going to change their minds."

"Yes, but if no law is passed, it will not be viewed as wrong to not change your mind," Judith replied, "I mean, if you guys were murdered, the perpetrator would never be charged for it."

"I'm confident that we won't get killed, but I can see your point," Amy shrugged, "It might scare some of the less radical into being quiet."

"It's the truly radical that you need to worry about though," Brooklyn commented, "Given our physical appearance, it's quite likely that while the government might pass the law, it might not fully enforce it. I think in some of the history books in the castle say that the government passed constitutional amendments allowing blacks to vote and granted full citizenship and it wasn't until the 1960s when they could do those things without fear of being lynched."

"Things will never be easy," Judith commented, "and if we don't take that step now, we might never get the chance to do it right. Someone could come along and use PIT as some sort of passage to power. I don't want to do that. We're here to see that gargoyles are treated fairly."

"We know," Brooklyn answered.

"I just think the posters might be a good starting point," Judith commented, "Jump start things in the right direction. I mean, membership in PIT is going up, mostly from that TV interview you guys gave awhile back."

Both Amy and Brooklyn chuckled slightly.

"Well, I guess if you think it will work," Amy commented, "although, I'm not sure how you're going to clarify the 'gargoyles are people, too' comment, but I can't think of anything short and snappy that would convey the sense that we deserve equality."

"It's the best we could think of," Judith sighed, "you may have to accept that sort of general term as a reference."

"I can deal with it," Brooklyn commented, "I hope you can work all this out right. I we haven't said this before, it is really good that you guys have been working with the PIT group. Glad to have 'fans'."

"Well, this isn't the final idea," Mr. Axel sighed, "It's mostly going to be a suggestion for our next meeting as to what we can do."

"I'd say it's a suggestion worth trying," Amy encouraged.

"Thanks," her parents smiled at the same time.

"So how have things been?" Judith asked, "Between those super crooks and whatever weird thing went on the other night we haven't heard much."

"Nothing much," Amy answered, "The Chinese hatchlings that the clan's been babysitting can be a handful from time to time, but the really young ones are fairly cute, and other then those super crooks, there hasn't been much in the way of any major bad guy doing anything."

"What about the weird stuff that happened after that?" Mr. Axel asked, "Abigail told us it had something to do with her old 'Sliders' tapes."

"It was a version of Elisa that came from an alternate universe," Brooklyn answered, "Amy's the one who found her first, but all we were able to learn is that there are other 'universes' out there and that she was sucked through them all as the result of some magical accident."

"She got back to her own world okay though," Amy shrugged, "Weird, but thankfully peaceful."

"That's good," Mr. Axel sighed, "the last thing you guys need is a lot of weird violence."

"Too true," Brooklyn chuckled, "Is there anything else you needed before we get back to our patrol?"

"There is one thing," Judith commented, "I don't suppose you two, or a some part of your clan could be at the next meeting? It might be helpful to get your opinion on this in a more official manner."

"That won't be a problem," Brooklyn answered, "Someone from the clan will be there."

**Maddox Technologies**

"I still don't see the point in this," Jackal commented, "Once Xanatos and his gargoyles are gone, there will be nothing to stop us? Why go into all this deception?"

"Because the point of force is not to use it until there is either no choice but to use that force, or that the force has become so powerful that it can not be resisted," Thailog answered, "I understand if you do not wish to remain to my employ after Xanatos is defeated, and you will be quite free to go about your business, but until then, I need your help in getting my clan ready. Laying down the proper deception for the masses after Goliath and his allies are destroyed will take time, which is why I am doing this now, rather then wait until after the battle, when our secret might be revealed anyway."

"Seems like a needless risk to me," Jackal answered, "We can't go out and crush the gargoyles until this plan of yours is ready, but you will risk running into them to lay a deception plan down."

"That is why I have you upping my clan's training," Thailog responded, "I'm not opposed to killing members of Goliath's clan before the final battle, should the situation merit it. But deceiving PIT into being a sort of shield for our real activities is not one of those situations. We could run into members of Goliath's clan, but can not afford to fight them, and they can not afford to fight us at their meeting. In this particular case, Goliath and I want the same thing, although for different reasons."

"And you really think these people will believe you?" Jackal asked.

"If you can lie well enough, you'll get what you want," Thailog answered, "besides, these people like gargoyles and I am one. I see no reason why they wouldn't believe me."

"And suppose Goliath's clan tells the truth about you?" Jackal asked.

"They wouldn't dare ruin all the work that PIT is doing by fighting me in front of them," Thailog answered confidently, "We should have no major problems at the meeting itself."

"If you think it'll work, that's fine," Jackal commented, "But we won't be covering you from a distance."

**Castle Wyvern**

"They want someone from the clan to be at their next meeting?" Goliath asked as Brooklyn and Amy gave their report on their patrol.

"Yes, to possibly offer advice on their ideas to influence the government," Brooklyn answered, "They said they want a 'gargoyle's' opinion."

"On flyers?" Goliath asked.

"Flyers, posters and other such stuff," Amy answered, "You know to suggest that people urge for the changes on the flyer."

"I'm afraid most of us do not know enough about human politics to be truly helpful," Goliath answered, "Elisa, and your friends Amy, might, but I don't know how much help we could be."

"You don't need to be super political in order to help," Amy answered, "I think they want a gargoyle there to pick which one of their ideas is most helpful for the clan. The only interaction with the government should be done by PIT."

"It's really not all that hard to do, and it could be done by the team that is patrolling that night," Brooklyn commented, "I'm sure they won't do anything to threaten us."

Goliath then nodded, "I will inform the others tomorrow night. You do know the date of their next meeting?"

Both beaked gargoyles nodded as the sun rose for the day.

It took a few more days before the next PIT meeting was held and the clan still spent much of their time patrolling and helping to look after the Chinese hatchlings. So far there had been no major problems which gave the clan a much needed break from the major fights that they had had with group that contributed to what was called weird in New York. Their patrols had turned up nothing more then common criminals who were easily rounded up and left for the police to arrest.

Dealing with the Chinese hatchlings was still an adventure for the clan. The youngest generation of hatchlings were fairly easy to deal with, as they were confined to the rockery for the time being, since they could not really glide yet, and depended on being carried if they were to be moved to any new location. Four would sit with plenty of baby bottles with either milk or some protein rich formula were kept on hand. There was also a supply of disposable diapers that would accommodate their tails as Owen had apparently had enough dealing with the one or two cloth diapers that the Chinese gargoyles had brought with them. There was still some talk about wanting to toilet train them, but since the younger group had only just hatched in 98, they were physically one year old, and a lot of that would still be in the future for them. Despite all that, they were fairly easy to look after.

It was the older hatchlings that were somewhat difficult to deal with then the hatchlings who hatched in 98. They were old enough that the rookery would be a punishment and largely had the free run of the castle. They were largely very well behaved for 'children', but like all young children, they were curious about many things and it was easier to manage them in small groups. All were amazed by the television and the computer, but the older hatchlings seemed the most 'captivated' by most of the Manhattan female's lives as humans as they were not yet old enough to find the fact that they were transformed humans to be weird. And like patrols, the telling of a story of the past became a routine in keeping the older hatchlings entertained.

The night that that PIT meeting would take place began unlike any other night. The clan threw of their stone shells at dusk and quickly went about getting something to eat before moving out into their separate responsibilities. Once they had finished eating, Goliath assigned the clan their respective duties for the night.

"As we've done lately we will take two patrol teams tonight," Goliath spoke slowly and deliberately, "Angela, you and Broadway will take Sarah and Ian and will patrol the southern half of Manhattan. Your patrol zone will include the building that the PIT meeting is being held in, so you will remember Mr. and Mrs. Axel's request."

"We remember father," Angela answered, "I think their meetings are actually fairly interesting."

"Lexington, you and Candy are to take Ethan and Eve and patrol the northern half of Manhattan," Goliath instructed, "and if either of you run into any major trouble, radio each other for help and move toward where you can get help more easily."

"Right, Goliath," Lexington answered giving a thumbs up.

"The rest of us will remain here to guard the castle and make sure that there are enough of us to watch over all of the hatchlings," Goliath finished.

The group nodded and went about their missions for the evening.

**Maddox Technologies**

"We check again tonight," Thailog spoke as he moved both Holly and Granite towards the roof, "Hopefully we can finally make contact."

"Can we go?" Rage asked, "It'd be nice to get a shot at clobbering something."

"We will not be going out to 'clobber' anything," Thailog answered, "We are going to lay down some deception and return. You all are to remain here with Fang and train. I would prefer it if the Pack stays as well, but I don't expect them to."

Many of the others gave a very depressed grown, making Thailog decide he had better continue.

"Besides," Thailog sighed, "If everything goes according to plan, there probably will not be anyone there to pound."

The black skinned clone then lead the grey webwing and the blood red female gargoyles out and departed for the PIT meeting.

**Elsewhere**

As they headed toward the northern end of Manhattan, the curiosity that Ethan and Eve had towards the night's events finally gotten the better of them. Over the past few days, the work around the castle had kept them from talking to any of the others about this meeting with the PIT people and now seemed to be as good a time as any.

"We've been meaning to ask about this, but who are these PIT people?" Eve asked, "They seem rather close to your friend Amy, or at least some of them do."

"Remember the stories that we told you about the Quarrymen?" Lex asked, trying to set up his answer and waited for them to nod before continuing, "Well PIT is the exact opposite of them. They're a group that wants humanity to accept us."

"Amy is close with two members of PIT because they are her parents," Candy added, "Although, our transformation from human to gargoyle destroyed most of the resemblances we have to our family members."

"And now they want us to advise them on dealing with the government," Ethan commented, "How will they respond?"

"It's only on some flyers and things that they're wanting advice on," Candy replied, "From what Amy told me, we won't have any direct contact with the government."

"And from what I've seen on the news, the government, in the city anyway, would rather that we leave and never return," Lex added with a sigh, "They don't want us dead like the Quarrymen, but it seemed pretty clear that they didn't want us around."

"And the PIT people can persuade them?" Eve asked.

"If their flyers and stuff persuade the voters that gargoyles should be tolerated," Candy answered, "I've noticed that politicians rarely do anything when there is no interest in an issue, but if something comes along and their supporters believe in it, they might risk doing something to make sure they maintain their 'popularity' in the next election."

"That seems an awfully weird way of doing things," Ethan commented.

"It's generally why I've intended to stay away from all things political," Candy told him.

"I wish we could go to their meeting," Eve commented, "I'm curious about all of this. It'd be neat to just sit and watch them."

"It'd be nice, but the PIT aren't meeting in a building that is part of our patrol area," Lex answered, "That will be Angela and her team's responsibility. We're to look after anything in this part of Manhattan."

"Does that include large chunks of meat laying in the street?" Ethan then asked.

Lex then looked down with a rather perplexed look on his face to see two large slabs of meat laying just outside a large building that served as a meat locker. It was unusual for something like that to happen. If they were delivering the meat to a restaurant or something, they would have insured that the meat would remain clean, not just throw it out on the ground. Although, he couldn't thin of a reason why anyone would steal raw meat.

"Yeah, this is something we should check out," Lex nodded, "At least to see what's going on."

They then landed and saw that the main doors to the building were torn open letting the cooler air inside the building to escape. They then heard voices coming toward them from inside the building.

"Why are we doing this again?" an agitated female voice asked.

"Because Wolf wants bloody meet and Thailog doesn't stock that much," an equally frustrated male voice answered.

"Uh-oh," Lex commented as Jackal and Hyena came out of the building.

"Well if it isn't our favorite punching bags!" Hyena laughed as they spotted the four gargoyles blocking their route departure.

"This is a new low for you," Lex growled back, "Stealing meat."

"Why are you stealing meat anyway?" Candy demanded beside her mate.

"If you're implying that this is part of some scheme, it isn't," Jackal answered, "and it isn't our fault that all those shots Wolf has had has given him a preference for bloody and fairly raw meat."

"This is all an errand?" Ethan gasped in surprise.

"This IS a new low," Lex added.

"Hey, it ain't our fault he took those shots and it ain't our fault that he wants this stuff," Jackal answered angrily and aimed his laser cannons at Lex and Candy, "What WILL be our fault will be blasting you four to smithereens."

Lex and the rest of his group then dove backwards as both Jackal and Hyena fired at them with their own laser cannons.

**PIT Meeting Hall**

Angela, Broadway, Ian, and Sarah crouched in the rafters just above the speaker's platform as they watched various PIT members that were there were setting up chairs and things for the night's meeting.

"Wow, they must have a lot of people in this group," Ian commented in amazement, "Look at all those chairs."

"Amy told us their 'recruitment' was up," Broadway commented, "I wonder if they'll let us have a snack when we're done here."

"I'm not really all that hungry," Sarah commented, "I'm more interested in this. I mean, Amy's parents run an organization that wants to help gargoyles. That's all so amazing."

"It's certainly hopeful for us that there are people like this," Angela spoke, "Shows there is more to people then just the Quarrymen, who the clan has had more trouble with."

Sarah and Ian continued to marvel at the work being done while Angela and Broadway waited for the meeting start quietly.

Elsewhere in the rafters Thailog, Holly, and Granite slowly entered to see all the work and commotion going on below.

"This is the night," Granite announced, "I think I recognize some of the people from the last meeting,"

"Good," Thailog answered, "We will wait here for their meeting to begin. When the time is right, we will reveal ourselves."

Holly and Granite nodded and settled themselves in by the window in the rafters that they had entered through, and stayed away from the stage. They did not know that Broadway, Angela, Sarah, and Ian were there, but neither did they know that Thailog and his group had just arrived. They sat quietly as more people came in and began to take their seats.

**Meat Locker Building**

Lexington found himself with Ethan as Jackal charged at them, firing his laser cannons at them. His firing forced Lex back and allowed the male cyborg to knock Ethan to ground. This bought Lex the time knock the cyborg back and allow Ethan to regain his feet.

"You know this whole thing isn't even about you," Jackal growled, "I don't see why you have to even get involved."

Jackal fired his laser cannons again, and Lex was barely able to dodge the shot. In fact he though he felt one shot glace off the back of one of his wings.

"Because it's wrong, no matter what it is," Lex growled back, "Be it money, high tech equipment, or… raw meat to feed Wolf, if you're steeling something, you hurt everyone that uses the product legally."

"Well it's not like we can walk in and buy meat," Jackal shot back.

"You'd probably set of the metal detectors," Ethan commented.

Jackal extended his midsection and grabbed Ethan by his wings and then threw him across the street.

"Maybe, but I can fly," Jackal answered, "and I don't turn to stone during the day."

Lex leaped onto Jackal's back and tried to pull the cyborg back while Ethan recovered.

"This will be fun!" Hyena laughed as she lunged forward, metallic claws extended.

Candy and Eve dodged away and Hyena ended up clawing a parked car. Eve then turned and landed a glancing blow that that managed to knock Hyena into the car that she had just clawed.

"That depends on your definition of fun," Candy answered and threw a kick at Hyena.

The female cyborg dodged the attack and grabbed Candy by the tail. Hyena then threw Candy into Eve, knocking the pair of them into street light.

"I define fun as 'gutting a couple lizards' although you'll find this gut-wrenching," Hyena laughed and fired her laser's again, and sighed when both females avoided the shots.

Candy and Eve then moved apart and began to move toward Hyena from two separate directions. Both of them knew that Hyena and Jackal were not to be underestimated in terms of their individual skill, but it was still unlikely that either of them as individuals could easily handle two separate attacks coming from two different directions.

"You go high, I'll go low," Candy called over to Eve and charged forward.

Hyena watched pink web-winged gargoyle move forward. She turned to face Candy head on, hoping that Eve wouldn't get the web-wing's strategy. Unfortunately, while Eve didn't pick it up right away, she did pick up Candy's idea. While Hyena turned and caught Candy's attack, Eve moved forward and landed a punch to the back of Hyena's head. Hyena then fell to the ground on top of Candy.

"Get off of me!" Candy growled as she brought her feet up and kicked Hyena off of her and sending her flying into the parked car.

The impact with the car hurt more then the blows the two gargoyles had landed, but that proved to Hyena that they weren't going to go down easily. She looked over to see that Jackal was in a similar stalemate against the two male gargoyles. With no clear advantage, and their business being to get food for Wolf, Hyena decided the battle was no longer worth fighting.

"It's time to get out of here, brother," Hyena yelled as she threw out a kick that prevented Candy from following up her attack.

Jackal looked up as Hyena took off.

"But…" Jackal began to protest.

"Winning this fight is not worth the prize of raw meat," Hyena answered, "Wolf can just eat something else."

Ethan then attacked toward Jackal, who managed to catch the gargoyle's attempted punch and threw him against the side of the building. Jackal then sighed and activated his own jets.

"Be lucky we don't have time to be battling you all night over meat," Jackal shouted as they fled.

"Do we go after them?" Eve asked as she and Candy approached Lex and Ethan.

"They were only stealing meat," Lex sighed, "Weird for them, but only the fact that they were after meat, not that they were stealing."

"So, do we go after them?" Candy asked.

"As much as I'd like to bring those two psychos in, no," Lex sighed, "If all they were after is meat, it's not something that will threaten us later or do great damage to the rest of the city. Besides, with their rockets, they can easily leave us in the dust behind them."

**PIT Meeting**

Angela and her patrol team sat quietly as the PIT members proposed their various ideas to help try and get the government to recognize the clan. Most of it were suggestive posters and pamphlets for that people could see in store windows or in restaurants if they went inside. Many urged people to write the mayor and all of them contained some sort of message that tried to explain that gargoyles weren't as different from people as previously supposed. Many of the ideas seemed fairly good to her, but she didn't think it was really her place to comment. Then Mrs. Axel approached the podium again.

"I want to thank you all for your suggestions," Judith spoke calmly and sounding fairly nervous, "and as many of you remember the celebration at the end of the Quarryman organization, I have worked out an arrangement that will allow your suggestions to have a proper judge."

In the rafters, Thailog was surprised by this line of conversation.

"How does she know we're here?" Granite asked.

"More importantly, how does she know we intend to show ourselves?" Holly added.

"No, I think she expects members of Goliath's clan," Thailog growled, sounding somewhat frustrated.

They looked back and were rewarded by the sight of Angela, Broadway, Sarah, and Ian moving to land beside Mrs. Axel.

"So what do we do now?" Holly asked.

"We watch," Thailog answered, "We might be able to salvage something of this later, when Goliath's fools leave."

At the platform, Judith stepped aside and offered it to Angela. The lavender female sighed and motioned for the rest of her team to stand with her, in the hopes that she wouldn't be the only one speaking.

"First, we'll let you know that you all had very good ideas," Angela spoke weakly, trying to think of something better to say. She would have preferred if Goliath, Elisa, or Brooklyn had taken this mission as they seemed better suited for various reasons, but she could only try to do her best.

"I'd say thought that we aren't suited well to judging your work," Ian added respectively.

"We would like to thank you for being so supportive of the clan," Broadway spoke up, "It's good to have friends, no matter who or what you are."

"And we thank you for letting us come here," Sarah finished that line of their conversation.

There was a brief applause for a few moments while Angela tried to think of something and hoped the others were doing the same. After awhile Angela found something to say.

"I believe I can speak for our clan's leader and the clan as a whole that we do not wish to live 'above' humans," Angela spoke, "We wish to live with them."

There was some small applause while Angela looked to the others. Broadway and the others only shrugged, indicating that they hadn't thought of anything further to say.

"Well I guess that is all that we have to say," Angela finished their speech, "We will leave you to make your decision and return to our patrolling responsibilities."

In the rafters Thailog sighed and turned away looking extremely frustrated.

"Boss?" Granite asked.

"Sir?" Holly added.

"We're finished here," Thailog growled, "That 'not wishing to live above humans' killed my plans. They'll listen to that and turn on us quickly when the news reports of the beginnings of our more direct campaign. Our purpose here has already been beaten."

They then departed through the same window they had entered and moved toward the roof to leave. As they arrived they found the four gargoyles of Goliath's clan getting ready to return to their patrol.

"Thailog!" Broadway gasped in shock and assuming a fighting stance, "What are you doing here?"

"You can relax," Thailog answered, "You people have already defeated my purposes for being here."

"You're evil, Thailog," Angela growled, "Empty!"

"Maybe, but there is no point in fighting tonight," Thailog answered, "Holly if you please…"

The blood red female began chanting something that no one in the patrol group could make out and the group soon vanished in a bright flash of light. When Broadway looked back they were gone and there was a slight scorch mark where they had been.

"What was that all about?" Ian asked, "Everything that you've told us says that he would have tried to fight us, or at least he should have."

"I don't know," Broadway answered, "He's also supposed to be super smart. He might have something big planned."

"But what could he be planning that involves attacking PIT?" Sarah asked, "I'd think that he'd want t hide behind the organization. Not attack it."

"He might have intended to bully them into covering up his activities," Angela sighed, "We'd best report this to Goliath. He might try again and he's the one who can think of some way to at least counter Thailog."

They then quickly departed.

**Castle Wyvern, later**

"Jackal and Hyena's activities are of no serious consequence," Goliath sighed as the night's patrol teams made their reports, "Unusual that is was raw meat that they were stealing, but they aren't above stealing anything."

"They said something about feeding Wolf with it," Candy commented.

Goliath only nodded to that.

"But Thailog's actions are the ones that are puzzling," Goliath grumbled, "Did he make any direct threats toward you or PIT?"

"No, actually he said we had already defeated his purpose for being there," Angela answered, "He didn't even tell us why he was there or what he wanted from PIT."

"Probably to try and get PIT to be his own personal propaganda agency," Brooklyn commented from his position.

"But what could we have done that would have stopped him?" Angela asked, "All we did there was say they all had good ideas and that we didn't have any major problem with them. How could that defeat him?"

"You must have said something that made Thailog feel his plan was not feasible to use at that time," Goliath commented, "and that can be counted as a victory, if he left and said you had already beaten him."

"So what do we do regarding all this?" Brooklyn asked, coming forward, "Thailog isn't likely to leave them alone for awhile, and the last thing we need to do is disrupted Amy's parent's lives again by having them come here."

"Our patrol teams will have to monitor that building and chase any of Thailog's agents away from there," Goliath rumbled, "I wouldn't think he'd try again, based on what you've told me, but this is just to be safe."

The group then broke up for the remainder of the night while Goliath moved out to look out over the battlements. He stared out quietly for a few moments.

"Is something wrong, Big Guy?" Elisa asked as she came up behind him.

"He's planning something big out there, Elisa," Goliath rumbled in a low voice.

"Something that involves 'crushing' us, no doubt," Elisa answered, "Don't worry. Thailog is cunning, but he's never truly beat the clan."

"Maybe, but tonight shows that he is already planning for what he will do after he's beaten us," Goliath sighed with frustration, "He is confident that what he has planned can beat us. He can't afford to worry about controlling PIT if he's concerned that he will be battling us for the foreseeable future."

"Lots of people plan to do things well in advance of when they intend to do them," Elisa answered, "Planning doesn't mean success."

"I know," Goliath answered, "But it means we will have to be on high alert for the time being."

"We can do that," Elisa answered, "we've all done that before, one way or another. We'll be ready for them when they come."

"I hope so, Elisa," Goliath answered, "I hope so."

**City Hall, Three Days Later**

"So what do these posters say?" the mayor asked as he walked toward his office.

"Nothing that will shift policy unless we want it to shift," the mayor's aide answered, "Just talking about that the gargoyles are 'just like you and me' and all that sort of stuff. Largely the same things PIT members have said about gargoyles in the few human interest stories that the news has run."

"Now they're putting up the posters like it is an election year," the mayor chuckled.

"It is an election year, sir," the aide answered.

"Yeah, but the campaign in earnest until September or October before the November election," the mayor answered, "They're a little early for a campaign aren't they?"

"Probably, but it is a free country," the aide shrugged, "Maybe the city's public opinion will change by the time the election starts and these guys are just getting things ready for some candidate that will support them."

"For now though, we'll keep everything quiet," the mayor answered, "and remain thankful that these people have not attacked anyone the way the Quarrymen did."

"It is good that they are gone," the aide nodded in agreement, "things have been quieter."

**The End…**


	40. Cloak and Dagger

All characters appearing in Gargoyles and Gargoyles: The Goliath Chronicles are copyrighted to Buena Vista Television/The Walt Disney Company. I've taken the idea for the Unseelie Court from the TGS. Characters and concepts from Star Trek are property of Paramount and created by Gene Roddenberry. No Infringement of these copyrights is intended, and is not authorized by the copyright holder. All original characters are the property of SN.

Note: I'm disregarding the events of the "Goliath Chronicles", with the exception of "The Journey" because I do not wish to use the rest of the "Goliath Chronicles" as canon to my story. Also, I'm altering large sections of the Star Trek storyline, especially concerning events like WWIII and the Eugenics Wars, which without the Cold War as a backdrop probably wouldn't happen the way Roddenberry wrote them, if at all. This story takes place one week after "Politics".

Cloak and Dagger

By SN/TVfan

Email: Sam_Nary

**Manhattan**

One lone scientist bent over a computer screen that he was running a simulation of an experiment on to see if he could get the results he wanted, or at least predict where things could possibly go wrong. He was so focused on the screen that he didn't notice someone coming up behind him.

"What's that, Frank?" a man asked from a position behind the man at the computer.

The scientist, Frank, jumped slightly and turned around to find the massive and powerfully built janitor standing there with his equipment.

"Oh, Reggie, I've stayed in past closing time again haven't I?" Frank spoke with a sigh.

"I've been working here for years, and I've found that scientists do not work to a closing time," Reggie answered, "They work until they believe they've gotten everything done."

"Well, I thank you for allowing me to work here then," Frank replied, "I'm not in your way, am I?"

"No," Reggie told him, "What are you working on?"

"Oh, we've been working on projects with cloning, with animals of course," Frank answered, "Trying to see what we can do to develop the clone during the process."

"What, to create super-mice or something?" Reggie asked.

"Sort of," Frank replied, "We're not turning them into 'kryptonian' mice, but the idea is to increase an animal's brain power or muscle power or both to improve how they can work with or for people. I mean when we train animals, it involves a lot of work to get them to do simple tasks, and that is even with animals that are naturally intelligent. Now suppose we could engineer a dog that could easily understand all human languages and knows the full meaning of each and every word said?"

"I don't know," Reggie answered.

"Training dogs would much less time," Frank replied, as he enjoyed explaining the basic principles of his work with many people who could listen, "They could reason on a level equal to that of ourselves, and thus, we could easily explain to them what they need to do, and why they need to do it."

"Suppose these smarter dogs reason that it is they that should be the masters, rather then humans and they refuse to do the job?" Reggie asked.

"Well, that is possible," Frank shrugged, "I mean people sometimes refuse to do things when it's in their best interest, but the beauty of my research as that we will be able to reason with the animals that we work with. We don't have to bribe them with food to the point were the action becomes instinctual. We can give them the ability to work with us much better then they do now."

"A lot of this seems to be an attempt to play 'God' to me," Reggie commented as be began cleaning one of the other computers with a duster, "if dogs were supposed to be able to speak English, they would have evolved with the ability to speak English."

"It's a manner of progress," Frank explained, "The only other option would be to work with human clones, which is of course illegal."

Reggie nodded and went about his work. Frank watched the screen for a few more minutes and then smiled and exited the program he was in.

"And I believe I've got done all I can do for today," Frank then smiled as he shut down his computer, "I'll finish this up tomorrow."

"See you tomorrow then," Reggie nodded and waved goodbye to Frank as he went out.

Frank slowly walked out of the building a few minutes later and began to walk back toward his apartment. He was met by a man in a trench coat as he approached a corner near Central Park.

"So?" the man asked in a quiet voice.

"I've looked over the research that has been done up the point in which your facility was attacked and was amazed to see how much it's mirrored some of the work being done here with animals and to see how advanced it is," Frank answered.

"So, will you agree to do it?" the man in the trench coat asked.

"Yes," Frank answered, "If it means I'm doing something to help the Council, but I do have one question that I must ask."

"Ask away?" the man answered.

"Why is this facility in Tibet?" Frank asked, "You have a facility in the middle of an uprising. Wouldn't this war find this place? Especially since it began with the attack on the facility."

"That was a worry of the Council's, yes, but Khan has assured us that the facility is safe now," the man replied, "and the insurgents that attacked it have not even bothered to make a second attack on it, so the facility should be perfectly safe, even the battles there explode into a full scale war."

"Very well," Frank replied, "If you're sure its safe, then you have yourself a scientist."

"I don't," the man corrected, "The Illuminati Council does."

**Castle Wyvern**

Fox sat quietly as Alex practiced his lessons with Puck at the time. The spells he had Alex practicing seemed far too complex for her to try, even if she wasn't currently pregnant. Even so, she was content to watch and see what Puck was teaching her son, both out of a sense of curiosity and to at least spend time her son.

"You needn't pay such close attention," Puck commented as he came to float over Fox's shoulder, "You'll probably get the same lesson from Titania eventually."

"My training isn't as advanced as Alex's," Fox answered, "And I'm at the point in my current pregnancy that it is wiser that I take a break from my lessons. I'm here to check on my son."

Puck nodded, "Well he is doing very well."

"I can see that," Fox replied.

The two continued to sit and quietly watch as Alex went through his lesson. Puck interjected from time to time to provide the boy with slight corrections that needed to be made to cast the spell correctly, but Alex had been practicing long enough that he did not need much in the way of correction. When he was done, Alex came and put his chin on Fox's knee.

"Is it a boy or a girl?" Alex asked pointing toward Fox's stomach.

Fox then looked down for a moment. Enough time had passed that it was clearly obvious that she was pregnant. However, do to her mutation, she had not had the option of seeing a normal doctor for dealing with pregnancy. For the past three months she had relied on either her mother or Puck to use their magic to scan her body and check for the health of the child. So far everything had been good, both she and the child were healthy.

"I don't know yet," Fox sighed rubbing the top of Alex's head, "I can't see a doctor and have them look at the baby."

"Because you're a mutate?" Alex asked.

Fox slowly nodded, "People would not respond well to what has happened to your father and I."

"Uncle Owen and Uncle Lex are friendly," Alex said with a childlike innocence.

"That is because your Uncle Owen and the gargoyles know what a mutate is and are used to them," Fox explained, "They are different from other people."

"Can't we find out if it's a boy or a girl?" Alex asked.

Puck then came around to float in front of Fox with a slight grin on his face.

"There is a way," Puck said with a smile, "Such a thing is called image projection."

"Im-age pro-jek-tion?" Alex asked trying to repeat what Puck had said.

"Yes," Puck answered with a nod, "You simply use your magic to project an image, either real or imagined."

Puck then snapped his fingers and an image of all of the gargoyles flew around Alex's head.

"Now projecting made up images is easy as you just make up is easy, as you just project what is in your mind," Puck explained, "but when you project the image of something that is very real and alive, you must be careful."

"This isn't something dangerous, is it?" Fox asked, somewhat nervous that Puck's lesson could potentially harm her unborn child.

"Not to you or the baby," Puck answered, "Alex must wrap his magic around the child and use it sort of like tracing paper. It will create an image of the child, but if it's not done well or right, it'll do nothing. There is no health risk to you or the baby."

"So long as no one gets hurt," Fox answered condoning the lesson as she was curious about the child's gender herself.

Alex then slowly and nervously placed one hand on Fox's stomach and let a soft green glow rise out of his hand as he focused on the spell. Fox, herself, felt a soft tickling sensation as he did so. After a few moments, Alex looked around trying to find the image. He was certain that he had wrapped his magic around the baby.

"Where is baby?" Alex asked looking around, looking somewhat depressed that the image of his younger and yet to be born sibling was not visible.

Puck floated closer and did his best to look at the situation without looking like he might be doing something morally wrong, which he wasn't, but he had to make sure he wasn't looking like that. After a moment he gave a reassuring smile.

"All you've done is copy the image," Puck told his young pupil, "Now, stretch out your other hand and project the image that you've 'copied'. That shouldn't be too hard."

Alex nodded and then raised the other and slowly tried to mimic what Puck had done earlier. He then watched as a small green colored shape suddenly appeared in the air a few feet away. The image then increased in size until it was easily recognizable.

"That's the baby?" Alex asked.

"It's not fully developed yet," Fox explained as she could see what she thought a mutate infant would look like at her current stage of development, although, she wasn't sure about that.

The baby' arms and legs seemed to be developed, but the wings did not appear to be much more then small nubs on the baby's back. It also did not appear to have any fur yet.

"Is it a boy or a girl?" Alex asked.

Puck looked at the image for a moment and then spoke, "It would appear to be girl to me, although I'm not entirely sure."

"Not entirely sure?" Fox asked.

"I've never studied medicine in general, other then first aide as Owen," Puck answered sounding more like Owen, "And that training said nothing about the development of infants during a pregnancy, and since Sevarius's formula has made you, Mrs. Xanatos, very different in many ways from a human woman, so even going by the normal stages of development for human babies might be inaccurate for you, even if I had had the proper training. All I can say is that I think it's a girl."

"A girl," Fox sighed as she looked at the image that Alex had projected.

Outside, Brooklyn and Amy waited for the rest of their patrol team to arrive for the night's patrol. Hudson wasn't too hard to wait for, and they could already see him making his way out to the castle walls.

"How's Caroline?" Brooklyn asked as Hudson made his way up the steps.

"She's gone to say goodnight to her mate," Hudson answered, "She should be on her way."

Brooklyn nodded, "It's alright. So long as it isn't a LONG goodnight."

Amy playfully smacked him on the shoulder, "Keep your mind out of the gutter. Or I'll laugh while you attempt to explain the 'birds and bees' to the older Tibetan hatchlings."

Brooklyn gulped and nodded. None of the Manhattan gargoyles knew how much the Tibetans had taught their hatchlings about life, and they had all agreed not to put themselves in a situation where they might have to explain something that they might not understand. They didn't have to wait long for Caroline, as the blue female quickly made her way out across the courtyard and joined them on the wall.

"Okay, I'm ready to go," Caroline announced as she joined the others on the edge of the castle walls.

**Elsewhere**

Frank slowly made his way through the hallway to his apartment on the west side of Manhattan. As he reached his door, he set his briefcase down and began to fumble through his pockets for his keys. As he placed his key into the lock, one of his neighbors came out, looking ready for a night out on the town.

"Hey, Frank," the neighbor commented, "How's it going?"

"Hey, Joe," Frank replied with a polite nod, "Things are going good. I've received a new job offer. Soon I'll be working for a great pharmaceuticals company and rolling in money."

"Rolling in money?" Joe asked, "Then this is a cause for celebration! Why don't you toss your briefcase in there and we'll go out to celebrate. I know this upscale place where you'll really have some fun. Good food, good women, if you know what I mean."

"Come on Joe," Frank answered as he opened his door, "you know I don't like those sorts of things. Meeting a woman in a bar is not the basis for anything long term, and besides, I'll have to be moving across the country anyway."

"Then it's a farewell party!" Joe said grabbing Frank by the shoulders and kicking his briefcase into his room, "I also know a good restaurant. I'll call all the gang and we'll have a blast!"

Frank smiled slightly. His friends knew nothing about what he really did or who he really worked for, but they seemed to be good people and they always seemed to want him to 'live a little'. He was about to accept Joe's offer to go out to eat when his suitcase hit the floor inside his apartment and mad a strange beeping sound, like some sort of electrical device. Neither Frank nor Joe had time to wonder what it was as they were soon thrown against the nearby wall by a massive explosion.

**Over Manhattan**

Brooklyn's group hadn't seen much of anything as their patrol started and they were just about to enter Central Park when a massive explosion was heard to the west of them.

"What the devil?!" Hudson spoke in surprise.

"Someone blew something up!" Brooklyn gasped looking towards where the sound had come from and seeing smoke rising through the air.

The group quickly turned and soon all four gargoyles were gliding at full speed toward where the smoke was rising. They soon found out it was an apartment building that had been attacked. The blast had been strong enough to blow part of the outer wall out of place and weaken the walls of one floor to the point where the floor above the one that the bomb had been on collapsed down, or at least part of it had. Thankfully, that seemed to be the limit of the damage.

"Oh my god!" Caroline spoke in utter horror.

"That's an apartment building," Amy spoke, "People could still be alive in there."

"We'd better check it out," Brooklyn spoke slowly, "The 911 people haven't arrived yet, we'd best see what we can do to help."

The four quickly glided towards the opening that had been blown in the outer wall of the building, which was only just large enough for them to squeeze in. They entered what appeared to be a living room that, thanks to the explosion looked as though it had clearly seen better days. Part of the floor from the level above the room they were in had fallen down into that living room along with whatever furniture that was where the floor had been. Strangely, the floorboards that the four gargoyles were walking on did not appear to be weakened much, if at all.

"This is strange," Brooklyn noted as the moved toward a large pile of rubble.

"What is?" Caroline asked.

"Whatever bomb was used had to have been big," Brooklyn answered, "Especially if it blow a hole in the outer wall, collapsed the walls near the front door that lead out of the apartment, and forced part of the ceiling above it to fall down."

"We won't argue that," Amy answered with sigh, "but what makes that strange?"

"The floor here doesn't feel like it's been weakened any," Brooklyn answered, "It's not like when the Vikings would lay siege to Wyvern in the dark ages. They'd hurl a boulder at the walls with a catapult and the section of the wall that they hit would 'collapse' in the same direction as the boulder was flying. It would rarely to any damage to other sections of the wall. Modern bombs are far more powerful, and their force goes in all directions. It should have done something to the floor."

"Maybe the bomb was in the ceiling and not on the floor," Hudson commented, "People might notice it if it was on the floor."

"Maybe, but people don't go looking for bombs if they don't expect it," Amy commented, "I agree that it was probably in the ceiling, but I don't think it was there to keep it hidden."

The group then slowly began moving the large bits of rubble out of the way and placing them in an open area way from the blast site. They were careful as they did so, so if there was someone underneath all of the debris, they didn't hurt them in removing the piles of debris. The sounds of sirens got loader as they went. As the got to the last large bits of debris, they found themselves in the hallway, and amongst some floorboards that did feel like they were a little bit weaker then normal when they finally found someone.

They found two men actually, pinned against the far wall and unconscious, but thankfully alive.

"It must have been a miracle these two survived," Caroline commented as she looked down on the two unconscious blast victims, although she could see that both of them had some broken bones.

"We can be grateful for that," Amy nodded when suddenly one of the men mumbled something in delirium.

"Enemies… Council," the man mumbled before falling silent again.

That startled the four gargoyles a bit, but none of them could say any more as they heard footsteps approaching and decided it would be best to try and figure everything out away from prying eyes, especially if the people coming had any former connections to the Quarrymen. The carefully moved back to the hole in the wall and left through it. A few minutes later two cops and several medical personnel made their way into the area.

"Whoa, this place was certainly torn apart," one of the cops commented as he looked at the damaged walls and ceiling and then the pile of small bits of debris that littered the floor.

"Yeah, but it looks like someone moved all the big pieces," the other cop commented, pointing to the stack of large pieces of debris nearby.

"And who ever did that uncovered these two," one of the emergency medical people answered, "We'll need a stretcher to get them out of here."

Meanwhile, Caroline, Brooklyn, Amy, and Hudson gathered on the roof of the building across the street trying to figure out what was going on.

"It was good that no one was killed in that," Hudson commented as they landed on the roof of the other building.

"Yeah, but why would anyone bomb an apartment," Caroline asked, "Those guys looked rather normal to me, and by that I mean unimportant."

Amy nodded, "Even terrorists wouldn't just blow up one guy's apartment. They supposedly have higher or larger goals."

"That one guy said something about a 'council'," Brooklyn commented thinking back to their finding the unconscious blast victims.

"Whoever bombed the place had to be an enemy of someone's 'council'," Hudson spoke, "the real question, is who's council are we talking about?"

"Good question," Brooklyn grumbled, "Wish anyone here had an answer."

**Rooftop**

Elsewhere, a lone man pulled a cellphone out of his pocket and dialed a number. A rough sounding voice answered.

"Yes," the voice responded.

"The attempt failed," the man said in a frustrated voice, "I don't know how. The bomb was triggered, but I just saw a group of gargoyles go in and out of the apartment. They said that no one was killed in the blast."

"How is that possible?" the voice demanded, "the bomb you were given had a tremendous amount of force in its explosive capabilities."

"Yes, but I was also instructed to place energy dampeners along the floor," the man answered.

"Yes, we didn't want to do more then what was necessary," the voice replied.

"Those dampeners might have absorbed most of the bomb blast," the man explained, "and that is what saved the life of our target. Although, I would doubt that he escaped the blast unharmed. It might be wise to begin checking hospitals, he might show up there sooner or later."

"We'll let you know where Frank Casile ends up," the voice answered, "Remember that it is important to our cause that the Illuminati never get new scientific team assembled to 'lead' the Tibetan base. We can not afford to place suspicion on Khan by having repeated attacks on the base."

"Of course, sir," the man responded.

**Castle Wyvern**

"He mentioned a 'council'?" Goliath rumbled as Brooklyn finished his report about the night's patrol.

"Yes," Brooklyn answered, "He just didn't say which one."

"The only one I can think of would be the Illuminati," Elisa commented, "Although, I'd wonder why they would resort to so destructive a method."

"No, the bomber was an enemy of a 'council'," Brooklyn explained, "So if it is the Illuminati that's under attack, the bomber is an enemy of them as well."

That made Goliath and Elisa share a glance for a moment. On first hand, they couldn't think of anyone that would be a direct enemy of the Illuminati that would be willing to bomb buildings in New York City, but remembering why the Tibetan elders and hatchlings were currently residing in the castle with them was enough to give them a reason why.

"These supermen in Tibet," Goliath growled in a low voice, "They are behind this."

"But bombing an apartment makes no sense," Brooklyn commented, "Even if the man is a member of the Illuminati, they have to have thousands of agents in New York alone. He seems to be rather insignificant to warrant blowing up his apartment."

"At present we only know that the man is a target," Elisa commented with a sigh, "but we don't know who the man is. For all we now, he could be a member of the Illuminati's council."

"Well, I can be certain that whoever is behind this, they'll probably learn that their intended victim survived the attack," Brooklyn reported, "It is likely that they'll try again."

"Best follow the news for the rest of the evening," Goliath rumbled, "They might give us a name to attach to the victim. Then we can piece together why these supermen wants him dead and why they stooped to committing acts of terrorism in our protectorate."

"Right, Goliath," Brooklyn nodded and then slowly walked back inside.

Goliath, meanwhile, began to pace the courtyard, making little effort to hide the fact that he was frustrated.

"Demona is already on her way there," Elisa pointed out, "I doubt she will allow these supermen to live long after what they've done to the Tibetan clan."

Goliath nodded, "Hopefully Wedrington is able to prevent her from going into some sort of vengeance quest against all the humans of Tibet."

Goliath then began pacing again while Elisa could only watch.

"Knowing they will be beaten or will be resisted, at least, is not the thing that troubles me," Goliath sighed heavily, "it is the fact that they are not coming out to directly fight anyone here, yet they have operations here. It is not the sort of thing I am used to dealing with."

"The Tibetan gargoyles told us that their primary efforts are in Tibet," Elisa commented, "Any activities they're running outside of that region must be rather small by comparison, and is something they don't want discovered."

"Even still, it is times like these that remind me more of how things have changed," Goliath rumbled, "More so then seeing the technology that is in this time. It is the fact that villains a continent away can cause trouble for our clan and for its protectorate. Threats used to only come from the next hill, or possibly as far away as the next town, but never from distances as far away as Tibet is from here."

"They'll be stopped," Elisa assured her mate, "And we'll New York safe. The world may have gotten 'smaller', but some things never change."

"I hope you're right, my Elisa," Goliath rumbled, "I hope you're right."

Meanwhile, in a different sector of the castle, Broadway and Angela had lead together a small group of the older Tibetan hatchlings to watch a movie that the Tibetan elders had declared 'safe' after the plot of the movie had been explained to them. As they turned on the television they were greeted by a news report on the screen.

"We're sorry interrupt this program with a breaking news bulletin," the reporter announced, "Earlier this evening an apartment building on the west side of Manhattan was bombed by eco-terrorists. The blast seriously injured one Frank Casile and his neighbor Joseph Drew, and both men are currently in Manhattan General, although a full update on their condition is not yet available. The believed target of the attack was Frank Casile a research scientist inside Bartech Research Institute, a company involved in various genetic experiments with animals, either in attempts to 'improve' the animal or involved in testing various medicines on animals."

"What's an 'eco-terrorist'?" one of the hatchlings asked.

"I don't know," Angela answered nervously and looked to Broadway, "This might be something my father should know about. I'll try to keep this group together and behaved."

Broadway glanced at the television and then back Angela and slowly nodded and moved out to find Goliath.

**Manhattan General**

Frank slowly opened his eyes to find himself laying in a medical bed inside what had to be a hospital. His head was held in place by something and he couldn't see anyone in the room with him, but he thought he heard the faint sounds of someone breathing.

"Where am I?" Frank asked weakly.

"Manhattan General," a voice said from outside Frank's field of vision.

"Joe…" Frank spoke, equally weakly.

"Will be fine," the voice answered, "both he and you escaped being killed. You'll be here for a while nursing some broken bones."

"What happened?" Frank asked.

"Your apartment was bombed by the same insurgents that are currently giving us trouble in Tibet," the voice answered.

"They bombed my apartment?" Frank asked.

"Yes," the voice replied, "The man behind the initial attack on our facility has somehow maintained the ability to track down our possible candidates to run our Tibet facility and kill them."

"How come you didn't tell me this when you were offering me the job?" Frank demanded, feeling like he was being used.

"Because you would have refused," the voice answered, "and we need someone to run the facility. There is concern among the Council that our agents there will get over eager to restore peace that they would risk revealing our existence to the world."

"So now you're going to kill me for failing?" Frank asked.

"It's hard to fail when you don't know the full nature of the problem," the voice replied, "I'm here to make sure you stay alive long enough to be able to safely leave the hospital. Once you're ready, we'll fly you directly to our facility where you can take command and relax and heal."

"I would rather heal in someplace that isn't near or in a war zone," Frank replied.

"I'm sorry, but it's the safest place we can think of," the voice answered, "They've found ways to even sneak into our main headquarters."

"All of this sounds to me that they might have an inside man helping them," Frank commented, "Or that these 'insurgents' are Illuminati themselves."

"That is impossible," the voice said firmly.

"No one has ever tried to take over the Illuminati?" Frank asked, "You've showed me a list of 'historic' members and several of them appeared to be rather ambitious people in their own right. So it can't be impossible that you've had guys that have gone against the grain."

"We've had and still have many members who go against the grain," the voice answered, "but few of them have ever been a threat to the Illuminati, and those that truly have been a threat, we've known about their intended betrayal from the start, and they died before they could ever gain the support they needed to even start their plans."

"So it can't be an inside job because you haven't known about this in its entirety?" Frank asked, sounding puzzled.

"That doesn't mean that whoever is behind the insurgency and the attempts to kill our scientists doesn't have the ability to get spies into the Illuminati," the voice responded, "It just means that the leaders are not Illuminati."

"All of this still founds fishy to me," Frank answered.

"We will do the best you can to see that you heal," the voice said firmly, "but we must also be certain that you will continue to agree to lead our facility."

"The Council will have to pay for both my medical bills and for Joe's," Frank answered, "And you will have to insure that no harm, physical or financial comes to either of us."

"Easily done,' the voice responded.

"Then I'll accept your offer," Frank sighed, "Seeing as it is unlikely that I will have much of a chance either way."

**Hotel Cabal**

Duval sighed as he answered the phone that lead to the Illuminati's main 'command line'. He easily recognized the voice on the other end of the phone as one of his own agents.

"Report," Duval ordered.

"Casile will heal, but he won't be walking for months," the man replied, "he's agreed to continue as the leader of our Tibetan facility, but we must pay his and his neighbor's medical bills and see to it that neither of them are harmed physically or financially in the long run."

Duval was silent for a moment.

"I told him we'd agree to that," the man replied.

Duval then nodded, even though the man he was talking to couldn't see him, "Very well. What measures have you taken for security?"

"I have armed guards standing outside each room that the insurgent's intended victim, and his friend, are in," the man replied, "He wanted both protected. I've also seen to it that while Casile's room does have a window, his bed is at such an angle, that no sniper could hope to hit a vital organ."

"Good," Duval answered, "Now, I also want you to strengthen the hospital's security. Give them the name La Guardia and the number 676 and you should have no problems in giving security advice to their staff."

"May I remind you, sir, that our standard advice for security has not helped save the other applicants for the Tibet post," the man spoke, "is there anything else that can be done?"

"That was done when we first selected Casile for the project," Duval answered, "We've covered the bombing up to appear as though Frank is a scientist who experiments on animals. The various eco-terrorists were blamed, and might even launch their own attempt to kill him. Our men can easily handle the tree-huggers if the hospital's security doesn't, and our extra muscle will deal with anything the real threat tries."

"Extra muscle?" the man asked.

"The gargoyles," Duval answered, "They will like fall for our cover story and will try to stop the eco-terrorists and will likely draw in policemen by the squad and will allow us to send in all our available forces, which should be able to deal with the insurgency's assassin and might even capture or kill one of the gargoyles as well, which will help us put an end to the insurgency in Tibet."

The man grumbled a few questions to himself, but Duval didn't bother to ask what they were and hung up. Duval was certain he'd found away to help solve the Illuminati's larger problems, even though he would have to use Casile as bait to do so.

**Elsewhere**

A small group of men sat around a small portable television as the news report ended.

"We are not eco-terrorists," one man snarled.

"The Illuminati is covering up our actions," the leader of the small group of men spoke, "they do not want us and our war against the Illuminati to be revealed as it would reveal them as well. In that way we can thank them, as we can continue on with our plans without the general populace looking for us."

"I would prefer to fight in the open, show everyone who is the best," the first man snarled again.

"Then send a message to Khan asking for a transfer back to Tibet, because that is the only theater where we will be in the open in the near future," the second man answered, "and remember that while here in New York we can feed off of their system, whereas in Tibet things are much harder."

The first man was then quiet for a moment or two.

"Shall I go finish Casile off?" a third man asked.

"No, for now we will scout the area," the second man said firmly, "The Illuminati are likely to tighten security and being as this is New York, we will have to plan for the possible intervention of the city's gargoyles."

"We're just as strong as they are," the first man commented.

"Yes, but they aren't dumb brutes, and they do have tails," the second man told him, "If necessary they can beat us if we aren't careful."

"We've been trained well," the first man continued to say, "I doubt they can match us."

"Maybe, but for the time being, we are going to only scout the area and the hospital," the second man finished the argument, "we have not been sent here to start a war. We are to keep Khan's existence hidden as much as possible."

"Yes, sir," the other two men sighed sounding defeated, knowing they'd lost the argument.

**Castle Wyvern, The Next Day**

"It's a girl?" Xanatos asked as he and Fox ate breakfast.

Fox slowly nodded, "Alex was able to 'show' the image."

"I'm sure he is very proud that he was able to do that," Xanatos gave a polite smile.

"He's more excited about having a sister then he is about his progress with Puck and his lessons," Fox told him.

Xanatos gave a slight chuckle.

"Have you thought of any names?" Fox asked.

"Hmm?" Xanatos asked.

"Names for the baby," Fox repeated, "Have you thought of the name?"

"You just told me it was a girl," Xanatos answered, "How could I have thought of a name?"

"Well, didn't you pick out possible names for either a boy or a girl?" Fox demanded.

"I didn't think you were far enough along for that to matter at the present time," Xanatos sighed, "So, no I haven't given it any thought."

Fox took another bite of her breakfast and made a grumbling noise that made Xanatos nervous. He quickly decided to concede and see if Fox had already thought of some ideas.

"I take it you've been thinking of possible names?" Xanatos asked carefully.

"Yes, I have," Fox answered, "What would you think of naming her after my mother?"

"Titania Xanatos?" Xanatos asked saying what he thought would be the child's proposed name, "I guess it's alright, but isn't the first name I would choose."

"No," Fox shook her head, "Not Titania, Anastasia. The name she used as an alias. It's the name I knew best and the one I liked the best."

Xanatos thought for a moment and then smiled.

"Anastasia is a fine name," Xanatos smiled, "Now, all that's left is to wait for her to arrive."

It was then that Owen arrived carrying a few documents in his hand, looking as serious as ever.

"I'm sorry to interrupt your breakfast, sir, but I've finished the intelligence gathering you asked of me," Owen reported holding up the stack of papers.

"Intelligence?" Fox asked curiously.

"I'm sure you're aware that an apartment building was bombed yesterday evening, shortly after sunset?" Owen asked.

"I was with Alex until he went to bed, and then I went to bed," Fox answered, "What happened last night?"

"The news reported that a man's apartment had been blown up by 'eco-terrorists'," Xanatos explained, "That's how I heard about it. According to Goliath, the victim of the blast said something about a 'Council', which means that the Illuminati is either the victim in this incidence or the perpetrator."

"I was then sent to gather information about the victims of the bombing to try and determine which," Owen answered, "Joseph Drew is of no major concern. He works in a bank on the upper part of Manhattan and runs their 'company' ball team during the summer. Frank Casile, however, is a very different story."

Owen then sat down and spread the papers out so Fox and Xanatos could look at them.

"Casile does work for a research institute that is involved in animal testing," Owen explained, "but the basic outline of his work, has been in genetics, trying to alter animals."

"So this is the next Sevarius that they saved last night?" Fox asked.

"Not that I was able to find," Owen answered, "Casile's research seemed not to directly change the animal's DNA the way Sevarius's formulas do, but to try and advance the animal. According to his theories, he could make a dog stronger, smarter even to the point where it could be sentient, and even increase its endurance without making it larger or risking some sort of defect."

"How far did he get?" Xanatos asked.

"From what I found, he started at a level of fairly advanced theory," Owen answered, "but I could not find any evidence that he even conducted any real experiments to try and test those theories."

"Sounds like he's creating 'Underdog' in this theory of his," Fox commented.

"Or a cover for creating these supermen that threw the Tibetan clan out of their home," Xanatos mused.

"So he's working for these supermen?" Fox asked, "Making more of them?"

"Given what Goliath says he said to his patrol team, I'd actually think that the Illuminati originally created the supermen," Xanatos responded, "and it could just be possible that they have gone rogue. That would explain their attack on Casile's apartment and the insurgency in Tibet."

"I don't see how this will help Goliath," Fox commented, "He'd probably try to help Casile regardless of the background story, simply because he was attacked in New York."

"It's always good to know the background," Xanatos replied, "We may fight them regardless of it, but it would help us know how to fight them, if the fight ever comes here."

**Elsewhere**

"We can shoot him in the foot with a good sniping rifle," a man spoke into a cellphone from the roof of a building across the street from Manhattan General, "I think the Illuminati is involved trying to keep him alive."

"I would agree with you," a voice answered over the phone, "They have armed guards outside his door. You'll either have to shoot your way in or find a disguise that will allow you to walk by."

"I believe I have that disguise," the man answered, "Although I would also prefer some cover, just in case the city's gargoyles come across our operation."

"That was part of the plan," the voice replied, "Do not worry, everything is covered."

**Castle Wyvern, That Evening**

"These rogue supermen must not want the Illuminati to make more Illuminati supermen," Goliath rumbled as Xanatos explained the information Owen had uncovered and what he thought that meant.

"That was my assumption as well," Xanatos nodded.

"But wouldn't they still need the guy to make more supermen for them?" Candy asked, "I mean, why kill him when they could get him to work for them."

"More then likely when these men went rogue from their masters, they figured out how to duplicate the process on their own and do not need captured scientists," one of the Tibetan elders offered.

"That'd have to be it," Lexington agreed, "considering what the news has been saying that they're doing in Tibet, if they didn't know how to make more supermen, they'd find themselves at an extreme disadvantage."

"What will be the patrol teams tonight?" Broadway asked curiously.

"Elisa and I will take you and Angela and keep watch over Mr. Casile in his hospital room," Goliath rumbled, "Lexington, you, Candy, Sarah, and Ian are to run a standard patrol to make sure there is nothing serious going on. Contact the castle if you come under attack."

"I think I'll tag along tonight," Xanatos commented, "The Illuminati have given you a hard time lately, and if we can capture one of these supermen, you won't have to worry about the Illuminati for a while."

"Hopefully," Goliath nodded.

**Manhattan General**

"Excuse me sir, but we can not allow you in," an armed security guard spoke as he stopped a man who approached Frank Casile's room.

"Oh come on," the man replied, "I'm a good friend of Frank's. He's knows me very well."

"Maybe, but only his blood family is allowed to visit," the guard answered.

"That ain't fair," the man argued loudly, hoping Frank would here him.

"What's going on out there?" came Frank's voice from inside the room.

"It's nothing," the guard answered.

"They won't let me in to see you!" the man yelled through the closed door.

"Reggie?" Frank asked, "Is that you?"

"Yes, it's me!" Reggie answered.

"Let him in," Frank spoke through the door.

"He is not blood family," the guard answered.

"That doesn't matter," Frank answered, "Let him in."

Outside on the building across the street one of the supermen sat on the roof watching the window that Frank was in. He was armed with a powerful rifle that would allow him to easily shoot the two guards if they came into the room. He also had a set of mirrors set up in case any of the gargoyles came after him. It was at that time that he looked at one of the mirrors and saw five shapes moving toward his position from behind him.

"Boss was right," the superman grumbled, standing up, "them gargoyles are getting involved."

He then turned his rifle and aimed towards one of the gargoyle shaped shadows moving toward him.

In the air, Goliath spotted the lone man with a rifle looking down toward the hospital across the street from him.

"Yes, there he is," Goliath spoke in a low voice as he looked down at the lone man, "be careful, he is armed."

It was then that they noticed the man standing up and turning around. He then aimed his rifle directly at them.

"Look out!" Elisa yelled and went into a sharp dive to get out of the line of fire.

Goliath quickly dove with his mate to make some move toward the man and make sure he wouldn't get a shot to kill anyone. Broadway and Angela split off as if to stop their advance toward the man altogether. By that time the man had fired his rifle at the last remaining target that was easy to hit, and that was David Xanatos. Thankfully for the black furred wolf mutate, the bullet hit his chest plate and harmlessly bounced off, although the force of the bullet forced Xanatos back.

Goliath and Elisa moved quickly. Their dive made them land the rooftop sooner then originally intended and they would either have to jump of the building and work to gain altitude or try and advance on the man. As they neared the edge of a series of large air conditioning units, Goliath was forced to step back suddenly in order to dodge another shot that missed him by a few centimeters.

"I know you're back there!" the man screamed as loud as he could, "And dodging won't do you any good. I'll get you sooner or later."

Goliath and Elisa slowly noted that the air condition units did not prevent them from attacking the superman from two directions. Goliath motioned for Elisa to go one way while he went the other.

"You overestimate your chances," Goliath rumbled, "There are five of us, and one of you. You won't kill this Frank Casile."

They then heard the man chuckle, "I'm not the assassin, actually. The Illuminati's taken the security precaution to insure that his bed is at such an angle that the only part of his body that I could hit from here would be his foot. The assassin is already in the room!"

That made Goliath's eyes widen. The assassin was already in the room, which meant, a victory here would not mean that they would succeed in saving the supermen's intended victim.

Angela and Broadway meanwhile regrouped and watched the battle from above. Goliath and Elisa were crouched on opposite ends of two air conditioning units, preparing to attack from two directions, hoping to surprise the superman. Broadway quickly noticed that the superman was more concerned with being ready for Elisa or Goliath to notice them.

"He's not looking at us," Broadway commented, "I'll flatten him, you get his gun."

Angela nodded and the two then banked to attack the superman as he wasn't paying attention.

**Inside the Hospital room**

"I didn't think you would actually come to visit me," Frank commented as Reggie came into the room and shut the door behind him.

"You're a good friend of mine, Frank," Reggie answered, "You always seemed to be there when I made my rounds. When I saw on the news that your apartment was blown up, I was nervous that I'd lost a friend."

"Well, you might technically lose me anyway, as I've been offered a better job that I can not pass up, although I don't want to go into it right now," Frank replied.

Reggie nodded and reached behind his back for a knife he had hidden, when the sudden sound of gunshots outside startled him and both guards burst into the room.

"Hold there!" one guard ordered Reggie aiming his rifle at him.

"Reggie didn't do anything, that came from outside!" Frank said pointing to the window.

The guards then moved to the window and looked out it. They easily saw the figure of a man on the roof of the building opposite them, but they could faintly make out winged shapes in the background.

"Gargoyles!" one guard announced, "They're moving to help the assassin."

"He hasn't shot into the room," Frank commented.

"He might have missed the window and the bullet is embedded in the brick," the other guard answered.

"I'd think the gargoyles are there to stop the assassin," Reggie commented as he walked closer to the two guards, "Haven't they done a fairly decent job of trying to help the police in this city?"

"Things are not always what they seem," the first guard replied.

"Indeed," Reggie answered as the drew his knife and thrust it into the guard's back.

**Outside**

The superman remained patient and alert as he waited for the large lavender male gargoyle and the tan female to make their move on him. From his perspective, things were going well. His first shot had taken out one of them and made two others run, and he now had the remaining two trapped. He would surely kill whichever one moved first with his rifle before having to fight off the other one. His plans did not go as he hoped when he heard a load roar come from above and behind him. He turned to see the lavender female gargoyle glide by and snatch his rifle right out of his hands. He was then tackled to the ground he aquamarine companion.

"You won't be killing anyone," Angela said firmly as she broke the rifle in two with her hands.

The man managed the throw Broadway off of him, sending him crashing into one of the air conditioning units.

"All you've done is made our fight here more interesting," the man said defiantly, "I am not the assassin. He is already inside."

That made Angela blink in surprise as Goliath and Elisa slowly began to advance from behind the air conditioning units, hoping to trap the superman.

"This one is a decoy," Goliath said urgently, "You must stop the assassin."

Elisa nodded and motioned to Angela, "Come on, let's go."

Elisa then turned and dove for a window that she could see some sort of struggle going on inside the room. Angela quickly followed her.

Inside the room, the first guard dropped to the ground quickly, and Reggie moved and grabbed the other by the head before he could turn and fire. He then snapped the guard's neck with ease. Frank watched all of this in utter horror.

"Reggie, what are you doing?!" Frank shrieked in surprise.

"What must be done to preserve a better world," Reggie answered as he retrieved his knife and advanced toward the bed, "you see, your Illuminati friends are a real source of evil in this world. The control global politics through covert action. Every world government doesn't do anything without your Council's consent, and when someone dares to think the Illuminati are wrong, they disappear. The 'supermen project' is merely another effort at Illuminati control."

Frank's eyes widened.

"Yes, I know all about the project," Reggie answered, "The Illuminati try to play God and think that their creations will swear absolute loyalty because they were created by the Illuminati. But we are superior to every human in every way. You have no right to rule over your betters, and we will see to it that your precious Council loses it's hold on the world and the strong replace them."

Reggie then advanced closer and raised his knife to kill Frank when the window to the room shattered as a tan female gargoyle dove into the room with a lavender female following.

"Drop the knife," Elisa ordered, eyes blazing red.

"My cover must be losing his aim," Reggie grumbled at the sight of the two gargoyles, "And why do you protect the Illuminati? They've attacked you as well."

"We aren't about to murder anyone because they're a scientist," Angela growled.

"Maybe, but if this scientist lives, the Illuminati will use him to spawn more ways to control the innocent," Reggie answered.

"Something tells me, you're not out to 'free' the innocent though," Elisa growled, "If you want to kill him so bad, you'll have to go through us first!"

"Very well then," Reggie smiled, "I could use the workout."

Outside, Goliath moved to help Broadway from his position in the air conditioner. The device had been completely destroyed by Broadway being thrown into it.

"Are you alright?" Goliath asked.

"I'm fine," Broadway replied, "Although I'd guess this air conditioner isn't."

"Where is Xanatos?" Goliath asked.

"This guy shot him," Broadway answered, "I think his chest plate protected him, but the impact of the bullet still threw him back."

Goliath was then kicked into one of the other air conditioners as the superman got bored of listening to the conversation between the two gargoyles. Broadway growled and threw a punch at the superman, knocking him back and allowing Goliath to recover.

"Good," the superman smiled, "But not good enough."

Broadway tried to throw another punch at the superman, but the man ducked under it and hit Broadway with a strong blow to the jaw. Goliath rushed forward and grabbed the superman by an arm and managed to pull the man away from Broadway. Once he had room, Goliath forcefully slammed the man to the ground.

"Give up," Goliath ordered, "Your beaten without your weapon."

"I'm not some human punk, gargoyle," the man growled threw his legs out into a high kick that landed on Goliath's shoulder.

The blow made Goliath stumble back slightly and allowed the superman to get up. He then sent a powerful haymaker of a punch that actually knocked Goliath down. He was about to stomp on Goliath's face, but the lavender gargoyle caught the superman's shoe and managed to throw him back, making the man trip and fall on his backside. The superman just got up again when he was hit by several blasts of electricity that brought him to his knees. Goliath knocked the man out by bringing both fists down on the superman's head.

"That was for shooting at me," Xanatos growled at the now unconscious superman from his position on top of the third air conditioner.

"Do you have anything to tie him up with?" Broadway asked as Xanatos hoped down, "because I think a random bar or piece of a railing that we find won't hold this guy. And I know rope won't. He's that strong."

Xanatos glanced at what remained of two of the building's three air conditioning units and sighed, "I suppose we can jury rig something out of this mess."

Reggie lunged at Elisa first, brandishing his knife, as she was the closest to him. He hoped that he could utilize the 'training' he had received in various forms of martial arts and self defense to deal with the two gargoyles quickly and without attracting much in the way of security. Elisa only dodged him and tried to grab the had that held the knife while dealing a blow to that same shoulder. In this she was only partially successful. She managed to grab that hand, but Reggie only shifted his momentum, twisted in her grasp and delivered a powerful kick to her jaw, that sent Elisa flying into the far wall.

"Is that the best you got?" Reggie asked, "All the reports that we've seen on you 'people' said you were fairly formidable… or maybe you just deal with people who have no training in combat and are weaker then you."

Elisa only growled in response.

"Are you alright, Elisa?" Angela asked.

"Fine, but be careful," Elisa advised as she got back up, "He's much stronger then he looks."

In his second attack, Reggie decided to focus on Angela, as he had already judged Elisa to be below him in skills. He made a slash at Angela's face with his knife, but this was largely a deception, and when she dodged the slash, he delivered a kick to the side of her knee that was strong enough to force the lavender female to the floor. He was about to bring the knife down on the gargoyle when he was tackled by Elisa who ended up throwing Reggie through the door that he had originally come in through.

"I'm fine," Angela spoke as Elisa helped her up, "He just took my feet out from under me, that's all."

"I'd be careful with that knee though," Elisa answered, "Most injuries occur when the knee goes side to side, not front and back, which is the way the knee is supposed to bend."

"Forget about knees," Reggie growled as here entered the room, somewhat scratched from going through the door, "There will be nothing left of you when I get through with you."

"You can't beat both of us," Elisa said firmly, "And soon the hospital's own security will arrive here, and you won't escape them."

"We'll see," Reggie answered and launched a flying kick at Angela, hoping to knock her out quickly.

Angela ducked underneath Reggie's kick and then caught him as he bounced off the wall before he could launch his next attack. She then forced him head first into the wall. Disoriented from this, Reggie did not see the Elisa move and deliver a sweeping kick that knocked him down and out. The two gargoyles then stood there pant as they looked down on the unconscious Reggie. It was then that several men armed with guns burst in.

"Freeze!" they commanded at Elisa and Angela.

Both gargoyles stood still not wanting to get shot.

"Ah, the Demon's daughter is involved in this one," one of the armed men smiled, "in the name of the Illuminati Council you are under arrest. You will be interrogated an shot dead, all before dawn."

"Stand down," Frank demanded from his bed.

"What?" the Illuminati soldier asked.

"STAND DOWN," Frank said in a firm voice.

"With all due respect, sir, these two gargoyles just tried to kill you and they're at the heart of the insurgency in Tibet," the soldier answered.

"Neither of us have been to China," Elisa said from her position.

"The man who tried to kill me is unconscious on the floor," Frank said angrily, "These two saved my life."

The soldiers looked at the sleeping Reggie and then at the two angry looking female gargoyles.

"You're delusional," the soldier said plainly.

"Maybe, but without these two gargoyles, I would be dead," Frank answered, "especially since you people decided to hold back until it was practically too late."

"You'll find his partner on the roof of the building across the street," Angela added, "And my mother is NOT a demon."

The Illuminati soldiers then picked up the body of the knocked out Reggie and drug him away.

"Be careful with him," Elisa cautioned, "That man is as strong as we are."

The soldiers kept walking. Eventually the lead soldier turned with a sigh.

"I guess we can not arrest you as we can not prove you did anything one hundred percent," the Illuminati soldier said, "the two of you are free to go for tonight."

The two gargoyles slowly left.

"You could be making a grave mistake," the soldier then said to Frank.

"The Council will learn of its own mistakes when they learn that their most important scientist must rely on a clan of gargoyles who are not friends of the Illuminati Society to protect him," Frank said firmly back.

Frank then turned to Elisa and Angela.

"I apologize if they have been over zealous," Frank spoke, "The Illuminati as an organization has been on edge because of what is going on in Tibet. Hopefully your actions will allow us to learn who our REAL enemies are."

"Hopefully," Angela commented, "although I doubt that will hardly change the Illuminati's opinion of us."

"Maybe," Frank sighed, "But you've made a friend of me. You'd best get going before the police show up."

Frank then watched silently as Elisa and Angela departed through the window they had entered through.

"You really want them things to be friends with us?" the soldier asked.

"It is preferable to having them as enemies," Frank answered.

Goliath and his group quickly moved to return to the castle when Elisa and Angela reported that the assassin had been defeated and was in custody. The group was fairly silent as their thoughts were all conflicted. They hoped they had done the right thing in preventing someone from being murdered, yet their past incidences with the Illuminati continued to make them wonder as to whether or not their actions were truly right.

**Hotel Cabal, After Dawn**

"You came awfully quick," Duval commented as Three entered one of the building's interrogation rooms, which held the two supermen prisoners.

"Yes, well, this is the first time an assassination attempt has been made on one of our scientists and the assassins failed," Three answered, "Besides, these are likely to be tough to interrogate."

"We've given them the truth drugs and hocked each up to a lie detector, so we'll know if they're telling the truth," Duval answered.

"Very well," Three nodded and moved toward Reggie, as he was the only one awake at the moment, "Do you know Arthur Pendragon or Merlin?"

"Do I know the legend or do I know them personally?" Reggie answered.

"Personally," Three growled.

"No," Reggie answered.

"What has Demona commanded you to do, other then assassinate members of the Illuminati?" Three questioned.

"Nothing," Reggie answered, still in a sort of 'drugged' manner, "We do not take orders from Demona or any gargoyle or mythical person."

"I assure you," Three said firmly, "They're all real."

"I still do not take orders from them," Reggie answered.

"Then who do you take answers from?" Three growled angrily.

"Lord Khan Noonien Singh," Reggie answered.

Three stood back in shock, "He's lying."

"Not according to our lie detectors," Duval told him.

"I must take this back to the Council," Three said urgently and then left while Duval looked nervously on.

**The End…?**


	41. Testing the Robot Without Fear

All characters appearing in Gargoyles and Gargoyles: The Goliath Chronicles are copyrighted to Buena Vista Television/The Walt Disney Company. I've taken the idea for the Unseelie Court from the TGS. Characters and concepts from Star Trek are property of Paramount and created by Gene Roddenberry. No Infringement of these copyrights is intended, and is not authorized by the copyright holder. All original characters are the property of SN.

Note: I'm disregarding the events of the "Goliath Chronicles", with the exception of "The Journey" because I do not wish to use the rest of the "Goliath Chronicles" as canon to my story. Also, I'm altering large sections of the Star Trek storyline, especially concerning events like WWIII and the Eugenics Wars, which without the Cold War as a backdrop probably wouldn't happen the way Roddenberry wrote them, if at all. This story takes place one week after "Cloak and Dagger".

Testing the Robot Without Fear

By SN/TVfan

Email: Sam_Nary

**Castle Wyvern**

Candy and Lexington sat quietly in the clan's computer room keeping up their work on what Candy hoped would be a scientific guide to gargoyles. It included a basic description of what gargoyles looked like. This portion was one of the longer parts of the 'book' as Candy and Lex spent a lot of time trying to explain how some gargoyles could have very little physical similarities, and were still gargoyles. This then lead the two into a long discussion as to how to classify Bronx and Trixie.

"They're gargoyles, just like we are," Lex spoke, "What's so hard about this?"

"Because they aren't 'just like we are'," Candy answered, "they may share some of the same traits that we have, but there is much that they do not have."

She paused for a moment to sigh and then continued.

"I want the book to be as scientifically 'accurate' as possible," Candy explained, "We can't just call Bronx and Trixie gargoyles and expect scientists to believe it. Especially if we classify ourselves as gargoyles. Other then her physical form, Trixie really hasn't changed all that much from when she was my pet dog, and Bronx isn't all that different."

Lex was quiet for a moment.

"We, meanwhile are, other then our physical forms, behave like people do," Candy continued, "That shows that there are enough differences between us and the 'beasts' that we can't be the same exact species. Maybe the same family, but not the same species."

"I think I've been left behind somewhere," Lex sighed.

"Science can be tough that way," Candy told him, "especially when it comes to classifying things. This may strike at how you've viewed yourselves for years, but it would put gargoyles on a better level of 'understanding' scientifically, and in this case the scientists are us. Which I think would be better then having some guy who the clan doesn't know or entirely trust come up with something that is slightly wrong."

"I guess you're right there," Lex sighed, "but a lot of this terminology completely escapes me. How do you know it all so well?"

"Well, before I was turned into a gargoyle and met you, I was hoping to be a biologist working to study and catalog animal species that haven't been discovered yet," Candy told him, "so I've read a lot of books about animals and biology."

"That didn't bore you at all?" Lex asked.

"Some of it was, or at least would be to those who weren't interested in it," Candy told him, "but it was what I wanted to do."

"And what do you want to do now?" Lex asked.

"I'll settle for working help people get to know the clan better so that the know exactly what a gargoyle is," Candy answered and moved to sit in Lex's lap, "and to be the 'mate' of the cutest male in in the clan."

Lex blushed at being called the 'cutest' and smiled back at her. He was about to lean forward to kiss her when they were interrupted by the sound of young voices.

"Are young going to kiss?" came the excited question from a female Chinese hatchling who had lead one of the groups of older hatchlings to the room.

Their entrance startled Candy and Lex so much that they ended up tumbling out of the chair they were in.

"How long have you been there?" Lex asked, his mind quickly becoming serious.

"We arrived when she said you were cute," a male hatchling answered, "can we play that helicopter game?"

Lex looked over to Candy, knowing that the hatchling's request meant their work would be put on hold for the time being.

"We're at a good enough place to stop for tonight," Candy told him, "besides, most of the work right now is editing and placing things so that they work right. We can let them play their game."

"So, what were you doing?" one hatchling asked as he scampered into the chair to see the computer screen.

"We've been working on a book that should help people learn more about gargoyles," Lex answered as he began saving the document, "so that way we might get a chance to enter society."

"Who's society?" the female hatchling asked.

"Human society," Candy explained, "there is a lot to be seen and done that we as gargoyles can't do, because humans are generally afraid of us."

"Like what?" another hatchling asked, referring to what was there to be done.

"Well, there are places to go shopping, places to just be with friends, concerts, plays, movies, and sporting events."

This intrigued the hatchlings somewhat and Lex and Candy were soon answering questions about what they knew of human society. Candy, having once been human, naturally ended up answering most of these questions.

**Maddox Technologies**

"So," Thailog asked as he and Holly walked through the building's hallways, "how are you progressing in gaining the power needed for my plan to work?"

Holly glared at the large black clone, knowing full well that his lone interest was his plan, but knew that ultimately she planned to double cross him once her power was strong enough.

"Progress has been fine, but slow," Holly answered, "It has been slow, but then it is difficult when my target are the homeless of the city, and at the same time, I have to avoid the other clan. I've seen that tan female at least a half dozen times."

Thailog slowly nodded, knowing Holly's hatred of Elisa Maza, but he didn't want to risk an all out battle until everything was ready. And that meant waiting until Holly was not required to carry the spell book with her to cast spells. Everything else was ready.

"So long as progress is being made," Thailog told her, "I know Elisa isn't your favorite gargoyle, but we must still respect her ability. She was a police officer when she was human, I would tend to think that law enforcement officers are well trained in the arts of self defense."

"Maybe, but I want to kill her!" Holly growled.

"And she will be yours to kill once the time is right to begin the final battle," Thailog replied, "In the meantime, we must check on our fugitive partners. See if the Pack has their robotic tag team working."

They then entered an area that had been set aside for the Pack. It consisted of three bedrooms, a living room, and an electronics laboratory, where Dreadnought and Shadow were being stored. They found Wolf drinking and watching television while Hyena was throwing darts at a photograph of Coyote. Canis and Vulpine were watching television quietly and not doing much else.

"Where is Jackal?" Thailog asked he and Holly entered.

"He's busy working on Drrrrrrrrreadnought," Wolf answered in his growling voice, "the rrrrrrrrrest of us arrrrrrrre being borrrrrrrrred to death."

"Yeah, why don't you let us go out and skin those flying lizards?" Hyena questioned.

"Because I'd like the final battle to occur at a point where our victory is assured from the beginning of the engagement," Thailog answered, "Goliath's clan is well skilled and is adept at beating long odds. Mindlessly attacking them will fail as it would meet no strategic objective."

"But it would make me feel betterrrrrrrr," Wolf growled.

Thailog was about to answer when Jackal's voice cut him off.

"And the dog's stupidity not withstanding, we will need to go out to test Dreadnought and Shadow once I've finished reprogramming them," Jackal interrupted, "as I'm sure they play into your plans."

Thailog turned to face the male cyborg as he approached and then slowly nodded.

"Yes, contrary to what you may think, I would like both Shadow and Dreadnought, as well as the rest of you to be present when the time for the final battle arrives," Thailog replied, "Which is why I would prefer that you remain here and help train my clan until the time comes. If you go out on too many of these 'have fun' expeditions to fight Goliath's clan, you are bound to be caught sooner or later."

"You let herrrrrr go out," Wolf growled, pointing at Holly.

"Holly must go out to fulfill her part of the plan," Thailog answered, "and I do not want her to take risks that would result in a battle between her and the clan. She has many of the same complaints that you do."

"So, what brings you here?" Jackal questioned, "surely it isn't to call us weaklings who are dependent on you to win."

Thailog shook his head, "No, I came because was curious about the progress you have been making with Shadow and Dreadnought."

"Ah, checking up on us then," Jackal answered, "you will be pleased to know that Dreadnought is nearly complete, but he will need to be tested before the final battle. Wouldn't want him to fall apart, and if it works, I'll know what to do with Shadow, and that work would then take much less time then it's taken to repair Dreadnought."

"Very well," Thailog spoke, "you may test Dreadnought when it is repaired, but I do not want this to be an overly large operation. Understand?"

"Yes," Jackal answered trying to restrain his own anger at not being allowed to look for action.

He then stood silently as Thailog turned around and left the room with Holly following close behind. Once they were gone, Hyena moved to talk with her brother.

"Dreadnought will be done soon?" Hyena asked, "I thought you said it'd be at least another week?"

"Mostly because I've been taking breaks," Jackal answered, "Either to get the dogs food or train Thailog's little clan. If I work nonstop for the rest of the night and tomorrow, I can get Dreadnought working."

"You can?" Canis asked looking up from the television.

"I can," Jackal smiled confidently, "and when Dreadnought is done, we'll finally get a shot at some real action."

"Rrrrrrrreal action?" Wolf asked.

"Yes, real action," Jackal answered, "action where you don't spend the day drinking fermented beverages."

"At least I can drrrrrink them," Wolf growled back, "While you have two have to live on motor oil."

Jackal and Hyena both frowned heavily at that. Since their various upgrades, the two cyborgs had had to consume some amount of motor oil or some other mechanical lubricant. They could still eat and drink normal foods, but they did not satisfy their need for energy or sustenance. Their cybernetic limbs and accessories needed lubrication, and food did not provide them with that lubrication. Both Jackal and Hyena hated this as it made the loss of their humanity even more obvious. They could hide their metal attachments, but the fact that eating was not necessary or even delightful for them was a sore spot that the didn't like others pointing out.

"At least we still look somewhat human, dog boy," Jackal shot back angrily, "Now, if you'll excuse me, I have work to do."

Jackal then returned his lab to continue his work. Hyena continued to glare at Wolf.

"What?" Wolf growled, ready for Hyena to lunge at him.

"You're lucky that the prospect of real action is in the near future," Hyena answered, "Otherwise I would murder you."

"Are you going to fight?" Vulpine asked as Wolf returned to his drinks and Hyena returned to throwing darts at a photo of Coyote.

"It's not worth it," Wolf grumbled.

**Castle Wyvern, Nearly Dawn**

The group of hatchlings ended up taking turns piloting a helicopter on an old flight simulator game for most of the night, and Lex had taken the job of escorting them to their roosting spots for the day. That left Candy alone as she walked to her pedestal for the day.

"So, how'd your research go?" came Amy's voice from behind her.

"We're not working on 'research' right now," Candy answered, turning to see Amy and Caroline coming up to her, "We're editing all the stuff we have researched."

"And you still have only a gargoyle's 'breeding season' left to research?" Caroline asked.

Candy nodded. This then made Caroline sigh heavily.

"I know it may not be easy, but maybe we should ask about how all that stuff will work," Caroline commented, "I mean, we know that… that that 'season' will be in 2008, so it isn't an emergency now, but we should prepare for it… and… well, with Lawrence being human, I might have to figure how to change some things, if it even possible for Lawrence to… you know."

"I think it's way too early for that sort of stuff," Candy answered, looking down.

"So, how did your editing go, if that was all you were doing?" Amy asked.

"It was interrupted," Candy said with an embarrassed sigh.

What Candy got in response was not what she wanted. She listened as both her friends tried to suppress a giggle.

"You and Lex wouldn't have been mating, would you?" Amy asked with a mischievous grin.

"No we have not!" Candy said firmly, "some of the Chinese hatchlings came in wanting to play on the computer."

"No need to get flustered over that," Caroline spoke, "we're sorry if we've said anything out of place."

Candy then sighed again and looked down, her checks turning a darker shade of pink from embarrassment.

"We could have been mating," Candy admitted in a low voice after a few moments, "I was sitting in Lex's lap and we were about to kiss when the Chinese hatchlings came in."

"Kissing isn't the same," Amy answered, "we all know that."

"Yes, but, I don't think we would have stopped there," Candy said weakly.

"You fee ready to take 'that step', don't you?" Caroline asked curiously, "If you do, that's fine."

"No it isn't," Candy answered, "We don't know how much the Chinese hatchlings know about this, and they have habit of turning up anywhere. I don't want to be naked and explaining to a group of hatchlings why I'm naked."

"Maybe you and Lex should find some secluded spot outside the castle, since the hatchlings have been told to remain here," Amy suggested.

"Oh yeah, do it in the open and end up on the internet," Candy grumbled, "I'd like it to be a private moment."

"That's not what I meant," Amy protested, "What about Xandu? I mean if you talk to Xanatos, I'm sure he'll let you and Lex have it for a night."

"But how would we get permission from Goliath?" Candy asked, "I mean, yes we've all had a night or two with no patrol and no 'babysitting', but we've still had to stay at the castle for a 'just in case' scenario."

That made both her friends think. They wanted their friend to be happy with he mate, but they didn't want to break any rules or do anything deviant either.

"I don't know," Caroline sighed, "I'd suggest talking with Lex first, make sure he's ready to take that step, and we'll try figure something out."

That was about all they could manage that night, as they had reached the tower and had to scramble to their places for the day. Candy found Lex waiting for her and she quickly hopped onto her pedestal and gave him a brief smile before the sun rose and they turned to stone for the day.

**Maddox Technologies**

Jackal was still working on Dreadnought when Hyena entered the room looking fairly irritated. The female cyborg came in and sat down in one of the few chairs while Jackal continued working.

"The dog bothering you?" Jackal asked without even moving from his work.

"Even when he's passed out, he is annoying, and his little furry friends seem to think that what he does is funny," Hyena groaned, "How much longer is it going to take for you to get Dreadnought working? Because I swear, if I have to put up with any more of Wolf's insults or Canis and Vulpine's laughing at them, I'm going to do something really vile to him."

"Now, now," Jackal answered, "Please restrain yourself. We'll need Wolf alive to take on Goliath's gang of lizards. If you kill him, we won't have any cannon fodder to make Dreadnought and Shadow's job easier."

Hyena made a face, indicating the Wolf had made her angry enough that she wanted to torture the mutated member of the Pack

"Besides," Jackal continued, "our test or Dreadnought will be against Goliath's clan, so we'll need to wait until nightfall anyway."

"Fine," Hyena groaned.

Jackal then set to work in installing several computer panels with a welding torch that had been installed in his fingers as part of one of his upgrades. He had to be careful not to singe any of the wires and panels, which would destroy weeks of work on Jackal's part. When he was satisfied that the panels were safely and correctly installed, Jackal resumed the conversation.

"Anyway, the repairs for Dreadnought are just about done," Jackal said triumphantly as he shut a compartment on Dreadnought's back that was just below the dome that was the robot's head, "all I think we have to do is turn it 'on' and see who it is loyal too."

"Then what?" Hyena asked.

"If loyal to us, we wait until nightfall to test Dreadnought's fighting ability, or at least my ability to install combat programming," Jackal answered, "if it's still following Sevarius's programming, we have to knock it offline before it reveals our involvement in this business."

Hyena then gave a nervous gulp remembering how easily Dreadnought and Shadow had beaten them while under Sevarius's control. She did not want to deal with that sort of situation again. Jackal meanwhile sat Dreadnought's form up so he could gain access to the robot's main control panel and activation switch. After throwing the switch to activate the robot, Jackal quickly stepped back to watch and see what the robot would do.

Slowly the red and green lights began to flash inside Dreadnought's dome as the large robot came back online. Once it was online, only the green light remained on. Jackal slowly approached.

"Do you recognize me?" Jackal questioned.

The green light blinked a few times before shining brightly, indicating a positive response.

"Who do you serve?" Jackal asked pointedly, although he was somewhat calmer about the situation as Dreadnought had not attacked them.

Dreadnought slowly raised one arm and pointed to Jackal. The robot held its arm there for a moment and then turned to point at Hyena, and then returned its arm to its side.

"Well, his loyalty is in the right place," Jackal sighed with relief.

"But why did he just point?" Hyena asked, "didn't it used to tap Morse code to answer questions that were more complicated then a 'yes or no' question?"

"They did, but that was a bit beyond my programming ability," Jackal answered, "we'll have to make sure our instructions and questions are relatively simple."

"So you've dumbed down the one weapon that could easily annihilate the gargoyles?" Hyena screamed.

"He's still as powerful as before," Jackal said quickly, "He may not be as smart as he was before, but Goliath and his gang of lizards are still, no match for him."

"You had better be right about that," Hyena said firmly.

"We'll just have to find out tonight, won't we?" Jackal answered, looking forward to a coming battle with the clan.

**Castle Wyvern**

Owen went about his normal work quickly and had that actually finished well before noon, which freed him for a relatively private matter. The word private however, actually had little to do with him directly. It was mostly a function of the promise he had long ago made to David Xanatos to serve him throughout his life as Owen Burnett. The function, however, was something Owen did not want to bother Xanatos or his wife at the moment.

It had to do with Fox's current pregnancy. She would need medical attention, and soon, as she had so far gone at least four months without seeing one. Of course, her condition as a mutate did not help matters and was in fact, the reason Fox had not seen a doctor. Owen saw his present mission as one to find a suitable doctor to treat Fox and aide in the delivery. At first he had been told not to look for a doctor, to conceal Fox's mutation, but given Alex's present excitement at having a sibling, and the fact that he personally knew little about insuring the health of unborn children and thus insuring they were healthy when born, had made Owen decide that finding a doctor was extremely important.

Finding a doctor, however had proved to be more difficult then he had anticipated. His first thought was for Desdemona and Elisa to provide some sort of 'nursemaid' service for Fox, as Desdemona had been pregnant once before, and he was sure that Elisa had to know basic first aide at least as part of her police training. While that still wasn't completely out of the question, neither could really be a proper doctor. For while Desdemona had in fact been pregnant, as a gargoyle, she laid an egg, and probably wouldn't be able to entirely relate to a placental mammal. Elisa's first aid training, while helpful in general, would not be able to do all the required prenatal care. They could provide a tremendous amount of help, but they couldn't do all the work.

Owen's next choice was the doctor who delivered Alex, as he was somewhat aware that things were not as many thought it was when Titania and Oberon arrived to take Alex. That then hit a snag when he remembered what the doctor said when he woke up from the sleep that Oberon had put the city under. He found the fact that had inexplicably lost several hours of his night and the sight of a blue skinned man to be too much for him and had sworn to have nothing more to do with the Xanatos family.

That left Owen with looking over the list of PIT members, which Amy's parents had left in the clan's care, to see if any of them had any medical training. It was the only remaining option that he had left, as PIT members were more likely to be accepting of Fox and Xanatos's mutations. The only other option would be to rely on massive amounts of help from Titania, but given her place among the Third Race, what she could do was limited.

His search for the day was fairly short as he was soon called to take care of the day to day running of Xanatos Enterprises. He carefully made sure that the paper work for his 'private' project was properly marked and placed inside his desk.

**Maddox Technologies, Dusk**

The Pack in its entirety made its way to the roof of the Maddox Technologies building, and largely in the hope that the could leave before Thailog and his clan got up for the night. It was somewhat difficult as Dreadnought moved extremely slowly and Canis and Vulpine's excitement at going out on a mission made Jackal and Hyena feel more like nannies. This, unfortunately did slow them down enough that by the time they reached the roof, Thailog and Holly were waiting for them.

"So, I see you got it working," Thailog commented, sounding slightly amused.

"Yes," Jackal answered, "and now we're off to test Dreadnought. Maybe he'll kill some o Goliath's clan and let you sleep better during the day."

"And you require the entire Pack to test one robot?" Thailog questioned, looking at the group suspiciously.

"Should the unlikely happen and those lizards win, we'll need to be there in order to make sure that they don't carry Dreadnought off," Hyena spoke up, "It's only a precaution."

"And then, why is Wolf going along?" Thailog questioned, "If you end up in a losing fight, he will be much more of a hindrance then help since he can't glide, let alone fly."

"I go wherrrrrrrrrre I want to go," Wolf growled.

"You'll have to forgive him," Jackal spoke with a forced smile, "He's been a little agitated with no activity."

Thailog and Holly exchanged short glances and then returned their attention to the Pack.

"Well, then I'm sure you won't mind one extra assignment," Thailog replied with a confident smile.

"We ain't yourrrrrrrr errrrrrrrrrand boy," Wolf growled, impatient to battle the clan, "Unless this is an orrrrrderrrrr to kill Goliath, I don't want to hearrrrrrrr it."

"Come now," Thailog spoke, "you could easily accomplish my 'errand' as well as the test you wish to run on Dreadnought."

"And what is this errand?" Jackal asked.

"Since you have no intention of waiting until everything is ready before fighting your final battle with Goliath's clan, I want you to escort Holly for the evening," Thailog explained, "She can acquire the last of the power she needs while you take your lumps."

That made Jackal bristle with anger. Partially because Thailog knew that 'testing' Dreadnought was only an excuse to have a battle with Goliath's clan. The other thing was that Thailog said they would lose and therefore implied that he wasn't smart.

"You know, defeating part of Goliath's clan outside the castle will be much easier then defeating his clan in its entirety," Jackal challenged, "If they're whittled down, final victory will be easy."

"Maybe, but Goliath is no fool and will send reinforcements the instant you attack one of his teams," Thailog answered, "He will overwhelm you by sheer weight of numbers. And I'm not going to stop you. If you think fighting Goliath's clan with no strategic or really even tactical goal in mind other then fighting, that is your call. We are only partners."

"Then we don't have to watch your girlfriend," Hyena shot at him.

"Come now," Thailog replied, "Up to the point where your test begins, you might find Holly to be quite helpful."

"Magic has its uses," Holly added with a smile.

"What about after the test begins?" Jackal asked.

"The test isn't my battle to fight," Holly answered, "besides, how will you know how effective the Pack is if I help you."

"You don't want to fight?" Hyena asked.

Holly's answer was to hold up her leather-bound spell book.

"I can not afford to lose or even damage the source of my power," Holly answered, "I may gain the power necessary to carry out the final plan, but the spell is in the book. Without it, the power would be useless."

"So you'rrrrrrrrrre hiding behind a book?" Wolf growled, "Sounds cowarrrrrrrrdly to me."

"You'll sing a different tune when you see how powerful it is," Holly smiled.

Jackal then sighed heavily. He could feel that Thailog was manipulating him, but, he still offered a plan to defeat Goliath's clan and a large sum of money. Getting vengeance on Goliath's clan and money were good things as far as Jackal was concerned. If 'guarding' Thailog's sorceress would be part of the way to revenge and money, Jackal decided to let it go for now.

"Very well, you can come along," Jackal spoke to Holly and sighed.

**Castle Wyvern**

The clan slowly gathered in the courtyard after breakfast with the Chinese elders keeping an eye on the older hatchlings standing nearby. It had been a rather quiet breakfast, but that was largely as there wasn't much going on, at least nothing that the Manhattan Clan was comfortable talking about in front of the Chinese hatchlings. They stood patiently and waited for Goliath to come forward. Eventually, the Manhattan Leader did arrive.

"I know things have been relatively quiet since the incident with the supermen," Goliath began, "and I know you all to be smart and capable, but I must remind those who will be patrolling tonight to stay in contact with each other and the castle."

The group quickly nodded in agreement. After a moment, Goliath continued.

"We will patrol in two teams of four," Goliath continued, "the rest of us will be helping the Chinese elders."

That produced a slight groan as nearly all of the Manhattan clan had found dealing with the older hatchlings to be somewhat of an adventure. It was though they all wanted a night off from either patrolling or 'babysitting', and even Goliath couldn't entirely blame them.

"So, who has patrol tonight?" Broadway asked from his position.

Goliath then carefully cleared his throat, "Othello, brother, you will take Desdemona, Lexington, and Candy and patrol the southern sectors of Manhattan."

Othello nodded while Goliath turned to finish issuing the patrol routes for the night.

"Sarah, Ian, Ethan, and Eve, you will patrol the northern sectors of Manhattan," Goliath instructed.

They nodded and the group began to break up and head the respective directions that were required of them. The eight gargoyles on patrol headed out for patrol while the rest turned to look after the Chinese hatchlings with the Chinese elders. Amy and Caroline gave a short glance toward Lex and Candy as the followed Othello and Desdemona up a flight of stairs to the battlements.

"Do you think they'll get a moment of peace to talk things over?" Amy asked.

"Maybe," Caroline responded, "If things are quiet, they'll get a shot at it. Othello and Desdemona aren't likely to interrupt anything without a good a reason."

"I hope things are quiet tonight then," Amy spoke with a sigh.

"Why is that, young ones?" came a concerned voice from behind them.

They turned to see one of the Chinese elders along with the group of hatchlings that they were to be watching. This suddenly made the two of them nervous.

"It's nothing," Amy said quickly, with Caroline nodding beside her.

"You both seemed concerned about your friend and her declared mate," the Chinese elder spoke.

"It was nothing," Caroline answered, and when she saw that the Chinese elder was firm, added in a soft voice, "Nothing that would appropriate to say in front of your hatchlings."

The Chinese elder looked down to see the group of older hatchlings standing around them and looking very interested in the conversation.

"Hatchlings, why don't you play in the courtyard for the time being," the Elder spoke, "stay were we can see you, there is something of sensitive matter that must be discussed that is not for your ears."

The hatchlings groaned at not getting to listen in, but they were soon running about the courtyard in a game of tag. Once the Elder was certain that the hatchlings were otherwise occupied she returned to her discussion with Amy and Caroline.

"I take it your friend is wanting to 'bond' with her mate," the Elder spoke, "and as you two are her friends and have already bonded with your mates, she came to you for advice."

Caroline and Amy looked at each other and then blushed with embarrassment as they remembered their early lessons on gargoyles. They specifically remembered how gargoyles could tell whether or not a gargoyle had a 'mate' or not, namely by scent.

"In a manner of speaking," Caroline answered, "Yes, mostly on trying to figure out a location that would be suitable romantically and safe enough for their privacy."

"Does your clan not have a room mating?" the Elder asked, "One that is frequently used."

"Well," Amy sighed, still sounding embarrassed, "Elisa had a room that she used when she was a human 'guest' at the castle, which now no longer has that purpose, so it's sort of been commandeered as a 'mating room'."

"Although, I don't think anyone has been religious in the use of that room for mating," Caroline said nervously, "and now with all your hatchlings here, our clan's mated pairs have essentially decided not to mate, for fear that we might traumatize them in some way."

"I will thank you for not wanting to expose my clan's hatchlings to anything they are not ready to be exposed to," the Elder spoke, "but if your clan has a room that has been frequently used for mating, my clan's hatchlings will recognize the mating scent and know it is not a room for them to enter."

"They wouldn't enter?" Amy asked, her thoughts drifting to Brooklyn.

"No," the Elder answered.

"That will be taken as good news by the entire clan," Caroline spoke, although still trying to hide some embarrassment.

"I understand," the Chinese Elder answered, "I may be old, and my mate has died of what you call 'old age', but I still understand that young couples wish to be together in ways other then as a conversation partner. We do not wish to prevent that, regardless of the responsibilities that we have asked you to take on."

**Elsewhere**

The Pack quietly landed on the roof of a old bank in Manhattan with relative ease, although Canis and Vulpine were practically exhausted from carrying Wolf. Jackal then slowly approached one of the windows, with Dreadnought behind him.

"Now to attract some attention," Jackal spoke with a smile, "Dreadnought, destroy the windows."

Dreadnought raised one arm and readied his main laser cannons when Holly arrived on the scene.

"Wait!" Holly said urgently.

"What?" Jackal responded, "why?"

"Because these buildings have alarms that will notify the police," Holly answered, "You blast a hole in the wall, and the police will surround this place in addition to the gargoyles."

"We ain't scarrrrrrrrred of cops," Wolf growled.

"Understandable," Holly replied, "but they could complicate the situation by tracing you back to Maddox Technologies."

Holly then opened her book and gestured to the building, "besides, you wanted to see what I mean by power, just watch. I'll get you in, and the guards will have no video evidence to link you to the crime, and no alarm to alert the police."

As Holly began to cast her spell, Jackal and Hyena watched on with a devious grin. They watched in surprise as a hole suddenly opened in the wall and windows without making any noise.

"There, you may now commit your crime," Holly spoke with a smile, "even the vault is open. The gargoyles will spot your actions quickly, so I suggest you move fast."

Jackal and Hyena quickly jumped in and headed for the now unlocked vaults. As they left, Holly then entered

"And wherrrrrrrre arrrrrrrrre you going?" Wolf demanded

"My part in your operation is done," Holly answered, "all you have to do is wait for Goliath's patrol team. I, am meanwhile off to drain this building's night security guards of their life force energies, and thus any magical talent that they might have."

Holly then left Wolf, Canis, Vulpine, and Dreadnought on the roof waiting for Jackal and Hyena to return.

**Above Manhattan**

Othello's group slowly made their way south from the Eyrie Building and kept their eyes open for any sign of trouble. So far they had not found any sign of any real trouble.

"Hope things remain fairly quiet tonight," Candy commented as she moved to glide closer to Lex.

"Yeah," Lex nodded, "It's good that things have been quiet. It'll let Goliath figure out what to do with those supermen when they come back."

They kept going along quietly for a few moments. After a moment or two Candy prepared to say something when Othello spoke up fro in front of them.

"We have trouble," Othello spoke up and pointed to a rooftop ahead of them.

Lex looked carefully in the direction that Othello was pointing. What he saw made him growl. Wolf, Canis, Vulpine, and the robot called Dreadnought standing near a rather large hole in the roof of a building.

"It's the Pack!" Lex growled.

"Where are Jackal and Hyena?" Candy asked, "If the rest of the are out, wouldn't those ugly cyborgs be with them?"

"They must be inside with that other robot of theirs," Desdemona said in a low voice.

"Let's get 'em!" Lex urged.

"I'll do my best to keep the robot occupied," Othello spoke firmly, "hopefully we'll be able to beat these four before the rest of the Pack returns."

Wolf heard a loud battle cry come from the air above him, and he looked up to see four gargoyles diving down on them. He immediately knew that the battle was on, but wanted Dreadnought to give a display of power first.

"It's the garrrrrrrrgoyles!" Wolf screamed, pointing at the gargoyles, "Drrrrrreadnought, destrrrrrroy them!"

Dreadnought did nothing and Wolf could only watch as Othello glided into the city and drove the robot over the side of the roof. This completely enraged Wolf, and he was about to charge Othello, when one of the other gargoyles drove him to the ground. Wolf managed to roll over and found that it was Lex that had tackled him. The olive webwing kicked him in the gut before he could get up.

"It's the rrrrrrrunt," Wolf growled as he rolled and got to his feet.

"Surrender and I promise your cell will be comfortable," Lex said firmly.

Wolf only growled and lunged at Lex with the intent on crushing the smaller gargoyle in his claws. Lex manage to roll under the attack and then landed a strong blow against Wolf's side, forcing the mutated member of the Pack to stager slightly.

Othello, meanwhile, was completely perplexed by his present battle with Dreadnought. Past encounters with the robot showed that the behemoth was both powerful and relatively smart. This time, however, Dreadnought did not even react to Othello's charge or Wolf's command. He stood still as Othello landed and drove the robot over the side of the roof. The whole thing confused the gray male as he knew that the robot was online.

"He should have done something," Othello grumbled as he looked over the edge of the roof.

He saw Dreadnought slowly getting up to its feet, and Othello prepared for the massive robot to attack. Strangely though, once on is feet Dreadnought did nothing. It just stood there.

"Strange," Othello commented and then turned to check on how the others were fairing.

Desdemona dove down on Canis and was quickly able to grab the mutate clone's wings and throw him to the ground. She quickly placed a foot down on Canis's shoulder to hold him down.

"Surrender, clone," Desdemona spoke in a firm voice, "don't make this harder then it has to be."

Canis did not give the golden female the answer she wanted. He raised his other hand and fired a weak, but relatively well aimed electric blast at Desdemona.

"For the Pack!" Canis screamed.

The electric blast made Desdemona growl with pain and pushed her off of Canis. The mutate clone was quickly back on his feet and attempted to knock Desdemona off the roof with a slashing kick. The attempt failed as Desdemona hopped backward to get outside Canis's reach and waited for his momentum to make him turn his back to her. She then lunged forward when he did so.

Desdemona grabbed hold of Canis's shoulders and began to try and put the mutate clone into a wrestling hold that would cut off just enough of the flow of blood that the mutate would lose consciousness but would be otherwise unharmed. Canis, however, managed to squirm out of her grip and the flipped her over him and throwing Desdemona across the roof. Desdemona groaned and then looked up to see Canis standing over her and preparing to finish her off with an electric blast. Only Othello knocking Canis off the roof with his clubbed tail prevented Canis from finishing the battle with Desdemona.

"Is Dreadnought beaten?" Desdemona asked in an astonished voice as Othello helped her up, "Already?"

"The robot appears to be broken," Othello answered, "I knocked it off the roof and its only response was to stand in the alley below us. If it isn't going to fight, we can wait for the rest of the Pack to be defeated before we concern ourselves with that robot."

"Right," Desdemona as Canis began gliding back up to the rooftop.

Candy was forced to dodge a series of electric blasts as Vulpine seemed to spot her diving on the female mutate clone. Candy managed to easily avoid each attack and continued to dive down, hoping to knock Vulpine over and then knock Vulpine out. The female mutate clone, however, ducked under Candy's power dive, and the pink webwing ended up gliding over Vulpine. As she prepared to turn around, she noticed that Vulpine had jumped off the roof and was beginning to glide after her.

"And so the chase is on," Candy commented and began to move her battle away from the immediate area around the rooftop.

Vulpine continued to fire electric blasts at Candy as the pink female began to glide very close to the roofs of various buildings in the hopes that Vulpine's greater size and weight would prevent the mutate clone from being able to attack effectively. This proved slightly successful as Vulpine's toes scratched against the wall of a nearby building's wall in her pursuit of Candy.

Candy then led the chase to the rooftops of another nearby building. She made a series of tight turns around raised air conditioning units and heating vents and came very close to crashing herself. This time, Candy's tactics worked perfectly. Vulpine's greater size and wingspan could not make the sharp turns that Candy could, and the female mutate clone bounced off of the side of an air conditioning unit and into a raised heating vent. Candy then pulled up and turned around while still in the air. While Vulpine was struggling to get back to her feet, Candy dove down again and landed on Vulpine's head, knocking the mutate clone out.

"Fight smart, not hard," Candy said triumphantly and moved to rejoin the battle.

**Inside the Bank**

Holly walked quietly through the hallways of the bank, which other then a few 'emergency' lights was rather dark. She could hear Jackal and Hyena laughing as they entered the vault, and knew she would have to move quickly. If she could hear the psychotic cyborg twins, she doubted the human security guards couldn't. As she walked, she soon heard the faint sounds of the battle coming down from the roof.

Holly quietly continued on until something flashed by one of the windows. Curious, Holly moved over to the windows and watched Dreadnought bounce of the concrete of the alleyway below them. She watched as the robot got to its feet and then stood still. Holly then glanced up to see a large grey male gargoyle looking down on Dreadnought. Thankfully, his attention was so focused on the robot that he did not notice Holly standing at the window. That allowed Holly to silently rage at the Pack's excuse for having the fight.

"Repaired indeed," Holly growled, "They LIED!"

She then stormed toward the security guard station that she had been walking toward earlier. She caught one guard leaving the room to investigate the sounds of laughter that had been echoing through the hallways. The man screamed and had to quickly throw him into his partner before he could manually sound the alarm that she had earlier shut off.

"But, you're a gargoyle!" the second man spoke in surprise and fear, betraying that he was a person who had a favorable view of gargoyles, "Shouldn't you be here to help us?"

"Wrong gargoyles," Holly snarled as he opened her book.

Jackal and Hyena, meanwhile continued laughing as they filled a series of sacks that were in the vault with money.

"Man, even if there isn't a battle tonight," Jackal commented as he emptied a safety deposit box into his sack, "tonight was worth it."

"I'd still prefer a good fight," Hyena answered, almost sounding depressed that they hadn't run into a security guard on their way to the vault.

"Don't worry, sister dear," Jackal replied as he slung his bag over his shoulder, "the gargoyles will spot Wolf and his dog friends from a mile away. It is completely impossible that we won't have a battle."

"You had better be right," Hyena answered, "I've been dieing to sink my claws into something."

Jackal laughed slightly and began to leave the vault. As they walked back toward the roof, both cyborgs heard the sounds of a battle going on. That confirmed to Jackal that the night's patrol team had spotted the part of the Pack that had been left to guard the roof.

"See, what did I tell you?" Jackal chuckled and then let Hyena walk ahead of him.

When they made it to the opening that Holly had made in the wall/roof of the bank, they found that things were not going the way they had hoped. Wolf was managing to hold his own, but was in a tough battle with Lexington and Candy. Othello and Desdemona had just knocked Canis unconscious and both Vulpine and Dreadnought were missing from the scene.

"What the devil is going on here?" Jackal demanded as he dropped his sack of money.

This distracted Wolf slightly and resulted in him taking a kick to the gut from Candy and a blow to the shoulder from Lex, which sent Wolf flying into the building. He landed at Jackal and Hyena's feet.

"About time you got herrrrrrrre," Wolf growled angrily.

"What is going on?" Jackal demanded again, "Where are Vulpine and Dreadnought? And why weren't you mopping the floor with the runts of their group?"

"Yourrrrrrrrrrrr rrrrrrobot doesn't worrrrrrrrk," Wolf growled, "It just stood therrrrre and let the garrrrrrgoyles push it off the roof."

Jackal fired a series of laser blasts that forced the advancing gargoyles to dive for cover.

"I even commanded that hunk of tin, and it did nothing," Wolf growled.

That made the light bulbs turn on in Jackal's head. His programming of Dreadnought allowed only him or Hyena to command it. It was a measure to make sure that Jackal remained the Pack's leader. Unfortunately for him, the 'test' had so far proved that his programming skills left much to be desired.

"It's only a slight glitch," Jackal said quickly, "I trust you two can keep these four busy long enough to get Dreadnought back?"

Wolf growled, but Hyena gave blood thirsty smile and extended her metallic claw.

"I might even kill a few of them before you can return with him," Hyena gloated and rushed forward.

Hyena rushed headlong into the advancing gargoyles. She quickly slashed at both Othello and Desdemona as the two gargoyles moved to counter her. Desdemona ducked under the attack, and Othello was only just out of reach. He metal claws only left scratch marks across Othello's chest armor. Desdemona then lunged up and grabbed Hyena by the arm that the cyborg had just used to attack her and her mate and threw Hyena to the ground.

Neither Desdemona, nor Othello could follow up their attack as they were both hit by laser blasts that knocked them down and pushed them across the roof. Othello then looked up to see Jackal moving in to land next to Hyena as the female cyborg pulled herself up.

"Now, now, that's no way to treat my sister," Jackal taunted.

Wolf lunged at Candy first, hoping the pink webwing would be frightened of him the same way Granite from Thailog's clan was. He did creep Candy out, but she wasn't terrified of him. She leaped over Wolf and moved to stand by Lex. She was about to say something when she was hit in the back by a powerful laser blast. It nearly threw her off of the roof, and she could tell that part of her back was burned. She looked over to see that Lex was in the same condition as she was. Candy then looked over to see Wolf getting into an attack position with Dreadnought backing the mutated Pack member up.

"Oh fudge," Candy commented.

Wolf leaped again, this time at Lex. Lex was still trying to get over taking a laser blast to his back and didn't move in time. Wolf knocked the male webwing to the ground and moved to sink his fangs into Lex's neck. Lex managed to push Wolf back a bit, which saved his life, but couldn't stop Wolf from biting him as the mutated Pack member bit Lex's left forearm.

That made Candy quite literally see red. Ignoring her own pain, and eyes blazing red, she roared and charged Wolf. This startled Wolf in that it was a reaction that he did not expect, and forced him to let go of Lex. Lex added to the situation by punching Wolf in the stomach, knocking the wind out of him. Candy then tackled the winded Wolf around the neck and slammed his head against the roof.

"Are you alright?" Candy then asked as she rushed to Lex's side.

"I'll live," Lex answered, "I guess."

Unfortunately for Candy's nerves, Dreadnought was not out of the fight yet and hit Lex with another powerful laser blast that threw him onto the rooftop of the closest building to Lex and Candy's position.

"Lex!" Candy screamed in horror and turned to face the advancing robot.

Meanwhile, Desdemona and Othello continued to hold off Jackal and Hyena, although only just barely. Both Hyena and Jackal stayed close together. Jackal would give his sister cover fire while the female cyborg would slash at them.

"We need to separate them," Desdemona commented as she and Othello actually dove into the bank's hallway to avoid a series of shots fired at them by Jackal.

"We can't do that as we are," Othello grumbled, "Jackal won't let us move in a way that would let us 'divide and conquer'. We need to get someone to attack them from behind."

"And Candy and Lexington already have their hands full with Wolf and Dreadnought," Desdemona groaned.

Othello paused to pull a brick out of the opened wall and throw it at the two cyborgs, hoping it would distract them. It didn't, as Jackal only blasted it out of the air with his own lasers.

"Our only option would be the radio, then," Othello sighed, "Hopefully, we can hold them off until Sarah's team arrives."

Desdemona nodded and pulled one of the small 'walkie-talkie' units that had been given to the clan from a pouch on her belt. She quickly activated it and hoped one of Sarah's patrol team would answer.

"Come in, this is Desdemona to anyone available," Desdemona spoke urgently, "Our group is in a bit of a situation and need help."

She heard some static before a voice finally answered.

"This is Ethan, what is going on?" the voice asked.

"We've caught the Pack in the middle of a bank robbing attempt," Desdemona informed the member of the other patrol team that Goliath had sent out, "We've separated them from their money, but they have Dreadnought with them and we need help."

"We'll be right there," Ethan answered, "We've finish our patrol and shouldn't be too far away."

"Good," Desdemona answered.

As Desdemona hung up, Jackal increased his barrage on her and Othello making them duck down while Hyena charged forward.

Candy, meanwhile, fought furiously trying to beat Dreadnought. Without having to worry about any other Pack members attacking her, she found it relatively easy to avoid Dreadnought's lasers. She could only just barely leave scratch marks or dents in Dreadnought's armor, but she had so far determined that while Dreadnought was still powerful, its computer brain and reflexes were much slower then before. That got Candy to decide to see if the trick she used against Vulpine would work again.

Candy leaped over the edge of the roof and dove down. Dreadnought missed with a laser shot and Candy could soon hear the robot pursuing her. As she saw the pavement coming up fast, Candy pulled out of her dive and turned her head to see Dreadnought 'crash' into the ground. Candy then landed on the roof and watched as Dreadnought rose to its feet and fired on her again. Its glass dome had a few small cracks in it, but the massive robot did not appear to take any serious damage.

"Jeez, what does one have to do to defeat that thing?" Candy growled in frustration as she dodged another attack from Dreadnought.

In the air above them, Sarah, Ian, Ethan, and Eve began to approach the battle site after gliding as fast as possible to get there. They could see Desdemona and Othello in a tight fight with Jackal and Hyena while Candy was in a running fight with Dreadnought.

"Ethan, Eve, you help Candy deal with Dreadnought," Sarah spoke in her best field commander voice, "Ian, you're with me. We're going to help defeat Jackal and Hyena."

Sarah and Ian then turned and dove down toward the two cyborgs, who were unaware of their approach. Their arrival quickly changed the flow of the battle. Sarah and Ian's attack knocked Jackal and Hyena into punches thrown at them by Desdemona and Othello. That blow sent the two cyborg twin skidding to the edge of the roof. Jackal then looked to see Dreadnought in a battle with Eve, Ethan, and Candy, and that Wolf was unconscious. Seeing that he and Hyena now faced four gargoyles, he decided that keeping up the fight was not a good idea.

"I think it's time to go," Jackal spoke as he fired a series of shots to keep the gargoyles at bay.

Seeing they were out numbered, Hyena quickly nodded. The female cyborg quickly rolled over, grabbed Canis and took off into the night. Jackal took of as well, but only went high enough to keep himself out of reach.

"Dreadnought," Jackal spoke clearly, "It is time to return to base. Pick up Wolf and carry him through the air back to base."

A green light flashed under Dreadnought's dome and while laying down its own cover fire, picked up Wolf and took off into the air after Jackal. The gargoyles could only watch as the Pack fled. Once they were gone, Candy broke away from the group and quickly glided to where Lex landed after being shot for a second time by Dreadnought. She felt extremely relieved to find that he was still alive, but she was still concerned about the injuries he had sustained.

The others were quick to follow to find out what was going on.

"He will heal when the sun rises," Desdemona comforted the pink webwing, "It looks bad, but for a gargoyle, it isn't really."

Candy slowly nodded, but looking at Lex, she couldn't help but worry. He had burn marks from where he had been hit by Dreadnought's lasers, and she thought that one of his arms had been dislocated.

"I want him to be alright," Candy managed to say.

"He will be," Desdemona spoke, "Othello will carry him back to the castle. He can rest there. Do not worry."

"Thank you," Candy replied, "Vulpine should be unconscious on the roof of that building. I don't think the Pack took her with them."

Ethan and Ian looked to where Candy was pointing and quickly volunteered.

"We'll go check it out," Ian spoke.

**Maddox Technologies**

"So, how did your test go?" Thailog asked as the Pack came in for a landing.

"Some things went well, others, not so much," Jackal answered with a sigh, "Dreadnought was able to beat one of the gargoyles and was still doing well when the rest of us were overwhelmed."

"Yes," Thailog rumbled, "I see you're missing a member."

It was only then that Jackal and Hyena looked around to see that Vulpine was missing.

"Vulpine's probably just lost or looking for whichever gargoyle she was chasing," Hyena answered, "She'll be back."

Thailog nodded, but didn't say anything immediately.

"Well, I suppose I'll let you retire for the rest of the night," Thailog spoke after a few minutes.

The Pack then went inside. Once the doors shut, Holly seemed to appear out nowhere.

"So, how was your mission?" Thailog asked.

"A tremendous success," Holly smiled wickedly, "I'm now at full power. All that is left is memorizing the book."

"Good," Thailog smiled, "That means between the two of us, the world will soon be ours."

Holly slowly nodded.

"Meanwhile, what was the Pack's actual performance?" Thailog then questioned.

"Jackal, Hyena, and Wolf performed reasonably well," Holly answered, "but I would not trust the rest."

"Even the robot?" Thailog asked curiously.

"Dreadnought was the worst of all of them," Holly answered, "It's strong and its lasers pack a punch, but its brain power and ability to react to things is extremely slow. Jackal's programming is also geared to make sure the robot only follows his commands."

"It is that ineffective?" Thailog asked.

"Not in close quarter combat, or without Jackal," Holly answered, "As it is, Dreadnought would be best used in firing in rounds of laser fire from a distance. But that is it."

"The Pack believes their 'test' to be successful," Thailog commented.

"They might be basing that off the fact that one of the gargoyles was defeated 'by' the robot," Holly replied, "but Dreadnought was greatly helped by Wolf in that engagement and was unable to land a strong blow on any of his later opponents without Wolf's help. When it comes time for the 'final battle', I'd suggest that we distance ourselves from the Pack if they continue to rely on these robots."

Thailog nodded but didn't say anything.

**Castle Wyvern**

"They attacked a bank?" Goliath asked as Othello and Desdemona finished their report on their patrol while Candy, Sarah, and Eve took Lex to the medical wing and while Ethan and Ian took Vulpine to the dungeon.

"Yes, I believe it was to draw us into a fight, as they had the large robot with them," Desdemona answered.

Goliath turned to look at the doors that lead to the medical room.

"It is very fortuitous that Lexington was not harmed in any way that a day in stone will not heal," Goliath sighed, "if only the rest of us could have been there."

"Lexington's wounds are the result of Wolf forcing him to divide his attention between Wolf and Dreadnought," Othello answered, "I think there is something wrong with Dreadnought. What it is, I do not know, but it did not function on the same level that it had during the war with Unseelies."

"He shouldn't have been in a position where that could have happened," Goliath answered, "The rest of us could have… should have been there to help."

"That is not your fault, brother," Desdemona spoke, "The world is much 'smaller' now with all the changes that have occurred over the years. We all know that. And despite the recent battle, the Pack lost and no one was killed."

"Yes," Othello nodded, "and things will be better in the future."

"I hope so," Goliath sighed heavily.

"In the meantime, brother," Desdemona added, "It might be best to keep Lexington and Candy together for awhile."

"She was extremely concerned about Lexington's condition," Othello nodded, "keeping them together would allow them time to at least discuss where they are."

Goliath slowly nodded, "I understand. It'll be the best we can do for the time being."

Meanwhile, Lex slowly woke up to find himself in the clan's medical wing. Candy and Eve were watching over him.

"Wha- what happened?" Lex asked as he lifted his head.

"Wolf and Dreadnought put you through the ringer," Candy told him as she rushed over to make sure Lex did not do anything to upset his injuries, "but don't worry because we drove them off."

"I'll leave you two alone," Eve spoke and politely left.

"I hurt all over," Lex commented.

"I know," Candy answered, "Wolf bit your forearm, Dreadnought left you with some serious burns from his lasers, and one shot threw you through the air with such force that you cracked one rib and dislocated your shoulder. Owen set everything while you were out."

Lex winced, and then sighed, "I'll heal when the sun rises."

"I know, but that doesn't mean that I won't worry," Candy told him, "I love you."

Lex smiled slightly.

"Thanks," Lex answered, "I'd hug you, but I think would hurt too much right now."

Candy sighed and then sat down the chair next to Lex.

"What is it?" Lex asked, confused.

"Well, if things had been quieter tonight, there was something I wanted to talk to you about," Candy answered with a sigh, "and your mentioning of 'hugging' reminded me of it."

"It's nothing bad is it?" Lex asked.

"Nothing bad," Candy replied looking embarrassed, "at least nothing that I would think of as bad. Although it did have a fair amount to do with us."

Lex noticed her embarrassment and then gulped.

"You weren't talking about… mating, where you?" Lex asked, sounding embarrassed.

"It has been on my mind," Candy answered, "I mean, we're mates, aren't we? It isn't 'wrong', is it?"

"Not wrong, I guess," Lex answered, "but I thought you wanted to wait until you were ready."

"Maybe we are ready," Candy spoke, her embarrassment level rising, "Maybe my instincts are telling me I'm ready. I don't truly know… it's just on my mind."

It was now Lex's turn to be embarrassed.

"Maybe we are emotionally," Lex managed to say, "but we won't be doing anything along those lines tonight, and I'd prefer our 'moment' to be romantic and special. Mating for the sake of mating seems shallow to me."

Candy managed to smile, and held Lex's hand. She was about to lean over and kiss Lex's check when the sun rose and the two turned to stone for the day.

**The End…?**


	42. Trivial Trials or Futile Hunt

All characters appearing in Gargoyles and Gargoyles: The Goliath Chronicles are copyrighted to Buena Vista Television/The Walt Disney Company. I've taken the idea for the Unseelie Court from the TGS. Characters and concepts from Star Trek are property of Paramount and created by Gene Roddenberry. No Infringement of these copyrights is intended, and is not authorized by the copyright holder. All original characters are the property of SN.

Note: I'm disregarding the events of the "Goliath Chronicles", with the exception of "The Journey" because I do not wish to use the rest of the "Goliath Chronicles" as canon to my story. Also, I'm altering large sections of the Star Trek storyline, especially concerning events like WWIII and the Eugenics Wars, which without the Cold War as a backdrop probably wouldn't happen the way Roddenberry wrote them, if at all. This story takes place one week after "Testing the Robot Without Fear".

Trivial Trials or Futile Hunt

By SN/TVfan

Email: Sam_Nary

**Castle Wyvern**

"The crisis in Tibet continues to escalate and has now moved to the point where there have been actual gun battles between these rebels and the Chinese Army," a television reporter spoke in a solemn voice, "The province has been officially put under martial law, and travel in and out of the province has been shut down. The Chinese government has released little information on the nature of the battles that have taken place, but it clearly appears that whoever is behind the 'rebellion' is posing a very serious threat."

Goliath gave a low frustrated growl as he shut the television off. Things in Tibet were escalating, and he knew it, but being in New York, he could do nothing directly to solve the problem. That frustrated him heavily.

"They're on the other side of the world, Big Guy," Elisa commented from his side, "There is nothing we can do from New York, nothing that directly affects Tibet anyway."

"That is what frustrates me," Goliath rumbled, "We know that the Illuminati's genetically engineered supermen are behind the uprising there and that they are evil, and we can only watch them get away with their actions."

"At least we know what is going on and can prepare," Elisa told him, "In the middle ages you probably wouldn't even know what was going on in Tibet."

Goliath didn't answer her, as that really didn't help.

"Besides, it's unlikely that Demona and the other Tibetan gargoyles probably have only just made it into Asia by now. They haven't been able to do anything directly," Elisa told her frustrated mate, "Once they get there, the uprising there will surely go down, and the rest of the Tibetan gargoyles can return to their home."

"At least things have been relatively quiet here," Goliath rumbled, "Or at least as quiet as we will get."

Elisa nodded in agreement. Since the Pack's test of the newly reprogrammed Dreadnought, they had had little major excitement in the New York area. This was actually good news for the clan, as it gave them all some quiet from have to deal with either extremely weird or extremely tough foes. They had only had to deal with muggers and other street criminals. Not that they weren't a 'danger' to the city, but compared to the Pack, Thailog, or the Illuminati, a mugger was not as dangerous as the others.

"Wish we could have more of this peace and quiet then we normally receive," Elisa commented, "but then I suppose we should simply be glad we've had some peace and quiet."

Goliath nodded, "and I suppose you're also right. It seems rather hard to actually

'hope' Demona wins, considering everything, but she and the Tibetan adults probably have not arrived there yet."

"She has changed greatly though, thanks to Wedrington," Elisa commented.

Goliath nodded and decided to make his way out of the room. He had little interest in television, other then the news, and now that he had gotten a main update on events, he preferred to return to his responsibilities as leader.

Elsewhere, in the courtyard, Bronx and Trixie ran, each happily barking, as they tried to catch a tennis ball that had been thrown by one of the Tibetan hatchlings. Each hatchling cheered for one or the other gargoyle beast to catch the ball, while Brooklyn and Amy watched.

"Amazing how much enjoyment 'pets' bring to kids," Amy commented with a slight smile, "although I'm surprised Bronx likes the game so much. He seems to like sleeping next to Hudson's chair."

"It was something Broadway, Lex, and I liked doing when we were younger," Brooklyn shrugged, "although we were tossing chunks of meat that Broadway had smuggled away from the castle's guards. I thought these guys would like it, considering that they didn't arrive with any beasts."

They watched as he hatchlings then began to chase after Bronx and get the ball back from him for a few moments.

"And besides, Bronx enjoys running around as much as any gargoyle beast would," Brooklyn then shrugged, "It's just that Bronx has always been closest to Hudson, and Hudson doesn't play these sorts of games much."

"Well, it's good Bronx seems to like the hatchlings," Amy commented.

"He always has," Brooklyn told her, "guarding the eggs and hatchlings was largely his job back in the 'old days'. These guys probably remind him of the past."

The two then watched as a group of the hatchlings finally managed to corner Bronx, and could barely hold back giggles as the great blue beast dropped the ball and proceeded to give each hatchling a good licking.

**Maddox Technologies Building**

"I don't know why you'rrrrrrrre now fiddling with that otherrrrrrr one," Wolf growled as he sat and watched Jackal proceed to begin working on the other robot that the Pack had come to use.

He was still heavily frustrated with the results of the previous battle with the clan. It was a battle in which he had fared fairly well, but Dreadnought's inability to do anything quickly and also wouldn't function without taking direct and simple orders from Jackal truly infuriated him, as that had insured that the Pack would be defeated. Since Jackal had done all the work to reprogram Dreadnought, Wolf doubted the male cyborg could do a good job with Shadow.

"If you keep whining, I'll have Hyena put you on a leash and take you for a walk, like the dog you are," Jackal threatened, not really in the mood for an argument, "We need Shadow."

"Like Drrrrrrreadnought helped," Wolf grumbled, "He couldn't move fast enough to help at all."

Jackal sighed. Dreadnought's performance in that battle was well below what he had done when the Unseelies had first made Dreadnought and Shadow for them. He was certainly still powerful, but his intelligence seemed to have dropped so much that he wasn't much smarter then the average steel clan robot. The gargoyles they had been fighting had easily taken advantage of that weakness and also called for reinforcements.

"We were still close to winning," Jackal said, "Once Shadow is repaired, we'll be in a better position."

"Yeah, rrrrrright," Wolf grumbled again, "He'll be as slow as Dreadnought is."

"Okay," Jackal sighed, "So programming an AI program isn't my forte, alright. Maybe we can get some ready-made programming that we can use."

And with that, Jackal quickly walked out of the room in search of his sister, as she was likely the only one to have the answer to the question he wanted to ask.

**Elsewhere, over Manhattan**

Caroline, Hudson, Angela and Broadway quietly glided over a section of the city that had a large number of high rise apartments. Their night had been fairly quiet and peaceful, which was a great relief from all the major events that have happened earlier.

"It's getting close to dawn," Hudson commented, "Tis time we started getting back to the castle."

Angela quickly nodded, "And nothing has really gone on tonight. Let's go."

The group then turned to head back to the castle when they suddenly a window shatter and a man appear at the window.

"So much for the quiet night," Caroline chuckled, "You jinxed it."

Angela chuckled slightly. Some of the modern slang was beyond her, but she at least recognized it as a joke.

"Well, at least he looks like a normal human," Angela answered as they dove toward the window.

As they did so, the man produced what looked like a gun and fired it at the building across the street. Much to the gargoyles' surprise, it fired out a long cable that became imbedded in the side of the building the man had been aiming at. He then leaped from the window he had come out of and swung between the two buildings, crashing through the window of the other building.

"Okay, that was weird," Broadway commented as they turned to follow the man's path.

"Aye," Hudson nodded in agreement as they landed inside the building that the man had entered.

They quickly spotted the man grabbing items from a series of cabinets, and they could see that whatever it was had a metallic glint to it. They assumed he was going after someone's silverware. The man had not even bothered to notice that he had company.

"Um, why don't you put your hands up and surrender, before we have to get rough on you," Broadway spoke firmly, startling the man who then dropped nearly everything he had in his hands.

The falling goods made a great noise, and Hudson soon heard the sounds of shuffling going on in another room, while the crook bolted for a door that he hoped would take him out.

"Caroline, Angela, ye two go after him," Hudson said quickly, "Broadway we must go back out, and quickly."

"What? Why?" Broadway asked.

"I hear someone moving around elsewhere, and we will not be able to hide or escape as easily as they can," Hudson said and quickly moved to the window.

"Who's out there?!" a voice demanded from down a hall, although they were certain that whoever it was couldn't see them.

Broadway then quickly followed Hudson and left threw the window, while Caroline and Angela raced after the burglar. The man did not do well in his attempt to flee the two female gargoyles. He didn't know the layout of the building and was frantically looking for an elevator or a flight of stairs, and that allowed Caroline and Angela to catch up. They caught up with him panicking at a dead end hallway, trying to pry open a window to crawl out onto a fire escape.

"Give it up, you can't get away," Angela said firmly, "there is no need for you to get hurt. Accept defeat and go to jail."

The man didn't. He mumbled something that neither Caroline nor Angela could make out and then tried to run around them. Unfortunately, the only thing he did was trip over Caroline's right foot and fall flat on his face. Caroline then lifted that foot an placed it on the man's back.

"Give up?" Caroline asked.

"I give, I give," the man whimpered, "Don't eat me!"

"Eat you?" Angela answered, "Gargoyles don't eat people. We only came after you because you broke into that apartment back there."

The man then strangely smiled.

"Yeah, it's taken me weeks to get my little cable gun working, and then months to get the swinging down right," the man smiled, "but it works."

"You invented that thing, and you used it to further a criminal career?" Caroline snorted as she moved her foot and lifted the man into the air, "how stupid are you?"

"You don't know how much it cost me to make that cable gun," the man answered, "besides, it doesn't have much of a purpose otherwise. It's only good to help someone swing from one building to another."

The man then, surprisingly held out the gun to Angela. The lavender female quickly took it and set to tying the crook up with his own cable. The rest of the device was soon crushed in Angela's hands. The guy then moaned, obviously disappointed that his 'invention' had been destroyed.

"You didn't have to crush it," the man whimpered.

"The police wouldn't let you keep it," Caroline commented, "Not while it's evidence against you."

The two then carried the man down the hallway and turned into a different one and were soon right in front of an elevator. The man looked at how close he had come to finding an elevator and gave a defeated sigh.

"Drat," the man grumbled.

Outside, Hudson and Broadway patiently waited for Caroline and Angela to make it back to them. They could already see the sky starting to lighten on the horizon, and knew that dawn was not far away.

"I don't think we'll be making it back to the castle tonight," Broadway spoke, sounding glum.

"I'd be more concerned with whether or not Caroline and Angela arrive here," Hudson told him, sounding frustrated, "They've been gone a long time ta deal with some common crook."

It was then that a blue hand appeared on the edge of the roof in front of them. It was closely followed by Caroline climbing onto the roof, with Angela close behind her.

"I'm sorry, but the elevator was really slow," Caroline answered.

"Elevator?" Hudson asked.

"The man was surprising cooperative," Angela answered, "He didn't fight and we tied him up with his own cable. We tied it and him to a lamp post down below."

Before Hudson or Broadway could answer, the sun rose, and the four gargoyles turned to stone for the day.

**Castle Wyvern**

Xanatos stood quietly from a window from which he could look out to the courtyard and the tower on which the gargoyles rested during the day. And with the current presence of the Chinese elders and hatchlings, the castle's walls were covered with stone statues of 'sleeping' gargoyles. However, all did not seem well as there were four statues missing.

Now, occasionally, one of the clan would get so preoccupied with something inside that they wouldn't go out in time for dawn, or wouldn't make it out for dawn, and they would sleep inside that day. But he doubted that was the case today. The four who were missing were part of the patrol teams from the previous night, and from what Xanatos could see on the face of the gargoyle at the top of the tower, there was serious concern on the part of the Manhattan leader.

Xanatos wasn't necessarily concerned, as if they had run into a foe that had the potential to easily kill them, they would have radioed for help and reinforcements, which did not happen. The fact that they did not report that they would be delayed might be some cause for worry, but the black furred wolf mutate preferred to wait until nightfall and see if the team returned or not.

He hoped that the clan didn't let their skills atrophy without any major engagement with their enemies, and also hoped that Goliath wouldn't worry himself to death about the patrol group. He then walked quietly toward the small office that he used now to run his business. If anything really big came up, Owen would bring it to him.

Meanwhile, in the main office, Owen sat with a local doctor who was a member of PIT. He was grateful that Amy's parents did have a list of members of the pro-gargoyle organization and that Amy was able to get him a copy of their membership lists.

"Now, while I have you here, I will first inform you that while your services are required, you may run into one or more of the castle's more newsworthy residents," Owen spoke in a calm voice.

"Yes, the gargoyles," the doctor answered, "It's partially why I answered your advertisement so quickly."

"May I ask why?" Owen asked.

The man was obviously nervous about answering, but he eventually answered.

"Well, I'm a member of the PIT organization, and I've had an interest in meeting them," the doctor spoke, "If that could be allowed."

"We will not require you to avoid them," Owen answered, "but it does deal with one of requirements of the job."

The doctor looked interested.

"One of the other things that I must ask is that are you capable of remaining silent on certain subjects?" Owen asked, "Particularly on the condition of your patient."

"Of course," the doctor answered, "patient confidentiality, and all that."

"I ask because the person I am asking for your services for is rather unique and to explain it would carry with it certain risks that must be kept quiet," Owen spoke firmly in a voice that carried a far amount of warning in with it.

"Am I being hired to treat one of the gargoyles themselves?" the doctor asked.

"No," Owen answered, "but something similar and something rather delicate. Which is why it would be preferred that whoever is hired is able to keep from gossiping what he hears or sees to the outside world."

"I wouldn't," the doctor answered, "Unless I'm being asked to do something immoral, in regards to the treatment of this patient, I am bound to keep all activities about the treatment confidential."

Owen nodded, "You may find that taking this job may take you beyond what the Hippocratic oath covers."

**Maddox Technologies**

"You want to rob Xanatos Enterprises?" Hyena asked her brother as the male cyborg finally had the time to talk with her.

"Not their headquarters, just the warehouse where many of the parts that went into Coyote," Jackal answered, "The original may be against us now, but Xanatos has to have spare parts for it."

That made Hyena's face visibly sour. The fact that Coyote had fought against them during the Unseelie's final battle was still frustrating for the female cyborg and was clearly a dangerous topic. Jackal, however, was in no mood for this.

"He was a robot," Jackal growled, "you need to get over the fact that Xanatos programmed that robot to be loyal to Xanatos. Coyote is a robot. Not a sentient being that makes friends and has loyalty."

"I loved Coyote!" Hyena screamed back at him, "and he betrayed me!"

"I doubt he could have betrayed you," Jackal answered, "That requires having the ability to feel emotion, which robots do not have. You need to stop treating Coyote like he was really one of us."

"And now you want to put his programming in Shadow?" Hyena asked, sounding angry.

"Just the basic programming that will give him the 'AI' that Dreadnought currently lacks," Jackal answered, "The specific programming, including Shadow's loyalties will be with us."

"And you're certain you can override the standard loyalty to Xanatos Enterprises programming that is in Xanatos's programming?" Hyena asked.

"That's in his specific programming," Jackal answered, "Not the AI, which is what we're stealing. Xanatos has to have it in one of his warehouses hear in New York."

"Wouldn't he keep all that in the Eyrie building itself?" Hyena asked.

"No," Jackal shook his head, "Remember when we worked with Xanatos? I walked all through the Eyrie Building once. There was no sign of there being an AI storage facility anywhere, so it has to be in a warehouse elsewhere in the city."

"So we're going to start looking?" Hyena asked with a frustrated sigh.

"Tonight, so we can take Dreadnought," Jackal answered, "He'll cover for us in case we run into any of the clan."

**Rooftop, Dusk**

It was quiet as the 'lost' patrol group woke up for the night. Each quickly stretched and looked toward the Eyrie Building and the castle at its top.

"We're in trouble, aren't we?" Caroline asked as she looked up toward the castle.

"I donnae think so," Hudson answered, "but we'd best get back, let Goliath know that we were delayed."

"It's sure to quite a story," Broadway chuckled as they took off.

The glide itself was quiet and peaceful, and they had no trouble in returning to the castle. As they arrived they found everyone, with the exception of the hatchlings who had all followed an elder to get breakfast. There was visible signs of relief as they landed.

"You guys made it back!" Candy exclaimed to Caroline, "What happened?"

"It was nothing," Caroline answered, "Just a bizarre crook, but a normal one."

"Normal?" came Goliath's rumbling question.

"He was human, father," Angela answered, "That is what she means by 'normal'. He was some sort of cat burglar who had some sort of gun that could fire a cable and grappling hook, or something like that. He came out the window of one building and swung across to another building as we were coming back. He got himself lost in the hallways as he tried to flee, and we had to take him to the ground floor before we could 'leave' and by then it was too late to get back to the castle before dawn. We're sorry if we've worried you, father."

"It is alright," Goliath rumbled after a few moments, "I'm glad that it was nothing. With things being as quiet as they've been, I fear that something big may happen soon. Especially considering the changing events in Tibet."

"It'll get better eventually," Hudson spoke, "as soon as these supermen are beaten."

Goliath nodded, "For now, we will let that rest and go in for some breakfast. We still have tonight's patrols to take care of, and of course, our helping the Tibetan elders. Best to have a full stomach."

And with that the clan retired into the castle.

Meanwhile, in a different room, Owen was preparing for a very different discussion. He enter the room to see Fox watching over Alex as he proceeded to make little men out of play dough. She looked up to see Owen entering and stood up.

"Is something wrong, Owen?" Fox asked, "Does Alex have a lesson tonight?"

"Not tonight, Mrs. Xanatos," Owen answered, "There is something I wish to speak with you about."

That puzzled Fox slightly, as when Owen rarely had business with her, other then meals and things like that. Much of the important business, mostly relating to providing whatever aide Goliath needed was down between Owen and Xanatos.

"Is something wrong, Owen?" Fox asked again.

"Not necessarily," Owen answered, "It is merely something that relates to your pregnancy."

"My pregnancy?" Fox asked, suddenly sounding nervous, "Is something wrong with the baby?"

"Not that I can sense, but I can not truly tell," Owen answered, "I'm not a physician."

Fox was silent for a moment and then spoke, "I'd hoped that you, or possibly my mother could help."

"In many ways we can," Owen answered, "but none of us have medical degrees, and my magic as Puck, and your mother's magic will only help so much. And since you are not entirely a member of the third race, healers that work for Titania may not be effective."

"You're saying I need a human doctor?" Fox asked, "You know I can't be seen by people… seen as I am."

That made Owen sigh again. It was one of the few sore spots that all of the transformed humans seemed to have. They had, by now, adapted to what had happened to them, but that did not entirely mean that they wanted to be in that form.

"I understand, but I must tell you that it is imperative that you see a doctor," Owen told her, "a human doctor will be able to more accurately predict the health and dealing directly with the birth. Even considering your present mutation, they would be able to at least hypothesize what must be done, or what will happen when the time comes."

"And suppose the doctor blabs that David and Fox Xanatos are now furry freaks with wings?" Fox asked back, "Worse, what if they learn the back-story as to why David and Fox Xanatos are furry freaks with wings?"

"It may be a danger, but it is a risk we have to take," Owen answered, "That would be why a PIT member would be the best possible first choice. They already support integrating gargoyles into society, and therefore, would accept your mutation more easily."

"Still doesn't mean they'd like it if they learned that David was the one who originally ordered the creation of the mutate serum," Fox answered.

"That does not necessarily need to be told," Owen answered.

"What about Elisa or Desdemona?" Fox asked, "Desdemona has a child of her own, and Elisa had to have been given some first aid training."

"Not enough to do more then maybe assist medical professional," Owen answered, "and remember that gargoyles lay eggs, dealing with a live birth of a mutate would not be within Desdemona's experiences. If a caesarian section is required, neither of them would be able to do it without doing more damage then required."

"You really think a doctor is necessary, Owen?" Fox asked sounding nervous.

"Yes," Owen nodded, "It would insure that things go smoothly."

**Maddox Technologies**

"And where do you think you're going?" Thailog demanded as he noticed Jackal, Hyena, and Dreadnought moving through the hallways that would take them out of the building.

"Out," Jackal answered, "To get some things that might help make Shadow smarter then how Dreadnought turned out."

Thailog looked over at the large robot and remembered Holly's assessment of the machine. 'Not fit for anything more then firing at the clan at long range' was what she had told him. If they had found something that could potentially make the other robot, Shadow, smarter and faster then his large counterpart, Thailog would be willing to let them go ahead with their plans, as his planned 'final battle' was getting closer.

"I trust you will avoid combating the gargoyle clan if at all possible," Thailog commented, "Holly is nearly ready for the final battle with Goliath's clan, and when she is ready, I intend to make my move to finish them off."

"That's really why we're taking Dreadnought," Jackal answered, "If we run into them, he will fire at them and allow us to get what we want."

"And what is it that you want that you are going out to get?" Thailog asked, "If I may ask."

"Basic AI programming that Xanatos has hidden away for his Coyote robots," Jackal answered, "That will hopefully give Shadow the brain power to react to things that Dreadnought no longer can."

Thailog then nodded, "And won't Wolf and the others be going with you?"

"No," Jackal answered, "He'll be staying here so you can use him to give your 'clan' more training."

"Well, that is most generous of you," Thailog answered, "I'm sure all of them could stand to take more chances at practice."

Jackal nodded and then turned to Dreadnought.

"Follow Hyena and me," Jackal ordered the robot and took off into the sky, with both his sister and the large robot following after him.

Once they were gone, Holly emerged from inside the building and onto the roof to observe the departing Pack members.

"So, what is going on?" Holly asked.

"They're off on a wild goose chase," Thailog told her.

"Hmm?" Holly asked.

"They are off in search of the AI technology that Xanatos uses to make Coyote work, and reason," Thailog answered, "The problem is, from what I can remember from the original Thailog's memories, the research and development for the 'AI' programs that Xanatos Enterprises undertook were only for the construction of the Coyote robot."

"Why?" Holly asked, "It certainly would be a big advance in technology."

"It certainly would," Thailog nodded, "but imagine if thousands of intelligent thinking robots that either have weapons built into them or at least the ability to manipulate human weapons. They would eventually come across many of the founding documents and pamphlets that this country created and would feel that they should not be used for menial tasks or treated as if they were 'things'. But, since humans all over the globe have struggled over tolerating people of different skin tones, religious belief, political ideology, social class, personal philosophy, and any other thing that you could think of, in addition to the fact their response to gargoyles has not been overly enthusiastic, do you think humanity would treat AI robots as equals?"

"Probably not," Holly answered, "I wouldn't want a machine to think it is equal, either."

Thailog nodded, "So it wouldn't be long before the world faces an army of bullet proof robots demanding equal rights. It would lead to war, which would destroy everything. With an individual, like Coyote, the controlling person as able to either create a sort of 'loyalty' or keep the robot distracted so that it never figures out that it doesn't have any rights."

"So Xanatos is afraid his robots would turn on him?" Holly asked.

"That is a concern, although, I wonder why," Thailog commented, "Surely the people who programmed Coyote are smart enough to put in a program that prevents the robot from doing anything that would be detrimental to society."

"That's unimportant," Holly commented, "Why didn't you tell Jackal though, that Xanatos doesn't have copies of the program lying around?"

"Because Jackal doesn't think I should know about that," Thailog answered, "Might as well let him think he has me beat in that regard, because the Pack may turn on us in the future as well. We will need to be prepared."

**Castle Wyvern**

Breakfast had been short and quick, and soon the clan had gathered once more in the courtyard. The atmosphere was now, far more relaxed then earlier, and a few of them actually found the incident with the last burglar to be somewhat funny. They slowly waited for Goliath to clear his voice.

"We going to continue patrolling in two teams of four," Goliath spoke, "With the exception of Angela's team from last night, the rest will watch over the Tibetan hatchlings. Brooklyn and Amy will accompany Elisa and myself."

"Of course, Goliath," the two beaked gargoyles answered.

Goliath was about to continue when he saw Zafiro move forward. He was soon quiet to listen to the Guatemalan gargoyle, as on occasion they volunteered to help. They had been helping a small group of Tibetan elders that were looking after the younger set of hatchlings mostly, which Goliath was thankful for, but he understood that they needed to get out every now and then.

"My clan will look over your Central Park," Zafiro offered, "Hopefully, it will reduce the amount of time your clan needs to spend patrolling."

Goliath nodded, "Brother, Sister, you two will take Sarah and Ian to patrol the northern part of Manhattan down to Central Park."

"Of course, brother," Othello answered, "Hopefully things remain calm."

Goliath nodded in agreement as the clan began to split off for their night's duties. Caroline stood watching them all go for the night's patrol. Candy and Amy stood with her.

"Do you really think it will be quiet?" Caroline asked

"I don't know," Amy shrugged, "Things have been quiet, or at least 'quiet' for us lately. The odds are that something might happen."

"Something will happen," Candy grumbled, "We've been too lucky for the past week. Way too lucky."

"Come on, bring everyone down," Amy answered.

"No I hope things will go well," Candy answered, "I just feel that things have been too quiet and something will happen. I could be wrong."

**Elsewhere**

Jackal and Hyena landed on the roof of a department store before a series of warehouses. Dreadnought landed behind them.

"Okay, that's the first of Xanatos's warehouses," Jackal spoke, "Dreadnought, you stay up here and look out for the gargoyles. If you see any, fire at them with all of your weapons, and don't let any of them move into the warehouse."

A green light illuminated itself inside Dreadnought's dome, indicating that he acknowledged the command. Both cyborgs then watched as Dreadnought turned around and looked up toward the sky.

"He isn't the brightest, but he'll do," Jackal shrugged and then rocketed toward the warehouse at full speed.

Hyena quickly followed him, leaving Dreadnought alone on the roof. There were no signs of any guards, and they quickly smashed through one of the few windows.

"We'd better hurry," Jackal commented, "Knowing Xanatos he's either got a killer security system, or half a dozen Steel Clan robots hidden in here."

**Castle Wyvern**

"You sent for me, Owen?" Xanatos asked as he came into one of the castle's security rooms.

Owen nodded, "Something recently tripped a security alarm in one of our warehouses and sent a warning to my pager. I've proceeded to determine what it was that set off the alarm."

Xanatos then stepped closer as Owen gestured to a screen where images of the break in were being displayed. He quickly saw Jackal and Hyena throwing the lids off of various crates in the warehouse and rummaging through them. When they were done with one crate, they tossed it aside.

"Didn't the clan just beat these losers?" Xanatos asked.

"Drove them off, but couldn't capture them," Owen answered, "I can't say for certain why they're in one of our warehouses, but my best guess is that they are after technology."

"But what do we have that they could want?" Xanatos asked.

"That is unknown," Owen sighed, "Since they are mercenaries, they could be working for anyone. Recent activities would suggest that they're in Thailog's employ, which makes their activities rather puzzling, as Thailog could simply provide them with the technology needed to upgrade themselves."

"So any ideas as to why they're trashing one of my warehouses?" Xanatos asked.

"My only guess is that they think we have something that will fix Dreadnought," Owen commented, "Considering what the clan told us about the last battle with the robot, his AI is not as good as it was under the Unseelie's command, and certainly not as good as Coyote's."

"So they're thinking I leave spare AI programs laying around?" Xanatos questioned, "man, without me, Fox, or at least Coyote providing them with brains, their level of intelligence has really gone downhill. Still, that helps us now. Can you contact the closest clan members? Maybe we can finally rid ourselves of some of my past mistakes."

"Goliath's group appears to be the closest," Owen answered, "I'll see what I can do."

**Over Manhattan**

Goliath and his group quietly made their way south toward the southern tip of Manhattan. They hadn't spotted much so far, but they had just started. As they neared the World Trade center, the radio Goliath carried with him buzzed to life.

"Yes," Goliath spoke slowly.

"This is Owen," came Owen's voice over the radio, "I have an alert for you."

"An alert?" Goliath asked, glancing at Elisa, Brooklyn, and Amy as they seemed to be curious.

"The Pack, or at least Jackal and Hyena, have tripped security sensors in one of Xanatos Enterprises's warehouses a few blocks away from you," Owen answered, "If you hurry, you might have a shot at sending them to jail."

"And that would surely hurt Thailog," Goliath rumbled, "Do you know what they're after?"

"Nothing for certain," Owen answered, "Our best guess is that they think Mr. Xanatos has spare Coyote AI programs laying around in there."

Goliath nodded, although he knew Owen couldn't see him nodding.

"We're on our way," Goliath then spoke after a moment, "Which way?"

It was then that a series of laser shots interrupted the conversation. Many of them missed, but they did more then enough to startle the four gargoyles. As they looked down they found out that it was Dreadnought firing all his available laser weapons at them.

"Jackal and Hyena shouldn't be hard to find," Goliath grumbled and the quickly dove down, hoping a strategy like the one Othello had used in the last battle would work again.

He ignored Elisa and the others screaming after him as he dove down toward the firing robot. He managed to dodge the shots that Dreadnought fired, although it also appeared that the robot was not only firing at him, but also at Elisa, Brooklyn, and Amy, who had only just begun to react to what was going on. After a few moments, Goliath landed a swift and strong blow on Dreadnought's dome, which managed to send the robot tumbling backward. Goliath then followed that up with a kick that sent the robot flying off of the roof. The sound of it falling through fire escapes echoed through the night.

"Goliath, what's going on?" Elisa asked, "That was Dreadnought."

"Yes," Goliath nodded, "Jackal and Hyena are apparently after the AI programs Xanatos uses for the Coyote robot. They're in that warehouse over there."

"But why would they have Dreadnought out here?" Brooklyn asked, "considering the brainpower it's lost we could easily take it apart, leaving the Pack without a very important weapon."

"Most likely to warn them of danger," Goliath grumbled, "I doubt that they did not hear him crash through the fire escapes on the side of this building. You three deal with Jackal and Hyena. I will deal with Dreadnought."

"Alone?" Elisa asked, sounding nervous.

"I will be fine," Goliath told her, "Now go, before the cyborgs escape."

Inside the warehouse, both Jackal and Hyena were becoming increasingly frustrated with their progress. Neither of them had found anything that would remotely look like even basic computer programming, let alone AI programming. Eventually, Hyena finally got truly angry at their difficulties and blasted a crate with her own laser weapons.

"We haven't checked that crate yet," Jackal commented.

"Yeah, well, it ain't here," Hyena growled back, "Nothing but parts for vacuum cleaners, or something."

Hyena then kicked a crate she had already searched and watched it fly through the air.

"Yeah," Jackal then sighed, "I am getting the impression that the AI programming is in a different warehouse."

"We ought to just grab Xanatos ourselves," Hyena grumbled, "Have him take us to the programming."

"That would require assaulting the Eyrie Building itself," Jackal told her, "Xanatos won't risk letting the world discover Sevarius mutated him without there being a very good reason. And if we could just assault the Eyrie Building, then why would we need the AI programs used for Coyote?"

Hyena only sighed in response.

"At least he could have had some guards around here," Hyena grumbled, "After finding nothing in this place, I'd like to have something to trash."

They were both interrupted by a great crashing noise which made both of them jump. Jackal then looked out the door they had broken in through to see Dreadnought bounce off the ground and land in the alley across the street.

"Then I think you may get your chance at trashing something," Jackal commented, "because I think we have company."

Hyena watched to see Dreadnought slowly get up and begin firing into the sky with his lasers. She then smiled.

"Good," Hyena laughed.

Outside, Goliath lead over the side of the roof and landed on top of Dreadnought as the robot continued to try and fire laser shots at him. The shots were not very well aimed, but the did manage to force Goliath to hop off of the large robot. When he landed, Goliath noticed he was close to the debris of the fire escapes that Dreadnought had earlier fallen through. Picking up one of the bars, and holding it like a club, Goliath slowly advanced on Dreadnought.

"You will not is escape this time, robot," Goliath growled as he quickly swung at Dreadnought with his improvised weapon.

The attack took off one of Dreadnought's smaller laser cannons, but did little else, and the momentum of Goliath's attack actually added a move that Dreadnought had begun to make as Goliath advanced. That move was a punch that knocked Goliath into the other wall of the alley they were in. Dreadnought's slowness, however, prevented him from following up the attack and Goliath managed to roll away and prepare for his next move. As he looked over at the large robot, the Manhattan leader slowly reminded himself that while it was clear that Dreadnought a lot of his sentience, he was still powerful. Nothing could be taken for granted. Giving a low growl, Goliath readied himself for the battle ahead.

Brooklyn lead the way for the rest of the patrol team as they prepared to deal with Jackal and Hyena while Goliath fought Dreadnought. Elisa and Amy were quick to follow.

"I'll deal with Jackal," Brooklyn spoke up, playing his role as 'second', although he was still nervous and uneasy with giving Elisa orders, "Amy, I trust you can deal with Hyena?"

Amy nodded.

"Uh, Elisa," Brooklyn spoke carefully, "Seeing as they're both equally dangerous, could you sort of hold back and see which one of us needs the mot help?"

"Sure," Elisa answered with a nod and let the other two go ahead.

As they neared the door, they were met by laser fire that through Brooklyn back, and down, and he ended up rolling into the street. Elisa and Amy stopped short and managed to avoid taking any direct hits, but that allowed both Jackal and Hyena to charge out of the warehouse at them. Jackal tackled Elisa and quickly threw the tan female to the ground, while Hyena landed a flying kick on Amy, and sent her crashing into Brooklyn.

"This is going to be fun," Jackal said with a smile.

Elisa, however, recovered and landed a swinging kick that sent Jackal tumbling backward toward the door he had just charged out of.

"We have you outnumbered, " Elisa said firmly, "Eventually, you will lose."

Jackal fired a couple of laser shots at Elisa, both poorly aimed, but generally intended to get her to back off, which was successful. He then extended one arm to land a blow that sent Elisa staggering back.

"Haven't you ever heard the phrase 'quality over quantity'?" Jackal asked in a taunting voice.

The counter attack by the two cyborgs completely frustrated Brooklyn. It had shot his original plan as dead as a doornail and left him and Amy on the defensive against Hyena. The female cyborg slashed out at both of them with her metallic talons extended fully.

"This will be fun," Hyena smiled as she slashed at Brooklyn, "Neither of you can beat me, and I get slice you up easy!"

"Odd you say that when you know you've never beaten us before," Brooklyn growled as he ducked down and took her feet out from under her with his tail.

Hyena then rolled out of the way as Amy moved to try and pin her down and was quick to her feet once again. She then fired her lasers and forced both beaked gargoyles to dive away.

"You always had us greatly out numbered," Hyena answered, "You only have one more then us right now. The odds are even."

"Great," Brooklyn and Amy both groaned sensing that this wouldn't be easy.

**Elsewhere**

Othello's team meanwhile, had not run into the troubles that Goliath's team had. There was a mugger here and a mugger there. Otherwise, things were calm.

"It has been quiet tonight," Sarah commented, "at least nothing more then the common muggers and street criminals."

"Good," Othello spoke with a nod of agreement, "that means that our larger enemies are not doing anything serious at the moment. Which hopefully means that they have decided not to be threats anymore."

"What if they aren't?" Ian asked.

"Then they are giving us time to prepare for whatever move they will make," Othello answered.

They rounded around a corner of a building and prepared to continue on. Thanks to the lack of any major activity, they could also see the northern edge of Central Park, which meant their patrol was nearly over for the night. The calmness was interrupted by the buzzing of one of the communicators that they were carrying. Desdemona answered it.

"Yes," Desdemona answered.

"This is Amy, you guys okay?" Amy's voice asked through the communicator.

"Yes," Desdemona answered and was about to ask something when Amy cut her off.

"Good, 'cause we've run into a bit of a problem," Amy interrupted quickly, "We've caught the Pack, or at least part of it at one of Xanatos's warehouses. We're doing fine for now, but I'd think we could stand to have some help."

Desdemona was about to ask something else when suddenly a maniacal laugh cut her off and the sound of an angry or pained roar echoed over the line. The link went dead shortly thereafter.

"Are they in trouble?" Othello asked, his earlier calm broken.

"It may appear so," Desdemona commented, "We'd best head south quickly. Even if they can defeat the Pack as their numbers are, a helping hand couldn't hurt."

Othello nodded and quickly banked south.

"So much for a quiet night," Ian joked and followed the older two gargoyles.

**Xanatos Enterprises Warehouse**

Amy flinched as she rubbed her left shoulder. The battle between her and Brooklyn and Hyena had not gone as well as they had hoped. They had managed to prevent Hyena from gaining any true advantage, and had even driven her back into the warehouse, but the female cyborg had also managed to prevent them from insuring that she would be defeated either. Amy had managed to get in close and land a strong blow to Hyena's stomach while she was distracted with Brooklyn. Hyena, however, ended up scratching Amy's left shoulder as Amy's punch knocked the female Pack member back.

"Aww, did you get a scratch?" Hyena taunted, "Let me take a look. I'm sure I can amputate the limb."

"You're still going to lose," Amy growled back as she and Brooklyn took positions to insure that Hyena's only route was to flee into the air, "It's only a scratch."

Brooklyn then leaped at Hyena from behind, hoping to pin the cyborg down. He managed to take Hyena to the ground, but the female cyborg disjointed her legs from the way they were supposed to be and kicked the brick red male off of her. The blow knocked him forward ad he ended up falling into Amy. Hyena was quick to her feet with an evil smile on her face.

"Just a scratch," Hyena laughed, "You're very brave to say that, especially knowing what I can do."

Hyena then activated her laser cannons and began laying down a heavy barrage at the two gargoyles. They quickly dove away and moved behind a series of large crates that hadn't been destroyed in Hyena and Jackal's initial attack on the warehouse. Even as they did so, Hyena continued to fire on their position, and both gargoyles knew that the crates would not function as an effective cover for long.

Finally a laser blast destroyed the crate that Brooklyn had dove behind, leaving him seemingly defenseless. Hyena, sensing an easy victory advanced, hoping that she would get a chance to finish Brooklyn off at close range. The brick red male had no intention of allowing that to happen and grabbed the closest object he could find, which appeared to be a power tool of some sort and threw it at Hyena.

Hyena easily dodged the thrown projectile, but before she should retaliate or strike, Amy grabbed her from behind, and crushed the female cyborg's wrists in her talons. The sound of crunching metal echoed through the warehouse.

"You stupid lizard!" Hyena screamed and lashed out at Amy, who quickly dodged a kick and leaped onto a crate overlooking the female cyborg, "You'll pay or that!"

This time, Brooklyn took advantage of Hyena's distraction and threw a nearby crate at Hyena. This time, the Pack member could not dodge the attack and was knocked to the ground by it. She struggled to get out from under the crate as Amy and Brooklyn moved to try and restrain her.

"Give up?" Amy questioned as she reached for one of the metallic forearms that she had earlier crushed.

"Never!" Hyena growled angrily and fired her rocket boosters, finally freeing her of the debris.

Both Brooklyn and Amy dove after her, but Hyena's rockets were too powerful and the female cyborg was soon out of their reach.

"We'll meet again, and then, we'll settle things!" Hyena declared and rocketed through the windows of the warehouse, leaving Amy and Brooklyn to look on.

"Come on," Brooklyn grumbled, "Let's go help Elisa. Othello's group should be arriving soon, and then we can deal with Dreadnought once and for all."

Outside, Elisa continued to maintain an even fight with Jackal. The male cyborg stuck to long range attacks with lasers or his finger missiles, and would occasionally extend a limb or two to strike at long range on the tan gargoyle, but Elisa managed to make sure that all of his hits did little to actually harm her. It did manage to keep her off guard, however, and Elisa rarely had a shot at landing a blow on the male cyborg.

"Come on, hold still," Jackal growled, making it clear that he was frustrated that things were not going as fast as he wanted.

"What, and make this easy for you?" Elisa growled back as she rolled under a barrage of finger missiles and swung her leg around at a low level.

The blow tripped Jackal and sent falling to the ground, landing on his back. Elisa was quick to stand over him and prepared to put her foot down, to make sure Jackal couldn't get away.

"Do you honestly think any sane person would just stand still while someone shot at them?" Elisa growled at male Pack member.

"One can hope," Jackal sighed and grabbed hold of Elisa's foot as she prepared to pin him down with it, and then physically threw Elisa into the warehouse wall.

Jackal was quick to regain his feet and aimed his laser cannons on one arm and his finger missiles on the other hand directly at the point where Elisa landed. He then fired all of them at once, and Elisa had all she could do to get out of the way. The impact of Jackal's lasers and finger missiles did blow a small section of the wall out, and Elisa was unable to avoid the flying shrapnel as a her back was peppered by bits of brick and stone. That slowed her down from making any direct move against Jackal.

"That's much better," Jackal smiled as he prepared to fire another massive barrage of his own weaponry.

He was distracted by Hyena rocketing through one of the windows near the top of the warehouse, and he soon saw that her metallic forearms had been crushed. She had clearly not done well against the other two gargoyles and was forced to pull out of the fight, and that meant that Jackal's opponent would soon receive help. That distraction gave Elisa time to recover from Jackal's attack, and she quickly lunged forward while the male cyborg looked up toward his sister in surprise and shock. Her punch staggered Jackal back and he lost his opportunity to finish Elisa off with his weapons. Hyena, meanwhile, moved to Jackal's side.

"It's time to beat it brother," Hyena said urgently, "We stay here any longer, and we'll be looking at prison… again."

Jackal growled to himself and slowly nodded. He fired a wide barrage of laser fire to make sure that Elisa couldn't advance on him.

"You win this time," Jackal growled, hating to admit defeat, but knew that they couldn't stay any longer.

"NO!" Elisa roared as the two cyborgs lifted into the air.

Goliath's fight with Dreadnought was very different from the fights that the rest of his patrol group had on through. The fight confirmed everything that he had been told after the previous battle with Dreadnought. His computerized brain was nowhere near the level it had once been, and as a result, his reflexes and ability to react to adversity were greatly reduced. That gave Goliath a decided advantage.

Using a piece of a fire escape, which had broken off of a building when Goliath knocked the massive robot off of its roof, as a club, he quickly knocked all of the smaller laser cannons off of Dreadnought, leaving the massive robot without his fastest reacting weapons. That certainly weakened Dreadnought, but the robotic Pack member was still functional, and managed to shove Goliath back several steps after the Manhattan leader had destroyed the last of Dreadnought's smaller laser cannons.

Once he regained his balance, Goliath looked over to see Dreadnought preparing to fire his main laser cannons at him. He growled slightly, as there was no cover for him to use, and he would need to rely on his quicker reflexes to avoid taking a direct hit. As Dreadnought fired, Goliath quickly dropped to the ground and let the shot go over him. He then rushed forward and used his strength and size to knock Dreadnought to the ground.

Dreadnought landed hard, and Goliath quickly began trying to beat his way through the robot's thick armor with his fists. Even with his great strength, he did little more then put dents the size of his fist in Dreadnought's armor. After a few moments, Dreadnought moved one hand and managed to catch one of Goliath's fists and threw the gargoyle into the air and proceeded to get back to its feet. Goliath quickly used his wings to stabilize himself and landed on his feet.

As soon as he landed he saw Jackal and Hyena move above the alley he and Dreadnought were in. At first he thought the rest of his team had been beaten, but Elisa's roar of 'no' at the fleeing cyborgs assured him that the two Pack members had been beaten. He then noticed that Hyena's metallic forearms had been crushed and would need repair.

"Time to go, Dreadnought, follow us," Jackal ordered, "and follow us through the air."

A green light illuminated under Dreadnought's dome, and the massive robot soon began to lift into the air on its rocket engines. Goliath immediately moved to try and make sure that Dreadnought could not catch up with its fleeing comrades and leaped to grab a hold of the robot's legs. Unfortunately, he missed and landed on the wall a Dreadnought began to fly away. He scaled the wall in pursuit, but by the time he reached the roof, the three Pack members were far enough away that chasing them was next to useless. He then turned when he heard his name being called.

He looked up to see that it was Othello's team arriving on the scene, an thankful sign that someone had managed to arrange for backup to arrive.

"Good to see you're still alive, brother," Othello spoke as he landed.

"Yes," Goliath grumbled as he looked in the direction that the Pack had fled in, "but the Pack escaped again."

Othello and Desdemona glanced in that direction for a moment and then returned their attention to their leader.

"At least you beat them," Desdemona said after a few moments, "We're sorry we couldn't get here sooner."

Goliath sighed and nodded.

"Did they get anything?" Othello asked.

"No," Goliath shook his head, "We should get back to the castle."

**Maddox Technologies**

Thailog was patiently waiting as the Pack arrived back the tower. He was frustrated to see that Hyena had take moderate damage and would need to have her hands rebuilt. Dreadnought also appeared to have lost his fastest reacting laser cannons.

"Did you find anything?" Thailog asked.

"Nothing in the first one that we found," Jackal grumbled, "but Goliath and a group of his follower caught us, and beat us."

"So you couldn't check all of Xanatos's warehouses?" Thailog asked and waited for Jackal to nod, and then spoke, "Well, I'm sure you checked the most likely warehouse."

"But we didn't get the AI," Jackal grumbled, "Without it, Shadow could potentially be as bad as Dreadnought."

Thailog sighed, but he would have to be able to adapt if that was in fact the situation.

"I'm afraid that that if you didn't find any AI programming on this expedition, it could be quite possible that Xanatos did not have any spare pieces of programming," Thailog commented, "Dwelling over it could be a mistake."

"Then we did all this for nothing!" Jackal screamed, "And now, Hyena needs to have her forearms replaced as well!"

"We didn't know that in the beginning," Thailog lied, as he had suspected that Xanatos didn't make copes of his AI programming, "Yes your little adventure was a failure, but you returned, which means it wasn't a total loss. Remember, you will be needed in the final battle with the clan. Do not dwell on this."

Jackal only grumbled, but eventually accepted Thailog's advice, albeit reluctantly.

"Very well," Jackal sighed, "I'll need to blow off some steam for a little while."

"Be my guest," Thailog answered, "My clan has finished their training for the night. The gym is all yours."

Jackal didn't even answer, but stalked inside, determined to work off his frustrations.

**Castle Wyvern**

The patrol teams returned to the castle to find Xanatos waiting for them on the battlements.

"They get away again?" Xanatos asked.

"Yes, but they didn't get anything," Elisa told him, "and Hyena and Dreadnought sustained damage that will take them a while to repair."

"If they were after what I think they were after, there wasn't anything for them to take," Xanatos answered, "The fact that they were out was merely an opportunity to get them out of our hair."

"There was nothing for them to take?" Ian asked, curious as the others gave the black furred wolf mutate puzzled looks.

"We believe they were after the AI programs that I use to insure that Coyote is substantially smarter then the standard Steel Clan robot," Xanatos explained, "or at least what they thought would be the AI programs."

"I take it you don't store your AI programs in that particular warehouse?" Goliath wondered.

"I don't keep spare copies the AI programs laying around," Xanatos answered, "Ever since the 'incident' in Australia, I learned that if you create robot that can think, and you open up the door for it to turn on you, and at the time, I wasn't interested in trying to deal with a robot like it was a real person."

"Good to see that you've reformed over the years since then," Elisa answered pointedly.

"I know," Xanatos sighed, "I was the bad guy then. The point is, I don't have spare AI programs laying around. When I built the current Coyote, I had a fresh AI program built. It's simpler that way then wrestling around with multiple copies."

"They still wrecked your warehouse," Brooklyn commented.

Xanatos shrugged, "It's not like it will bankrupt me. It may hurt my stocks a bit, but I'd think the Pack will be more frustrated then you should be."

"How so?" Desdemona questioned.

"They just fought a hard battle, lost, will have to wait before trying again to undergo repairs," Xanatos spoke, "for nothing. Even if they had won, it would have been a hollow victory. The fact that they lost will make it worse."

"Whole thing sounds rather trivial then," Amy commented, "going after something that doesn't exist."

"More like futile," Brooklyn commented.

Amy only shrugged, "We still won, and we'll catch them next time."

The others nodded at the yellow female's optimism. They'd catch the Pack eventually. It was only a matter of time.

**The End…**


	43. The Calm Before the Storm

All characters appearing in Gargoyles and Gargoyles: The Goliath Chronicles are copyrighted to Buena Vista Television/The Walt Disney Company. I've taken the idea for the Unseelie Court from the TGS. Characters and concepts from Star Trek are property of Paramount and created by Gene Roddenberry. No Infringement of these copyrights is intended, and is not authorized by the copyright holder. All original characters are the property of SN.

Note: I'm disregarding the events of the "Goliath Chronicles", with the exception of "The Journey" because I do not wish to use the rest of the "Goliath Chronicles" as canon to my story. Also, I'm altering large sections of the Star Trek storyline, especially concerning events like WWIII and the Eugenics Wars, which without the Cold War as a backdrop probably wouldn't happen the way Roddenberry wrote them, if at all. This story takes place two days after "Trivial Trials or Futile Hunt".

The Calm Before the Storm

By SN/TVfan

Email: Sam_Nary

**Central Park**

Four men dashed down a darkened path carrying two purses as they went and ignoring the sounds of a screaming and outraged women behind them. They failed to notice winged shadows moving through the air above and behind them. They then hunkered down under a footbridge that seemed to work like an overpass, allowing people to walk in two directions without any risk of running into someone else at the 'intersection'.

"Come on, let's see what the haul is," the leader spoke confidently thinking they were fare enough away to avoid attracting any attention they didn't want drawn to them.

The men began to empty the purses they had stolen, tossing things they didn't consider valuable to the ground.

"Man, did you hear them scream?" another asked, "that was too easy."

"I'd still be careful," the third spoke as he pulled out a series of credit cards from one purse, "remember them gargoyles have been busting gangs doin' this sort of stuff. We don't want to go to jail, now do we?"

"You're way too cautious with that stuff, man," the first said confidently, "they can't patrol everywhere at once. They're bound to miss something from time to time."

"I'm just saying it doesn't heard to be careful," the third man said as he pocketed the credit cards, "nothing wrong with that."

The four men were then surprised when a different voice cut them off before any of them could answer.

"Indeed."

They then turned to see two winged figures standing at one end of the small overpass and then began to head in the other direction when they ran into two more on the other side. One looked like a giant winged snake with arms, while the others bore some resemblances to lizards.

"I believe you have taken things that do not belong to you," Zafiro spoke in a clear voice, making sure that the muggers wouldn't come to any wrong conclusions about what he and his clan intended to do.

The four crooks then bolted in an attempt to get away before the four gargoyles could dive on them. The attempt failed miserable, as Jade caught one with one hand and tripped another with his tail. Turquesa brushed the other two into the tunnel part of the 'overpass' with one of her wings. That left all four of them unconscious.

"It never seeks to amaze me how foolish these people are," Obsidiana commented, "one would think these people would stop their activities because of our kind's patrolling the city, or at least switching over to daytime activities."

"I would assume they fear being identified in the light of day," Jade told her as he lifted up two of them to place in a position where they could only wait for the police to come and pick them up.

Zafiro nodded and gave a heavy sigh as he did so. Things were still settling down from the recent battle with the Pack and his clan had again volunteered to patrol Central Park to insure that Goliath's clan didn't have to work as hard to protect their city. As the four men were tied up and left by a nearby park bench, the red snake-like gargoyle then glanced at the horizon that was now familiar to him.

On the surface it looked natural with trees, the occasional pond, and grass and soft earth, but it was small and surrounded by skyscrapers and asphalt roads. The park was also filled with evidence of human activity, sidewalks, bridges, and the fact that the grass appeared short not because of grazing or being walked on, but because something had cut the grass. The park looked natural, but yet it wasn't at the same time, it wasn't. It was there because the humans apparently missed the image of nature after they had destroyed it in the name of progress.

Dealing with the fact that they were now living in a place that seemed completely devoid of nature and wildlife, other then a few species of animals, particularly birds, that seemed to do well around humans, was one thing. The fact that they were dealing with people who did acts that struck them as something very similar to the senseless deforestation of the Green. People robbing people for reason other then money. People destroying themselves to become stronger and following the commands of a corrupt clone gargoyle bent of global domination.

These things still upset Zafiro greatly. He had distrusted the humans in Guatemala for wanting to cut down the Green, but on some level, he could understand why many had tried. Poor peasants seeking land to farm on, and after Goliath, Elisa, Angela, and Bronx had visited them, they took more time to study the people living outside the Green, and learned that many of the farmers trying to clear land had no choice but to try. The criminals of Manhattan were very different and they had to have choices they could make.

"Troubles?" came Obsidiana's voice pulling Zafiro out of his thoughts.

Zafiro looked up to see that the four muggers were in position to wait for the police and his clan was waiting to leave. He then sighed and glanced to his mate.

"Just thinking about how things are so different are here," Zafiro sighed, "Nothing more."

"Still?" Turquesa asked, "You know our home was destroyed and will never grow back because of the loss of the thin topsoil."

"I know," Zafiro nodded, "and we must get used to this new environment, but I do not have to like it."

"I know," Obsidiana told him in a comforting voice, "we all miss our home, and will probably never like New York the way Goliath and his clan like the city, but I'd like to think we've adapted to it well."

**Castle Wyvern**

A couple of Chinese hatchlings stood out on the edge of the castle's walls looking out over the city below them. And as with nearly all youngsters, exploring was a very attractive temptation.

"I wish we could and explore," one, a male named Fang, spoke, and looked over at Goliath and Elisa who were the adults watching their group, "but they won't let us."

"They don't want us to become targets for the Pack like our tour group did when we arrived," Fang's female companion spoke timidly.

"Come on, Ko," Fang answered, "the grown ups easily handled them, and besides, they can't be all knowing, surely we can keep ourselves safe."

"I don't know, Fang," Ko answered, "I'd really like to go exploring, but the city is big and we could get in trouble. Remember what the elders told us?"

"Always obey your elders?" Fang answered with a very innocent looking smile.

"That was one of them," Ko answered, "the other was that this city is dangerous. We'd need to persuade one of the grownups to take us out."

Fang looked back to see Elisa apparently being pulled into a game of hopscotch while Goliath was pointing out what few constellations could be seen in New York. He found them to be interesting, and cool to an extent that Elisa was human once and that Goliath, as well as the clan's males had slept for a thousand years, but they both struck him as law an order types.

"We'll have to try it with their younger adults," Fang sighed, "their leader's age group is too strict and their elder reminds me of our elders a lot."

"Not that there's anything wrong with our elders," Ko answered.

"No, but they think everything is dangerous," Fang said dismissively, "which can't be true. They act like we can't take care of ourselves or that no one will like us. The monks like us."

"What about them Quarrymen guys they warned us about?" Ko asked, "they didn't like gargoyles."

"They also said that they were beaten and are all in jail," Fang retorted, "We ought to be allowed to go out, and they should let us."

"And if they won't let us out?" Ko questioned.

"Then we'd have to sneak out," Fang answered, "We can take care of ourselves, and it isn't like anyone could easily catch us."

"We'd get in trouble," Ko warned, "It'd be better to just ask."

"And if they say 'no' we'll be stuck in this boring castle until it's time to go," Fang answered, "I want to explore, everyone does, and I doubt there is any real danger to us so long as we stay out of sight."

Ko thought the suggestion over and then looked out over the city again and sighed.

"Okay, but promise me that we'll ask permission first," Ko urged, "from one of their 'younger' adults. That way we're at least trying to follow the rules."

Fang nodded, "that will be no problem, and if they don't, I'm sure we can figure out some sort of distraction to get the adults to forget about us long enough for a group of us to go out for some fun."

"Nothing that does any damage or hurts anyone," Ko answered.

Fang nodded.

"Come on, we'd best get back to the others," Ko sighed, "before someone suspects anything."

Meanwhile, in the courtyard, Goliath and Elisa took a slight break from closely monitoring the hatchlings playing games in the courtyard for a brief moment. Things had been fairly calm and the hatchlings weren't bouncing off of the walls with boundless energy they many of them had a habit of doing most nights.

"Things seem to be going well, so far," Elisa commented quietly.

"If we are referring to keeping things peaceful," Goliath answered in a voice that betrayed some concern.

"Yeah, but I'd think that if Thailog were going to do something, he'd wait until the Pack is able to repair themselves after the damage we dealt them a few nights ago," Elisa commented.

Goliath nodded, "I agree, but I was not referring to Thailog."

Elisa raised a browridge looking somewhat curious. Goliath then pointed up to a spot along the castle's outer wall. Elisa followed Goliath's finger with her eyes and spotted two hatchlings gazing out over the city from the wall.

"I'm afraid that they do not wish to remain solely in the castle," Goliath spoke quietly.

"There isn't much for a gargoyle to do outside the castle, at least if you're not talking about patrols," Elisa commented.

"Maybe so," Goliath agreed, "but as youngsters in a place that is new for them, that does not mean that they will be content to stay at the castle."

"Like a kid who is too young to go to an amusement park, but knows it's there," Elisa spoke.

"It isn't limited to human children," Goliath answered her, "gargoyle hatchlings can be just as curious and 'disobedient' as human children from time to time. Othello and I liked to wander around the woods outside the castle when we were younger, following the hunting parties. Brooklyn, when he was young got into Wyvern's stables and rode a horse about the courtyard until it threw him."

"And those two want to explore New York," Elisa guessed, "and probably aren't the only ones."

Goliath nodded, "and if Thailog, the Pack, and the Illuminati weren't such threats to gargoyles, it might be worth letting them explore. But we can't. Thailog would surely try to corrupt them, and the Pack would try to kill them for kicks, or to at least draw us out. And the Illuminati might try to capture them for the same strange reasons they wanted me when Bluestone finally got his shot at the Illuminati."

Elisa nodded, thinking back on earlier days, "I'm not arguing with you, Big Guy. We've got several dangerous enemies that they aren't prepared to deal with, and needlessly taking the risk could be disastrous."

"Hopefully, in time, those that would attack us to do evil in the city will be defeated," Goliath then rumbled, "and soon. They shouldn't be permanently denied the right to have a little freedom for themselves."

**Maddox Technologies**

Thailog slowly made his way into the lab that had been set aside for Alex Sevarius to work in to check on some of the side projects that he had the clone of Anton Sevarius working on. And these projects were largely to create some kind of weapon that he could unleash on the clan when it came time to seize control of Xanatos Enterprises and destroy Goliath's clan.

"How goes the progress?" Thailog asked as he approached the clone scientist.

Alex Sevarius turned from a small cage he had set up on a table and turned to face the large black clone.

"Progressing nicely," Alex Sevarius answered, "I would have preferred to use humans, as they would at least have something resembling a brain once the 'alterations' are done, but I believe we have something that will work quite well."

"We can not use humans," Thailog answered, "considering our past projects, we can not risk Goliath's clan stumbling on to the operation."

"Of course," Alex Sevarius agreed, "but what we have should work fairly well. I've altered several stray domestic dogs, cats, and various rats, pigeons, and I even managed to catch a falcon."

Alex Sevarius then stepped aside and revealed to Thailog what was in the cage, a terrified looking white lab rat.

"This is the latest of test subjects," Alex Sevarius spoke.

"And it will be able to defeat Goliath's clan?" Thailog asked.

"Once the serum begins to take full effect on it," Alex Sevarius explained, "it will grow to at least twice its present size. Its nails will grow longer and sharper, the same will be true for its teeth. And it should also grow wings. It may not be strong enough to kill a full grown gargoyle, it will certainly give them enough trouble that they won't be able to do well against the rest of your clan and the Pack."

"And I trust you can control them?" Thailog asked.

"The serum also includes a powerful genetically restructuring retro virus that rewrites the functioning of the animal brain," Alex Sevarius answered, "They won't be sentient, but they can grasp things that we can understand and are hardwired to follow any verbal command."

"Very good," Thailog spoke taking a closer look at the lab rat that had been injected, "How long will it take for the serum to have its full effect on the animal?"

"The full transformation will take a day or two," Alex Sevarius answered, "It's very complex and will take time to affect. I'd think with the damage that the Pack sustained in their latest failure that you wouldn't want to attack right away."

"Yes, but to be honest, I am beginning to lose my faith in the Pack," Thailog answered, "they are still on because they can at least provide some training for my clan in close quarters combat, but I would not be afraid to just let them drift on their own. My main reason for holding off attacking Goliath's clan is because patience is always a virtue. Rushing things will only cause problems."

Alex Sevarius nodded and then spoke, "then you will have a near perfect weapon to use. They will be so distracted by my creations that they won't be able to fight."

"Let me know when their transformations are complete," Thailog instructed, "then we'll figure out a direct plan for them when the final battle starts."

**Castle Wyvern**

The courtyard was once again empty when the Guatemalan clan returned to the castle. Things had been quiet largely, with nothing more dangerous then the common mugger.

"I will make the report to Goliath," Zafiro spoke, "you may rest for now."

"I think I will sleep today," Obsidiana told him, "It'll let the day go by faster."

"I believe we'll join you today as well," Jade added.

Zafiro nodded as he rest of his clan headed on their way. Sleeping during the day was becoming fairly routine for the Guatemalan clan. Unlike the Guatemalan rainforest, they couldn't patrol during the day in Manhattan, for fear of starting a riot, which meant that they had to remain at Castle Wyvern. To Zafiro and the other Guatemalans, the castle, while a safe refuge, it highlighted many of the issues that the Guatemalans had with New York. To some extent, Zafiro was glad that the spell on the amulets that he and his clan wore were altered, even if accidentally by the Hunter's attack on the clock tower, to allow them to sleep away they day in stone when they chose to do so. It lessened their having to deal with the sights of city that lacked any sign of humanity living with nature.

Zafiro meanwhile, continued on his way trying to find the Manhattan leader. He eventually fond Goliath sitting in the library reading from a book. Elisa was seat at a table not far away working on some crossword. As Zafiro came closer, Goliath looked up and easily noticed him.

"Good evening," Goliath spoke, "How did your clan fair?"

"It is closer to dawn then to evening," Zafiro corrected, "but everything is fine. Nothing more dangerous then the common mugger."

"Good," Goliath answered.

"You're sure you're okay?" Zafiro then heard Elisa ask from her chair, "You look kinda down to me."

"It is nothing that can be helped," Zafiro answered, "My clan and I just miss our home."

"I understand," Elisa nodded, "Dealing with new things is never easy, although, I had thought that you guys had gotten used to being here."

"My clan has grown to tolerate living here," Zafiro answered, "but Manhattan will never feel to us the way the Green did."

"Is there anything you need?" Goliath asked, "If there is anything that my clan failed to do to help you adjust when you arrived, we can…"

"There is no need for that, Goliath," Zafiro interrupted him, "Your clan has been more then hospitable. It is just old memories that are also fond memories. Manhattan is a large city, and it will take more the a few months for my clan to get used to the idea of living in a human metropolis."

Zafiro then turned and left, leaving Goliath and Elisa looking in the direction in which he left.

"Perhaps we should have found a home that the Guatemalans would be more comfortable in," Goliath rumbled after a few moments.

"And where would that be?" Elisa asked back, "There isn't a lot of wild lands around this area. And thanks to the Quarrymen, despite the fact that we beat them, a lot of places aren't safe for gargoyles."

Goliath only answered her with a rumbling sigh.

As dawn came and the new day began, things at Castle Wyvern changed fairly heavily from they way they were at night. The gargoyles had all gone to sleep for the day while the Castle's human and mutate residents began to stir. Only Zafiro was still awake as he sat alone in the castle's courtyard. He didn't feel tired, but was trying to relax as much as possible.

"Beautiful day, ain't it?" a voice asked distracting him from his thoughts.

Zafiro looked up to see the teen who was presently mated to one of the former humans in Goliath's clan. He couldn't place the boy's name, but politely sat up.

"Yes," Zafiro answered, "Is there something you need?"

"Nothing that I'd trouble you with," Lawrence answered, "I'm just setting out a homework assignment to get some sun for the day."

Zafiro then looked down to see that Lawrence held a small ceramic pot with a small flowering plant in it. He had a small glass case in his other hand. It raised Zafiro's curiosity slightly and took his mind off the problems he had been wrestling with.

"I'd think it is still too cold outside to grow such plants," Zafiro commented.

"The assignment is to try and see if we can get something to grow in a home made green house," Lawrence replied, as he set the pot down and then placed the glass cage down over the pot, "That's why I got this glass 'cage'. It should hold heat in and let sunlight in for the plant."

"An experiment in gardening?" Zafiro asked.

"I guess," Lawrence shrugged, "it's for my science class."

"Your people would be better served protecting what little 'wild' lands still exist," Zafiro commented, "then such 'gardening experiments' wouldn't be necessary."

"People try," Lawrence answered, "but it's kinda hard to do on a large scale. In a lot of those places, towns and villages are growing rapidly, and they expand their villages in the 'wild' to give people a place to live."

"I would tend to think that people are not trying hard enough," Zafiro answered, "considering the fact that before it was burned down by the robot called Coldsteel, the Green was a vibrant rainforest full of life. Here, you live in a maze of concrete and glass, all signs of nature gone and destroyed forever."

"That sounds a little harsh, man," Lawrence answered, "I mean we have Central Park, which has lots of trees and lakes and so forth."

"A park that only exists because you want it to exist," Zafiro answered, "the grass is probably cut during the summer months. Trees that are trimmed so that they look good. A park that is absent of any wild creatures that do not naturally live beside humans. It is not natural."

"It's the best that you can get in New York," Lawrence told him, "You can't expect New Yorkers to give up what they had and turn the city into a jungle."

Zafiro nodded, but his face clearly showed that he did not like it.

"Look, uh, I know it has to be rough for you," Lawrence commented, "Coming from a place that was green all year long and relocating to an urban city, but things can't all bad. Can they?"

"No," Zafiro shook his head, "and things are not necessarily bad. I merely miss my home. That is all."

"Oh," Lawrence answered, "I sorry there isn't any more I could do to help you."

"The kindness and generosity of you and Goliath's clan, and all their friends and allies is more then what my clan could ask for," Zafiro told him, "you do not need to do more."

Lawrence slowly nodded and then left, saying he had to get to school. Zafiro gave a polite nod and looked down briefly at the teen's artificial greenhouse sitting beside him. Then he returned his attention to the outside castle walls.

Later that day, Xanatos and Fox were waiting patiently in a sort of welcome room that connected Castle Wyvern directly to the rest of the Eyrie Building. Both looked nervous, but there was some look of determination on Fox's face.

"You're sure this is a good idea?" Xanatos asked.

"No, but Owen is right," Fox answered, "You studied business, mythology, and history. I studied martial arts, fashion, and theater. Neither of us know the first thing about delivering babies, and our current condition would make the issue complicated even if we did know."

"Our current condition," Xanatos sighed, "and you're sure we can trust this… Doctor Weinsheimer not to blab to the world that David and Fox Xanatos are a pair of dogs with wings?"

"Owen believes he can be trusted, and told me that this was necessary," Fox sighed back.

"Owen," Xanatos mumbled, "He did all this behind my back…"

"To help us," Fox reminded him, "Even if we didn't necessarily want it. And it was his opinion that we need it."

"But why couldn't he have just asked?" Xanatos asked.

"Because my job services require that I be instructed to carry out tasks," came Owen's voice, "not beg for an assignment. And it was my opinion, sir, that if I had approached you beforehand, you would have refused to consider the option because of what Sevarius did to you."

"You know, sometimes you're like a good friend or a brother I never had," Xanatos commented.

"I'll take that as a compliment, sir," Owen answered, "In the meantime, I will go and meet with Doctor Weinsheimer. We'll be back in a moment."

Owen then walked to the elevator doors and boarded an elevator and began the descent to the ground level where the doctor was waiting. The man was waiting patiently and was soon walking forward when Owen appeared.

"Are you ready?" Owen asked.

"Of course," Dr. Weinsheimer answered, "I'd like to thank you for inviting me back."

"You've met all the qualifications that I can think of," Owen answered, "and Mr. and Mrs. Xanatos were willing to let you meet with them before you make your final decision."

"So I will be meeting with them?" Dr. Weinsheimer asked.

"Yes, but be warned, what you see can never be discussed with anyone," Owen said firmly.

"I told you before, I'm sworn not to disclose anything involving the treatment of a patient," Dr. Weinsheimer answered as the elevator doors opened.

The Doctor was completely surprised by what he saw. It was two wild dog-like creatures with bat like wings growing from their backs. The male was a black furred wolf-like creature and the female was a red fox-like creature and looked to be in the early to mid months of pregnancy.

"Um, hello," Dr. Weinsheimer spoke politely, and then turned to Owen and asked, "Shouldn't the gargoyles be asleep?"

"Most of them, yes," Owen answered, "but some gargoyles posses an amulet that prevents them from turning to stone so long as they remain conscious during the day."

"Interesting," Dr. Weinsheimer commented, "and it would appear that the female is also pregnant. I'd be willing to provide treatment if she would accept it."

"Actually, you are here to treat me," Fox spoke weakly, "none of the gargoyles are pregnant."

Fox's voice shocked Dr. Weinsheimer in to silence. It surprised him and he was completely unable to say a word.

"This is why complete secrecy about the situation was important," Owen spoke as he came up beside the doctor.

"That's… that's…" Dr. Weinsheimer stuttered.

"Yes," Owen nodded.

"But how are they gargoyles?" Dr. Weinsheimer asked.

"We aren't gargoyles," Xanatos spoke up and spoke firmly, "we're mutates actually. Creatures scientifically created to emulate gargoyles."

"Mutates?" Dr. Weinsheimer asked curiously.

"Creatures designed by Anton Sevarius to resemble gargoyles," Owen answered, "He transformed back when Nightstone seriously challenged Xanatos Enterprises for economic control of New York."

"Why couldn't you just report him?" Dr. Weinsheimer asked.

"Because I am the ultimate start of the 'mutate' project," Xanatos sighed, "Sevarius took it farther then intended, but I was the one who initially funded his research. If I reported him, I would also face jail time, despite the fact that I am a victim."

Dr. Weinsheimer sighed but said nothing.

"It is why I insisted on secrecy regarding this," Owen answered, "Should this information leak out, they could face serious trouble that would also complicate the gargoyle clan that lives here."

"I'd image if the castle's owners go to jail, forcing Xanatos Enterprises out of business," Dr. Weinsheimer commented.

There was a short and awkward silence that followed before Dr. Weinsheimer spoke again.

"I do not approve of human experimentation," Dr. Weinsheimer spoke, "and I certainly do not approve of your support of it."

Dr. Weinsheimer then sighed as Xanatos and Fox looked on nervously before the doctor continued.

"But, I would presume that you didn't know everything that Sevarius was doing and that you support the clan that lives here," Dr. Weinsheimer said, "I will agree to provide your wife with the best prenatal care that I can provide, under the condition that you also inform the clan that they will have an official doctor to look after them as necessary. I will not inform anyone of your condition, but I would urge that Sevarius be turned over to the police, if you have him held anywhere."

"If Sevarius were here, we would need him to cure them of their present mutation," Owen spoke in a voice that made Dr. Weinsheimer wonder if he was telling the truth, but even if it was a lie, he had a point. The police would ensure that Sevarius paid for his crimes, but they may not make him cure his 'victims'.

"It's a really tough situation, I know," Xanatos spoke, hoping he could smooth things out before the doctor refused, panicked and ran, which would force him and Owen to take more direct action, "I'm trying to repair all the damage that was caused by the mistakes I've made, funding people like Sevarius and so forth, but it will take awhile."

"I can understand repentance and guilt," Doctor Weinsheimer answered, "and do not worry. You do not strike me as true villain, so I will agree to provide medical care for your wife in her condition, although I would also assume that she can not go to a hospital."

Fox nodded.

"That'll make this more difficult," Doctor Weinsheimer commented, "I would need some amount of equipment to insure that the child is developing well and what has developed so far, as I doubt anything like this has happened before."

"Not to our knowledge," Fox answered, "but I'm sure David and I can buy the equipment you need or manufacture it somehow."

"You could?" Doctor Weinsheimer asked.

"I am a multi-billionaire, regardless of my outward appearance," Xanatos smirked, "You can leave a list with me of what you need."

Doctor Weinsheimer had finished his work for the day and had gone home by the time the gargoyles awoke for the night by the time sun set, but for the Xanatos and for Owen, the day had been successful. Fox now had a doctor, and if things turned out well, the doctor was also willing to be a physician for the clan, if they approved of him. That, however, was not the clan's first order of business. For them, things were to be done as they were done every night.

Fang stuck close to Ko as the older Chinese hatchlings were herded inside for their breakfast.

"I've talked with a group of the others who want to explore as well," Fang told her, "They'll provide a distraction for some of us tonight, and we'll do the same for them tomorrow night if things come to having to escape in order to go out."

"You will remember that we will ask first before we try 'escaping', right?" Ko questioned seriously.

"Of course," Fang nodded, "an who do you think we should ask?"

"The web winged pair is likely to be assigned to watch over a group of hatchlings tonight, so we should try to ask them," Ko told her partner in mischief, "I think we might be able to persuade them."

**Maddox Technologies**

Alex Sevarius awoke inside his lab, throwing stone sink throughout the room. He was quietly thankful that he had tripled the strength of all glass and other items that might break after Thailog took over the company. After a short moment or two he looked around to the cage where the lab rat that he had injected with his new serum was. He then smiled and moved over to an intercom that linked him with the room that Thailog and the rest of his clan 'slept' in. Thailog's voice answered a moment later.

"Yes?" Thailog asked.

"Come down to my lab," Alex Sevarius answered, "I think you'll like what you see."

"I'm on my way," Thailog answered and let the line go dead for the time being.

Alex Sevarius then waited patiently for a few moments before the door to his lab opened with Thailog entered the room.

"I take it you have something to show me?" Thailog asked.

Alex Sevarius nodded and gestured to a lab table nearby, and Thailog turned to look at it. What intrigued him was not the large metal cage on the table, but the occupant of the cage. What was in the cage had clearly been a white lab rat before it had been injected with Alex Sevarius's serum, but it was now clearly different. It still resembled a lab rat, but it was now much larger and its fur looked much rougher then before. It had also grown to bat-likes wings above its shoulder blades and its small nails had lengthened into fairly long and frightening claws. It was chewing on the bars of the cage with very scary looking teeth for a rodent.

"The serum has had its full affect I see," Thailog said with a smile.

"Yes," Alex Sevarius answered, "but they should still be hardwired to obey verbal commands, although it will probably best to keep those commands simple."

"Of course," Thailog nodded and then approached the cage and in a commanding voice spoke, "Sit!"

The creature immediately moved into a sitting position, but continued to gnaw on the bars of the cage, which stretched its head out a fair ways.

"It's still gnawing the bars," Thailog commented, "It can't escape, can it?"

"No," Alex Sevarius answered, "and it's probably still gnawing because you didn't command it to stop gnawing. Like I said, keep the commands simple."

"Stop chewing on the bars and look at me," Thailog then commanded the creature.

It released the bars from its jaws and looked up at the black skinned clone. This made Thailog smile.

"And all the others share the same obedience?" Thailog asked.

"Yes," Alex Sevarius answered.

"Then I want you to take this one out and see how well they do against Goliath's clan," Thailog ordered, "He's bound to have some out patrolling by now."

"Me, go out?" Alex Sevarius asked, "I'm no fighter. If they caught me, they'd beat me easily."

"I do not intend for you to fight," Thailog answered, "Once it looks like either the creature is about to lose, or about to die, leave the area and come here. If you can recover your creation, that's fine, but if not, we can make more."

"Very well," Alex Sevarius sighed and hoped he would run into someone he could easily escape.

**Castle Wyvern**

"Man, this is a large group," Caroline commented as she, Candy, Amy, and Lexington lead them into a large open room that was used as a recreation room.

"Yeah, but there's four of us," Lexington answered, "and you said Lawrence would be stopping by later this evening once his homework was done."

"Remember that even with the weekend coming, Lawrence can't stay up all night," Caroline reminded the web-winged male, "He'll get tired and have to go to bed."

"I'd tend to think we can take care of this group," Amy interjected, "They've been fairly well behaved so far."

Meanwhile, the four Manhattan gargoyles were approached by two hatchlings, each looking as though they had a question. It was the male, Fang, who spoke first.

"Ko and I have a question to ask you," Fang spoke when they realized he was nearby.

"About what?" Candy asked.

"We were wondering if it was possible that we could go out, instead of staying here," Ko asked directly.

"Yeah, we're tired of being cooped up in here," Fang added.

Candy then nervously looked to Lexington and then gave a heavy sigh.

"We've been told no to allow that," Candy sighed, "You could get attacked and even hurt."

"But you guys could supervise and watch out," Ko argued, "criminals could succeed with you guys watching."

"Normal crooks maybe, but the clan has other enemies are physically more dangerous the average criminal," Lex told her, "or are better organized. Thailog's clan, the Pack, and Fang are strong enough to cause real trouble. The mob and the Illuminati are smart enough that going out would be a risk."

"But you've stopped them all, right?" Fang asked, sounding really insistent about going out.

"Not decisively," Caroline answered, "and the mob and the Illuminati can easily replace their losses. Crushing them in a localized battle wouldn't matter much. It's too dangerous, and I'm sorry, but you'll have to stay here."

"That's not fair," Fang answered back.

"I know it's not fair," Amy said firmly, "We have largely given up a lot of our own personal lives to help protect you and keep you safe. If you're going to whine about not being able to go outside, I'll just remind you that that life isn't exactly rosy for us either."

Fang and Ko then slowly walked way.

"I don't think there was any reason to get that harsh with them," Candy commented after a moment or two.

"I'd think we need to be firm," Amy commented, "The two of them sounded like they might try to sneak out even if we said 'no'. I was just making sure they understand that things aren't one sided."

Fang and Ko meanwhile walked to the far edge of the room around a small number of other hatchlings.

"So, how'd it go?" one of the hatchlings asked.

"They didn't even listen," Fang grumbled.

"But at least we asked first," another hatchling commented.

"That'll make it look like direct disobedience," Ko spoke, sounding slightly fearful.

"You're not going to tell on us, are you?" a third hatchling demanded.

"No," Ko answered, "I'm just stating how they will look at this, and I intend to keep you out of trouble."

"Alright!" Fang smiled, "now, we need to plan out the distraction."

"We did get a football," the first of the other hatchlings commented, "We can start a game of catch with it and spread it out into the other groups. It'll cause confusion and our babysitters will have to intervene in order to stop it. You can then slip out."

Fang smiled.

**The Courtyard**

Goliath and Elisa carefully made their way out into the courtyard to begin their patrol for the night to find Zafiro and his clan waiting for them in the courtyard.

"You guys okay?" Elisa asked, "you seemed a little rough last night."

"It was nothing to really worry about," Obsidiana replied, "not exactly anything that really can be helped."

"We do appreciate your sympathy," Jade added.

"We all wish to help you," Goliath answered, "Losing your old home had to be tough, and as I told Zafiro, I should have done more to help you adjust."

"Nothing short of presenting us with a place that is safe and in a more natural area would be able to do that," Zafiro sighed, "and even then, I don't know if it would be wise to simply leave because New York is not the sort of place that we preferred."

Elisa and Goliath traded looks for a brief moment.

"You would move?" Elisa asked, curious.

"If we were to move to a safe place, and if we would agree that moving was a wise decision," Turquesa spoke, "and we wouldn't do so until the current major crisis with Thailog and the crisis in China is over."

Goliath and Elisa then nodded and quickly moved to leave. Once they were gliding the two began their own conversation.

"You can't stand that they're not happy, huh, big guy?" Elisa asked.

"We could have done more," Goliath rumbled, "They came to us, and we've failed to notice that they didn't like Manhattan."

"It's not like we had the convenient ability to pay close attention," Elisa commented, "with the order of events including the conflict with Anton Sevarius running Nightstone, the female trio joining us, Thailog's return, and the Unseelie Court causing trouble, it isn't exactly like we could sit down and think of how to work with the Guatemalans and make them happy."

Goliath didn't respond to that.

"Although, we probably could do something more," Elisa commented, "Thinking of a more suitable home for them wouldn't be a bad idea."

"I had thought that Xanadu would be good place," Goliath rumbled, "It is a fairly forested area."

"That might work if it's larger then Central Park," Elisa commented as the two rounded the corner of a building.

**Castle Wyvern**

Caroline and Amy were startled out of a game of chess by the sounds of screams and cheers. They looked up to see a group of four hatchlings tossing a football about the room and carrying their game around the room, and interrupting other games or activities that the other hatchlings were doing. Naturally, these other hatchlings didn't like their own games interrupted.

"They've always behaved before?" Caroline asked to Amy in a sarcastic voice.

"Well, I guess they can always act up now," Amy sighed and got up, "come on, we'd better get them to calm down a bit."

Caroline and Amy then made their way towards the two closest hatchlings that were involved in the game of catch that was starting to get out of hand. It was at that moment that the game carried them into another group that had taken up a game of marbles, which among the hatchlings was mostly a contest to see who could get the most marbles in the center the fastest. The two hatchlings slipped on the marbles and were soon sliding across the floor, knocking over other hatchlings as they went. They only stopped when they slid into Lex and Candy who were helping another group of hatchlings make paper airplanes.

"Hey, come on, what is all this?" Lex asked as he found himself on top of a pile of hatchlings, and thankful that as web-wings he and Candy were the lightest gargoyles in the clan.

"We were just playin' catch," a male hatchling spoke from the bottom of the pile as they began to all get back up.

"And you've made a huge mess," Candy groaned as she got up.

"We didn't mean to," the other hatchling spoke.

Amy and Caroline arrived to try and figure out what was going on and were suddenly stopped by the sound of a door shutting behind them. They then turned to see the door that lead out had just been shut. What was startling more was that no one had came in.

"Someone went out," Lex spoke.

"Duh," Amy answered, "Did you see who?"

"No," Candy shook her head.

That caused the entire group to give a heavy sigh.

"It's probably someone going to the bathroom," Lex said, trying to dismiss it.

"They're supposed to tell us if they're doing that," Amy answered, "I think those two that wanted to go out pulled a fast one."

"Come on, Amy," Candy shot back, "We told them it was to dangerous. Surely they wouldn't do that."

"And if you're wrong?" Amy asked, "If they get hurt and we do nothing, the Chinese elders will have our heads."

"Fine," Candy sighed, "Lex and I will go. You stay here and keep an eye on the rest of this group. If any of the elders come in, tell them we're exploring parts of the castle that the clan hasn't ventured into."

"We've been just about everywhere in the castle," Lex whispered to his mate.

"The Chinese elders don't know that," Candy answered, "Now, come on. We'd better make sure they didn't fly the coop on us."

Meanwhile, Fang and Ko, along with two other hatchling Mu Tsu and Xian made their way into the castle's courtyard.

"Yes, we gave them the slip," Xian cheered.

"Shh," Fang said quickly, "the Guatemalans are still out here. We'll need to take a side route."

Sure enough, the four Guatemalan gargoyles were still in the courtyard, but they thankfully hadn't noticed the three hatchlings. Fang quickly lead the rest of them to a side staircase that lead them up to the castle's battlements. Once there, they ran around to the other side of the castle's walls so that no one could see them.

"Everyone ready to go?" Fang asked once they were safely away from the courtyard.

"Yes!" Mu Tsu and Xian cheered while Ko looked on nervously.

They then left.

Candy and Lex arrived in the courtyard a few minutes later after finding out that no hatchling was using any of castle's bathrooms and making their way outside. They found the Guatemalan clan resting out in the courtyard. The two web-wings moved closer to see if they had seen anything.

"Hey, guys, you didn't happen to see any Chinese hatchlings come this way?" Lex asked quickly as they ran up.

That got their attention, but none of them looked like they understood the question.

"I'm sorry," Zafiro answered first, speaking for his clan, "what was that you said?"

"A group of the Chinese hatchlings pulled some sort of prank on us," Candy explained, "We think they might try to get outside the castle and they might have come this way."

Zafiro turn the others and shared a frightened look with them.

"We did not see them," Zafiro spoke.

"I thought I heard some voices earlier," Turquesa spoke up, "but it was only briefly. If it was the hatchlings, I thought they were supervised."

"Great, that means that they're outside castle," Lex spoke nervously, "We've got to go after them, before they get hurt. And before the Chinese elders turn Candy and I into Swiss cheese."

"We'll help you search," Jade volunteered, "It will give us something to do tonight, and besides. It is natural for gargoyles to help each other."

"Okay," Lex answered, "Candy and I will head south. Can you guys split up and head northern and western edges of Manhattan and then we can meet in Central Park?"

The others nodded. They then quickly rushed to begin searching for the runaway hatchlings.

**Elsewhere**

Fang lead his small group of hatchlings for a landing on the roof of a theater not far away from the Eyrie Building.

"So where do we go now?" Mu Tsu asked curiously, "Now that we're out and free to explore?"

"I say we go play in the park," Xian spoke up, "All the ponds and benches, it'd be cool to go swimming."

"Nah, they go a pool in the castle if we wanted to go swimming," Fang shook his head.

"But the pond water is clean," Xian answered back, "it doesn't have that bad smelling thingy in it."

"Chlorine?" Ko asked her.

"Yeah," Xian nodded, "Chlorine."

"No, they'd notice we went swimming and without the chlorine smell, we couldn't just claim we went to the pool," Fang answered, "I say we just explore. We only got an overview the last time we were out."

"Okay," Xian and Mu Tsu nodded in agreement.

They began gliding again, and only made it a few blocks before noises from the ground caught their attention. It turned out to be a couple of people armed with chains attempting to mug a fairly elderly woman.

"Come on!" Fang said enthusiastically and dove down toward the men.

"This won't end well," Ko sighed and dove after the others.

Fang and Xian landed on the closest mugger to the woman, the sudden impact of their weight on his shoulders taking him to the ground. Mu Tsu and Ko did the same with the other mugger, and were actually successful in knocking the mugger out in doing so. Fang and Xian weren't as lucky. The crook managed to recover and threw them off of him. The two hatchlings ended up rolling to the feet of the elderly woman who appeared to be just as scared of the hatchlings as she had been of the muggers.

"Gargoyles," the crook growled, "First they start bustin' us up, now they send their kids to do it."

The man then swung his chain out at Mu Tsu and Ko, narrowly missing them. Mu Tsu dove back and Ko dropped to the ground. The man then focused his attacks on Ko, who was practically defenseless.

"No!" Ko pleaded.

"Yes," the mugger said triumphantly, "I'm finally going to get some payback for all the smack downs I've endured at the hands of gargoyles!"

He raised his hand to strike Ko with his chain when suddenly something large came down from the air and tackled the man. Ko was startled to see that it was a navy blue male gargoyle with white hair. It grabbed the mugger by the shoulders and threw him out into the street. The mugger was out cold as soon as he hit the ground, and he hit the ground hard.

"Thank you," Ko speak, thankful that she had been saved and still slightly frustrated with Fang that he lead their group from a joyride into a fight that could have killed them.

The navy blue gargoyle, however, was Alex Sevarius, and he personally didn't intend on letting this group live now that they had seen him.

"I'm afraid you are thanking some one you shouldn't," Alex Sevarius spoke as the Chinese hatchlings gathered close to him.

"But why?" Xian asked, "you're a gargoyle and you saved us."

"While I am a gargoyle," Alex Sevarius answered, "I am not a member of Goliath's clan and I have been sent on a mission to test a rather new creation of mine."

It was then that monstrous looking winged rat landed on Alex Sevarius's outstretched arm. All four hatchlings quickly recoiled in fear at the sight of the creature.

"Attack them," Alex Sevarius ordered the creature.

The rat gave a very un-ratlike growl and lunged forward. The four hatchlings screamed in terror as the creature charged forward and ran down the alley, ignoring the woman who had passed out from fear where she was.

"Did you hear that?" Candy asked as she and Lex continued heading south from the Eyrie Building in search of the escaped hatchlings.

"Hear what?" Lex asked back, "I've been trying to see if I could spot the hatchlings."

"It was a scream, and too loud to be made by humans, even a group of humans," Candy said, "and it didn't come from too far away."

"You think it is the hatchlings?" Lex asked.

"Has to be," Candy nodded, "the other patrol groups would roar if they were fighting, and I don't think the mutates from Talon's clan would scream like that. It sounded fearful to me."

"Okay, lead on," Lex told her, "You heard the scream, not me."

Candy nodded and banked down toward the spot where she had heard the scream come from. They landed on a rooftop and looked down into an alley and were completely shocked by what they saw. An elderly woman lay unconscious in the middle of the alley, not far away from an unconscious mugger, and a second knocked out crook lay in the middle of the street. The four hatchlings were cowering near a dumpster throwing garbage from inside it at some extremely large winged rat. What made things worse was that there was a lone navy blue gargoyle watching the whole thing happen as though it was some lab experiment.

"Candy, can you deal with the rat?" Lex asked, "I'll see what this blue guy is up to."

Candy nodded and the two then leaped over the side of the building.

Fang, Ko, Xian, and Mu Tsu ran as the creature flew after them, growling and snarling the whole way. It made a few attempts to bite them, but either failed to catch up, or it was struck by a flailing wing or tail. The four hatchlings eventually got cornered next to a dumpster as the mutated rat growled at them.

"Fine idea you had Fang," Ko growled at the male hatching.

"Come on, we gotta get that thing to stop," Fang answered back, grabbing an empty plastic pudding container and threw it at the flying rat.

They began throwing more garbage at the creature, and while they failed to hit it, they did successfully keep it from getting any closer. After a few moments of haphazard throwing, a pink shape dropped down from above and onto the attacking rodent. As the hatchlings saw who it was, they gulped nervously, knowing that even if Candy saved them, they'd still be in trouble.

Candy threw the creature against the side of the wall and then turned to the hatchlings.

"Go up to the roof, and wait for us there," Candy ordered, "Do not dare leaving."

"Yes ma'am," the hatchlings answered submissively and quickly began climbing up the wall of the building that Candy had jumped down from. The rat, meanwhile, recovered and leaped at Candy with great force. The pink web-wing raised one arm up to shield herself, and managed to stop the creature from getting at her throat, but she still felt its claws sink into outer membrane of her wings and felt its teeth sink into her arm.

Candy roared in pain and quickly swung her arm wildly trying to shake the rat off of her. She was successful in doing so, and the creature landed at her feet. She then kicked it like a soccer ball, sending it bouncing off the wall of the other building.

Lex, meanwhile landed in front of the navy blue gargoyle with a very determined look on his face. He quickly began to back away from the olive green male fairly nervously.

"Now, now," Alex Sevarius spoke, "I don't want any trouble."

"With me," Lex growled and advanced on him, "You had no problem trying to cause a group of hatchlings trouble."

"That was only a small test," Alex Sevarius said, "I mean not no permanent harm."

"Like making someone suffer for a little while is better," Lex growled and lunged forward at Alex Sevarius who fled before him.

The navy blue gargoyle fled out of the alley, jumped onto the roof of a passing car and used it to propel himself into the air. He was soon gliding away at full speed. Lex was about to chase after him when he heard Candy's pained roar come from the alleyway. He quickly turned around and rushed back to help his mate. He arrived to see her kick the cat sized winged rat into the wall of the building in front of her. He also noticed the wounds that the creature had left in her wing and forearm.

Candy readied herself for the creature's next attack when Lex suddenly appeared, grabbing the creature by its wings and holding them in a manner that the mutated rat couldn't bite him. He then slammed its head against the dumpster, knocking it out.

"You okay?" Lex asked quickly.

"Fine," Candy said with a sigh, "This is going to sting for a while, but I'm okay. Where'd the blue gargoyle go?"

"Fled," Lex answered, "which is unimportant. We need to get the hatchlings back to the castle."

Candy nodded, "And what are you doing with that?"

Lex held up the creature and sighed, "I was hoping Owen could have it analyzed or something."

**Maddox Technologies**

Alex Sevarius approached Thailog's office looking fairly nervous. He was met by Holly who was on her way out.

"Back already?" Holly asked, and then shrugged, "Must have been an interesting test. He's waiting for you."

That only added to his nervousness. Thailog had apparently been waiting for him ever since he left with his creature. As he entered the office, he found Thailog seated and patiently waiting. He nervously approached, hoping that he wouldn't be viewed as a failure.

"How did your test go?" Thailog asked calmly.

"Fairly successful, I would think," Alex Sevarius spoke slowly, "I ran into a group of gargoyle hatchlings, which were terrified of my creation, and it kept their rescuers busy while I escaped."

"Did it kill any of them?" Thailog asked.

"I don't think so, but it did hurt one of the rescuers," Alex Sevarius answered, "and forced the other one to abandon its pursuit of me. And that is largely what I intended for them to do. In greater numbers they'll probably be even more effective, and as they are, they'll certainly distract the gargoyles enough that your clan or the Pack will be successful in fighting."

Thailog smiled confidently, "I trust you can make more?"

"Yes," Alex Sevarius answered, "Easily."

"Very well," Thailog continue to do so, "I expect them ready once the Pack has finished repairing themselves after their latest fiasco."

**Castle Wyvern**

Fang gulped nervously as the group returned to the castle. A stern looking Caroline and Amy stood along side several of the Tibetan elders who looked downright furious. He knew that they were in serious trouble now. He glanced back at the others. Xian and Mu Tsu looked just as frightened as he did, and Ko looked completely ashamed.

"Were these the only ones that snuck out?" an elder female asked.

Lex nodded, "Yeah, but I'm afraid Candy and I can not stay. They got themselves attacked by one of Thailog's clan and some mutant rat, and that got Candy hurt."

The elders looked at the mutated creature in Lex's left hand and then at the wounds that Candy had received fighting it. They quickly nodded and let the two web-wings go inside. They then turned to the hatchlings with very firm looks.

"We've been told you four willingly deceived your supervisors and disobeyed your elders," the male elder said, "I trust you have a good excuse for why you did so."

They all looked down guiltily and said nothing for a few moments. It was eventually Ko who spoke.

"We have no excuse," Ko spoke weakly, "but we had no intention of anyone getting hurt."

"Nevertheless, your own foolishness nearly killed you and got the female web-wing hurt," the female elder spoke, "we told you to remain in the castle for a good reason, and you deliberately disobeyed us."

"We're sorry," Ko spoke, sensing that the others were to embarrassed to talk, "we were foolish and will accept whatever punishment you deem appropriate."

"At least you are now acting responsibly, Ko Lun," the female elder scolded, "You are all confined to the rookery and will help the adults care for your younger brothers and sisters, is that understood."

"Yes, elder," Ko answered with her head down.

"And the rest of you?" the male elder asked.

Xian, Mu Tsu, and Fang were quick to nod and accept the punishment.

"Good," the male elder answered to the rockery with you.

The four then sighed and began to follow Caroline and Amy to the rookery. The two elders remained patiently waiting for at least Goliath to return from his patrol. They ended up waiting until nearly an half hour before dawn when Goliath, Elisa, and surprising the Tibetan elders, Zafiro and the Guatemalans were with them.

"I take it you heard about the 'escaped' hatchlings," Goliath commented as his group approached.

"Yes," the female elder answered, "and their punishment has been seen to. They will be helping in the rookery for a few weeks."

Goliath nodded, feeling it wasn't his place to discuss punishment, but he did also agree that they did need to be disciplined.

"I wouldn't be too hard on them," Elisa commented, "With our attention divided between helping you and patrolling… I'll also admit there are times where I'd like to have a moment or two where I'm not 'at work' or here."

"Understandable," the male elder answered, "gargoyles have wings for a reason. Our instincts don't like being 'grounded' for long, but you've told us that you have many dangerous foes that would take advantage of the situation if they found the hatchlings outside the castle."

"Yes," Goliath nodded, "it is our hope that at least Thailog is decisively defeated, which would also mean that the Pack would also be defeated as well. With them defeated it might be safe enough to risk letting some of their groups go out to Central Park or to the theater."

"If we do that before the supermen in Tibet are defeated and you can return to your home," Elisa added, "I'm sure it couldn't hurt to give them some greater exercise other then running around the courtyard."

"We will think on it," the female elder spoke, "but it will take time to come to a definite decision."

Goliath and Elisa nodded and watched as the two Tibetan elders turned and walked inside. They then turned to the Guatemalans who were still there.

"We're sorry you were brought into all of this," Goliath spoke carefully.

"Think nothing of it," Zafiro answered, "we were glad to help."

"Yes," Obsidiana added, "It gave us something to do tonight other then tend to the garden here in the castle's courtyard."

"The incident has also shown us that you will need the help," Zafiro then spoke, "We will certainly remain here until the Tibetan elders can return to their home."

"We had given some of that some thought," Elisa commented, "Xanatos owns a fair sized amount of land in upstate New York. If you do decide you don't want to stay in the city, we might be able to persuade him to let you stay there."

"We thank you for your offer and we will keep it in mind," Zafiro answered, "but it will be best if we focus on persevering until the Tibetans can go home."

"Of course," Goliath answered.

**The End…**


	44. Rumble in the Tunnels

All characters appearing in Gargoyles and Gargoyles: The Goliath Chronicles are copyrighted to Buena Vista Television/The Walt Disney Company. I've taken the idea for the Unseelie Court from the TGS. Characters and concepts from Star Trek are property of Paramount and created by Gene Roddenberry. No Infringement of these copyrights is intended, and is not authorized by the copyright holder. All original characters are the property of SN.

Note: I'm disregarding the events of the "Goliath Chronicles", with the exception of "The Journey" because I do not wish to use the rest of the "Goliath Chronicles" as canon to my story. Also, I'm altering large sections of the Star Trek storyline, especially concerning events like WWIII and the Eugenics Wars, which without the Cold War as a backdrop probably wouldn't happen the way Roddenberry wrote them, if at all. This story takes place one week after "The Calm Before the Storm".

Rumble in the Tunnels

By SN/TVfan

Email: Sam_Nary

**Tunnels Under Manhattan**

"I trust this shelter is dryer then this," a man commented in a very grumbling tone as he and another man made their way through the tunnels that ran underneath the Borough of Manhattan.

"It is," the other man answered, "the guys that run it look a little weird but they do a lot to provide for us and vigilantly keep crooks out, which is a lot more then anyone can say most other places we could go."

"That'll be nice," the first spoke.

"Yeah," the second commented, "I'm sure you'll like it, despite some of the weird stuff there."

The first didn't get a chance to say anything as a pair of hands reached out and grabbed him, and then pulled him into one of the side passages of the tunnels. The second man continued on for a few moments, but then stopped when he couldn't hear his partner's footsteps behind him.

"Harry?" the second man asked, "Harry, you okay?"

The tunnel was silent as a tomb, which made the second man nervous. After a few seconds, he heard footsteps again, and he assumed that it was his friend.

"Harry, is that you?" the man asked, "You okay?"

He only heard some soft snickering in response, which only made him nervous. He then turned his flashlight in the direction of the footsteps.

"Harry, this better not be some kind of joke," the man warned and then spotted the approaching figure.

The figure wasn't 'Harry'. It was some other man with a shaved head and was wearing a pair of large and oversized sunglasses. He was also walking with a rather confident smile on his face.

"Who are you?" the man demanded, backing away nervously, "Where's Harry?"

"Gone," the newcomer smiled, revealing pointed teeth.

The man screamed and ran for his life, dropping his flashlight as he did so. The newcomer pursued, and a few moments later the only sound heard in section of the tunnels was a muffled 'urk' as the man was killed. The newcomer then returned to the side passageway where his own associate was waiting, with Harry's corpse laying at his feet.

"Did you get the other one, Harvey?" the other attacker asked.

"Yeah," the first attacker, identified as Harvey, nodded, "What did ya get out of this one?"

"These guys are bums, just like most of the guys we've grabbed down here," the other one answered.

"Where were they going?" Harvey asked back.

"Said something about a 'labyrinth' before he lost his life," the other attacker said, "Didn't say where though."

Harvey thought for a moment, "We'll need to talk with the boss. They were talking about this 'labyrinth' being some sort of safe house. It might be just what we're looking for."

**The Labyrinth**

"I'd like to thank you for escorting the men bringing supplies down here," Talon spoke as various men employed by Xanatos dropped off supplies to the Labyrinth.

"It was no problem," Caroline answered, while Broadway and Angela helped carry in more supplies that the Labyrinth dwellers needed, "It was our turn to patrol tonight and Broadway and Angela felt it was an opportunity to check on the clones. Owen only informed us that tonight was a delivery night."

"It's still good that you three came to help," Talon spoke, "It is very much appreciated, and it is one of the few sources of news that we can get down here."

Caroline nodded as Angela and Broadway moved to come up behind her.

"So how are things down here?" Broadway asked.

"Fairly well I suppose," Talon sighed, "the new comers are settling in well, or at least as well one would assume. Although, I'm afraid, Caroline, you parents haven't made any mention about you."

"They never cared about me when we were all human," Caroline reminded him, shedding no tears, "I've moved on. If they ever want a normal relationship, they'll have to prove it to me, and they know where to find me."

Talon slowly nodded and then began to finish his answer to Broadway's question.

"A couple of people have managed to move out of the Labyrinth successfully," Talon spoke, "although some of it is a little strange."

"Strange?" Angela asked, "Shouldn't it be a good thing? It should mean that they're finding jobs and aren't needing so much help anymore."

Talon nodded, "It should, and I'm happy when people here are able to do that. But, I would tend to think that it would be nice if they could let me know that they've found work. A couple of guys have left and haven't returned in a while."

"You don't think anything has happened to them, have you?" Angela asked, somewhat nervously.

"At first we did, but we never found a body when we searched the tunnels," Talon answered, "with no body, we have to assume that they found work. And since the Labyrinth is outside of any government supervision, it's not like we could track someone's actions when they leave here."

The three present gargoyles nodded.

"How are things in the castle?" Talon asked, "From what little my folks have told me, you seem to have your hands full."

"You mean Thailog?" Caroline asked, "He's still causing trouble if that's what you mean. Sent out Alex Sevarius with some mutant rat a while ago."

"He hasn't sent the Pack out recently, though," Broadway added, "the last time they were out was on their wild goose chase after the AI programming Xanatos made for Coyote, which he only had one copy of, the one inside Coyote."

"You know we'll try to help as much as possible if we can," Talon spoke.

"Of course," Broadway nodded.

"We've got to get going for our patrol though," Angela spoke with a sigh, "So is there anything you'd like us to tell Elisa or your folks?"

Talon shook his head, "Nah. Just that we're here to help if you need us."

The three gargoyles nodded and then made their way out.

"So how are the clones, anyway?" Caroline asked, "If I'm allowed to be curious."

"They're doing great," Broadway answered, "They're still not as smart as you and me, but considering how little Thailog put into them when they were cloned, they've come a long way."

"And Maggie actually told me that some of the new Labyrinth mutates, the former Unseelie slaves, have begun helping her and Talon with educating the clones," Angela added, "they think they could begin to move up towards at least an 'early middle school' level of education in a year or so now."

"That sounds good," Caroline commented, "it'd be a sign that they're making progress."

Both Broadway and Angela nodded as they walked out of the Labyrinth and back to the tunnels that would lead them back out into Manhattan's Central Park. From there they would resume their patrols.

In a different section of the Labyrinth, the ocelot mutate, Emma, sat quietly with Claw as the mute tiger-mutate continued to try and teach the female the various sign language skills he had learned. She had made fairly good progress so far, but it was still something she was determined to see through. She could understand a few simple sentences, but there were a lot of things that she still couldn't remember by heart.

At the moment, she was trying to repeat a sentence that Claw had written down to familiarize herself with what the 'signs' looked like. She did well at first, but after a few moments, she stumbled on a word ended up putting her head down and banging her fists on the table.

"Arrrrrrggghh!" Emma growled at herself, "I should know this."

Claw then the reached across the table and patted her shoulder. She then looked up at Claw who had a polite smile on his face as he paced her a small sticky-note. She smiled back, politely and took the note. It read, 'you're doing fine. Do not trouble yourself with the slip-ups right now. Try again'. Emma managed an embarrassed sigh.

"Thanks, Claw," Emma spoke.

Claw nodded while Emma tried again to repeat the sentence.

Meanwhile, in another section of the Labyrinth, Maggie and her mother were involved in a very different discussion.

"And, how long again have you and 'Talon' been married?" Eleanor Reed asked suspiciously.

"About two years, mom," Maggie answered.

"Then shouldn't it be a little late to be asking me that question?" Eleanor asked again, "I mean, you're a grown… woman, and you've picked out a fine husband. This should be your decision, not mine."

"I know it is, and it will be my choice," Maggie replied, "but… I just want your opinion. You've been so supportive me after… everything, and I guess that I'm just looking for advice."

"I don't think there is much advice I can really give," Eleanor answered, "I would prefer that the two of you waited until this condition is reversed, but from what you've told me, and from what Xanatos's current click of scientists have so far uncovered, it is unlikely that a cure could be found in your lifetime."

Maggie nodded, "I know, and I've kinda accepted that Talon and I do have a family, it will not be a human family. It's not really my appearance or my children's appearance that would concern me."

"Then what is your concern, Maggie?" Eleanor asked, "Most women wanting families and are in position to have them are usually a bit more optimistic, if not happy."

"It's more to deal with the manner in which I would get pregnant," Maggie told her mother with a heavy sigh, "I just find a good part of it somewhat… I don't know, embarrassing."

"I didn't know Xanatos was willing or able to provide the facilities for artificial insemination," Eleanor commented, "but if you and Talon are having trouble conceiving, there isn't anything wrong with it. I wouldn't understand why, no one in our family has had a history of being infertile…"

"No, mother, it's not that," Maggie answered quickly, "the process would be quite natural, it's just that there are aspects of it that sound bad."

"Sex is a 'bad' thing?" Eleanor asked, "now I know I gave you the 'birds and the bees' lecture, didn't I? It's kinda important if you want kids."

"No," Maggie sighed, becoming more and more embarrassed by the whole discussion, "It's not that I'd have to have sex, that itself… is enjoyable… but from what we've discovered that in order to conceive, Talon and I would have to be vary active in order to be successful."

"Sounds very enjoyable," Eleanor answered, "and a reason why I don't think I should be involved in the decision."

"MOTHER!" Maggie gasped, practically horrified by the answer, "I don't want behave like some sort of animal! I may be a mutate physically, but mentally, I'm still human."

"I know, I know," Eleanor answered, "but it isn't animal-like to enjoy your husband's company. Before the science advanced, couples that were not as 'fertile' as others had to be active in order to insure a pregnancy."

"I know," Maggie sighed, "It's just that I don't want to do something immoral. I don't want to do something that would make my mind appear less human. I don't want to act like an animal in addition to looking like one."

"You're worried you'd lose what's left of your humanity in going through with it?" Eleanor asked, finally realizing what Maggie was trying to get at.

Maggie nodded.

"The only part of me that that is still 'one hundred percent' human is my mind," Maggie spoke, "If I go through with this, would my mind to whither away and leave me and Talon as mindless beasts?"

"And how many people have you told this fear to?" Eleanor asked.

"Counting you?" Maggie replied, "just you. Talon and Elisa know some bits and pieces, but not everything."

"Maggie, I've never seen you or Talon act as though you were battling non-human instincts," Eleanor sighed, "being 'active' might be a biological consequence of your physical mutation, but it doesn't seem that you're in any danger of losing your mind."

"It's something that I've been privately nervous about," Maggie answered.

"You're still the same daughter I had when she left Ohio to come here for work," Eleanor told her daughter, "Kind, caring, intelligent, strong in a certain sense of the word, and loving. If what has happened to your physical form has doe anything to your mind, you would be the same as when you left home."

"Thanks mom," Maggie answered with a weak smile.

**The Tunnels**

There appeared to be people near the entrance to the tunnels to the Labyrinth, and it was decided to find a different entrance in order to avoid attracting unwanted attention. This resulted in them taking the long route to get to one of he other entrances to the tunnels near the Labyrinth in Central Park. The tunnels were dark and had little in the way of lighting other then a few emergency lights here and there.

"Do you really think those people who left the Labyrinth really 'left'?" Caroline asked after a few moments.

"What do you mean?" Broadway asked back, "You're not suggesting Talon did something to them, are you?"

"No," Caroline shook her head, "more like someone got to them while they were outside the Labyrinth."

"That someone else did something to them?" Angela asked.

Caroline nodded, "Yeah. I mean it's dark down here, and the people Talon has been helping can't see all that well in the dark and likely don't have the money for a flashlight or something like that. If the basic street gangs have found out about the Labyrinth, the dwellers there are likely to be seen as easy targets."

"I don't really know," Broadway answered, "It's possible, I guess, but I'd think that they'd be careful to avoid Talon and the other mutates, and even the clones."

Caroline nodded, "maybe it was something that Talon said that has me concerned. He said they left and didn't come back. Something about that strikes me that something happened to them when they left the Labyrinth."

"It's possible," Angela sighed, "but Talon also said that they did look and they never found a body. With no evidence we have to assume that they found something good in the world above."

It was at that moment, however, that Angela tripped over something in the darkness. Thankfully, she didn't fall down, but she did stumble forward a few steps. Broadway was quick to rush to her side.

"You okay?" Broadway asked.

"Yeah, I'm fine," Angela answered, "I just tripped over something."

Angela then recovered and looked back down the passageway to where Caroline was standing. The blue female had a horrified look on her face and was looking down at something on the floor.

"What is it?" Angela asked, slightly concerned.

"I think I found what you tripped over," Caroline said nervously and pointed down toward her feet.

Broadway and Angela then looked down to see what it was that Caroline was looking at. When they did, the found out what it was, and the sight nearly made Angela scream in surprise. Angela had earlier tripped over a human body laying on the floor of the tunnel, and the body didn't appear to be moving.

"I think he's dead," Caroline spoke as Broadway came forward to try and get a closer look at the body.

"You're right about that," Broadway spoke in an uneasy voice, "No pulse, and check this out."

Broadway then maneuvered the man's head and neck slightly to give Caroline and Angela a clearer view of what he saw up close. The man had been bitten with two clear puncture holes in the neck, and the space between the two puncture marks looked slightly ripped up.

"Something bit him!" Angela gasped.

"Fang or… Thailog wouldn't do that? Would they?" Caroline asked.

"It's possible, but not likely," Broadway commented, "the mutates, like Fang, have the muzzle and teeth of either canines or felines. And gargoyles have fangs on both jaws. If Thailog or Fang bit this man, there should be similar puncture wounds on the other side of the neck, and from what I could see, there are none."

"So whatever bit him only had fangs on one jaw," Angela sighed, "Why would someone bite this man though? I could see an animal doing it trying to find food, but humans…"

"Biting isn't the primary 'weapon' of choice for humans, gargoyles, or the mutates," Broadway spoke as he stood up, "we're strong, and largely prefer not to use weapons, but that doesn't mean we can't, and some, like Demona, have preferred to use weapons of some sort. Humans need weapons in order to do these sorts of things, as they have no claws, fangs, or great strength. The mutates have their electric blasts. If Fang killed this guy, it's likely we would have found signs of electrocution."

"No more mystery novels for you," Caroline spoke, "Elisa's supposed to be our 'gargoyle-detective'. Can you tell us what killed this man then? If Fang, Thailog, or some crazy human are out?"

"Something we only rarely saw at Wyvern back in the Middle Ages," Broadway answered as he looked at the wound again, "Vampires."

"Vampires?" Caroline asked, "you mean like Count Dracula?"

"I don't know about 'Dracula' but they're as real as you and me," Broadway answered, "they were rare around the castle during the middle ages, but they were particularly nasty when we did catch one of them."

"Did you ever fight one?" Angela asked, curiously.

"Brooklyn, Lexington, and I came across one fighting some girl in a village not far away from where the castle was," Broadway answered, "the vampire was gaining the advantage so we dove in and chase it off. Unfortunately, like the people of today, the girl accused us of being monsters and attacked us."

"Well, at least now people are starting to change their opinion of gargoyles," Caroline commented.

"That doesn't change the facts about vampires though," Broadway answered, "soulless beasts that actually are out for blood."

"What do we do?" Angela asked.

"You and I will wait here, Angela," Broadway instructed, "Caroline, you'll need to go back and Talon. He'll know if this guy is one of the Labyrinth dwellers."

**Elsewhere**

The vampires responsible for the attack, one named Harvey, slowly made their way into a different portion of Manhattan's underground. It was a small abandoned power station that was kept below ground, and no longer served any specific purpose. For the vampires, it was the perfect spot to operate from. Graveyards attracted vampire hunters, and a gliding gargoyle could easily spot a vampire as it rose.

Manhattan's tunnels provided them with the perfect cover. The sun couldn't burn through the layers of concrete that served as the road and support structures above them, and it was an unlikely escape route that the police considered. They never thought that a murder, mugger, or criminal would flee into the sewers to escape the law. Not that they really feared the NYPD. The development of the Labyrinth sanctuary provided an even larger bonus for the vampires, a large number of weak and easy targets to feed on. They could now hunt around the clock.

"Good hunting?" a voice asked from an especially dark corner of the room.

Harvey and his compatriot turned to see that it was their leader seated on an old stool drinking from an old beer bottle, although Harvey could easily smell that the bottle contained blood.

"We caught two vagrants, Ricardo," Harvey bowed to their group's leader, "one of which told us a bit about this Labyrinth."

"Did he give you the exact location?" Ricardo asked.

"No, but he did seem to indicate that it was close to where we caught him," Harvey's compatriot spoke up, "I'm sure we could find it if you let us patrol the area until we find it."

"No," Ricardo said firmly, "we will need everyone for the assault on this Labyrinth. Other then hunting in the tunnels, we can not risk being discovered."

"By what?" Harvey answered, "the police can't kill us, and the city's gargoyles all live above ground. In that old castle, even."

"And this Labyrinth should be easy pickings," Harvey's compatriot added, "I mean, a bunch of homeless guys hanging out in an open space? It's not like they could even fight, let alone win."

"Yes," Ricardo nodded, "this Labyrinth offers us a great opportunity, but from everything we know now, it is being operated as a shelter, which means someone is feeding them and taking care of them, and possibly providing security. Gun bullets and knives may not kill us, but a trained soldier could still disable one of our kind for enough to time to imprison us. We will wait until we've found every entrance to this Labyrinth and gain an knowledge about who is running it."

Harvey and his companion both nodded.

"We might need to turn one of the vagrants going into the Labyrinth then," Harvey suggested, "Get one of them on our side."

"No," Ricardo answered, "that would require turning people at random, which could end up creating a number vampires that can't fight or vampires that are against our cause."

"Then we must scout the area out," Harvey's companion urged, "If they are guarded, we'll fight back and if they stand a chance of winning, we'll flee to some other location so that they can't catch us."

"Fine, Martin," Ricardo sighed, "scout out for this Labyrinth, but I expect it to be the perfect feeding ground, if not, you get to walk down Wall Street at high noon."

**The Tunnels**

Talon approached the scene carefully and slowly following Caroline as she lead him to where Broadway and Angela were waiting.

"Okay, so what is this thing I gotta see?" Talon asked as he approached.

"I think you have a vampire problem down here," Broadway answered as he motioned to the corpse of the man that they had found.

Talon was too shocked by the sight of the dead man to say anything. He moved closer to inspect the body. He found it cold and lifeless, and it looked as though the man's blood had been drained out of him.

"I've heard the stories about alligators in the sewers, but this is ridiculous," Talon sighed, "Vampires?"

"They're real," Broadway answered, "and usually pretty nasty."

"We mostly want to know if this man is one of the people you're caring for in the Labyrinth," Angela told the black furred panther mutate.

"I don't recognize him," Talon answered, "but that doesn't mean he is a Labyrinth dweller."

"So what do we do?" came Caroline's voice from the sidelines.

"We've got to find these vampires and put them out of action," Broadway spoke, "kill them and wipe them out."

The comment somewhat startled Caroline, Talon, and Angela as they had never heard the aquamarine male speak so firmly on any subject.

"Broadway…" was all Angela could make out.

"I know it sounds rough, and weird, between three gargoyles and a mutate," Broadway sighed, "but from what I know, vampires are nasty and evil. In the middle ages, if we could chase them away from the castle that was good enough as they had no shelter to escape the sun. Here, in the tunnels under New York, they could operate both day and night."

"Couldn't there be some way to reform them?" Talon asked, "Or restrain them. We have cells in the Labyrinth that we could use."

"You'd have to feed them blood every night, and I do not know, or want to know, how much blood a vampire needs to survive," Broadway sighed, "Killing them might be the only way to keep the Labyrinth safe, if they've found out about it."

Talon didn't know how to answer that. Since the sun didn't shine through the street itself, vampires could operate in the underground tunnels all the time, and the people he sheltered weren't strong enough to really fight back. The thought of killing something, however, didn't sit well with him.

"So, how would we kill them?" Talon finally sighed after a few moments, "We can't waltz into a hardware store and buy stakes, and I'm sure they'd ask Maggie's mother some serious questions if we ask her to start buying up large amounts of wood."

"I'm sure we can get some wood for stakes somehow," Broadway sighed, "for tonight anyway, I'm sure you can keep them out of the Labyrinth."

"And they might actually be wary of you and your clan," Caroline spoke up.

Talon turned to glance at the blue female who only shrugged.

"I mean, if they're real, they're supposedly demons that need human blood to survive," Caroline explained, "maybe they've never encountered a mutate before. Maybe you could zap them or something. And considering the clan's numbers, I'd doubt that they've ever met a gargoyle before either, seeing us or the clones might frighten them."

"Maybe," Talon then sighed, "but we still have to get ready."

"The clan won't be ready to help till tomorrow at least," Broadway spoke, "Do you think the Labyrinth will be alright until then?"

Talon nodded, "Yeah."

**Castle Wyvern, Later**

The small group of patrolling gargoyles returned to the castle to find Hudson waiting for them in the courtyard. Now, they usually expected Goliath or possibly Brooklyn to be there, but Hudson's presence was a bit of a surprise.

"Is everything okay, Hudson?" Angela asked as they landed.

The older gargoyle nodded, "Yes, lassie. Brooklyn's group has yet ta return from their patrol and Goliath and Elisa are presently occupied looking after the hatchlings. So, I'm ta be the one ye report to tonight."

"Okay," Angela nodded, "I'm afraid though that you may not like what we have to report."

"What has happened?" Hudson asked sounding concerned.

"There are vampires in the sewer tunnels," Broadway spoke, "they've been hunting the people taking shelter in the Labyrinth."

Hudson visibly sighed, "I trust you've informed Talon?"

Angela nodded, "We told him we would try to get the wood needed to make stakes to kill the vampires, so I suppose we'll also need to tell this to Xanatos or Owen."

Hudson nodded, "Of course."

"I'll take care of that," Broadway volunteered, "and I'll see you later."

Caroline and Angela then watched as Broadway made his way inside. Once he was inside, Angela turned to Hudson looking rather concerned.

"Hudson, has Broadway ever had an altercation with vampires before?" Angela asked, "As soon as he found out about these attacks, he's been… different."

"Aye, he did," Hudson nodded slowly, "It happened a few weeks before Hakon's Vikings began attacking the castle. He and the trio had gone out to explore the territory around Castle Wyvern. There were small villages near the castle where various tenant farmers lived. The trio liked exploring these villages, probably because they offered the possibility of finding a friend who either wasn't a gargoyle or a soldier guarding the castle."

"I take it that night they didn't find any new human friends?" Caroline commented.

Hudson nodded in response, "Aye. The first village they came across had been attacked by vampires. The buildings were in flames and good many people had been killed before the fires were started. As Broadway likely told ye, the trio came on a young girl struggling to fend off a vampire that was attacking her. They manage to scare the vampire off, but that didn't sit too well with the girl."

"Broadway told us she referred to them as demons, and attacked them," Angela spoke, making Hudson nod again.

"I donnae think she hated gargoyles all that much, but had snapped when she saw what the vampires had done to her village and family," Hudson explained, "She wanted them dead for what they did, and while the trio saved her from being killed, she was beyond the point of caring for her own life."

"That's sad," Angela sighed heavily, "that vampires would do that to someone."

"They truly are soulless demons," Hudson spoke, "a lot of things they do are 'sad' to those of us with a soul."

"How do you know all this?" Caroline asked, somewhat surprised that Hudson knew the same story that Broadway had told them, and told it to them in greater detail then Broadway had.

"Othello and I were busy hunting game in the area near the village," Hudson explained, "we saw the village start to burn and immediately moved to see what was wrong. We arrived to watch the trio drive the vampires off. Broadway took the girl's response to their rescuing her the hardest. Brooklyn and Lexington didn't like being attacked by the girl, but Broadway took it as it was his fault that the vampires attacked that village."

"But I'm sure he didn't associate with those vampires before the attack," Angela commented, "surely he's accepted that he can't be everywhere to stop every attack."

"In some sense he has," Hudson answered, "but when he feels he's made a mistake, it's hurt him deeply, lass. That's he hates guns so much. He's felt he made a mistake in not killing the vampires he came across because of the girl's reaction to their escape."

"Man, that's rough," Caroline commented, "not that I have any sympathy for the undead out drain people of their blood."

"I know and I understand," Hudson told the blue female, "no need to worry. Now I'm sure there are other things ye wished to do with the remainder of the night, and I'll make my report to Goliath."

**The Labyrinth**

"Vampires?!" a bloodhound mutate and former Unseelie slave gasped, "you mean those things are real?"

"As real as you and I are, as the gargoyles are," Talon answered, "and from what I saw of the body they left behind, they can' be all that different from the creatures of 'myth'."

"So do we have start nailing crucifixes to all the doors?" another ex-Unseelie slave asked.

"It might help," Talon sighed, "if all the stories about vampires are true."

He then looked over the confused and partially frightened looks on the faces of the mutates he had gathered. Other then Claw and Maggie, none of them had any real experience in fighting, and the present enemy was something that none of the mutates had actually faced before.

"I'm not asking you to become fighters," Talon then spoke, "but I'm warning you that they could decide to prey on the people we shelter here. I'm asking you to at least help guard the entrances to the Labyrinth."

"I'm sure we can do more if it's needed," Emma volunteered, "You've given us a home and a purpose down here. We owe you that much."

"Some basic self defense lessons will be needed though, and accuracy with your electric blasts will be needed," Talon warned, "if you wish to take an active role."

"We can do it," a couple of former Unseelie slaves said firmly, "We can do it."

"Okay," Talon nodded, "I want everyone to assemble in the main room where I'll begin working on getting all who are willing to help ready. It won't be much, but it should help out against them."

A large number of the others began to head off. Claw took the job of escorting them to the area Talon had told them to go to. As they did, Talon was left with Maggie and her mother for the moment. He was somewhat surprised that they had not said anything.

"You're certain that some supernatural vampire is out to attack the Labyrinth?" Maggie asked as she approached him.

"I know what I saw, and none of the gargoyles, Thailog included, would bite someone on the neck," Talon sighed.

"Do you need me to get you supplies of wood?" Eleanor asked, "traditionally, a vampire can only be killed by a wooden stake through the heart."

"Broadway and Angela promised they'd get Xanatos to deal with that sort of thing," Talon sighed, "and besides, maybe our electric blasts will work on them. I mean the wounds inflicted by electricity are considered burn injuries."

"And besides," Maggie then added, "If they're stalking the tunnels, the last thing I want you doing is putting yourself in danger."

"Do you think you can beat these vampires?" Eleanor asked, "I men, most of the former Unseelie slaves are in no way as skilled as you, Claw, and even my daughter are. Those that are active in running the shelter are largely involved only in taking care of the sick and running the kitchens. The only ones who have really helped protect the Labyrinth and so forth are the clones, and I doubt vampires will be afraid of gargoyles the way the occasional crook is."

"Goliath should be assigning some of his own clan to help hunt them down," Talon sighed, "and Claw and I will go with who ever is willing to hunt them down tomorrow night and we'll hopefully catch them wherever they're hiding. Maggie and the rest will defend the Labyrinth should they attack it."

"How long do you think this will take?" Maggie asked nervously, "because you know you can' keep the people we shelter here locked inside the Labyrinth all the time."

"I don't know," Talon sighed, "It could take awhile to hunt them down. You do still have the little radio communicators so that way if they attack while we're out, you can call us for help?"

Maggie nodded, "So far only the clones have them so thy can use them to contact us when they're guarding the Labyrinth entrances."

"We'll check with Delilah when the sun sets," Talon then nodded, "No doubt she's taken charge of taking care of them."

Meanwhile, Harvey and Martin, the two vampires running the errands for their leader, Ricardo, had just arrived in the area outside the Labyrinth. They approached what looked like a large missile silo door that made a wall in one of the sewer tunnels.

"Do you think this is it?" Martin asked as they came closer.

"Yeah," Harvey answered as he pressed his ear to the door, and could hear the sounds of a group of people exerting themselves at something, "I can 'em in there. Sounds like they're doing exercises."

Martin put his own ear to the door and then nodded.

"Yeah," Martin nodded, "probably dragging their blankets to a spot where they can sleep for the night."

"I don't think we can get through the door though," Harvey told his partner, "not without some high explosive."

"And we'd have to wait until tomorrow night to steal some high explosive," Martin sighed, sounding depressed.

"We'll find a different way in," Harvey answered, "for safety purposes, any structure has to have more then one entrance."

"I was really hoping to steal something," Martin sighed but reluctantly followed Harvey, "so where do you suppose one of these other entrances is?"

"No," Harvey answered, "but I'm sure they have them. We'll just have to look closely. And based off of that door, I'd think that some of the extra doors are hidden, like this place is some secret bunker, or something."

"Makes me want to steal some high explosives," Martin said from behind him, "we'll be like the guys storming Normandy."

"Will you can it with the high explosives, thing?" Harvey urged, "We blow up a door of that size down here, and we're bound to attract more attention then we need. No, we'll find a door that we can use to sneak in and attack the dwellers once we're inside."

"Fine," Martin answered and followed Harvey silently as they began walking through side tunnels that went around a large brick wall.

As they went, Harvey pressed against the wall in various spots, as if he expected a hidden pressure sensor to trigger a hidden door. They had no luck in this, but after a few moments of searching, they did find a lone steal door in the wall.

"Here goes nothing," Harvey sighed and violently kicked the door in.

The door gave easily and opened up to another hallway that appeared to lead into a larger complex.

"Score," Martin smiled, "we found a way in!"

"Yeah, now let's scout it out," Harvey answered, "See what kind of resistance we can expect."

Martin smiled and began to walk into the hallway.

"Remember, we're not to drain anybody on this mission," Harvey reminded him, "this is a simple scouting mission."

Martin groaned, but acknowledged Harvey's reminder and walked down the hallway to make his way into the complex. They quickly discovered that they had hit the jackpot when it came to finding what Ricardo had sent them out to look for. The complex had to have been some sort of military base or scientific research center at one time, but had been converted into a shelter with rooms set aside for people to use, and Harvey and Martin walked past a room that was marked 'bathroom, men's'. They even spotted several people walking around.

"Man, this is great," Martin smiled, "Dinner is served!"

"Quit that," Harvey told him, "Let's check the rest of this 'Labyrinth'. See how many are here and what they have for security."

"Come on," Martin answered his partner, "You know that whatever they have for security will be completely ineffective against us."

They kept walking until they came across an open area that was apparently the main area of the facility. The level they were on was an open balcony which had a security rail that prevented people from falling to the ground below. Both Martin and Harvey could hear the sound of exercises being done on the bottom level as they approached the edge.

What they saw, however, shocked them beyond all reason. Seemingly performing some basic self-defense moves were creatures that Martin and Harvey had never seen before. They were strange animal like creatures with the bodies of various wild cats and dogs, although some of the canine species looked as though they came from some domestic breeds as well. Behind them grew bat-like wings that looked large enough to allow them to fly if they were in the towers above them.

"They're guarded by demons!" Martin gasped, "Ricardo might not like this!"

Harvey was about to nod when he heard a voice speak up from behind him.

"Demons?!" the voice asked, "Are you two new here or something?"

They both turned around to see a middle aged woman standing there. Despite looking fairly ragged, she still looked firm.

"Uh, yes," Harvey spoke, recovering first, "we're new here."

"Then I'll explain," the woman answered, "those people down there are not demons."

"But they have wings, and they certainly ain't angel wings," Martin interrupted.

Harvey smacked his partner on the back of the head, "I apologize for my partner. He's a tad jumpy."

The woman nodded and then continued.

"They're mutates, actually, not demons," the woman explained, "from what we know, they were once human, but an evil geneticist exposed them to an experimental formula he had made that mutated them into their present forms. Hence the term, mutate. But you needn't worry. They're good people, actually, and have done the most to take care of us down here."

"They're transformed humans?" Harvey asked.

The woman nodded.

"Interesting," Harvey answered, "and thank you for your information. My partner and I will surely sleep well at night now."

The woman looked at the two, gave a disapproving grunt and walked away. Martin then looked at Harvey with an angry look.

"How dare you imply that we're… 'that way'!" Martin growled at him.

"That wasn't my intention," Harvey answered, "remember that two cops working together are called 'partners'. That is the similarity that I wanted to draw, now come on, let's go inform Ricardo about what we've found."

**Ricardo's Lair, An Hour Later**

"They're guarded by mutated humans?" Ricardo asked, sounding somewhat curious after Harvey and Martin finished their report.

Harvey nodded, "They look frightening, but I don't think they should be much of a challenge for all of us."

"You're confident we can win?" Ricardo asked.

"Yes," Harvey nodded, "they're transformed humans, not some naturally supernatural creature. They likely have all the same human fears and miss their old human forms. It'll be over in one swift fight."

"Very well," Ricardo answered, "We'll strike tonight. I want you to start gathering the others."

"Right away!" Martin an Harvey acknowledged and rushed off.

Ricardo, meanwhile, sat and smiled. He could taste the fruits of victory, even at that time, and his mind simulated the screams of terrified humans.

**Castle Wyvern**

Goliath was quick to gather everyone together after the sun had set. He found Owen and Xanatos waiting in the Castle's courtyard with what appeared to be the supply of stakes that had been requested. The clan quickly gathered in the courtyard around the blonde majordomo and the black furred wolf mutate.

"The stakes are ready for whoever is going to help Talon's clan," Xanatos spoke as they arrived at his location.

"Thank you," Goliath rumbled and then turned to the gargoyles gathering behind him, "as you all know, Talon's clan in the Labyrinth have come under attack by vampires hunting the Labyrinth dwellers. One team will patrol the city, and will have to cover the entire city while the other patrol group goes into the sewers to aide Talon's clan. The rest will obviously help take care of the Tibetan hatchlings."

The others soon nodded in agreement.

"Lexington, Candy, Ethan, and Eve," Goliath then instructed, "You will be patrolling the city tonight. Be careful, and make sure to call the castle should you need help."  
"Right, Goliath," Lex answered with a nod.

"Brooklyn, Amy, you two are to take Othello and Desdemona and aide Talon's clan," Goliath instructed.

Brooklyn only nodded and was about to head out when Broadway spoke up.

"I want to go with them," Broadway volunteered, "to help."

Goliath looked over at the aquamarine male. He also noticed Angela's look of concern as well as Broadway's own determination.

"Are you sure?" Goliath questioned, "You patrolled last night and discovered the activities of these vampires. Don't you think it might be wise to rest?"

"I can do it, Goliath," Broadway vowed, "Let me help."

"I will leave that up to the patrol leader," Goliath answered, "I will make no definite decision."

"I have no problem with it," Brooklyn spoke up answer the obviously implied question, and then turned to Broadway, "just so long as you remember to control yourself. The last thing you need, or likely, Angela would want, is for you to lose your temper with these vampires and you get killed as a result."

Broadway nodded in agreement, "I understand, Brooklyn. I just have to help. I have to."

"Alright then," Brooklyn then nodded while Amy shouldered bag of stakes, "let's go."

The two patrol groups then made their way out of the courtyard and to head to the various destinations. The remaining gargoyles, as well as Owen and Xanatos began to break up to go about their own duties for the night. Only Goliath, Elisa, and Angela remained looking in the direction of where Brooklyn's group had gone.

"Will he be alright, father?" Angela asked, nervously, while Elisa patted the back of one of her caped wings.

"I'm sure he'll be fine, my daughter," Goliath rumbled, "the evils that vampires represent is something he'll have to deal with."

**The Labyrinth**

"Listen carefully people," Talon spoke clearly to the group of mutates that had volunteered to help, "We will be dividing into two groups. One group will come with me, Claw, some of the clones, and some representatives of Goliath's clan and will actively hunt these vampires. The rest of you will remain with Maggie and the rest of the clones to guard the Labyrinth should they decide to attack us directly."

The mutates that had volunteered to help nodded.

"I will leave it to Claw to make the decisions on who will go and who will remain here," Talon then spoke and left to head to the area that the clones frequently used and stayed in.

When he arrived there he found Delilah handing out the small radio communicators to the other clones. Once she was done, she turned to Talon and faced him directly.

"We are ready," Delilah said slowly.

"Thank you," Talon nodded, "I want Brentwood and Burbank to help Maggie keep the Labyrinth safe."

Delilah nodded.

"You and the rest will come with me an the rest of the vampire hunters," Talon informed the clone female.

"Of course, Talon," Delilah answered while the others remained quiet, "we go now?"

Talon nodded, "Very soon."

The black furred panther mutate then turned and let the clones slowly follow him. When they returned to the main room, they had found that Brooklyn's group had arrived and were distributing the stakes they had Xanatos procure during the day. Claw stood by the group that had been picked to go 'hunting'.

"You all ready?" Talon asked as they approached.

"Yeah," Brooklyn nodded, "and Broadway even volunteered to help out.. Since he found the victim last night, he might have the best guess as to where they're hiding out."

Talon nodded, "Let's go. The sooner these vampires are gone, the sooner I can safely let people leave the Labyrinth without escort to an above ground exit."

**Ricardo's Base**

Ricardo smiled as group of twenty vampires gathered in front of him, with Harvey and Martin leading the way. Every one of them was extremely confident that they would overrun whatever defenses the Labyrinth had, and were imagining themselves feasting on the dwellers there.

"Gentlemen," Ricardo spoke, "It is now time to strike, and we must strike in force. Each of you is to remain focused on our goal. Don't lose yourself in the prize that will be one. Be merciless, but always stay focused."

There was an awkward silence for a moment, as the others clearly didn't understand that. Ricardo then sighed and decided to finish of his speech in a rather cliché manner, but appeared to be the only thing his minions paid attention to.

"Now, let's go out there and secure our banquet hall!" Ricardo urged and raised his fists, which summoned load cheers from the others.

They then left the area and began to follow Martin and Harvey as they lead the way. They followed the two of Martin and Harvey as they were the only ones who had gone outside the base and found the Labyrinth. Martin and Harvey, meanwhile walked briskly, knowing that if they could get to the hidden door they had found, they might be able to get in when everyone was going to bed or to dinner. Ricardo and the others barely struggled to contain their own excitement at finally being able to take over a large area that had a reputation of housing the poor, which would be a source of easy food for them.

Elsewhere, the hunting party reached the spot were Broadway had, the night before, found the victim that the vampires had failed to remove.

"I wish we'd brought Bronx with us," Brooklyn sighed as he looked down the tunnels, "he could track them easily."

That made many others sigh heavily, as they had found the site to be fairly empty. There were scents there, but none strong enough to indicate the vampire's presence.

"They can't be far," Talon commented, "If they're grabbing people on their way to and from the Labyrinth they have to be based somewhat close to the Labyrinth for ease of communication."

"Yeah, but where?" Brooklyn asked back, "It's a maze of tunnels down here and we don't know which way they've come from."

"We'll have to split up again," Talon sighed, "I'll take one group. Claw can take the other. Hopefully we'll find their hideout."

"Broadway, Amy, and I will go with claw and go that way," Brooklyn said pointing down a tunnel.

"Take Malibu and Hollywood with you," Talon instructed.

Brooklyn nodded, and pointed in the opposite direction "Othello and Desdemona can help you look in that general direction."

Talon also nodded, "Good luck."

"Thanks," Brooklyn sighed and watched as Talon, Othello, Desdemona, Delilah, and about five former Unseelie slaves slowly left down the tunnel.

As Talon's group moved out of sight, Malibu approached the gargoyle he had been cloned from.

"We catch vampires now?" Malibu asked.

"We'll try," Brooklyn answered, feeling proud at how much the clones had been taught since they'd been freed from Thailog's control, "It'll be up to Broadway to guess right."

All eyes turned to the aquamarine male. Broadway looked at the spot where he found the body the night before and then down the tunnel and then back his clan's second in command.

"Are there any areas that might be larger then these tunnels, or at least look like it could be a small room?" Broadway asked.

Brooklyn shrugged.

"Claw tell," Hollywood spoke up, pointing to the tiger mutate.

They then glanced to Claw, who carefully signed out that he wasn't completely sure. The mute mutate also gestured that there might be something along those lines, but they would have to look closely to find them. Once Brooklyn managed to make out what Claw had signed, he then nodded.

"Well, let's get going," Brooklyn sighed, "maybe we'll get luck and we'll catch them before they find someone or decide to assault the Labyrinth itself."

They walked along quietly until they came to a side passage. It was fairly narrow, but there appeared to be some electric lighting further down the tunnel, which indicated that there might have been a room that have been used. Broadway was the first to head down the passage with the others following.

After a few moments, he came into just the sort of room that they had said they were looking for. It was small, cramped, and dirty. There was barely enough room for them all to stand in it.

"Do you think this is it?" Brooklyn asked looking around.

"It might be," Amy spoke up, "I think I see a chair over there."

Brooklyn looked over and did in fact see a small wooden chair near one of the walls. He then approached the far wall to find that there were several smashed bottles and glasses laying on the floor of the 'room', and he also caught the scent of something else.

"This had to be it," Broadway grumbled at the broken shards, "I can still smell the blood in here."

"Then where did they go?" Amy asked.

"I don't know," Brooklyn answered.

**The Labyrinth**

Emma quietly patrolled one of the hallways inside the Labyrinth, keeping an eye out for any sign of infiltration. All she had seen so far were either the former Unseelie slaves that were doing the normal work of caring for the people taking shelter there or some of the Labyrinth dwellers themselves. She jumped slightly when she heard Maggie's voice come from behind her.

"Are you okay?" came Maggie's voice.

Emma jumped and then turned to face the lioness mutate.

"No, nothing, really," Emma answered nervously.

"Are you sure?" Maggie inquired, "You seem nervous. Is this about Claw? I know the two of you have grown fairly close."

"He just seems so lonely," Emma answered, "and it's unfair that he can't talk. And he's been so nice to me, I want to do everything I can to repay him."

"He appreciates your company and likes that you are trying to learn sign language," Maggie told her.

"I just wish he could talk," Emma sighed, "It would make everything easier. I could be certain that he likes me and he could insure that… that I'm not in your or Talon's way."

"We all wish he could talk," Maggie assured her, "and as for me and Talon, if you really like him, we shouldn't matter. Besides, Talon and I are married. Neither of us has a reason to be jealous of you and Claw."

Emma was about answer with a 'thank you' when a side door near their location suddenly opened and couple of rather dirty, but still healthy looking men came out of it and into the Labyrinth. They turned and looked at the two female mutates with an evil glint in their eye.

"There's two of 'em!" one of them yelled, "One of the freaks guarding our food!"

The first two rushed at Emma and Maggie, revealing who they were. Both Emma and Maggie jumped back to avoid the initial lunge. The two mutates then fired electric blasts at the attacking vampires. They screamed with pain, and there was some visible smoke as they were thrown back, but the blasts did nothing to quickly kill them.

They did buy them some time, and Maggie rushed to a nearby intercom. She quickly activated it and began speaking.

"Attention Labyrinth dwellers, this is Ms. Maggie," Maggie spoke urgently, "the vampires have invaded the Labyrinth. All non mutates or gargoyles take shelter and keep your crucifixes handy. All mutates and gargoyles, we must drive them out!"

The vampires charged again, this time giving Maggie and Emma no time to blast them with electricity. One tackled Emma and quickly bared his fangs at her, making it clear that he intended to feed on her. Emma heavily disappointed him by proving to be stronger then he anticipated, and she ended up kicking him back into the and into the last vampire making his way in.

"This not your home," Emma growled at the two temporarily sprawled vampires, trying to sound as defiant as possibly, "It is mine!"

She then began blasting away at them as much as possible with her electric blasts. She hoped that Talon's theory was right and that they would eventually die from electrical burns.

Maggie, meanwhile, did her best to keep the other vampires at bay and keeping Emma nearby so that they couldn't overwhelm the ocelot mutate. She did not consider herself a skilled fighter, and if they hadn't already invaded the Labyrinth, it was unlikely that she would have been willing to fight the vampires. She kicked the first two to reach her away and managed to fire some electric blasts off that slowed the rest.

"Emma, pull back!" Maggie cried out to her only help for the moment, "we've got to pull back until the others can get her and contain them."

Before Maggie could focus on an answer, one of the vampires she had kicked away earlier, prepared to attack again. Fortunately, at this time, Maggie had time to ready one of the stakes she currently had tucked inside her belt. She raised the wooden weapon as the vampire lunged at her, and it punctured the creature's chest. Maggie was partially surprised to see the creature explode into dust. It also startled many of the other vampires and allowed Emma to return to Maggie's side.

"How long until the others arrive?" Emma asked, "our electric blasts will take too long to kill them, and they are our most effective weapons."

"They should be arriving soon," Maggie answered, "then we can let Talon and the others know that they're attacking us directly."

Almost as if on cue, the sound of rushing footsteps reached Maggie's ears. She managed to glance back and saw Burbank and several other mutates coming up behind her.

"Don't worry," Burbank shouted, "we coming!"

Ricardo, however, was becoming increasingly nervous. The two mutates they had jumped, proved to be stronger then originally thought, and they had additional powers to great strength. The electricity wouldn't kill them, but it hurt greatly and many of them were also burned by the electric blasts as well. Then as one group charged toward the two mutates, one drew a stake and killed one of his followers as their own reinforcements began to arrive.

"Martin! Harvey! Kill them!" Ricardo ordered, "We must secure our new food storehouse!"

Martin and Harvey both nodded and motioned for several of the others to press their attack against the mutates and the gargoyle that was with their reinforcements. Ricardo, meanwhile, turned to several of the others and motioned for them to follow him.

"Come with me," Ricardo ordered, "We'll try and get around this group and take them from the rear."

The small group nodded and hastily followed their leader while Martin and Harvey continued the battle up front. They had to beat the defenders here if their hope for a strong lair with easy prey was to be exploited was to be achieved. As they rounded a corner, however, they ran into another gargoyle and three more mutates.

"You stop here," Brentwood growled at the undead invaders.

**Elsewhere in the tunnels…**

"None in here either," Delilah sighed as Talon's group found a small chamber that could have housed the vampires.

Talon sighed heavily. He had hoped they would at least find one vampire roaming about the tunnels. He largely assumed that the entire situation was caused by a small group of them hunting at random on Labyrinth dwellers as they moved between New York's streets and the tunnels below. So far, they had not found any sign of any. He gave a heavy sigh and was about to leave when the communicator hanging around his neck buzzed to life. It was probably Broadway's group reporting in.

"This is Talon, go ahead," Talon spoke into the device while his group gathered around him.

The voice that answered made Talon look somewhat nervous.

"Talon, it's me," Maggie's voice came through loud and clear with the sounds of yelling and electric blasts being fired in the background, "Talon, they've attacked the Labyrinth. They came in through one of the 'back' doors and we're fighting them in the hallways."

That truly scared Talon, as the search was now a vain one. The Labyrinth was already under attack.

"How many are there?" Talon demanded urgently.

"At least twenty," Maggie's voice answered, "electric blasts aren't working fast enough to kill them. We're barely holding our own."

Talon was about to answer when he heard Maggie's pained roar come through the radio and that sent him in a dead sprint for the Labyrinth.

"Hang on Maggie!" Talon urged into the radio and kept running, almost ignoring the others running behind them.

"They must have been waiting for us to leave," Othello growled, "and moved in, thinking we left it unguarded."

"We have to get there," Talon said urgently, knowing he had to get there in time.

"We will," Desdemona said confidently, "I'll also contact the others to let them know what is going on."

**The Labyrinth**

The fight was not going all that well. The mutate's electric blast did visibly slow them down, but did not do enough to stop the attacking vampires permanently. That forced them to get in close and use the stakes they had been given. But the mutates Maggie was leading had only been taught basic self defense. They were not tactically skilled, and Maggie knew that she, herself, wasn't much better. They managed to kill a couple of vampires, but the lack of tactical knowledge began to catch up with them. A couple of the other mutates with her had been knocked out by the vampires, who were now rushing on at those still conscious. Maggie wondered why they didn't try to feed on the unconscious mutates, but remained focused on the fight at hand.

"They're too many," Emma said to Maggie urgently, "and Burbank can't hold them off forever. How much longer until Talon and the others arrive?"

Maggie looked on, and saw that that was the bright spot in their situation. The clone of Hudson seemed to instinctively know how to fight. Maggie didn't know if that was because he was a gargoyle, Hudson's clone, or programming that Thailog had originally implanted, but Burbank easily knocked nearly every vampire that attacked him off. The vampires even seemed instinctively nervous about attacking him.

"I don't know," Maggie answered as she lowered her stake onto a vampire that Burbank had thrown into the wall beside them, "We just have to hold on. They'll get here soon."

Ricardo growled angrily as he bounced off the brick of the interior wall that he and his small group of vampires had been forced to fight in. The mutates were not too terribly skilled, but the electric blasts they threw were more then enough disorient two of his followers enough to allow them to be killed by stakes. The gargoyle was also proving to be a dangerous foe. Despite its small size, it fought with determination and strength.

Brentwood lunged again at the vampire, hoping to shred him with his talons, but it managed to duck underneath his attack, with Brentwood 'gliding' down the hallway and moving farther away from the fight. Ricardo then checked the situation as it was. Of the handful of vampires that had come with him, most had been killed through a combination of electric blasts and stakes to the heart. A couple of the mutates opposing them were unconscious, but not enough be a tide turning situation. Two mutates were converging on one of the three remaining vampires in his group, that had charged and now got himself trapped between the two mutates.

"Move!" Ricardo urged, as he lunged forward and knocked one of the mutates back.

It didn't do much as he was hit by the other mutate's electric blast, which threw him against the wall again. The vampire he tried to save was tackled and 'staked' by Brentwood. Ricardo reacted quickly and then grabbed Brentwood while he clone was getting back up. He then threw the gargoyle into the two closest mutates and then charged the remaining two behind them. They were startled by his attack and barely moved as he landed blows that knocked them out. He then began rushing down the hallway, leaving the battle behind him.

Talon's group and Broadway's group arrived at the back entrance that the vampires had entered through at roughly the same time. They could hear the signs of the main battle going on. Talon was in a rush to get to Maggie and didn't even pause to make conversation, and the sounds of battle kept the others quiet as well.

When they arrived in the main hallway, they found the battle raging. Several of the mutates were out cold, but had not been bitten. Burbank formed a virtual road block, tossing several vampires back and allowing Maggie, Emma, the remaining two conscious mutates to either stake them or blast them with electricity, but all of them looked like they were tiring.

"We've got to help them!" Talon urged and moved forward, blasting at two of them with electricity.

Claw followed closely behind. Broadway and Brooklyn were the first gargoyles to ready stakes and charge after them. At that point, the battle became rather lopsided. The vampires had already suffered losses in battling Maggie and Emma's group and weren't prepared to deal with reinforcements on the Labyrinth dweller's side. They were all soon wrestled into submission, and then staked to end the fight.

"You okay, Maggie?" Talon asked as he approached her and Emma.

"I'm fine," Maggie assured him, "tired, but fine."

"Was this the last of them?" Brooklyn asked.

Maggie shook her head nervously, "No. Another group ran into the other direction. They've probably run into one of the other teams within the Labyrinth by now."

"You rest," Talon told her, "we'll make sure they're beaten too."

Talon then turned to the others, "we'll need to fan out, just in case they got by the other group. Claw and I will take the mutates and fan out in that direction. Brooklyn, can you take the gargoyles and follow their trail."

Brooklyn nodded and turned back to the other gargoyles behind him, "come on."

Ricardo stumbled around nervously through the hallways of the Labyrinth. He had largely escaped the pursing gargoyles and mutates, but was certain that his minions had been killed. Feeding on the Labyrinth dwellers was now out of the question as he was likely the only one left, and considering his earlier underestimation of the mutates, and the presence of gargoyles, which he instinctually feared, made it unlikely that he could conquer the complex. He was now trying to find an exit.

After several minutes of running, and falling down a flight of stairs, he found the main room and the large metal doors at the other side of it. He pressed the door open button and nervously waited for it to open. After a few moments he heard a shout of 'there he is' coming from the balcony above them.

He then looked up to see a fairly large aquamarine gargoyle diving down from a higher balcony toward him with a pair of beaked gargoyles close behind him.

"You aren't going anywhere," Broadway growled.

"Au contraire," Ricardo shot back, and dashed out the door, hitting the 'door close' as he left.

Broadway and the others rushed the door, but it closed before they could get do it. Ricardo had escaped. Broadway only growled at the door.

"Don't worry," Brooklyn assured him, "most of the vampires didn't get out, and Talon knows about him now. He may have escaped, but I doubt he'll be a threat to the Labyrinth anymore."

"He'll still be a danger, and he can venture above ground at night," Broadway answered "we could have got him."

"We'll likely still get him," Amy spoke up, "If he goes above ground, we'll likely find him while patrolling, and if he stays down here, Talon will get him."

"And I know you don't like vampires, and I'll admit, I don't really like them either," Brooklyn added, "but don't let yourself get carried away. I doubt Angela would like it."

The mention of Angela made Broadway stop and think for a moment. He was certain that she wouldn't like him if he let himself be angry.

"Yeah," Broadway nodded, "You're right. Hopefully we'll get eventually."

"Yeah, hopefully," Brooklyn nodded back.

**The End…**


	45. Unthinkable

All characters appearing in Gargoyles and Gargoyles: The Goliath Chronicles are copyrighted to Buena Vista Television/The Walt Disney Company. I've taken the idea for the Unseelie Court from the TGS. Characters and concepts from Star Trek are property of Paramount and created by Gene Roddenberry. No Infringement of these copyrights is intended, and is not authorized by the copyright holder. All original characters are the property of SN.

Note: I'm disregarding the events of the "Goliath Chronicles", with the exception of "The Journey" because I do not wish to use the rest of the "Goliath Chronicles" as canon to my story. Also, I'm altering large sections of the Star Trek storyline, especially concerning events like WWIII and the Eugenics Wars, which without the Cold War as a backdrop probably wouldn't happen the way Roddenberry wrote them, if at all. This story takes place one week after "Rumble in the Tunnels".

Unthinkable

By SN/TVfan

Email: Sam_Nary

**Castle Wyvern**

Goliath stood alone on the battlements looking out over the city. He stood there watching and waiting for the night's patrol teams to return. Some of it was nervousness that Elisa was with one of the patrol teams and that he wasn't with her, but a good deal of it was the rotation that the clan had had to undertake so that they could both patrol the city and look after the Chinese hatchlings. He knew that Thailog would make some sort of move intended to destroy his clan, but also knew that with the rotation system they were using, if Thailog attacked one group in force, he would stand a fair chance of winning. The smaller number of groups patrolling also made it possible for Thailog to accomplish his goals without even fighting, if they could get their timing right.

"Penny for your thoughts?" came Xanatos's voice from behind him.

Goliath turned to see the black furred wolf-like mutate slowly approaching him. He looked slightly restless as though he had been trying to sleep, but had no luck. He sighed and then turned back to look out over the city.

"I'm just waiting," Goliath rumbled, "I had thought you were going to turn in for the night?"

"I did," Xanatos answered with a chuckle, "It's early morning right now. I'd say you have about two hours until dawn."

Goliath continued looking out over the city below him, not realizing how long he had been standing there, and now beginning to worry that the patrol team Elisa was with was in trouble.

"I'm sure everything is fine Goliath," Xanatos commented, "I'm sure the detective will be on her way back soon."

"It is not merely that," Goliath sighed, "It is this game we've been 'playing' with Thailog. He's up to something big, something different."

"I don't see him getting away with it in the long run," Xanatos commented, "He's been keeping the Pack in Maddox Technologies with his clan. Eventually someone will notice their presence."

"Yes, but how well can a police force cope with a clan of gargoyles that are stronger and faster then humans as well as one mutate who can shoot electricity, one mutate who can't, two insane cyborgs that are bullet proof, and two robots that are nearly impervious."

"If it was something during the day, I'd assume the NYPD would call in SWAT forces, or the military, and they are generally more heavily armed then policemen," Xanatos told him.

"It could turn the city into a war zone," Goliath answered, "something I can not allow, and that is what unnerves me about what this Thailog is doing. I get the feeling that an all out battle may be what this Thailog is planning."

Xanatos sighed, knowing that the current clone of Goliath was more likely a clone of a clone. Even if he had the same programming and memories as the first Thailog, there had to be some subtle differences.

"I don't really know what to say," Xanatos commented, "I know you'd prefer a smaller engagement that wouldn't risk damage to the city, if Thailog is different now from how he was before, you may not have a choice."

"It would force you to expose the truth behind most of the females in my clan, that they were at one point in their lives human," Goliath rumbled, "it cold expose you, not only as a mutate, but also much of your past."

"Thankfully, the parts that I could get charged for wouldn't necessarily have to be told," Xanatos gave a slight smile, "but I do see your point."

"If we can't find and stop him soon, he could end up destroying everything," Goliath said nervously, "even if we win the battle."

Xanatos didn't answer, but noticed some winged shapes beginning to approach the castle.

"Here comes you're patrol group now," Xanatos pointed.

Goliath followed the billionaire mutate's gesture and easily noticed his mate leading the group back. Shortly after, Elisa, Desdemona, and Angela all landed together on the battlements.

"Are you three alright?" Goliath asked as he approached slowly.

"We're fine, Big Guy," Elisa answered and hugged him, "nothing real big was happening tonight. Nothing bigger then a common criminal."

"But it's nearly two hours to dawn," Goliath spoke, "what delayed you?"

"Mostly helping some kid get back to his house," Angela answered first, "we found him as we were ending our patrol and spent most of the night trying to at least find the building he lives in."

"He had apparently gotten lost during the day and began aimlessly wandering in search of his folks," Desdemona answered, "if it weren't for Elisa's past working in the area in which the boy lived, I doubt we would have got him home."

"Sounds like you all did well then," Goliath answered, "but are you sure you didn't run into anything else? Some plot of Thailog's?"

"No, big guy," Elisa answered, "we didn't see an eye or hair of him. My guess he's biding time, or doesn't know what to do next."

Goliath only sighed again, "I'm afraid he might know what to do, and is only waiting until he is able."

**Maddox Technologies**

Thailog slowly made his way into one of the basement labs inside the Maddox Technologies to find Holly and Fang waiting for him. It was clear that they had been waiting for him.

"The report said that the shipment of the fuel arrived," Thailog spoke as he approached.

"It did," Fang answered, "Your robot 'drone' received the delivery and them deliver it down here in the basement."

It was then that Holly lifted up a steal box about the same size as a hand grenade. There was a glass window on it , through which Thailog could see that the steal was nearly a full inch thick. The glass had to also be fairly thick.

"I've managed to isolate some of it inside this container to see just how explosive it really is," Holly answered.

"Just to make sure the scientists who invented this fuel weren't lying?" Thailog asked with smile.

"I assumed you'd want to test it," Holly answered, sounding slightly annoyed.

"I want to see it blow something up," Fang added.

Both Holly and Thailog turned to look at the mutate who only smiled back enthusiastically like someone who was excited by destruction.

"What?" Fang shot back, "Wouldn't you like to see Goliath and his clan get blown up?"

"I would love nothing more," Thailog answered, "but I already have to deal with the Pack, which is a psychotic incident away from being as dangerous to themselves as they are to others. I would prefer to not have a blatant love of destruction. It would mean being willing destroying everything I seek to rule over eventually."

"Fine," Fang sighed and stepped aside while Holly began to carry the canister across the room.

Holly placed it on the floor and then returned to stand near the black skinned clone.

"According to the research we've received, the fuel is so volatile that exposure to any gas, in this case air, will ignite it," Holly spoke and then began chanting a spell she had been practicing.

Thailog and Fang quietly watched as a green glow engulfed the canister, which had the glass 'window' visible to them. At first, nothing seemed to happen, but then both males noticed several hairline cracks forming in the glass. Then there was a massive explosion that threw all three occupants of the room against the far wall. After recovering his senses, Thailog stood up to asses the damage done, and what he saw surprised him.

Most of the wall that the canister had been near was gone, blown into the next room, while the two side walls looked slightly bent, and the ceiling above the spot of the canister looked like it was ready to collapse. Thailog also found the wall he had been thrown into slightly singed and that he, Holly and Fang were all slightly burned, although Fang's fur protected him, and Thailog's own armor protected most of him. Dawn, however, wasn't too far away, so both Thailog and Holly were assured to be at full strength the next night.

"Impressive," Thailog smiled as he straightened himself out.

"And the canisters you've had manufactured to attach to the shield that Xanatos raises to protect his building are four times as large as what we used in this test," Holly added, "this one was only the size of a hand grenade."

"You might not even need to cast any spell to boast its explosive power," Fang commented, "You might be able to do it all by yourself."

Holly nodded confidently.

"Now, all we're waiting for is for Jackal to finish his repairs on the last robotic member of the Pack," Thailog spoke.

Above them in the specialized lab, Jackal worked frantically to work on finishing the repairs for to Shadow. The work on the smaller robot was progressing just as slowly as the work on Dreadnought had been, but with some experience now behind him, he was able to get much of it done a bit faster. The thing that slowed him down was his attempts to make Shadow smarter then he had made Dreadnought. He hoped he was making actual progress.

"Will this work?" Hyena asked from behind him.

"Dreadnought works," Jackal replied, "since we couldn't find a spare AI program of Xanatos's I was forced to redo the steps used to reanimate Dreadnought. At worst, he'll work well so long as he's given simple commands. At absolute best, Shadow will have some individuality."

"Being as dumb as Dreadnought is, it wouldn't suit well in a long drawn out fight," Hyena commented.

"That's why I've been making alterations to the programming I'm putting into Shadow," Jackal answered, sounding annoyed, "it should make him smarter."

"And once he's ready we'll finish them off?" Hyena asked.

"I believe that is Thailog's plan, although I doubt his clan will do much," Jackal commented, "Other then himself and Holly, his clan is full of nothing but gangsters and prostitutes, and Granite, in particular, is terrified of Wolf, and he's on 'her' side."

"What about Fang?" Hyena wondered.

"He's more of a side-show," Jackal shrugged, "like Wolf and Canis are. If he's lost or captured, I doubt Thailog will shed a tear over his capture."

There was a brief moment of silence as Jackal inserted a new panel into the brain cavity of the robot. After that, Jackal closed the armored doors to Shadow's head and turned toward his sister.

"But then, we can't really abandon Thailog and his little group," Jackal sighed, "If we do, we'd lose our current source of income and we'd be reduced to the level of common criminals again."

"Maybe, but there's little about us that is common," Hyena answered, "even as common crooks, we'd have a leg up on the cops."

"We'll settle for that when we can't settle for this," Jackal answered, "besides, losing the cover of Maddox Technologies would mean that we'd be on the run again. Even if we could beat any cop in the world, I don't like the idea of being hunted."

Hyena was about to answer when Shadow suddenly sat up on the table that Jackal had him on. The robot then turned to the two cyborgs and awaited instructions.

"Excellent," Jackal smiled.

**Castle Wyvern, Morning**

Lawrence paused quietly as he carried out an activity that had become somewhat habitual. On the gargoyle's tower, he slowly moved to Caroline's perch and moved carefully to kiss her stone cheek before heading out for school. Caroline most commonly slept in a praying position, which made that habit easier for him. She could never notice him doing this, but hit was becoming more then simply a show of love and affection.

It was also becoming an action to reassure himself that his 'wife' had survived the night. The clan lived a relatively rough life, and there had been an occasion or two where Caroline had been hurt. He wasn't about to demand Caroline stop helping the clan, as what they did was rather noble, but he found himself worrying about her when she had to patrol, or when the clan was nervous about one their major enemies doing something big. He tried his best to hide it, as he didn't think it would be very masculine of him to worry as he did, but he was certain that Caroline, at least, noticed it. The only thing he could think of to really ease all of that would be to join her, but he really didn't have much interest in forfeiting his humanity, and he knew for certain that Caroline didn't want him to do that either.

There was nothing he could do at the moment, and assured that Caroline was fine, Lawrence turned and began to head out for school. His mind still wondered about something that he could do, but so far, it hadn't come up with anything.

**Maddox Technologies**

"Now for the moment of truth," Jackal smiled as he looked at the newly reactivated Shadow robot, "Who do you obey?"

Shadow slowly raised one hand and pointed at Jackal and shortly after that, pointed to Hyena. The robot then lowered its arm to its side.

"Well, that proves he's as smart as Dreadnought," Hyena commented, "Can it do anything else?"

"Now we find out," Jackal shrugged and then turned and began rummaging through a stack of papers on the desk behind him.

He eventually turned back holding a picture of Thailog's clan in stone sleep, and a series of pictures of Goliath's clan in action.

"Can you tell the difference between the gargoyles in these photographs?" Jackal asked as he held the pictures out.

Shadow looked the pictures for a long moment and after a few moments activated his lasers and sliced through the photographs of Goliath's clan, which conveniently also had one or more members of the Pack either in the background in the corners of the photographs. Jackal and Hyena looked at the damaged photographs and then at Shadow.

"Well that looks like progress," Hyena commented, "You didn't need to spell out specifically who to attack."

"Now let's see if he an follow a bit more complicated instructions," Jackal answered, turned and grabbed the buildings blueprints for the building, "Now take this secret elevator to the top floor and bring back a hair from Fang's head."

The robot then got up off of the table and walked through the door. They then heard Wolf and Canis jump in surprise as the robot walked through the rest of the Pack's area. Shortly after, both mutates appeared in the doorway.

"What the devil was that?" Wolf growled.

"I've gotten Shadow working again," Jackal answered, "and I'm currently testing it to see if he has any intellectual improvement over Dreadnought."

"Well he just walked thrrrrrrrrrough the doorrrrrrrrs," Wolf growled, "Didn't open them. Just walked thrrrrrrough them."

"Splinters everywhere!" Canis added, sounding as though he was cheering.

"We'll see how Shadow handles the mission," Jackal insisted, "it's a relatively complicated one, at least if he's only as intelligent as Dreadnought anyway."

Shadow meanwhile walked quietly until it came to the secret elevator on the plans it had seen. It then thrust his hands into the crack of the door and pushed it open with his bare hands. The elevator was not on that floor, and Shadow ended up rocketing up the two floors to he top floor on his jump jets. It crashed through the floor of the elevator and began walking toward the room identified in the plan's as 'Fang's Room'.

The secretary in charge of the of external offices of Maddox Technologies jumped out of her seat when the Shadow robot suddenly appeared walking calmly through the hallways before literally walking though the door to the main office area behind her. She quickly turned to a nearby phone and pressed the 'one' button.

"Mister Thailog," the secretary spoke, "Mister Thailog…"

"Calm down miss Ural, what is happening?" came the voice of the robotic double the real Thailog had had made to actually run the business.

"Sir, you won't believe this, but a robot, or some human in armor just walked through the door to your office area," the secretary spoke, "he's coming your way. I think I should call the police."

"No," came Thailog's answer, "I will deal with it. Meanwhile, asses the damages the robot has left so far and fax me the estimates."

"Yes, sir," the secretary answered in a puzzled voice.

The robot double of Thailog knew that this 'intruder' had to be either Shadow or Dreadnought. As far as he knew, Dreadnought was being kept in storage to wait for the final battle and Shadow wasn't repaired yet, but that didn't mean that the Pack had just repaired him. He found that his assumption was correct, it was the Shadow robot. It calmly walked past the door to the clan's sleeping room and then stopped outside the door to the room that Fang's room. It then walked through the door as though it was already open, shattering the wood.

The robot Thailog then followed carefully, when he suddenly heard Fang give a startled gasp and then scream in pain. The robot Thailog was about to charge in when Shadow came out the doorway holding a strand of hair in one hand. It then began walking down the same hallway it had come from, with Fang following behind looking very irritated.

"That lousy robot pulled a hair out of my ear!" Fang growled.

"Yes, I see," the robot Thailog answered, "Apparently the Pack has gotten the Shadow robot working and their running some strange prank with it. It's already caused quite a stir, so it would be best if you remained out of sight and let me handle this."

Fang only grumbled in response, but agreed. The robotic Thailog resumed following Shadow, who was apparently headed toward a secret elevator shaft that the Pack used to go between the rooms given to them and the top floor where Thailog and his clan were lodged. As he walked out into the public lobby, he found the secretary nervously looking over the doorframe and talking to someone on the phone about replacing it. She only pointed in the direction that Shadow had went.

The robot Thailog then continued on to see that the robot did not take the elevator, but flew through it, like it walked through the door.

"Not much of an improvement over Dreadnought," the robotic Thailog commented and moved to a nearby flight of stairs, deciding not to risk the elevator.

He found Shadow presenting the hair to Jackal in the Pack's area.

"You do understand that the cost of repairing the damage that robot has caused will come out of your pay-checks," the robot Thailog announced firmly, making himself known.

"What?" Jackal growled back, "we've got Shadow running again, and I believe I done a good enough job to insure that he is smarter then Dreadnought."

"He went through three doors and an elevator on the way to jumping Fang," the robot Thailog answered, "Shadow apparently is not smart enough to open doors or operate an elevator and the dumbest human can still accomplish those tasks without thinking."

"So there's room for improvement," Jackal smiled, "It's an improvement over Dreadnought, who would have gone through floors, walls, doors, and any other 'obstacle' at random. Shadow followed the hallways directly to Fang, retrieved the hair, and returned. That has to count for something."

"Whatever the cost of repairs are," the robotic Thailog answered, "unless you were to present Thailog with Goliath's smashed head."

"We're to go after the Eyrie Building during the day?" Jackal demanded, "Xanatos would only raise its shields or unleash a hundred Steel Clan robots on us."

"Thailog's plans depend on Xanatos's shield being defeated," the robotic Thailog answered, "Xanatos is likely to raise it even if you attack after dusk. Even if the gargoyles are awake, if your sole objective is to attack the castle, why should they risk a major battle while they can tire you out hammering at the shield."

There was a brief silence among the surprised Pack members before the robotic Thailog continued.

"Attack in the late afternoon," the robot Thailog instructed, "Xanatos will raise his shield to protect the clan. You won't be able to blast through, but that is not the goal. Attack the shield only occasionally and lightly. Just enough that Xanatos will keep his shield up to protect the clan."

"And what if the police intervene?" Hyena asked, "The city's tallest building raising an energy shield isn't exactly something they're going to miss. And even if they miss that, they certainly won't fail to notice us attacking the shield."

"You are free to use whatever means available to you to keep the police at bay," the robotic Thailog answered, "Shoot their choppers own, if necessary. With your jets and Canis's wings, I doubt they will be of much use on foot. After dusk, Thailog and his clan will join the battle and Holly will attach the new fuel source that was being developed by Maddox Technologies's new 'child-company' and will cast a spell that will only amplify the fuel's explosive power. The resulting shockwave will take down Xanatos's shield and may possibly do damage to the Eyrie Building itself. Based on tests conducted last night, several buildings near the Eyrie Building may also take damage."

"This sounds like you'rrrrrrrrre getting rrrrrrrready forrrrrrrrr a warrrrr," Wolf commented.

"In a way it is," the robotic Thailog answered, "the purpose is to make a public statement. Thailog has secretly and covertly tried to urge the city's government to back certain ideas that would make him more money, but was refused. We will now demonstrate to the city government that we are the ones who hold real power in this city. The destruction of Goliath's clan and the essential bankrupting of Xanatos Enterprises will only be small victories compared with the frightening of the city government, which will be unable to pursue us in any way. To protect his city, the mayor would either have to ask the governor or the US federal government for help, which would be costly and would only insure chaos that we can capitalize on, or he can simply begin to secretly work with Thailog to insure that we do not continue any 'reign of terror' so to speak, which will insure greater profits for Maddox Technologies, Thailog, and through his employ, yourselves."

Jackal looked at the other members of the Pack around him, who all nodded. He then looked back at the robot 'copy' of Thailog.

"We'll do it," Jackal spoke, "we'll finally get rid of Goliath and his goody-goody lizards and we'll make a quick buck doing it."

The robotic Thailog then walked away, confident that Thailog's ultimate plan would come to fruition.

**Castle Wyvern, Late Afternoon**

"So," Fox asked, "how does everything look?"

Dr. Weinsheimer looked over the equipment that Xanatos had purchased for him to use to treat Fox's pregnancy. All the equipment looked new, unused even.

"Your husband has spared no expense," Dr. Weinsheimer commented, "the clinic I work at during the day does not have equipment this advanced."

"It'll probably be yesterday's model by the time we get to the clan's breeding season in 2008," Fox commented.

"I'd tend to think that eight years won't hold to dramatic an advancement in technology that this will be obsolete," Dr. Weinsheimer replied, "No, I don't suppose you would oppose taking the first medical testing done. To see where we are."

"So long as you're not planning on shaving my fur," Fox answered, "I don't want to look 'patchy'."

"I'm sure we can manage, although you might want to shower afterward," Dr. Weinsheimer chuckled, "to clean the gel out."

Fox only nodded and moved to sit on the examining table that had been set up. Her ears picked up an alarm faintly as she sat down.

Meanwhile in another sector of the castle, Owen reported to a main control room as a warning alarm blared in the background. As he got closer, he found that the warning was warranted.

"What's going on?" Xanatos asked quickly, "I heard the alarm from my office."

"We have incoming aerial attackers," Owen answered, "Sensor indicate that two are entirely metallic, two are mixed organic and metallic, and one is entirely organic."

"The Pack," Xanatos grumbled, "any guess why they're out in broad daylight?"

"Given that they're headed directly toward the Eyrie Building, our best guess is that they're launching some desperate attempt to shatter the clan while they sleep," Owen answered in fairly grave voice.

"Raise the shield," Xanatos ordered, "the only ones that aren't stone are the Guatemalans and they can't hold the Pack off."

"Already done, sir," Owen answered confidently.

Xanatos nodded, "Good. I'll warn the Guatemalans not to venture out. Call the cops and tell them where they can find the top three most wanted criminals."

Owen nodded and turned to the computer panel again.

**Outside**

Jackal saw the shield go up around the Eyrie Building before he got within a block of the building. However their sensor systems worked, they had to be good, and the operator of those systems had to be even better. He did have some hope that they'd get a chance to at least smash a couple of the sleeping gargoyles before the shield would be raised, but that was now dashed.

"Alright," Jackal sighed, "let's land on that building there. It's next to the Eyrie Building and we can keep an eye out for any cops coming to their rescue."

"What about taking the shield down?" Hyena asked as they landed.

"Like the robot Thailog said, we can't take it down, not without exhausting ourselves first," Jackal answered, "we're just going to insure that they keep the shield up until Holly arrives with that rocket fuel."

"Great," Hyena grumbled, "three hours of harmless pot-shots waiting for a witch and her magics. Is it just me or are we becoming too reliant on magical people?"

"You're right, but they are paying us," Jackal reminded her.

On the battlements, Zafiro and his clan looked nervously on as the Pack fired a few rounds into Xanatos's shield.

"It is a good thing we decided to stay up today," Jade commented as he prepared to move forth, if the Pack wanted a fight, he would give them one.

"No," Zafiro grabbed the jade green gargoyle by an arm, "we should let Mr. Xanatos's shield keep them out for now. The Pack is Goliath's Clan's enemy and they have more experience fighting them."

"And suppose they break in?" Turquesa asked, "Goliath's clan is sleeping. If they break through, it'll be like when the treasure hunters found the pyramid."

Zafiro and Obsidiana shared nervous glances, as both of them could remember finding their pyramid burning and their clan shattered. They didn't want to see that happen to Goliath's clan.

"His shield has held before," Zafiro sighed after a few moments, "Besides, if we do go out, we'll likely be unsupported, and they have both Dreadnought and that other robot with them."

"The Pack has Shadow working?" came Xanatos's voice from behind them.

They turned to see the black furred wolf mutate approach them and look out to see the Pack take a few weak shots at the shield around the Eyrie Building. He easily noticed the Shadow robot standing beside the larger Dreadnought robot.

"This isn't going to be easy," Xanatos then muttered.

"Has the Pack ever been easy to deal with?" Zafiro questioned.

"No, but the fact that they're attacking the Eyrie Building in the late afternoon implies that there is a bigger plan in the works," Xanatos answered, "They know about my shield and they know they can't over power it. This has to be either distraction or a prelude to something else."

"Something else?" Obsidiana asked.

"Like Thailog attacking in force after dusk," Xanatos answered, "He might have to exhaust his sorceress to do so, but between her and the Pack's laser fire, they might be able to wear the shield down eventually and start an all out battle."

"Shouldn't we drive them off then?" Jade asked, "before they get the chance?"

"That would attract too much attention," Xanatos sighed, "despite the years that have passed since the discovery of Goliath's clan and the work Amy's parents with PIT, the people of New York are not quite trusting of gargoyles. Maybe not outright haters of gargoyles, but I doubt many outside of PIT would shed tears if you all disappeared. And many of the details of my past would be viewed as criminal by everyone, regardless of whether or not they support gargoyles. Forcing a major battle would only cause an investigation that could uncover all of that."

"We might still have to do something," Zafiro warned, "Especially if the Pack pulls out something unexpected."

"Owen should be calling the police right now," Xanatos answered, "They will likely respond with sending out SWAT units and helicopters to give them and equal footing with the Pack. If I do anything for the moment, it would be to activate Coyote and send him and the Steel Clan to aide the police, but for the moment, all we should do is wait and let them shoot at a shield they can't break."

The Guatemalans then turned to watch the Pack's actions.

**NYPD Headquarters**

The New York City Police commissioner sighed as he went to get himself a cup of coffee from the machine outside his office. He had just finished pouring the coffee when an officer came running up to him with a slightly nervous look.

"What is it?" the commissioner asked.

"We've just gotten in a 911 call from an Owen Burnett," the officer reported, "apparently the Pack is attacking the Eyrie Building."

The Commissioner gasped slightly, but showed little real surprise. David Xanatos and the Eyrie Building he lived in seemed to be at the center of all the weird and gargoyle related events that occurred in the city. The Commissioner steadily made his way down the hall to a window that allowed him to see Xanatos's shield up. The Commissioner wondered many things about the billionaire industrialist, but knew that that shield only went up if he were attacked. He also knew that Xanatos had tried to sell that shield design to the other major buildings in New York, but the projected costs of altering the basements to accommodate the necessary generators was too high to make the project feasible.

"What have you done so far?" the Commissioner asked after a few moments.

"I've contacted the 23rd Precinct, as they're the closest," the officer answered, "told them to get their choppers ready and to send at least patrolmen to monitor the situation."

"Patrolmen with handguns and shotguns won't stop the Pack," the Commissioner retorted.

"The 23rd's Captain pointed that out also, and is requesting permission to deploy SWAT teams to the area as well," the officer answered, "All that is needed is your confirmation."

The Commissioner nodded, "Call up the SWAT units in the 23rd Precinct, have the other units on standby. Hopefully we'll finally get those nut jobs."

**23****rd****Precinct**

"And that's what has been going on," Captain Chavez sighed.

"Can't they keep themselves out of trouble?" Flariaty asked, "It seems that every time something big happens, Xanatos or his gargoyles are involved."

"They aren't the ones causing the trouble," Captain Chavez reminded her, "we can't reprimand him or the gargoyles for being someone else's target."

Flariaty nodded, "I mean no disrespect. I guess it's just hard to feel sympathetic to the same victim on a routine basis."

"The Pack are psychopaths, Detective," Captain Chavez reminded her, "Remember that. For all we know, this animosity they have against the gargoyles is something totally random. And if not, our job is to enforce the law. The gargoyles have not broken any. The Pack has. Keep that in mind."

"Yes ma'am," Flariaty sighed after a few moments.

"Will we have SWAT there to back us up?" Matt asked, as he remained silent for Flariaty's routine rant that the gargoyles were a problem.

"Yes, I've already sent them down there," Captain Chavez answered, "they should be ready by the time you get there to take charge."

"We'll be on our way then," Matt replied and turned ushered Flariaty out of Captain Chavez's office.

"You really need to tone down you gargoyle hatred," Matt spoke firmly, "You know full well that the Captain and I are friends with Elisa and the last thing we want to see is a friend and former cop shattered."

"I don't hate gargoyles," Flariaty answered, "if they behaved like normal people and let us do the crime fighting, we wouldn't have so many crooks free on the street because a gargoyle leaving them tied up leaves no evidence, and because they don't read Miranda Rights, the crook has to be released just to prevent any sort corruption charge being leveled at us."

"And if the clan was allowed and tolerated in society, nearly all of them would join the police or the military," Matt answered, "any organization that carries the image of being a protector. The clan lives outside the law because there are far too many people who firmly believe that if it isn't human, it isn't as intelligent or as good. If humanity was more tolerant of things that are strange, they'd be more 'by the book'. Shoot, we tend to punish people who have strange ideas. The FBI threw me out because of my theories on the Illuminati, which were true, but since they've kept themselves hidden, no one believed me, and…"

"Enough," Flariaty sighed, "we have a job to do. If we need to act better, then I'm all for it, but the law is the law. The more they act as vigilantes, the more many will fear them and the more trouble they will get into."

Matt only sighed as they kept walking. It appeared there was nothing that would make Flariaty consider the clan to be a friend.

**Castle Wyvern**

"Oh dear," Dr. Weinsheimer spoke as he saw the shield ripple outside the building through one of the windows, "I don't suppose I can get out, can I?"

"Not while the shield is up," Fox answered nervously.

Their appointment had gone well, and the baby within her was healthy, although the doctor had voiced a worry that because to baby's wings, it would need to be delivered by caesarean section, but he wasn't certain of that yet. Now they found that the castle was under attack.

"These wouldn't be people your husband has wronged in the past that are attacking us, are they?" Dr. Weinsheimer asked.

"No," Fox answered, "the people who would have that claim for vengeance have become friends over the years. Even my father was fairly friendly with David before his death. The Pack are actually former accomplices slash hired muscle."

Dr. Weinsheimer sighed heavily and shook his head. He had so far learned much of Xanatos's past. While not all of it was truly criminal, a lot of what he had done wasn't good. He felt they were honestly trying to redeem themselves, and decided to let the past go if they were willing to really seek redemption. Even if they didn't, what Sevarius had done to them struck him as adequate penance.

"It is not safe for you here," Dr. Weinsheimer spoke after a few moments, "I'm the shield is to protect the gargoyles, but if it goes down when they wake up, you and your children could be in serious danger."

"I'm not afraid of them," Fox growled.

"But the doctor is right, my child," came a new voice that practically made Dr. Weinsheimer leap through the ceiling.

Fox then looked up to see her mother, in her human guise, walking toward them.

"Dr. Weinsheimer, this is my mother," Fox spoke.

"Oh, hello, Ms. …" Dr. Weinsheimer spoke as he tried to regain his senses.

"Anastasia Renard in this form," Titania spoke.

"This form?" Dr. Weinsheimer raised an eyebrow looking rather confused.

"You know of my daughter's form, and she has not told you of me?" Titania asked.

"I hadn't gotten to the Third Race, yet," Fox spoke nervously.

Titania only sighed and then spoke, "then now is the time to get to it, while we return to Avalon."

"What?" Fox gasped in surprise.

"The Pack's attack is connected to a larger plan," Titania spoke, "and because they are mortal, I can not interfere, not even to directly protect you or aide Puck should they threaten Alex. That is why you and Alex must come to Avalon with me. You will be safer there."

"But David, the Clan, my home?" Fox protested.

"You are in no condition to fight, even if you had mastered all your magic," Titania answered, "if you stay and fight, you could strain your health and lose your current unborn child."

"Excuse me, what's going on?" Dr. Weinsheimer asked from where he stood, sounding nervous.

Titania shifted her form from the human 'Anastasia Renard' to that of Titania, Queen of the Seelie Court.

"My real name is Titania, Queen of the Fey," Titania answered, "a being that you largely consider to be either myth or fantasy. And I trust you will keep this quiet."

Dr. Weinsheimer managed a weak 'yes' before fainting.

"Please, I do not want to see you hurt," Titania returned to the original conversation while Fox moved to catch the unconscious doctor, "It is only for your safety during this battle."

Fox only sighed. She didn't like hiding, it wasn't in her personality, and now, not only with the child she was carrying, but Alex depending on her, she could take much in the way of risks.

"Fine, mother," Fox sighed, "but we're to also take the Doctor, and you must let me tell David where I'm going."  
"Of course," Titania answered.

**Outside**

The Pack's attempts to lay siege to the Eyrie Building had produced less then spectacular results. They had done nothing to damage the shield and so far they'd been receiving no response from the police. There were a few cars below trying to clear traffic, but they had made little effort to move on them. Canis and Hyena were visibly getting impatient or some real action.

"Come on, we ain't getting through that shield, can't we just go down and rough up the cops a little?" Hyena pleaded.

"Those guys are on foot," Jackal answered, "We wait until they come after us with helicopters or take to the rooftops with SWAT snipers. Until then, our efforts are to be aimed at the shield."

It was almost at that time that the first police helicopters began to arrive in the area. One SWAT officer armed with an M-16 sat just inside the open side doors to the helicopter, although their main purpose was to defend the helicopter should one or more of the Pack attack it.

"Now that," Jackal said, pointing to the helicopter, "we can attack."

Hyena smiled and Canis leaped off the roof before anyone else could move. Hyena and Jackal were quick to follow. Canis's approach was initially a direct charge, but he was forced to quickly dive away when the SWAT officer fired on him. Canis then dove down out of self preservation to avoid the bullets, leaving Jackal and Hyena with an open shot at the helicopter, which the cyborg twins didn't waste.

Jackal's shot destroyed the helicopter's rear rotor, while Hyena's separated the main rotor from the rest of the helicopter's engine. The destroyed rotors flew off and hit Xanatos's shield while the chopper rapidly lost altitude and the pilot lost all control. Jackal then turned, hoping to see the helicopter crash into the pavement below with all its crew inside, only see four Steel Clan robots carrying the pilot, radioman, and two SWAT officers down to ground level.

"Shadow, Dreadnought, destroy the Steel Clan robots!" Jackal yelled as loud as he could.

Both robots lumbered forward, Shadow activating his jets to pursue the Steel Clan robots while Dreadnought dropped all the way to the ground before turning toward the gargoyle shaped flying robots.

Inside the castle, things were not getting much better. The police helicopter had been shot down, and while Xanatos had managed to send four Steel Clan robots out to save the policemen, it did not appear that the present affair was going to be easily solved. The unthinkable was happening and Xanatos sensed it.

"It was good that your robots saved the humans," Obsidiana spoke encouragingly.

"The Steel Clan won't last long against Shadow and Dreadnought, and with only four robots sent, they're not even at full numerical strength," Xanatos sighed, and then activated his communicator, "Owen, the Pack has engaged the police coming to contain the situation and they've got Shadow and Dreadnought pursuing our Steel Clan rescuers through the area. They're likely to end up in a major battle with the police, which we can't allow. Activate Coyote and send it out here."

"Of course, sir," came Owen's reply.

Xanatos then sighed again, thankful that Titania had taken Fox, Alex, and Dr. Weinsheimer to Avalon, where they wouldn't hopefully see any of this.

On the ground, Matt pulled up to find that a small battle had erupted on the ground outside the Eyrie Building. The SWAT members had arrived and were firing on the massive Dreadnought robot. To both Matt and Flairaty's surprise, Dreadnought was not returning the policemen's fire. He was following the flight of two Steel Clan robots that were being pursued by Shadow.

"Seems rather loud here," Matt commented as he approached the lead SWAT officer as he fired at Dreadnought with an M-16.

"Yeah," the SWAT officer answered, "wish that tin can would simply fall down."

Matt then watched to see that despite taking multiple direct hits, not even the powerful M-16 assault rifles did much more then scratch Dreadnought's paint. Attempts to hit the robot's glass dome were blocked by its raised arm trying to fire on the Steel Clan robots. Matt then remembered a tip Elisa had sent him on the Dreadnought robot. Practically invincible physically, but left a lot to be desired mentally.

"We have to flank the big one before Jackal tells him to change targets," Matt ordered, "Otherwise, we're going to have to pull back."

"You think you can do that, then be my guest," the SWAT officer answered as Shadow destroyed the last Steel Clan robot and returned to the rooftop where the rest of the Pack was.

Dreadnought then stopped and stood still as bullets bounced off his armor.

Jackal smiled at the situation as Shadow returned to the rooftop. He then sighed when he noticed that Dreadnought had not returned to the rooftop and was taking serious fire from the SWAT officers on the ground. He was about to yell out the order for Dreadnought to return when a large robotic figure appeared outside the castle and was diving toward the ground. It was Xanatos's Coyote robot.

"It's Coyote!" Hyena growled angrily.

"Restrain yourself, sister," Jackal growled, "if he comes this way, we take him together. It looks right now like he's going after Dreadnought."

"I don't take orders, not even from you," Hyena growled and blasted off, heading directly for Coyote.

Hyena rocketed at high speed, intending to destroy the Coyote robot for refusing to love her and extend her claws to their longest. As she got close, however, Coyote twisted in the air and landed a blow on her back with one massive arm. That sent her flying into the shield that Xanatos had erected, and Hyena felt unimaginable pain as the energy running the shield countered the electricity running many of her cybernetic parts. Her latest upgrades protected her from being electrocuted, but they were being overcharge, and she had no way to get rid of the energy. As she screamed in pain, various components in her back, mainly her rockets, exploded sending her dropping to the ground. Hyena dropped to the ground and landed unconscious not to far from the shield.

Jackal was meanwhile horrified by what had just happened. His sister was down and heavily damaged, and Coyote was continuing his descent toward Dreadnought.

"Hyena!" Canis yelled.

"There's nothing we can do," Jackal spoke holding him back, "We have to keep the cops and Xanatos distracted. She fouled up."

Jackal then turned to yell down to Dreadnought.

"Dreadnought, destroy Coyote!" Jackal yelled as loudly as possible and then looked out to the west to see the sun beginning to set.

Coyote watched as Dreadnought reacted to Jackal's order, but Xanatos's robot was on top of his Pack equivalent before it could do much. Coyote landed on Dreadnought's shoulders, taking the large robot to the ground and smashing the smaller laser cannons mounted on its back and shoulders. Dreadnought only grabbed one of Coyote's legs and flung the robot off of it. Coyote ended up crashing into a large SWAT van knocking it over. This also startled the officers standing behind it.

"Who the fuck are you?!" the SWAT officer growled in shock and anger.

"I am Coyote 4.1 built by Xanatos Enterprises for security and protection of the Manhattan Clan," Coyote answered, startling them further with Xanatos's voice, "I have been sent to insure that the Pack's robot, Dreadnought, does not kill you."

Dreadnought then fired a couple of laser shots that missed Coyote, but did tear large holes in the tipped over armored van.

"Do a better job," the SWAT officer growled and fired on Dreadnought with his rifle, again his shots had no effect and Dreadnought seemed to ignore them.

Coyote got up and fired two shots at Dreadnought with his own powerful lasers. One shot hit the Pack robot in the shoulder and the other hit it directly in chest, forcing Dreadnought back. Coyote hoped that he had bought the police more time to find cover.

**Castle Wyvern**

On the castle's tower, the last rays of daylight faded on the statues of the gargoyles resting on the castle's battlements. One by one all of them broke free of their stone shells to find Xanatos's shield up and the sounds of a battle raging outside the building. From his perch Goliath could see Xanatos and the Guatemalans watching the action.

"What's going on?" one of the Tibetan elders asked nervously as this was not something they expected.

"We're under attack," Goliath rumbled, "that can be the only reason the shield is up."

The Tibetan elder who asked the question climbed up to Goliath's level to speak with the lavender male.

"What should we do?" the Tibetan elder asked nervously.

"Take your hatchlings into the rookery and wait there," Goliath answered firmly, "My clan and I will move to insure that whatever assault on the castle on the way is beaten."

"But your agreement!" the Tibetan elder began to protest.

"Will mean nothing if the assault on the castle is successful," Elisa commented, "If it were just some nut who wanted to smash us, they would have given up after failing to break the shield or would have been carted off by Xanatos's security. By its buzzing, the shield has been on for awhile. This means that whoever is attacking wants a real 'rumble'. Something the clan can not survive if we split up."

The elder backed down, although reluctantly. She quickly turned and moved to galvanize the other elders and getting the hatchlings inside. Goliath and Elisa meanwhile leaped down to the level where the rest of the clan was gathering.

"What are your orders, Goliath?" Broadway asked nervously as they landed.

"We must first find out who is attacking the castle and how successful they have been so far," Goliath rumbled, "but for the time being it means that we must remain alert for anything."

He then sighed and then moved to converse with Xanatos to get an update on what was happening, knowing that the clan would follow him. Xanatos did turn to face him as he landed.

"I take it you're curious about what's going on?" Xanatos questioned, obviously trying to sound humorous, but not actually being very successful at that.

**Maddox Technologies**

"So the battle has begun?" Thailog asked of his robot 'double' and Fang.

"Yeah," Fang answered, "it's been goin' on since this afternoon. It's all over the news. Hyena took herself out flying into Xanatos's shield. Dreadnought is fighting Xanatos's Coyote robot and the cops on the ground, and the rest of the Pack is on the roof across the street."

"Then now is the time to move," Thailog answered, "Holly, you are to carry the fuel canisters needed. Use magic if you have to. It is now time to make a statement that this city has never seen. Sevarius, gather your creatures."

**Castle Wyvern**

"And so far it's only been the Pack?" Brooklyn asked curiously after Xanatos finished his explanation.

Xanatos nodded, "So far, and they've already suffered the loss of Hyena. Her upgrades couldn't entirely protect her from the ALL of the energy running through my shield."

"Where is Wolf?" Othello wondered from his position, "Wouldn't he be with the Pack?"

"Their goal is to attack us," Xanatos commented.

"Without wings, he wouldn't amount to much," Goliath caught on, "Not until the shield was down and he could be carried into the castle."

"More importantly, why are Jackal, Shadow, and Canis just letting Coyote and the police fire on Dreadnought?" Candy asked as she and Lex had hopped onto the outer parts of the wall to look down at the battle below.

"That I can't figure out," Xanatos sighed, "I don't think Thailog intended for the Pack to fight the police, but given Dreadnought's drop in intelligence, that's what happened. The rest of the Pack is likely sticking to the plan to try and make the battle an 'event' for the police to watch."

"We ought to drive them off," Goliath urged, "Put the Pack out of our hair for good before Thailog can move."

"Wouldn't work well if Thailog arrives and we're still occupied with the Pack," Xanatos warned, "and I still have plenty of Steel Clan robots waiting should Thailog arrive."

"Yeah, but those robots are not a match for a sentient combatant," Broadway reminded him, "we beat those things easy."

"There is also the exo-frame for Owen to wear should things get rough," Xanatos added, "which you couldn't beat that easily."

"So we wait?" Desdemona asked nervously, glancing at the fighting going on at the street level, "we don't even help your robot?"

"Can't be helped," Xanatos sighed, "Something big is coming. Something I don't think anyone would anticipate happening. I don't think anyone can afford to divide up and risk being caught in the open."

On the ground, the fight between Coyote and Dreadnought had maintained a brutal stalemate. Neither had gotten a clear enough shot to do serious damage to the other, but Coyote had managed so far to land more blows on Dreadnought then Dreadnought had landed on him. It was clear to Coyote that he would have to take the battle to a closer range to try and gain some sort of advantage.

Coyote then moved forward, ducking under two laser shots and then grabbed Dreadnought's arms and lifted the massive robot over his head. Coyote then threw Dreadnought into Xanatos's shield, as it was the only object that wouldn't be damaged by Dreadnought hitting it. Much like Hyena, Dreadnought's impact with the shield did not go well for Dreadnought. The shield's energy field overloaded Dreadnought's circuits and even its armor couldn't protect it from taking serious damage. After a minute on the shield, Dreadnought literally exploded throwing shrapnel all over the street. Coyote ended up using his body to deflect the worst of it from the closest policemen to him.

When it was over, the SWAT officers moved out from behind their damaged and thrown about vehicles while two detectives approached Coyote directly.

"Are you two alright?" Coyote asked as they approached.

"We're fine," Matt spoke as he approached, "Can you take down the rest of the Pack?"

"Physically, yes," Coyote answered, "however, my orders were to insure that your policemen come to no harm. Should I attack, Jackal could easily send those that are not directly engaging me to come after you."

"Now listen here," Flariaty spoke, "I'll accept that the gargoyles want to help the people of New York. I'll put up with them being vigilantes until the majority of New Yorkers accept them, though I don't like it. But if you're going to help, especially in this situation, you must follow police orders. We can take care of ourselves."

"Your largest weapon is an M-16," Coyote answered, "If you are attacked by Shadow, you would require at least a fifty caliber machine gun to damage it. I must insist that you allow me to remain here to protect you. If you seek to put the Pack down, I would also suggest you send snipers to the roof of this building. Your M-16s will do damage to Jackal and Canis, and with them down, I can then deal with Shadow."

"That might actually work," Matt commented, "We don't have to shoot to kill, although with Jackal that'd be difficult with all the metal he's got in him, but we could wound them, which would leave Shadow on his own."

"Fine," Flariaty groaned and then turned to a couple of SWAT officers standing behind them, "get some rifles and get to the roof. Take down Jackal and Canis. Don't kill them, but take them down."

The SWAT officers nodded and hurried off.

Meanwhile on the rooftop, Thailog's clan arrived on the rooftop to find Jackal, Canis, and Shadow watching the shield.

"Report," Thailog ordered.

"Things have gone as your robot predicted," Jackal answered, "We couldn't damage the shield, but the police have no choppers at the moment and are caught on the ground. We have lost Hyena and Dreadnought though."

If Thailog was depressed by that, he didn't show it.

"Very well," Thailog replied, "Holly, you may begin attaching the canisters to the shield. You'll have to use magic, but not impossible."

Holly nodded and glided out with the canisters of the fuel floating behind her.

**The Battlements**

"It's that witch Thailog hired!" Elisa growled, bringing her eyes to a full red glow, "She's doing something."

It was Xanatos that held the tan female back.

"Thailog and his clan have arrived on the roof, and they have a boatload of them mutants that Lexington and Candy fought," Xanatos warned, "You attack, you'll find yourself outnumbered. I'll have some Steel Clan robots deal with her. If they're destroyed, it's no serious loss."

Elisa sighed and stepped down from the edge of the battlement walls. Goliath placed one hand on her shoulder as Xanatos pressed a button on a remote near him, releasing four more Steel Clan robots. The robots rose up through a small hole in the shield for them, which closed as they passed through.

The robots then moved toward the edge of the shield and dove down toward Holly as she began to hover one of the canisters next to the shield. They then dove down directly toward the blood red female. As they reached the halfway point, they came under fire from Jackal and Shadow, but the cyborg and Pack robot did not attack. Two Steel Clan robots were destroyed before the remaining two fired on Holly with their own laser cannons.

One of the laser shots hit one of the canisters that Holly had floating behind her, and that is when all hell broke loose. Holly managed to encase herself in an energy shield, but it didn't prevent her from being thrown about by the resulting explosion. Her small sphere of energy was thrown into the roof that Thailog and his clan were watching on, and Holly was unconscious as a result. The remaining two Steel Clan robots were destroyed as they flew into the resulting fireball.

On the ground, the shockwave knocked everyone to the ground. Matt struggled to get up to find Flariaty unconscious and Coyote laying not far away from them.

"You okay?" Matt asked, feeling funny about asking a robot that question.

"My legs are broken," Coyote answered, "but I am in no pain, as I can not feel pain."

"Lucky you," a SWAT officer grumbled as he stumbled up, "What the hell was that?"

"I don't know, but I think this has gone beyond us," Matt sighed.

On the battlements, the clan felt the entire Eyrie Building shake and then watched as the shield dropped, its generators spent.

"What now?" Ethan asked nervously from the rear of the crowd of gargoyles.

"Now, we fight," Goliath rumbled and leaped from the walls with the rest of the clan following.

**Rooftop**

Thailog and those around him were all thrown off their feet by the shockwave of the canisters that Holly had exploding. Thailog managed to look up in time to see Holly's unconscious form crash into the roof they were on, laying in a crater of the roof's brick and concrete.

"And now it begins," Thailog smiled as he saw the shield go down, "Attack!"

He then leaped into air to meet Goliath's charging clan head on. Alex Sevarius, meanwhile hung back on the roof they had been on, as he wasn't one to fight himself.

"Attack Goliath's clan my creations! Destroy them!" he yelled, sending the various mutates charging toward Goliath's clan.

Goliath and Thailog literally collided in mid-air, with the Manhattan leader using his downward momentum to drive Thailog back through his charging clan and aiding mutants and onto the rooftop that the clone had originally charged from.

"You will not get away with this!" Goliath growled in a low voice, "people could have been hurt, if not killed because of your actions."

"And when I win," Thailog smiled as he moved forward and landed a punch that sent Goliath staggering back, "it will show the people of this city that there is a new force in this city that demands their servitude."

Goliath only growled in response.

Lexington and Candy zeroed in on Jackal and Wolf as the cyborg was forced to carry the wingless mutate through the air. They made a diving pass at the pair, but a few wild laser shots from Jackal kept them from getting close to making contact. As the two web-winged gargoyles turned to pursue, they saw Jackal continuing on to the castle's battlements. Likely to allow Wolf to sit on ground that the clan couldn't just leave him on.

"We can't let them get inside," Lex spoke, "the Tibetan elders and their hatchlings wouldn't stand a chance."

"Let's get 'em," Candy nodded and followed Lex in pursuit.

"Get mutate!" Canis screamed as he fired several electric blasts, forcing Xanatos to pull out of his dive and bank away to avoid being hit.

The fact that Xanatos had stopped his attack gave Canis the confidence to continue the attack and he began to pursue the mutated billionaire as Xanatos fled toward a different rooftop. Xanatos's thinking in this tactic was to gain the room needed to prevent any electric blasts from hitting any members of Goliath's clan. It also might give him the freedom to avoid the mutates that were also swarming the battle area. He hoped to out fight Canis and try to help the others.

Butch and Bertha glided directly for the Guatemalans, approaching the battle on one edge of the group of gargoyles diving from the castle walls. With their larger size, they both felt confident that they could take the four Guatemalan gargoyles, who they didn't think had ever been in a real fight before.

Butch opened the fight by landing a blow on Zafiro, and then narrowly avoiding a blow from Obsidiana. The red snake-like gargoyle was knocked away by the blow, and Butch, smiling confidently glided after him. Obsidiana with a growl dove after the large male, determined to protect her mate.

Bertha, meanwhile was forced into a more defensive fight as Jade and Turquesa targeted her directly. Bertha dodged Jade's attack in time, but she couldn't avoid Turquesa, who landed a blow on her shoulder and sent he tumbling backward slightly. Bertha then eyed both Guatemalan gargoyles as they prepared to make their next move and approached her from two sides.

Desdemona dove downward before braking and landing a swinging kick on pale blue butterfly-like female that had been preparing to zero in on Othello, who was engaged in a fight with wasp-like male gargoyle at the moment. The blow sent Liz tumbling backward and allowed Desdemona to pursue with ease.

"Double teaming someone isn't honorable," Desdemona spoke firmly, "you'll have to content yourself with me."

"Fine," Liz growled, eyes glowing, and then moved to tackle Desdemona and drive her out of the fight.

Othello, meanwhile, was in no position to help his mate, as he was heavily engaged with Buzz, who so far managed to be fairly maneuverable in the air. Thankfully for the gray male, Buzz couldn't target his attacks well, and more often then not, his punches hit Othello's chest armor, which did Othello little real harm.

"Just you wait, I'll get you eventually!" Buzz growled as he dove at and missed Othello by inches.

Othello let him go by and hit him in the back with his club-like tail, sending Buzz spiraling downward.

"I somehow doubt that," Othello responded and dove downward, hoping to restrain the wasp-like male.

Rage glided hard, before colliding with Brooklyn in mid-air. He intended to drive the brick-red male into the wall of the Eyrie Building, but Brooklyn landed a blow to the back of his attacker. The blow to the center of his back made him roar with pain and release Brooklyn from grasp. Brooklyn responded by dropping down and kicking Rage in the direction of the Eyrie Building. Rage recovered and landed on the side of the Eyrie Building before resuming the fight.

Elisa roared in pain as she engaged Thorn as they closed. She had thrown a punch at the greenish colored female, but Thorn braked and let Elise dive under her. Thorn then swung her tail down onto the tan female's back, digging her various spikes in, including into the sensitive area between Elisa's wings.

"All too easy," Thorn smiled as Elisa fell away for the moment.

Elisa managed to recover and turned to face Thorn again. She was quite literally seeing red and was not about to let Thorn get away with the move she had just pulled.

"Don't overestimate yourself," Elisa growled.

Broadway and Angela found themselves in tight battle against Lucifer. The attacking male was not exceptionally skilled, but he had managed keep them between him and making it difficult for Broadway and Angela to coordinate their attacks. Twice, Angela and Broadway attempted to attack Lucifer, and twice, Lucifer dodged, forcing the two Wyvern gargoyles to pull up short to avoid gliding into one another.

"You'll have to do better then that if you want to beat me," Lucifer taunted, making both Broadway and Angela growl at the challenge.

Amy, meanwhile found herself chasing the small gray web-winged female of Thailog's clan, Granite. The smaller web-wing initially charged as if to try and tackle Amy, but when Amy moved to try and punch or kick the grey female, Granite dove away and was now leading Amy on a chase that was rapidly leaving the vicinity of the Eyrie Building.

"Come on, are you afraid to fight me?" Amy yelled after the fleeing web-wing, "Or do you turn into a human in the day and want to smash me?"

Granite didn't answer. Amy didn't really expect an answer though. The smaller gargoyle was doing many of the same things that she had seen Candy and Lex do when she was assigned to patrol with them. Granite was using her smaller size and greater maneuverability in the hopes that Amy would crash beak first into a wall or rooftop. Amy, however, was not about to give the other gargoyle the satisfaction, and remained above Granite in terms of altitude.

Caroline found herself in a more difficult fight. Shadow zeroed in on her directly and easily dodged the counter-attacks by various gargoyles as he tackled the blue female and drove her into the castle's courtyard. She hadn't recovered all her senses, and soon found herself rolling around the courtyard grounds to avoid being impaled on Shadow's sword.

**Security Room, Inside Castle Wyvern**

"Caroline!" Lawrence screamed nervously as he watched the camera footage that was being recorded by the castle's security system.

He had come out shortly after the attack began, but was quickly ushered back inside 'for his own safety'. Xanatos had even urged that he help Owen to keep him away from possibly being hurt, but now that didn't matter. He turned and prepared to walk out and knock the Shadow robot away from his wife/mate.

"You won't last long against Shadow," Owen warned as he restrained the young man, "particularly if he decides you're an enemy."

"I can't just stay here," Lawrence answered, "that thing will kill her if I don't do something. Maybe you don't have feelings, but I do. I won't let her be hurt."

Owen did not retort Lawrence's comments and then gestured to something deeper in the room.

"If you truly wish to help your mate in the clan, then I would suggest you dress for the activity," Owen answered while Lawrence looked at what Owen was pointing to.

**On the Ground**

The situation was not a good one. Most of the officers Matt had were knocked out by the explosion of whatever it was that one of Thailog's clan had tried to attach to Xanatos's shield. And now, with Goliath's clan battling both Thailog's clan and several mutates in the air, many of the conscious officers were now partially confused by the situation.

"I thought they said gargoyles were protectors," one SWAT officer commented, "that looks like they're fighting each other."

"Not all gargoyles protect the same thing," Matt sighed, "Goliath's clan said they protect the city. This group must not."

"Then we out to book all of 'em," the SWAT officer answered, "If one can go bad, it's only a matter of time before the rest of 'em go bad."

"By that logic, we'd have to arrest every human in New York as well, including yourself," Matt answered back, "being gargoyles doesn't justify arresting them."

The SWAT officer didn't answer that. It was only another officer beckoning them over to the destroyed remains of Dreadnought that got their attention. As Matt approached he found several shattered fragments of metal and parts laying around the area. The officer was trying to get his attention was motioning to him was pointing to a fragment that was laying at his feet.

"Looks like Maddox Technologies built that robot initially," Matt commented as he looked at the fragment, "or at least was involved enough to ask them some questions."

The officer nodded, "thought it was worth showing to you, sir."

"Now all we have to do is hope this mess is cleared up quickly," Matt replied.

**To Be Continued…**


	46. There Can Only Be One Clan

All characters appearing in Gargoyles and Gargoyles: The Goliath Chronicles are copyrighted to Buena Vista Television/The Walt Disney Company. I've taken the idea for the Unseelie Court from the TGS. Characters and concepts from Star Trek are property of Paramount and created by Gene Roddenberry. No Infringement of these copyrights is intended, and is not authorized by the copyright holder. All original characters are the property of SN.

Note: I'm disregarding the events of the "Goliath Chronicles", with the exception of "The Journey" because I do not wish to use the rest of the "Goliath Chronicles" as canon to my story. Also, I'm altering large sections of the Star Trek storyline, especially concerning events like WWIII and the Eugenics Wars, which without the Cold War as a backdrop probably wouldn't happen the way Roddenberry wrote them, if at all. This story takes place immediately after "Unthinkable".

There Can Only Be One Clan

By SN/TVfan

Email: Sam_Nary

**Above Castle Wyvern**

Sarah, Ian, Ethan, and Eve were all swarmed by the mutated animals that Alex Sevarius had created to aid Thailog's clan. There were mutants swarming around just about every group of gargoyles, but the four Avalon gargoyles were enduring the worst of their attack.

"YEEEEOOOOWWW!" Ian roared in pain as a mutated rat with enlarged teeth, wings, and scorpion's pincers latched onto one of his arms.

Ian then flung his arms about fiercely, knocking two more mutants off of the intended flight paths before the one that had attacked him let go.

"There's got to be an easier way to defeat these things," Ian grumbled as he swatted a falcon-like mutant away with his tail, the blow only sending it tumbling down a few feet.

Sarah slashed at cat-like mutate with her talons, successfully shredding its wings and then turned to face the black skinned male.

"I'm open to suggestions if you have any," Sarah said in a frustrated voice, "Not even the Archmage attacked with creatures such as these."

None of them had time to think back to the Archmage's attack on Avalon as more mutants swarmed toward them. A dove-like mutant, which looked like it had a scorpion's tail dove straight at Eve. Eve managed to avoid the attack and hit the mutant with the back of one of her wings, knocking the mutant away.

"Someone must be controlling them," Eve spoke, "that's why they're so focused on us. If we can find the one that is controlling them, we might be able to stop them."

"And which one of Thailog's clan is controlling these things?" Ethan asked as he slammed two mutants together, knocking them out.

"I think Candy and Lexington said something about a dark blue male gargoyle when they battled the first of these mutants," Ian answered him as he clubbed a mutant with his fists as it dove past him, "find him."

"I don't see any dark blue gargoyle fighting one of our clan," Sarah growled as she dodged another mutant's attack.

"He must be somewhere around here," Ian replied, "Possibly not actually fighting."

They all looked around, trying to find this blue gargoyle. It was not until a hawk-like mutant dove into Ethan's back and drove the gargoyle a few feet through the air. As Ethan batted the mutant away and recovered, he noticed a figure hiding on the roof of the building that Thailog and Goliath were fighting on.

"I think I found him!" Ethan shouted to the others, and pointing at the spot where the figure was.

The other three Avalon gargoyles peered through the fighting that was going on between Goliath and Thailog's clans to where Ethan was pointing.

"Let's get him!" Sarah spoke quickly and dove down toward that spot on the roof.

**Castle Wyvern**

Caroline rolled quickly along the stone floor of the main courtyard, while Shadow attempted to stab her with his arm mounted sword. Shadow was faster on the mental uptake then Dreadnought, but Caroline still sensed that the robot wasn't as smart as it could be. That didn't help her much as Shadow also produced a laser cannon mounted in his other arm while he pulled his sword free. The blast was fired at relatively close range, and while Caroline could dodge the arm thrusting a sword, she couldn't dodge the blast, which threw her against one of the walls of the courtyard.

"Blasted thing could at least say something," Caroline growled as she tried to lunge back and grapple with the robot, which had remained silent throughout the battle and annoyed her.

Her first blow made Shadow stagger slightly, but the robot easily caught her second punch and then flung her against the wall and held her there. She then watched in terror as the robot raised its sword to either decapitate her, or stab her through the chest. She then cringed and closed her eyes, expecting death.

She never felt the blade hit her though, as a laser shot echoed through the courtyard, hitting Shadow in the chest and knocking the robot away from her. Caroline then looked up to see what looked like one of the Steel Clan robots standing by the doors that lead into the main part of the castle, except it was red and black, rather then black and grey. It was the exo-frame armor that Xanatos invented, but the voice of the wearer surprised Caroline more the appearance of the exo-frame itself.

"Get your filthy hands off of my wife!" came Lawrence's voice from behind the metallic mask.

"Lawrence!?" Caroline gasped in surprise, "what are you doing here?!"

"Owen and I were watching the whole thing on one of the security cameras," Lawrence answered, "and I love you too much to sit back and worry. If you wish to keep helping Goliath's clan, I must be with you."

Caroline wanted to say something, but the reality of the battle they were in stopped that as Shadow lunged at her again, swinging his sword in an attempt to kill her. As she dodged the attack, she hit Shadow in the head with her tail, but that did little more then turn Shadow's head.

"I'll let you know how I feel about this, later," Caroline spoke quickly, "right now, we have more pressing matters."

"Right," Lawrence nodded and readied the exo-frame's laser cannons.

Both Lawrence and Shadow fired at each other simultaneously. The laser blasts passed each other in mid air and sent both flying backward. Lawrence skidded backward about four feet while Shadow was thrown into the wall and then landed on the ground. Caroline then leaped into the air to land on Shadow's back and grabbed the arm that held its sword. The sword was Shadow's most dangerous weapon, as it forced any opponent to either stay at a distance or launch quick, but less potentially powerful attacks. Caroline was determined to yank that arm off.

Caroline managed to dent the armor around the gauntlet in Shadow's arm, but the robot rolled over and managed to kick her off of it. As Shadow got to its feet, the arm that Caroline had been yanking on, rotated to fit normally in the arm socket. It then fired on Caroline with its laser cannon, but the blue female dodged the fire and Shadow's preoccupation with Caroline allowed Lawrence to it in the back with a laser blast of his own.

"We need to get that sword off of him," Caroline said as she moved toward Lawrence, "Without it, we can get in close and pummel that thing to dust."

"Do you have any ideas?" Lawrence asked, "I'm not a good enough shot to blast the blade off of him, even with all the targeting stuff Xanatos installed in this armor."

Caroline quickly looked around the courtyard, looking for anything that might help.

"Maybe we could hit it with one of the benches," Caroline suggested, "that might disorient it long enough to get in and rip the sword out."

Lawrence couldn't answer her as Shadow recovered and rocketed between them. He had obviously attempted to run one of them through with the sword, but they had dodged just in the nick of time.

"Or maybe we could trick him and he'd get it stuck in the walls of the castle," Caroline spoke as she watched Shadow take a very careful path to return to the fight.

"That's if we can live long enough to trick him," Lawrence grumbled, and fired several laser blasts at Shadow, all of which missed.

"It's just a robot," Caroline answered in a determined voice.

They were forced to dodge again as Shadow circled around to fire at them again. Caroline ducked and rolled to the right while Lawrence side-stepped to the left. Shadow, however, focused on Lawrence. If its intelligence was reduced from where it was before, it was not by very much, and with Coyote unavailable, even with the exo-frame, Lawrence was nervous. Shadow zoned in on Lawrence and eventually drove the armored wearing human into the wall of the courtyard.

"Lawrence!" Caroline shouted.

"Grab the arm!" came Lawrence's voice, "I can only hold him off for so long…"

Caroline was quick to get up and rush to where Shadow had driven Lawrence. He had managed to 'catch' the robot as it attacked, but Shadow was either more then strong enough to eventually land a killing blow on Lawrence, or Lawrence wasn't skilled enough with the exo-frame yet to use it to its full potential, which Caroline didn't know. She quickly grabbed hold of the sword's gauntlet again while Lawrence wrestled to hold it back from being stabbed through his chest.

This time, Caroline was more successful at denting the armor around the gauntlet. When Shadow moved to try and stop her, it inadvertently allowed Lawrence to pull on the arm from the other side, allowing Caroline to pull the gauntlet and the sword off.

"Now we got you," Caroline growled, with eyes glowing as Shadow now looked over the damage that had been done to it.

Shadow turned to fire on Caroline with its remaining weapon, a laser cannon, but was hit in the back by laser fire from Lawrence, sending the robot flying toward the female gargoyle. Caroline steadied herself and threw a kick at Shadow's midsection, and the robot quite literally flew into it. The blow knocked the robot to ground, leaving it in a bad situation, and giving hope to Caroline and Lawrence.

Shadow attempted to get up, but Lawrence clubbed it from behind with both fists, sending it tumbling to Caroline's feet. She then drove its sword through its head and neck. The robot then collapsed to the ground, offline.

"That's the end of him," Lawrence commented, "are you okay?"

"Fine," Caroline answered, looking herself over and seeing no serious injury, "are you okay?"

"Shaking nervously, but I'll be fine," Lawrence answered.

"I take it you'll be helping us from now on?" Caroline inquired.

"Only to make sure you're safe," Lawrence answered.

Caroline nodded, but then turned to hear the sounds of battle continuing around them.

"Come on, there are still more of them out there," Caroline spoke urgently and rushed for the higher levels of the castle's battlements.

Meanwhile, Jackal eased his way down for an easy landing on the outer battlements of the castle, setting Wolf down in front of him.

"Good, now to fight!" Wolf snarled excitedly, turning to face the two web-winged gargoyles that were pursuing the two Pack members.

"No," Jackal answered, grabbing hold of Wolf's shoulders, "these two are only the web-wings. I can beat them both easily. You're to go into the castle. See if you can find our old boss."

"Fox?" Wolf questioned, "I wanted to fight."

"And you might still get one," Jackal answered, "but by taking out Fox, you'll also get Xanatos's brat and the butler as hostages, which will help when it comes time for us to deal with the rest of Goliath's clan."

Wolf glanced up at Lexington and Candy in their pursuit, sighed and then turned and ran towards the interior of castle. As he reached a door that lead to the interior, he was met by two growls as Bronx and Trixie appeared in the doorway, blocking his entry.

"Out of my way," Wolf growled, "I don't have time forrrrrrrrr you."

Bronx and Trixie only growled in response and lunged forward. Wolf dropped to his back and used both legs to catch and through Bronx over the side of the castle walls. The move did not help him as well with Trixie, who grabbed hold of an exposed thigh with her jaws and began shaking her head violently. Wolf roared with pain as Trixie pulled him into a sitting position. He then clubbed the female gargoyle beast with his fists, making Trixie release his thigh, and then kicked the 'doggoyle' with his other leg, sending her flying down into the courtyard, where Trixie landed unconscious.

The throw that sent Bronx over the wall was not super strong. The blue gargoyle beast was still relatively close to the wall, and after a few seconds of dropping, he reached out and dug his claws into the stonework of the castle walls. It took a few more seconds for Bronx to stop his downward momentum, and then slowly began to climb up toward the castle.

"BRONX!" Lexington and Candy both screamed at the same time as they dove down, watching Wolf and Jackal splitting up, and then Wolf fighting both gargoyle beasts.

They were cut off by Jackal as they attempted to turn after Wolf as the mutate kicked Trixie into the courtyard below them.

"I'm afraid you'll have to content yourself with me," Jackal said with a smile and fired a series of laser blasts.

Lex managed to dodge the blasts fired at him, but one did hit Candy, sending her crashing down to the battlements. Lex quickly dove after her.

"Are you okay?" Lex asked quickly.

"Look out!" Candy shouted and rolled away as Jackal came in for a hard landing, damaging the stonework between the two gargoyles.

"As I said before, you'll have to content yourself with me," Jackal smiled and landed a sweeping kick that knocked Lex backward, "while Wolf gathers some hostages."

Thinking Jackal meant the Tibetan elders and their hatchlings, both Lex and Candy leaped up and tackled the cyborg, driving off the battlements and into the courtyard. The impact drove Jackal into the stonework of the courtyard and made Candy and Lex bounce away. Candy then nervously glanced nervously at where Wolf had disappeared into the castle.

"We'll have to hope Owen as Puck can deal with Wolf," Lex sighed, "I don't think Jackal will let us split up."

Candy only responded with a frustrated growl. Jackal, meanwhile had recovered and fired a set of finger missiles at both of the web-winged gargoyles, forcing them to dodge away and allowing Jackal to charge towards Lex, hoping to end his opponents numerical advantage quickly. Lex, however, noticed the attack and dodged, kicking Jackal into the back, sending the cyborg tumbling into one of the courtyard's electric lamp posts.

Jackal recovered quickly firing a pair of laser shots, that knocked Lex back against one of the outer walls and forced Candy to dodge, preventing her from being able to capitalize on Jackal's collision with the lamp post.

"You're really starting to get on my nerves," Jackal growled angrily.

"No problem," Candy yelled back, "glad to annoy you!"

Jackal turned to fire all of his weaponry at Candy, but was hit in the head by a block of stone that sent him stumbling sideways. Candy then looked over to see Lex standing near where Jackal had landed when they had knocked him off the battlements and damaged the stonework of the courtyard. The olive green gargoyle was also gripping another stone brick that had been dislodged.

"We'll be even happier after we've beaten you," Lex growled and threw the large piece of stone at Jackal.

Jackal shattered this piece with a laser shot, but that bought Candy time to rush in close and grab hold of his other arm. The male cyborg was surprised by this as Candy physically lifted him up and threw him into one of the other side walls of the courtyard. Jackal was slow to get up from this blow, and looked very frustrated.

"I'm gonna…" Jackal began to swear, but was cut off when two more laser blasts cut him off and finally knocked the male cyborg out.

Candy and Lex then turned to see Caroline and the black and red exo-frame of rushing toward them.

"You two okay?" Caroline asked as she approached.

"Fine," Lex answered, "I see Owen joined the fight in the exo-frame…"

"Lawrence is wearing it, actually," Caroline answered.

Lawrence and Candy shared glances and then sighed.

"Whatever," Lex then spoke, "the fight isn't over. Wolf managed to get into the castle. We have to catch him before he gets to the Tibetan elders or the hatchlings. They won't last long against him, even with their numbers."

They then turned to see Bronx crawling back onto the battlements, looking okay. Caroline then turned to the two web-wings.

"Okay," Caroline spoke, "Let's go. Bronx can track them."

**Avalon**

Dr. Weinsheimer awoke to find himself inside a stone bedroom that was rather ornately decorated. As he moved to sit up he was greeted by a heavy Scottish accent.

"Easy there, my good healer," the voice spoke, "Ye're safe here."

He looked up to see an elderly woman standing in the far corner of the room with a man in his late middle ages standing beside her.

"Where am I? Who are you?" Dr. Weinsheimer questioned.

"Ye're on the Isle of Avalon," the man spoke, "I am Tom, Guardian of Avalon clan. This is my wife Katherine, a former Princess of Scotland."

"I take it ye're concerned about yer patient, Mrs. Xanatos?" Katherine inquired.

Dr. Weinsheimer nodded as he stood up.

"She is with her mother watching the battle in New York, in the main hall, at the moment," Tom spoke, "She asked us to bring you here as you were unconscious when you arrived."

Dr. Weinsheimer nodded and slowly following the two Scots down the hallway. He found the Avalon castle to be much like Castle Wyvern in New York, but easily saw differences. He occasionally saw a gargoyle or to in parts of the castle going about specific chores or seemingly on 'guard duty', and he also saw several beings, some humanoid, some not so much, and all of them something that he had never seen before.

"The Third Race can seem strange, but under Titania's rule they have been fairly well behaved," Katherine spoke to him, sensing some nervousness.

Dr. Weinsheimer didn't answer but continued to follow Katherine and Tom until they came into a large hall. There were more fey and gargoyles in the room, but they were not Weinsheimer focused on, which was a mutate in the early to middle months of pregnancy standing near a mirror near a throne. In the throne was Queen Titania.

"Ah, Doctor," Titania spoke, turning her head to look at him, "Fox has been telling me about the treatments you have been giving her to help her with her pregnancy. I trust you haven't come across anything beyond what you can hypothesize over?"

"Not at present," Dr. Weinsheimer answered nervously, "although things are rather early, and not everything in the fetus is fully formed yet."

Titania nodded, "You have questions for me?"

"How… uh… why… why are you like this?" Dr. Weinsheimer asked, not really sure how he could proceed.

"I have always looked like this," Titania answered, "If you are referring to the differences between my true form and that of Anastasia Renard, that is because the human race was not ready for the knowledge of the Third Race when Fox was conceived, and likely still isn't ready. I thus took the human form so that way my husband at the time, and Fox's father was not frightened by my appearance."

"Why isn't humanity ready?" Dr. Weinsheimer asked curiously.

"Because humanity, other then a few isolated groups does not think gargoyles are good and decent sentient creatures," Titania answered firmly, "Many gargoyle clans have been murdered by humans in either religious fervor, or racial hatred. Clans that are publicly known, like Goliath's, still deal with these sorts of prejudices. I doubt humans would accept a race that can manipulate magic with a thought."

"How is Fox watching what is going on in New York?" Dr. Weinsheimer asked.

"Magic," Titania answered, "Avalon is rich in it. Your world is not entirely devoid of it, either. I am willing to answer any questions you have about that as well."

While the doctor and her mother talked, with mostly her mother trying to explain things, Fox looked on through the mirror with Alex in her arms. The images on mirror portrayed the battle going on around the Eyrie Building, and largely focused on one figure in particular.

**Rooftop, New York City**

"Get mutate!" Canis screamed as he fired another electric blast after Xanatos as the black furred mutate dove behind an air-conditioning unit to avoid taking a hit.

Xanatos only growled in frustration as he then turned and fired a pair of electric blasts of his own.

"I wish he'd learn a phrase a bit more sophisticated then 'get mutate'," Xanatos grumbled in a frustrated voice, "because repeating that phrase is really getting old."

Xanatos, however, did not receive what he wanted. Canis repeated his battle cry, and the mutate clone fired another electric blast that destroyed the air conditioner that Xanatos had ducked behind. Xanatos managed to get away from the exploding air conditioner, but was hit in the chest by another electric blast which sent him flying to the edge of the building.

"Okay," Xanatos muttered to himself, "not as dumb as I thought."

He then looked up to see Canis in the air above him, preparing to drive his feet through his throat and rolled over to avoid Canis's landing. He then pulled himself into a crouching position while Canis landed.

"Let's see how you handle some hand to hand combat rather then blasting away with electricity," Xanatos challenged and swung one leg out and caught Canis from behind, sending the clone to the ground.

When Canis tried to get back to his feet, Xanatos hit him with a sweeping kick that knocked him off the edge of the roof. The black furred mutate then moved to the edge of the building to see Canis trying hard to get above him in altitude. Xanatos only helped him hitting him in the chest with an electric blast, which sent Canis flying back and upward toward the roof of the building they were on.

When Xanatos glided up to the roof of that building he was met by several electric blasts fired at him by Canis. Xanatos managed to dodge the blasts, and easily saw that Canis had managed to recover a bit from his last attack.

"I'll need to try something better," Xanatos spoke to himself and dove down toward Canis, firing an electric blast or two to keep the other mutate from firing on him.

The move worked as Xanatos drove Canis into the ground and then gripping the Pack symbol on the clone's chest, lifted Canis up and threw him into a raised brick structure that was used to access the interior of the building from the roof. Grabbing an antenna, which likely supported some guy's satellite system, Xanatos then used it to restrain Canis. Canis, once he recovered from the through attempted to break free, but Xanatos hit him with an electric blast, which was amplified by the metal wrapped around the clone, knocking Canis out.

"All to easy," Xanatos commented, "better get you back to the dungeon. I don't want to explain you to the police."

Xanatos then grabbed up the unconscious Canis and glanced at the battles still going on above and behind him.

**In the Air Around the Eyrie Building**

Butch felt fairly confident as he faced off against Zafiro and Obsidiana. He was easily larger then the two Guatemalan gargoyles, and while they were better at gliding, they were well beneath him in terms of individual fighting ability. It was as if the Guatemalan gargoyles lacked a lot of experience in fighting an opponent. It might not matter against a common crook or mugger, who they could out muscle, or frighten, but Butch was more then strong enough to match them, and he wasn't about to flee in terror.

"Give up," Butch spoke confidently as he threw a swinging punch at Zafiro, "I'm stronger then both of you."

Zafiro easily ducked under the blow and swung his body so that his tail hit Butch in the shins, flipping him over in the air. Obsidiana then hit Butch with diving punch that made the massive male gargoyle tumble down in the air.

"Stronger, yes," Zafiro admitted, "Faster, no."

"There also seems to be some question as to how smart he actually is, as well," Obsidiana added, "His sole move is to lunge forward and hope his fists make contact."

"It works if I make contact," Butch interrupted the discussion as he struggled to regain altitude and managed to grab hold of Zafiro's tail.

He then brought his leg up and kneed Zafiro in the chest and then delivered a kick to the snake-like gargoyle's face, knocking him senseless. Butch then dropped Zafiro to focus on Obsidiana. Seeing her mate drop toward the ground, practically unconscious, Obsidiana shrieked in terror and dove after the falling Zafiro. She slashed Butch across the face with her talons as she passed him, and was too quick for the large gargoyle to catch.

"If that's the way you want to play it," Butch answered as he wiped some of the blood off of his face, and dove down to pursue the diving blue female.

Catching Zafiro was Obsidiana's chief goal. The large member of Thailog's clan would still be there once she prevented her mate from dying. She occasionally glanced over her shoulder to see that Butch was chasing her, but thankfully, his immense size was slowing him down, while she continued to open a gap between them. It would likely disappear once she caught Zafiro, but would at least give her time help Zafiro recover.

The descent took them down from well above the rooftops of the city to only a short distance above the ground before Obisidiana managed to get a soft grip on Zafiro's tail and pull herself into a position where she could more easily catch her mate. As she had earlier feared, Butch was beginning to catch up as she began to try and slow Zafiro's descent. She couldn't maneuver and they weren't close enough to the ground that she could risk dropping him. The loud 'banging' of gunfire, however, brought a swift end to the fight.

Obsidiana turned her head to check on the pursuit that Butch was making and had time to see two bullets strike the pursing gargoyle. The first hit Butch squarely in the chest while the second hit him in the neck, sending blood flying with each heartbeat. Obsidiana was shocked and horrified by the sight. Zafiro, who was only beginning to shake off Butch's earlier blows was also horrified by the sight of Butch's lifeless body dropping from the sky behind them.

When they managed to land, they were greeted by several SWAT officers rushing toward them, M-16s ready. Obsidiana laid Zafiro down and moved to defend her mate if they attacked the two Guatemalan gargoyles.

"You alright?" the first SWAT officer asked as the group approached.

"You shot him," Obsidiana spoke in shock.

"And you would be dead if we didn't," a different SWAT officer spoke, "You're welcome, by the way."

"You didn't have to kill him," Obsidiana spoke, still dwelling on the fact that these officers had killed a gargoyle, even it was an evil one, and was done to save her. She didn't approve of it.

Several of the officers looked toward the body, laying not far away, and she soon heard a rather heavy sigh.

"Killing him was never their intention," came Matt Bluestone's voice as the detective approached the scene, "but in situations like this, these things can happen."

"This place has become a war zone," Zafiro spoke weakly, finally gathering up the strength to speak.

"You can blame that on the gargoyles attacking your home," one of SWAT officers sneered, "And a good question might be why are they doing that, and who are they?"

Matt glared backward while Obsidiana and Zafiro shared glances, but the question was not withdrawn.

"We believe the leader of these other gargoyles does not like the fact that Goliath's clan has endeavored to help your police force protect the people," Obsidiana spoke as carefully, "that is all I can say."

"Do you need any help?" Matt asked, hoping to keep the SWAT officers from deciding to grill them then and there.

The explosion that took down the shield around he Eyrie Building had ruined any hope of him maintaining a unified NYPD presence as there were several unconscious officers laying about, and those that remained conscious were now watching a furious battle take place above them.

"I'm fine," Obsidiana answered, "I am concerned about Zafiro, though. The gargoyle your men shot landed quite a blow on him."

"I am fine," Zafiro spoke, "horrified that you would take someone's life so quickly, but fine. Just a little dizzy."

"It'd be best to get you back to the castle," Obsidiana spoke to him, "You could have a concussion."

"I can have a couple of officers escort you up," Matt told them, "and you don't have to answer any questions they decide to ask you. Just for the sake of help."

"Thank you for your offer, Detective Bluestone," Obsidiana spoke nervously eyeing the SWAT officers around them, "But I'd prefer to return Zafiro to the castle on my own."

"Okay," Matt sighed as Obsidiana took Zafiro by the arm and placed it over her shoulders, letting the snake-like gargoyle lean on her.

The SWAT officers circled around Matt as the two gargoyles departed.

"Why'd you let them go?" one asked.

"Because they aren't the problem here," Matt answered firmly, "and you've already shot one of the trouble makers, and shot to kill."

"And we saved those two," the SWAT officer answered, "would you have rather we let it kill them?"

"No, but we aren't soldiers," Matt answered, "and this isn't a war. Our job is to enforce the law, not make this place look Bastogne in December 1944."

"Didn't you authorize us to take the shot before all hell broke loose?" a different SWAT officer asked.

"I authorized shooting to disable," Matt spoke, "a shot through the knee or shoulder. Something that would make it impossible for them to fight. What you did was shoot to kill, and while Goliath's clan may believe that you missed. I doubt any of the NYPD captains will."

They all sighed at that, which Matt sigh again. The SWAT officers obviously had little care about Goliath's clan or trying contain the problem as it should be. They wanted to make it clear that they were in charge. This would be a problem for the future, and Matt knew it. People who supported the Quarrymen, but didn't actually join the organization would support it, and those like Flariaty who insisted that the clan had follow the rules to the letter would support it. Now, while following the law to the letter was something that a lot of 'pro-gargoyle' people hoped for, they mostly knew that it had to be tied in with the acceptance of gargoyles into society, which those who were 'anti-gargoyle' would likely never allow.

The present battle would not help the clan any, especially when it was found out that it was 'Thailog' who started the fight. It was hard to gargoyles as a victim when the perpetrator was also a gargoyle. Right now, all Matt could really do was try to contain the situation and hope it didn't spread too far away from the Eyrie Building.

**One Block Away**

Amy doggedly continued her pursuit of Thailog's web-wing. Like Candy and Lexington, the web-wing was very streamlined and extremely fast. And like the two Wyvern web-wings, Amy saw that Granite was making their battle a running fight. She dipped and dodged through the rooftops and any sort of 'obstacle' that could be glided into, obvious relying on her superior maneuverability to avoid them.

Amy's solution was to slow down and keep Granite in sight. If the web-wing was only going to glide around, it would be better to keep the pursuit going. Amy sensed she could glide longer then Granite could, and if Granite didn't either land or fight soon, the web-wing might soon tire and the battle would begin anyway. All Amy had to do was keep Granite in her sight.

Granite meanwhile ducked for a nearby rooftop as her arms were beginning to tire, and she sensed that the beaked gargoyle chasing her could keep gliding longer. She needed to do something to win the fight and return to the main battle area and help her mate against the rest of Goliath's clan. She landed on a roof and then ducked around a corner of it, hoping to lay a trap for the gargoyle pursing her.

Amy landed on the roof that Granite had landed on and slowly looked around before advancing.

"It doesn't have to be this way," Amy called out as she moved around the corner that Granite had ducked behind earlier, "You don't have to follow Thailog… It'd be preferable that you didn't, actually."

Granite, who had climb on top of the wall that she had earlier ran around, leaped onto Amy's back and began trying to strangle the beaked gargoyle.

"And let you 'true gargoyles' force me to go back to being the weak girl I'd been before?" Granite challenged with some determination.

Amy backed into the wall, breaking Granite's grip on her neck and turned to face the web-wing.

"Thailog is evil," Amy growled at her, "you'll spend your life serving a megalomaniac."

"At least I'll be strong," Granite answered, "Strong enough to endure the hardships I've already seen."

Granite gave a slash at Amy's midsection with her talons, but the yellow beaked gargoyle hopped backward in plenty of time and delivered a sideways kick on the over extended web-wing, knocking Granite to the ground.

"You may not believe this, but I am not a 'true gargoyle' as you put it," Amy spoke firmly, hoping she didn't have to fight a gargoyle that seemed to be smaller then Lex and Candy, "Like you, I am only a gargoyle by magic."

"Then you understand what I'm talking about," Granite answered, "being stronger."

Amy glanced her own arms for a brief moment. Her biceps were definitely noticeable now compared to her musculature when she was human, but the notion of giving up one's humanity for the strength advantages seemed rather shallow to Amy.

"So you gave up your humanity to be strong," Amy questioned back, "So what? A couple of months at a gym would have done the same thing… and you wouldn't have to serve an evil genius to get stronger that way."

"I won't allow you to turn me back, born human or not," Granite growled and leaped into the air, bouncing off the wall and landing one blow directly on Amy's beak knocking her down.

"The option of turning you back is impossible," Amy informed her, "If Thailog's sorceress was the one that transformed you, there is no counter-spell, meaning you'll be a gargoyle for the rest of your life. I really don't care about your form."

Granite turned around and charged Amy, hopping to pull of the same leaping attack again while Amy was still getting up. Amy reacted quicker, this time and caught Granite by and ankle, and then using her own momentum against her, slammed Granite face first into the wall.

"I care about stopping Thailog from making it worse for every gargoyle in New York," Amy growled in a voice that sounded like a teacher lecturing a disobedient student, "You think the NYPD is going to tolerate a clan of gargoyles unleashing enough explosives to level a few city blocks? We'll be lucky if Matt is able to keep us from getting arrested."

Granite, shaken by the blow of hitting the wall began to slowly move away, hoping to get away and recover. Amy caught her by the tail landed a strong blow against the back of Granite's head, knocking the web-wing out.

"Sorry about this," Amy sighed before lifting Granite up and beginning to glide back toward the castle.

Hopefully they could persuade Granite that Thailog was evil after the present battle.

Bertha, meanwhile found herself in a tougher fight then her partner Butch thought he had been in. Like Butch, she was strong enough to take the blows she had taken, so far, but both Turquesa and Jade maintained a more aggressive stance then Obsidiana and Zafiro, attacking with talons and spurs, and occasionally snapping their tails like a whip. As Butch discovered in his brief fight with the other Guatemalans, Bertha found that while her greater size gave her greater strength and durability in a fight, it reduced her reflexes in comparison to her opponents and slowed down her overall speed.

Bertha threw a series of punches, that bordered on being wild after Jade made a dive to attack her. Jade ended up banking away, and Bertha's punches ended up glancing of his wings while Turquesa tackled Bertha from the side and drove her toward the building across the street from the Eyrie Building.

"Get off of me!" Bertha spoke in a strained voice as she managed to wrestle Turquesa off of her, but was unable to stop or even slow her momentum and crashed onto the roof the building Turquesa had initially drove Bertha toward.

Turquesa and Jade easily landed on the edge of the roof and glared at Bertha as she tried to get up.

"Surrender, villain," Jade growled, "You can not win."

"You're out numbered and trapped on this roof," Turquesa added, "If you attack, you'll end up drifting down into the rifle range of the police below. You don't want to end up like you're partner, do you?"

Bertha answered with an enraged roar and made a swinging kick which knocked the Guatemalan female off of the roof, while Jade only barely avoided being hit by it the attack.

"I'll get you for that!" Bertha swore and turned and charged toward Jade.

Jade managed to duck down and trip Bertha as she charged passed him. Bertha tripped and crashed through the a door that had just been opened. The large gargoyle ended up on the ground amidst the splinters of the door with Jade and three SWAT snipers standing over her.

"Put your hands on your head!" the lead sniper yelled at Bertha, ignoring Jade.

"You'll pay for murdering my mate!" Bertha screamed and swiped her tail along the ground, taking the feet out from under all of the policemen.

Jade moved to catch as many as possible so that they didn't fall down the stairs while Bertha moved to get up again. As the SWAT officers recovered, they all saw that Bertha looked extremely angry. Bertha then raised her hands to deliver a blow on either the police or on Jade while they tried recover from the earlier attack.

Bertha never finished her attack, however. Turquesa returned and landed a powerful punch the back of Bertha's skull. The blow sent Bertha tumbling down the stairs that the SWAT officers had just raced up. When the group then looked down the stairway, they saw that the fall had knocked Bertha out as she lay face down on the landing.

"Nice shot," one of the SWAT officers then said to Turquesa, "We'll take care of it from here."

"Can you restrain her adequately?" Turquesa asked, "or are you just going to shoot her?"

"She's already down, so no, we aren't going to shoot her," the officer answered, "we were instructed to only wound these attackers so that they could be questioned. I think the guys on the ground that killed the other gargoyle are a little trigger happy. Although, I thank you for your concern. We'll be fine."

Desdemona dodged another diving attack thrown at her Thailog's butterfly-like female gargoyle. Desdemona found Liz to be a very strange female, seemingly angry about nearly everything, which she showed in her attacks. Half blind with rage. But the behavior didn't seem to strike Desdemona as the attitude of one who would truly follow one like Thailog to the bitter end.

"Why are you doing this?" Desdemona questioned, "what have we done to make you hate us?"

"Why do you care?" Holly growled back, spinning in the air and landing a kick against Desdemona's midsection, "You just sit back and admire the status quo."

The blow knocked Desdemona and did nothing to solve the her questions.

"What 'status quo'?" Desdemona asked back, catching a punch thrown at her, and using Liz's momentum to throw her through the air, "protecting the people of this city? Insuring that they live good lives?"

"And oppress their women?" Liz growled back, "Do you know how women are treated?"

This perplexed Desdemona even further. Gargoyle females had never known oppression. True, many of them in the old clan had spent much of their time with the eggs or looking after the hatchlings and young adults, but many males, including Hudson did the same and it was always a matter of choice.

And gargoyle females also held many important places of rank within the clan. There was an elder female that had Desdemona much about the worship of 'the Dragon' when she was younger, and that elder female was the clan's equivalent of a priest. She also knew that Hudson's mate had been his second in command before her death. Demona had been Goliath's second in command before the massacre, and if it weren't for Brooklyn already being second in command, Desdemona was sure that Goliath would have named Elisa his second after she was transformed. And every female in the old clan was expected to fight alongside the males when the castle, or the protectorate was threatened.

Desdemona was uncertain about human women were treated in the old days. The only women the clan saw enough of was Princess Katherine, who ruled the castle. Desdemona found it hard to believe that the Princess had been oppressed. And from what little she had learned from Elisa, it was of Desdemona's opinion that any problems women faced today was not worth starting a war over the issue.

"We do not oppress anyone," Desdemona spoke firmly as their battle had descended into a sort of grappling match between them, "We seek to make sure that they are safe from muggers and thieves. So that they can live their lives in peace."

"Then you have not seen what males have done to me," Liz growled back shoving Desdemona away, "saying I couldn't play because I was a girl. Telling me my manner was 'unladylike'. Saying I couldn't like the show because it wasn't a 'chick flick'. I am better then all the men that held me down, and I'm going to prove it…"

"By following an evil clone that is determined to rule for himself?" Desdemona questioned, "One who's only interest is power."

Liz paused for a moment, and Desdemona took advantage of that to deliver a kick that sent Liz spiraling down to a nearby rooftop. Desdemona followed close behind and landed while Liz struggled to pick herself up.

"I can deal with Thailog after I've shown the world how strong I am," Liz vowed, "besides, right now I owe him for giving me the chance to prove my strength, and because Buzz seems devoted to following him."

Desdemona only sighed again as Liz lunged forward to attack again. Desdemona only sidestepped the attack and elbowed Liz in the back of the head as the light blue female dove forward. The blow knocked Liz to the ground and she ended up skidding into the raised portion of the roof. The impacted resulted in Liz getting her antenna-like horns caught in the metal. Desdemona stood over her as she struggled to free herself.

"It did not have to be this way," Desdemona told the other female with a sigh and pulled on several pieces of the metal railing and tied them around the struggling Liz, who still couldn't free her horns.

Once Desdemona had tied five metal bars around Liz, the butterfly-like female quit struggling and sighed in a defeated voice.

"Alright," Liz sighed, "You beat me."

Desdemona didn't answer, but was grateful that Liz had stopped struggling and moved to carry the female gargoyle back to Castle Wyvern.

Othello, meanwhile found himself in a different fight with the wasp-like gargoyle, Buzz. The yellow and black male had much of the same anger and drive that his mate did, but his combat style was very unrefined, whereas from what little Othello saw of Liz's fight with Desdemona, Liz had apparently learned some combat techniques from someone. Buzz struck Othello as a thug who happened to have the form of a gargoyle, which gave the gray male confidence that he could easily win the fight.

"Gotcha!" Buzz spoke excitedly as he swung a kick that hit Othello in the side.

The blow, however, only pushed Othello slightly to his side and left Buzz exposed to any possible counterattack he could launch. Othello's response was to grab Buzz by the extended leg and physically flip him through the air. While Buzz was trying to recover from being thrown through the air while still gliding, Othello pivoted and swung his mace-like tail like a club and hit Buzz in the face with it.

That blow knocked Buzz further of balance. He was already trying to recover from being thrown, and Othello's tail hit him while he was still trying to catch himself and resume gliding. As a result the wasp-like gargoyle ended up falling into the side of the Eyrie Building, which he bounced off of, further disorienting him. He ended up digging his talons into the metal side of the building and skidded down the building before coming to a stop about even with the building Thailog was on.

"You have a very long way to go before you can 'get' anyone," Othello growled in a low voice, "Now give up before you get yourself hurt."

Buzz only growled back defiantly. He had no intention of giving up. He leaped from the side of the building and tackled Othello as the grey gargoyle hovered in front of him. He hoped to drive Othello into the building across from them and deliver a blow like the one Othello had just given him. Unfortunately, his attack had taken him in an upward direction, and they were soon gliding over the building that Goliath and Thailog were fighting on.

This bought Othello the time to recover from Buzz's attack and club the wasp-like gargoyle between his wings. The blow made Buzz roar with pain and release Othello from his grasp. Othello then used the blow to pull himself up and above Buzz while rapidly lost altitude. Once he did so, Othello then turned to dive after Buzz, sensing that the yellow and black male was close to actually being beaten.

In the end, Othello did not need to land another blow on Buzz, as the follower of Thailog didn't recover from the blow in time to resume gliding. Buzz crashed head first into the fire escape that was on the building across from the Eyrie Building. His momentum carried him through the first level, but the second level stopped him cold. As Othello landed on that level, nervous that the bolts holding the fire escape to the building were failing, and quickly checked his opponent.

Othello gave a heavy sigh of relief when he found that Buzz was still breathing, but was merely unconscious. The crashing through the metal fire escape left some serious bruises across the yellow and black gargoyle's face, and his skin was ripped open in several places, allowing blood to drip out of him. Buzz's face also appeared swollen to Othello, which he didn't judge as surprising. After checking Buzz for any signs of broken bones or other more serious injuries, Othello then listened to the sounds of battle still occurring above and behind him. Occasionally he heard some yelling from the policemen on the ground, they weren't his concern at the moment.

"I can't leave you here," Othello grumbled quietly and then lifted Buzz up, "be fortunate that you are the clan's prisoner. For I doubt the humans will let Thailog live for what he has done."

"You'll have to do better then that!" Brooklyn taunted the red gargoyle that shot past him in a steep dive.

Rage glared back at the brick red male and gave a very angry sounding growl. Their fight had opened as a draw as both Rage and Brooklyn landed blows on another, but once they had broken apart from their initial clash, Brooklyn had moved more and more to taunt his opponent. So far the strategy had paid off in getting Rage to charge headlong at the beaked male, with such speed that when Brooklyn dodged, Rage couldn't follow. Brooklyn hoped he could wear down his opponent before risking serious injury.

Rage turned to see that Brooklyn had dodged over to the left and down a bit below him. He then dove again, hoping to finally land a blow on Brooklyn and win the fight. Brooklyn again dodged the attack, although he did feel Rage's tail snap against his thigh as red follower of Thailog passed him. He cringed slightly at that, but it wasn't real serious.

"Come on, you cowardly bird!" Rage growled turning to face Brooklyn again, "Fight me!"

Rage then glided closer and threw a series of punches at Brooklyn which he only barely managed to dodge.

"Excuse me, but what did you call me?" Brooklyn growled back, his eyes beginning to glow.

"You heard," Rage growled, throwing a kick at Brooklyn's midsection, which Brooklyn dodged, "You're a coward who won't fight me."

"You're doing more then enough fighting on your own," Brooklyn answered him, ducking under another series of punches, "what was that OTHER name you called me?"

"That?" Rage questioned, getting in a lucky kick that sent Brooklyn tumbling back toward another nearby building, "I think you knew that already, you fucking bird!"

That practically enraged Brooklyn to the point where he forgot his own plan. He didn't hate having a beak, and he actually felt glad that Amy found it attractive for some reason or another, but he didn't like being compared to birds. Just because he had a beak didn't mean that he sat in trees and sang 'tweet tweet'.

"And I suppose you're real intelligent for coming up with that?" Brooklyn answered, trying to keep his cool, "simple name calling?"

Rage dove at Brooklyn again, which Brooklyn narrowly avoided taking a direct hit on, although he did cringe when he felt Rage's talons rake the back of one of his wings.

"At least I'm fighting this battle," Rage answered him, "You're just dancing through the air."

"You mean, like this?" Brooklyn answered and then dove directly toward Rage.

Rage avoided Brooklyn's attack, and brick red beaked male dove all the way down to land on the roof the building near them.

"Yeah, like that," Rage answered, while Brooklyn moved to stand at the base of the water tower on the roof he was on, "that is all you've been doing."

"Tell you what," Brooklyn commented, feeling some of his anger ebb out of him, "If you come down here, I promise I'll fight you directly. No more ducking and dodging."

"Finally," Rage growled, letting his frustration sound clear.

Rage then dove down toward Brooklyn and the water tower he was standing near. As he got closer, Brooklyn hopped under the water tower, and Rage ended crashing into the metal supports to it in his quest to chase after the beaked gargoyle. The impact broke the bones in his wings with a sickening 'crack' and Rage ended up skidding on his chest to Brooklyn's feet.

"I never said I would just stand there and let you attack me," Brooklyn spoke with a confident grin, "Do you give up yet?"

"No," Rage growled, cringing through pain radiating through his wings and into his back.

Rage then moved forward and tried to through a punch, but found that when he did so, his arms aggravated the breaks in his wings and intensified the pain. He let out a cry of pain and dropped to Brooklyn's feet.

"Yeah, you're beaten," Brooklyn spoke, "Just come peacefully. There's no need for this to be anymore violent then it has to be."

Rage growled back defiantly, but found he couldn't do much more then crawl toward the beaked gargoyle. After a few moments he stopped and just lay still.

"Fine," Rage sighed, "You win."

Brooklyn only nodded.

Meanwhile, Broadway and Angela found themselves in a tough battle of their own. Lucifer appeared to be running the same strategy Brooklyn had. He spent much his time dodging, likely hoping that Broadway and Angela would collide, enabling him to win the fight. So far, though, the two Wyvern gargoyles had managed to avoid that while Lucifer continued to launch weak attacks and dodge their counter attacks.

"We need a new plan," Broadway grumbled as Lucifer ducked under a punch he had thrown, and forced Angela to move away as well, "Make him attack one of us or something."

"He won't divide his attention between us," Angela answered her mate as they maneuvered to try and strike at Lucifer from two sides again, "we might do better to try and drive him to a rooftop or to the ground. Or between two buildings that are close together. Force him to have to fight, and not continuously dodge, hoping we take ourselves out."

"I'd go for the alley," Broadway spoke, "We don't need another one of them killed."

Angela nodded and then moved to let Broadway to make the attack while she would eventually move to insure that Lucifer could not dodge in a way that would take him away from where Broadway and Angela wanted him to go. They then continued the tactic of charging Lucifer and blocking at least one escape route, forcing the black and grey gargoyle to dodge toward the same alley where Othello had finished off Buzz. Broadway even noticed Othello leaving the alley with Buzz in his arms as they arrived in the alley.

Once in the alley, Broadway dove at Lucifer again, this time with Angela remaining behind him. Once again, Lucifer dodged, but found himself having to dig his talons into the side of a building to cling to it as he couldn't make any sweeping moves. Broadway landed a few feet below him and was scaling the wall toward him.

"You can't escape now," Broadway growled.

Lucifer leaped to try and avoid Broadway grabbing him, only to take a kick to the face from Angela. The blow knocked him back into the building he had leapt from, and Lucifer was soon falling toward the ground. Lucifer did manage to recover enough that he was able to parachute to the ground with his wings, but it meant that he wouldn't be going anywhere in the air for awhile as Broadway and Angela landed on opposite sides of him and advanced.

"See, I told you couldn't escape," Broadway spoke again.

Lucifer only growled and threw a kick at Broadway, which aquamarine male avoided the worst of, but couldn't get far enough away that Lucifer's toe talons didn't leave three long slashes across Broadway's chest. Broadway growled in pain, but did not back away enough for Lucifer to escape.

Angela, meanwhile, moved quickly to club Lucifer's shoulders with her fists as he finally split his attention between them, allowing her to capitalize on Lucifer's distraction. This blow brought Lucifer to his knees and he was still too dazed to do anything about the blow to the face that Broadway hit him with shortly after. Angela then dodged Lucifer's body as it flew backward and landed on the ground next to her, unconscious.

"We got him," Broadway commented proudly, expecting Angela to answer, but was cut off by human voices speaking up loudly.

"Good," one of two SWAT officers spoke, "We will take it from here."

Both Wyvern gargoyles turned to see two SWAT officers approaching them, M-16s at the ready. Both Broadway and Angela looked at the police officers nervously.

"They may be attacking your clan and your home, but their actions are criminal against the city of New York as a whole," the first officer spoke, "we thank you for rounding them up, but their incarceration is our responsibility."

"But can you hold him?" Angela asked after a few moments, "He may wake up before dawn and will be able to break out of the cells you imprison humans in."

"We can," the second officer answered confidently, "either by putting him in a maximum security facility or by tranquilizing him regularly."

"We could more humanely imprison him in the castle," Broadway pointed out, "and that way you wouldn't having crooks fighting each other in jail."

Both SWAT officers shared glances as if they didn't expect either gargoyle to make such a comment. It was the first officer who spoke.

"We thank you for your concern, and your knowledge of criminal justice," the first SWAT officer spoke, trying hard to sound polite, "but unless you have a badge on you, and can prove that your castle is run by the NYPD, and not David Xanatos, I'm afraid we can not allow you to take custody of any of the gargoyles that have participated in the attack."

"They're the rules," the second officer added at the end.

Broadway and Angela traded glances and then sighed.

"You're certain you can hold him?" Broadway asked and after they nodded, he handed over the unconscious body of Lucifer.

Once Lucifer was handed over to the police, Broadway and Angela slowly made their way up the side of one wall to rejoin the fight. They hoped that Lucifer would remain unconscious long enough for the officers to get him into a cell that could hold him.

In the air, Elisa meanwhile faced a tough fight with Thailog's follower, Thorn. The green colored female was not a really skilled fighter, but her abundance of spurs and spikes on either her arms and legs, or her tail, made getting in close rather difficult. And Elisa could still feel stinging pain in her back where Thorn had hit her when the battle started. Thorn knew this and took several wild swings, knowing that Elisa could not brush them off without receiving some flesh wounds in the process.

"I'm gonna get you eventually," Thorn challenged confidently as Elisa ducked under a sweep of one of her arms, "because you can't keep dodging like this all night."

"You'll tire too, trying so hard to kill me with those spurs," Elisa countered while twisting in the air, to land a kick that only knocked Thorn back a few feet, "You don't need to be so brutal to beat an opponent."

"What you're tutoring me now?" Thorn growled back as she flapped her wings to recover.

"It would appear that you need it," Elisa replied, "as morally weak as you are."

"I am NOT weak!" Thorn raged and lunged forward and swiped at Elisa with her talons.

Elisa dodged the worst of the attack, but Thorn did manage to successfully leave three claw marks in her shoulder as she dove by the tan female. Elisa cringed, but didn't give Thorn the pleasure of hearing her roar in pain. Instead, she pivoted and grabbed hold of a spot on Thorn's tail where there were no spikes and then pulled back on it. The move caught Thorn by surprise and completely stopped her forward momentum. Thorn began to drop like a rock shortly after.

Elisa only released her grip on Thorn's tail to spill air from her own wings to allow gravity to add to a kick to Thorn's midsection. That practically made Thorn fold in half in the air, as Thailog's follower was quickly gulping for air that had forced out of her lungs. That blow broke Thorn completely. She was trying to catch her breath and wasn't thinking about catching herself plummeting to the ground. Elisa, quickly saw this and dove after the falling Thorn. She wasn't about to let the other gargoyle die, even if she was an enemy.

Thorn was beginning to regain her breath as Elisa drew even with her, but wasn't in a position to fend off the tan gargoyle. Elisa capitalized on this by landing a strong blow directly to Thorn's face knocking the green female out and making her 'flip' in the air, which actually made it easier for Elisa to catch her. Elisa quickly did so and pulled up out of her dive, leaving only a few inches to spare between her and the roof of the building that Thailog and Goliath were fighting on.

While she returned toward the castle, Elisa glanced over her shoulder to see that the fight between Goliath and Thailog still raged, and it didn't look like it would be over soon. She hoped that Goliath would win as she moved into the castle's courtyard and laid the unconscious Thorn next to the other followers of Thailog that had been defeated.

**Rooftop**

Goliath staggered back a few feet from a punch that Thailog had landed on him. The battle between them had been very evenly matched as the Manhattan leader fought against his clone.

"You're not going soft on me, 'father'?" Thailog taunted and prepared to attack again.

"No," Goliath growled back and grabbed hold of Thailog's fists as the black skinned clone threw another punch and used Thailog's momentum to throw him across the roof.

Thailog skidded on his back along the roof until he came to a stop next to Holly's unconscious form. Goliath, meanwhile, stood over his clone.

"You can not win," Goliath growled, "even if you beat me, your clan is being beaten one by one, either by my clan or by the police."

Thailog scowled at that as he rolled to pull himself back to his feet. The fight certainly hadn't gone the way he had initially intended. He could see that one or two of his followers were in tough fights and he could hear the gunfire from the policemen. Jackal, Wolf, and Shadow were all out of sight, so he had no idea what had happened to him. And with Holly unconscious, he couldn't count on her growing powers as a sorceress to even some of the odds. His only remaining option was to beat Goliath quickly and either rally those of his 'clan' that were still fighting around him, or grab Holly and flee.

"Even if you win, you'll be in a mountain of trouble," Thailog smirked and attacked again, faking Goliath out with a sweep of his tail and then knocked the lavender male backward with a powerful haymaker that sent Goliath tumbling back a few feet.

While Goliath staggered, Thailog then moved to tackle the gargoyle he was cloned from. Goliath caught this in time to drop down and use Thailog's momentum against him again and throw him into the door of the raised structure on the roof with them. The door easily fell of its hinges when Thailog hit it, and Goliath could easily hear the sound of it sliding down a flight of stairs, likely with Thailog on top of it. He then got up and moved after the clone, hoping to end the fight quickly as well.

Thailog couldn't stop himself from hitting the door, but he did manage to grip it in his talons and use it as a sled, rather then letting his body shatter the door and send him down the stairs with nothing to 'protect' his body other then the armor he wore. He finally crashed to a stop when the door and he hit the landing at the base of the flight of stairs he just gone down. He then looked up to see Goliath approaching the doorway.

Thailog then grabbed the door and physically threw it at the large lavender male. Goliath was forced to duck down a bit and deflect the door away with his fists, but that allowed Thailog to leap up the stairs and land a strong blow to Goliaths stomach, which knocked him to the ground gasping for air.

"You appear a little winded, Goliath," Thailog taunted again, "Perhaps you should rest."

Thailog couldn't go any further with his taunts when he was hit in the back of the head by a brick thrown at him. It didn't do him major harm but it did make him turn to see Angela and Broadway approaching him from behind.

"As you can see," Goliath rumbled, "My clan can take on your clan any night of the week."

**On the Ground**

Matt glanced up again as the battle between the two gargoyle clans was now beginning to shift in favor of Goliath's clan. At the moment, however, Matt was checking on the officers that had been knocked unconscious by the blast that had taken down Xanatos's shield. All of them were still out cold, but with the battle taking place largely in the air, there wasn't much for the gathered officers to do but tend to the wounded and check on any civilians in the area.

As he checked on Flariaty, he was interrupted by his cell phone ringing. It was Captain Chavez on the other line, and Matt quickly answered.

"What's been happening, Detective?" Captain Chavez asked over the phone trying to sound as professional as possible.

Matt sighed, "Officially, we have another gargoyle clan that apparently has some resentment of Xanatos Enterprises and Goliath's Clan, and that is 'all' we know. Xanatos has provided some help to deal with the Pack and the clan has helped deal with the rest of them, although I think some of the SWAT officers have managed to take two of them into custody, although they're also trigger happy and killed one of the attacking gargoyles."

He then heard a very frustrated sigh come through the phone.

"Unofficially, who is behind this?" Chavez asked next.

"Thailog, Captain," Matt answered nervously, "and Captain, I don't think the clan will be able to easily shrug this off. One of Thailog's followers had some explosive on her that took down Xanatos's shield, and a lot people have been watching this, and I've had all I can do to keep the SWAT teams from charging the castle."

"And I've taken a few calls on my end demanding that," Chavez sighed, "the best you can do is at least maintain some semblance of order for the time being. If they glide off, with no helicopters at the moment we can't chase after them. The only good news I can give you is that we have received some tips on where Thailog and his buddies came from."

Matt slowly nodded and turned to look around. There wasn't anyone close enough to hear at the moment while Captain Chavez continued.

"The tip was about seeing the Pack leave from Maddox Technologies, shortly before their attack began," Captain Chavez continued, "but because of the chaos of the attack, the tip on where they came from didn't go through all the way. I'm currently trying to see if I can wrangle up a search warrant, but I doubt much of that will get done tonight."

"I don't think that'll be a major problem," Matt spoke, "the way things are going right now, Thailog and his followers will either in police custody or taken prisoner by the clan."

Matt then slowly walked to a point where he could watch the action. As he did so, he heard Captain Chavez give one final sigh.

"Hopefully the clan can stop them," Captain Chavez sighed, "and hopefully the people have learned some level of tolerance. The last thing we need is this incident starting another 'Quarrymen' movement."

"Right," Matt nodded and then hung up and continued to watch the battle unfold above him.

**Castle Wyvern**

Wolf rushed throughout the interior of Castle Wyvern, sniffing at nearly everything he came across and destroying many of the items that had been bought to decorate the castle. So far he had not found any sign of Fox or Alexander Xanatos, which were the two people Jackal had sent him after. When he finally smashed his way through a door to be greeted by a slashing blow to the face, hoped he had finally found his target, but instead found he had stumbled into a room full of elderly dragon-like gargoyles and their hatchlings clustered around them.

"You arrrrrrrrren't Fox," Wolf growled, "but you'll do."

Wolf then lunged forward to grab one of the Tibetan elders, only managed to avoid that fate. The dodge however, was not enough to fully get away and Wolf ended up knocking the Tibetan gargoyle to the ground leaving claw marks in the elder female's shoulder. Wolf then stood over the fallen gargoyle elder and prepared to either finish the job or seize a hostage, when he suddenly felt a great slicing pain rip through his arm at the elbow. The blow also successfully separated his forearm from the rest of his arm on that limb.

Still bleeding from his earlier fight with the two gargoyle beasts, Wolf roared in pain and then turned to see Hudson standing behind him with his sword drawn. Wolf then growled at the sight of blood dripping from the Manhattan elder's blade.

"Ye won't be harming anyone anymore, dog," Hudson growled in a firm voice as Candy and Lex rushed into the room with Caroline and Lawrence following behind, "and welcome lad and lassies… and robot. I've got everything in hand."

"I thought you had gone out to fight the battle?" Lex asked curiously.

"Someone needed to be a last line of defense," Hudson answered and turned back to the wounded Wolf, "and luckily for the Tibetan elders, I was that last line of defense."

"You dirrrrrrrrrrrty dogs!" Wolf growled angrily, one hand gripping the stub that was now his elbow, "I'll kill all of you!"

Wolf began to step forward as if to attack Hudson when Lawrence hit the mutated Pack member in he chest with a laser shot that sent Wolf flying back into the wall. Wolf bounced off the stonework and then landed unconscious on the floor. Several of the older Tibetan hatchlings began kicking the unconscious mutate.

"I'm sorry if I interrupted your fight, but things still looked pretty fierce outside when we came chasing after him," Lawrence spoke, pointing at Wolf, "The others might need your help."

Hudson blinked slightly as he realized that this was the Exo-Frame armor and not a Steel Clan robot, and that it was actually Lawrence piloting it, but gave no approval or disapproval in his face.

"Donnae mention it, Lad," Hudson responded, "a wise warrior will always accept help when offered. Was Wolf the only one to make it into the castle?"

"The only one to get inside," Candy answered, "Shadow is offline in the courtyard along with Jackal, who's out cold and restrained."

Hudson then moved over and picked up the unconscious Wolf and turned back to the new arrivals.

"We'd best return him to his companions then," Hudson spoke, "and see how the battle is going."

**Rooftop**

Puck appeared quietly on the rooftop where Goliath was facing down Thailog. At present the two gargoyles were too busy fighting each other to even notice his arrival to collect Thailog's sorceress, Holly. Her powers as a sorceress gave her and advantage over all the clan and with Demona presently absent, Puck was the only being that could do magic in the area.

He had watched much of the battle as Owen, and now that it appeared that Thailog's clan was about to be beaten, he had arrived as Puck. It was not that either Owen or Puck had any great love for the black skinned clone, but with Lawrence wearing the exo-frame, Owen couldn't interfere, and since Queen Titania had decreed that Oberon's Law still stood, Puck couldn't interfere in mortal affairs either. He couldn't fight any member of Thailog's clan, but he could insure that Thailog's sorceress was restrained from causing any trouble.

"You'd better come with me, missy, before you anyone else in trouble," Puck spoke the unconscious Holly and teleported away with her.

On a different section of the roof, Alex Sevarius watched nervously from a carefully selected hiding spot. He wasn't a fighter, and even with the enhanced strength and speed of his gargoyle form over his human one, he wasn't a warrior the way Goliath's clan was, and even as a clone of Anton Sevarius, he was too smart to be a thug the way Thailog's clan was. He was best served plotting and experimenting, not actually fighting, so he had stayed on the rooftop to avoid the battle.

Now, however, things weren't going well and Alex Sevarius was seriously considering fleeing the site all together. The Pack was essentially beaten with Shadow, Jackal, and Wolf isolated in the castle, with Xanatos having defeated Canis, and Hyena and Dreadnought defeated before the sun had set. On top of this, Thailog's clan was clearly losing the fight against Goliath's clan, and his mutants were proving his expectations correct in many ways and were proving to be a failure in others.

They were distracting in the other fights they had interfered with, but they weren't very durable, and for some reason, nearly all of them had focused on four gargoyles that Alex Sevarius didn't recognize, leaving the rest of Goliath's clan largely alone. Now those four gargoyles were fighting their way toward him, knocking out his mutants as they went.

Quickly deciding to run, Alex Sevarius approached the edge of the building when he was hit the shoulder by one of his own mutants that was thrown at him. It didn't really harm him, but it was more then enough prevent him from fleeing for a short moment.

"Hold it right there!" Ethan shouted as he landed on the ledge in front of Alex Sevarius with Ian beside him, "call these things off!"

Ian then swung his fist at a pigeon mutant that practically made it explode when the blow landed on the mutated creature.

"I can't," Alex Sevarius answered nervously, and began to back away, as if to run.

He ended up running into Eve who grabbed him by the shoulders and slammed him into building he had been hiding near.

"Then surrender," Eve growled.

Alex Sevarius managed to push Eve off of him and again tried to flee, but his route took him into a punch that Sarah threw at him, which successfully knocked the clone out.

"And now to finish off the mutants," Ian sighed heavily as the remaining mutants dove down on the four Avalon gargoyles.

Thailog was now thoroughly enraged by the situation. The battle had been started to make a clear statement that there was a new clan in town that could both challenge the government of the city of New York, but also defeat the Manhattan Clan. Now it was clear that his plan had failed. His clan was being beaten and either carried off by Goliath's clan or by the police, and he couldn't tell what had happened to the rest of the Pack apart from the members that were unconscious or destroyed on the ground.

"Give it up Thailog," Broadway growled at him from behind him, "We've got you surrounded."

"It certainly seems like the battle is yours," Thailog answered the aquamarine male, and launched a side kick against Goliath, knocking the Manhattan leader backward and propelling Thailog into the air, "So I will take my leave."

"After him!" Goliath roared as he got back up, "We can not let him get away!"

Goliath was quick to begin chasing his clone while Angela and Broadway followed behind him. Thailog was gliding hard, but was staying relatively low in altitude, probably hopping that he could lose his pursuers in the maze of buildings.

"Where is he going?" Angela asked, "back to Maddox Technologies?"

"Probably," Goliath answered, "If he does, we will follow him in there. He's done too much to let him flee and declare his plan foiled. We don't know how many people were hurt when those explosives went off, or how badly."

Both Angela and Broadway nodded silently sensing their leader's anger at what Thailog had done.

"Do you want us to try and get above him, father?" Angela asked, "Stop him before he gets there?"

"If you think you can," Goliath told his daughter, "I will continue to drive him to wherever he is fleeing to."

Broadway and Angela nodded and immediately began rising in altitude to try and get above the fleeing clone. Once they got above the buildings they could take a more or less straight line while Thailog and Goliath would have to turn to go around buildings and corners. If they could guess right, they'd then get ahead of Thailog and could dive on him, forcing him into a mid-air battle.

In the end, they did guess right as they found themselves above Thailog as he glided between a row of old apartments on his way toward the Maddox Technologies Building. Goliath was still chasing after the clone.

"Now!" Broadway urged and dove down toward Thailog, with Angela quickly following.

Thailog didn't change course as Broadway and Angela dove, and he two gargoyles quickly caught him by his arms and knocking his wings down so that they had to essentially catch the clone to prevent him from falling. Thailog growled in anger and then swung his arms violently and threw Broadway and Angela off of him.

Broadway was thrown into a fire escape and suffered no serious injury other then some disorientation. Angela was meanwhile thrown against the brick wall of another building. She managed to catch herself by digging her talons into the brick, but in the process, severed an electrical cable that was strung between the two buildings. Angela wasn't harmed, but the cable now dangled freely above the middle of the street, sparks shooting out from the edge that had been cut by Angela's talons.

Thailog meanwhile struggled to catch himself in the air after throwing Angela and Broadway off of him. He was not helped by Goliath arriving and landing a crushing blow to the back of his neck that sent him tumbling toward the ground. As he fell he then saw Angela hit the side of the building he had thrown her to and the falling electrical cable toward him.

"Thailog!" Goliath gasped in shock and horror as the sparking electrical cable connected with the metal armor that Thailog wore.

The entire area lit up almost as bright as day as raw electric current flowed into Thailog. The fact that he wore metal armor did not help in that matter, and once the light died away, Goliath, Angela, and Broadway looked down to see a black and smoldering likeness of Thailog laying in the middle of the street. The all descended to the ground and stood around the body. Angela was the first to actually check it.

"He's dead, father," Angela spoke slowly, "electrocuted."

Goliath only responded with a heavy sigh, "I had hoped we could take him prisoner. This world isn't like the one I hatched in…"

"We know, Goliath," Broadway spoke, "I didn't want to see him dead either."

"What do we do?" Angela asked.

Goliath bent down and picked up the burned body of Thailog and turned to the other two with him.

"We take him back to the castle," Goliath spoke, "even if the police want him. It's unlikely they'll get any information off a corpse."

They then began to slowly return toward the castle, hoping that this was the end of the battle and the worst of the crisis they had just faced.

**The Street**

"Sounds like everything is getting quiet up there," one SWAT officer asked as he and Matt stood near the damaged Coyote robot as the remaining conscious officers tried to keep control over everything.

"Makes you wish we had deputized the clan when they first appeared," Matt commented, "made it illegal to kill them."

"Wouldn't have stopped the Quarrymen, detective," the officer warned him, "Castaway would have tried to kill them anyway."

"Yeah, maybe," Matt sighed again, "but it would have at least given them a fair chance. I mean, if we deputized or let them be patrol officers, we'd likely know more about what is going on up there and they have their foot in the door to being accepted."

"Maybe," the SWAT officer shrugged, "but that ain't the way things turned out."

Matt could only nod.

"So what do we do?" the officer asked, "The Mayor is going to expect all of the attacking force brought in. We might get away with the killing of one of the attacking gargoyles, but he won't let us get off with the two that we've managed to arrest."

"None of the Manhattan gargoyles were harmed?" Matt questioned.

"Not by us, detective," the SWAT officer answered.

"The I suppose all that can be done is to go up there and get the clan to release the others into our custody," Matt sighed.

"I can rally a few people to go with you," the officer offered.

"Thanks but, no," Matt answered, "I'll deal with this on my own. You're to maintain basic order down here and try to ascertain what all they've damaged."

Matt then slowly began walking toward the doors to the Eyrie Building.

"Besides," Matt commented to himself, "I think things are about to become much more complicated."

**To Be Continued…**


	47. Gargoyles, Chapter Three, or Four

All characters appearing in Gargoyles and Gargoyles: The Goliath Chronicles are copyrighted to Buena Vista Television/The Walt Disney Company. I've taken the idea for the Unseelie Court from the TGS. Characters and concepts from Star Trek are property of Paramount and created by Gene Roddenberry. No Infringement of these copyrights is intended, and is not authorized by the copyright holder. All original characters are the property of SN.

Note: I'm disregarding the events of the "Goliath Chronicles", with the exception of "The Journey" because I do not wish to use the rest of the "Goliath Chronicles" as canon to my story. Also, I'm altering large sections of the Star Trek storyline, especially concerning events like WWIII and the Eugenics Wars, which without the Cold War as a backdrop probably wouldn't happen the way Roddenberry wrote them, if at all. This story takes place immediately after "There Can Only Be One Clan".

"Gargoyles, Chapter Three, or Four"

By SN/TVfan

Email: Sam_Nary

**23****rd****Precinct**

Maria Chavez sat quietly in her office chair while nervously looking out her window, toward the Eyrie Building, and its imposing medieval castle at the top of it. The night had certainly been an eventful one with the Pack attacking the building before the sun had even set, and from what she had heard, a fight between two clans of gargoyles then followed. One was the clan that had received the most publicity and included one of her former detectives as a member, and the other was lead by one of their enemies.

Now, as far as she knew, Goliath's clan had won the fight, but that wouldn't be enough to truly stop everything they were having to deal with. Mostly because of the fact that the main lawbreakers in this instance were also gargoyles. Chavez was privately certain that many of the people who had joined groups like PIT might move away with the 'revelation' that not every gargoyle was good.

"Captain," came a firm voice from behind her, making Captain Chavez jump slightly.

She then turned to see the mayor standing just inside her office. He was clearly frustrated.

"Taking a break, Captain?" the mayor asked in a very serious voice.

"I'm sorry, sir," Captain Chavez sighed, "I was a little distracted. Is there something you need?"

"Yes, you can tell me if your cells are strong enough to contain all of these gargoyles that are causing trouble in this city," the mayor spoke calmly.

"I don't know, sir," Captain Chavez answered nervously, "this is going to be the first time that any of them been arrested."

The mayor then visibly sighed, which Chavez guessed that he would have to expand the city budget to build a stronger prison… or ask the State of New York or the Federal Government in Washington DC to build one. And that was something that the mayor, despite his 'tough on crime' stance, didn't want to do.

"I trust that at least you've apprehended all of the gargoyles," the mayor spoke.

"I haven't heard from the officers in the field, yet, but I'm certain that they will bring in the ones that attacked the Eyrie Building," Chavez told him.

"You misunderstand me, Captain," the mayor answered, "I mean ALL the gargoyles, including the ones that live in that damned castle."

"Sir, you can't be serious, at least half the gargoyles involved likely helped us arrest the ones that where attacking the building," Chavez protested.

The mayor then sighed again.

"I was more then willing to look the other way," the mayor spoke slowly, "the fact that most of the people, and when you take the Pack into account, I'm using the word 'people' VERY loosely, they have brought in are criminals was enough to let me look the other way. They helped my position as 'tough on crime'…"

Chavez then tensed as she heard a 'but' coming.

"But things have gone way downhill since their arrival," the mayor spoke, "maniacs kidnapping people out of some deranged revenge plot to kill gargoyles… the Pack, these robots, and multiple unsolved mysteries related to them… some freak blizzard that blanketed the city harder then anything that could be natural… strange glowing lights from the Eyrie Building… and now gargoyles fighting other gargoyles! All of this is weird and chaotic. It is too much, and it is destroying the city. And I've had enough of it."

The mayor paused for a moment before continuing, "The gargoyles are going to jail and New York is going back to the way it was before Xanatos built that stupid castle of his. Normal and calm. Where the worst a criminal could be was carrying a gun, not having lasers in his arm, or claws that can shred concrete, or the strength to throw a car."

"The Wyvern 'clan' isn't responsible for what is going on," Chavez tried to argue.

"Maybe, but a lot of it circles back to them doesn't it?" the mayor retorted, "all of this weirdness started after they appeared. Shoot, I heard gargoyle rumors before the Pack was arrested for the first time, and that was when Fox Xanatos was leading it! This madness must stop!"

"Surely there has to be some way that we can compromise on this," Chavez sighed, "something that doesn't make us look as bad as the Quarrymen."

"Oh don't play that card," the mayor answered, "the only way would be for them to submit to the laws of this country and accept that the legally elected government is their master, not this crazy 'clan' nonsense. From the way you hear things, they operate as if they were their own country. No civil rights group has ever argued that way. They've argued for equality before the law, which good people have always fought for. If they want to be equal, they have to stand before the law…"

Chavez looked on. After a moment or two, she spoke up.

"You would approve of deputizing them?" Chavez asked, "if they followed the rules?"

"Deputizing them?" the mayor asked, "what is this? The Old West?"

"They've all claimed to be protectors," Chavez spoke, "if we employ them as patrol officers, they'd be able to do that, and would then be held accountable to our laws. It's a win-win scenario."

The mayor gave her a very frustrated look, showing that he hadn't expected Chavez's comment, but neither did he look opposed to it.

"I'd have to discuss that with the city council," the mayor answered, "Our budget for the year has already been set. We can't just add to it."

"While they're receiving aid from Xanatos, I don't think money is an issue," Chavez told him, "for this year, anyway, I'm sure they'd even do it on a 'volunteer' basis, and we can work paying them into next year's budget, which hasn't been set."

The mayor nodded and sighed, "very well. But I still want the attackers arrested."

"Of course," Chavez answered and then sighed heavily as the mayor left her office grumbling something.

She then turned back to her window and sighed heavily as she looked out at the Eyrie Building. Things were not going to be easy for anyone in the near future.

**Courtyard, Castle Wyvern**

Caroline looked out at several unconscious or surrendered members of Thailog's clan, along with the defeated Pack members as her small group brought Wolf out. Elisa looked too surprised by the fact that they had come from inside the castle to notice Lawrence following Caroline in the exo-frame.

"He got inside?" Elisa asked, "Did he hurt anyone?"

"He got inside," Caroline nodded, "Candy and Lex got caught in a fight with Jackal while Lawrence and I were busy with Shadow."

"Lawrence?" Elisa blinked, before noticing the exo-frame's presence.

"I couldn't let that robot hurt her," Lawrence spoke, "I'm sorry if I 'stepped on your toes' so to speak."

"We're not about to refuse help," Elisa spoke, "I take it Shadow was destroyed?"

Caroline nodded, "but by that time, and by the time Candy and Lex defeated Jackal, Wolf had gotten into the castle, probably after the Tibetan hatchlings or Fox and Alex. He knocked one of the elders down, but Hudson stopped him before he could seriously injure them."

Elisa then looked at Wolf and noticed the fact that one of his hands had been cleanly amputated. Clearly the work of Hudson's sword.

"So what do we do with all of them?" Lex asked as he and Candy moved forward, "I don't think the dungeons are large enough to hold all of them, especially as they could escape if we put more then one in the same cell."

"I believe the human policemen wish to arrest Thailog's followers," Jade spoke from his position, "probably for causing such trouble by attacking the castle and endangering the people in the area."

"That'd solve the problems about having the room to contain them," Elisa sighed, "but I don't think the NYPD has cells sturdy enough to contain a lone gargoyle, let alone all of these."

"The policemen seemed quite confident that they could contain them," Turquesa spoke up.

"Being confident doesn't make them right," Lawrence spoke up as Caroline nodded beside him.

"Xanatos Enterprises could easily win a contract for a more adequate prison facility," Xanatos commented as he landed with the unconscious Canis, "especially since the Pack since their upgrades has escaped from every prison they've been sent to."

"Yeah," Brooklyn grumbled from another section of the courtyard, "thanks for that."

The black furred wolf mutate only shrugged, "we can't surrender Canis to them, however. That fact that he is a clone of me, and specifically my mutate form, would only cause more trouble then what we're probably all in."

It was at that time that Goliath's group then returned to the castle. Othello and Desdemona were both quick to see that Goliath was carrying the body of Thailog, and everyone could smell the burnt flesh.

"Is he?" Desdemona asked.

"Yes," Goliath rumbled in a half defeated voice, "he tried to kill Angela, but his blow ended up severing a power line, which caught him in his armor and electrocuted him."

"I don't know if there was anything in him to redeem, Big Guy," Elisa spoke slowly, "Demona at least initially had a good cause, and Xanatos and the Seelie fey never seemed to make the opposition to the clan a personal matter. Thailog's only cause was money and power."

"I will forever fight to protect the city from such threats," Goliath answered as he glanced to his mate, "but as you once said, he is family. Regardless of how he came to be. And this is not the end I would wish on family."

"We know, Big Guy, well all do," Elisa told him.

Goliath glanced to the gathered gargoyles and mutate. All of them were nodding in agreement with Elisa, and he felt some measure of relief for that. He stopped when he saw the red and black exo-frame standing near Caroline.

"Owen is here?" Goliath asked, turning to Xanatos.

"Actually," Lawrence answered, "it's me. I couldn't let Caroline get hurt."

Goliath then nodded slowly, but said nothing to directly to the armor wearing human. He then turned to the body of Thailog, whom he had placed on the ground.

"What do you want done with him, Goliath?" Xanatos asked, "While the police may want the body, I doubt they can do much with it."

"Can you have him cremated?" Goliath asked.

"Not before sunrise," Xanatos answered, "unless you expect me to light a bonfire out here. I could do it during the day, if a dead gargoyle doesn't turn to stone… but you would be the expert on that."

"Most elder gargoyles, if their deaths aren't violent, have usually died in their sleep," Hudson commented, "but, even cases when one has died during the night, they still turn to stone during the day."

"How did you bury them?" Amy asked nervously.

"Traditionally, the stone form is ground into a fine dust and let free into the winds," Hudson said slowly, "those that have died well before sunrise are cremated, and their ashes scattered into the wind."

"Although that usually was only for members of the clan," Othello commented, "We usually never knew what happened to those that were exiled or did anything with any gargoyle that sided with an enemy to the castle… but in this time, I'd think that most of our traditions are probably outdated."

Meanwhile on the ground, Mat found himself involved in a very different conversation.

"I will deal with the arrests," Matt spoke to a trio of SWAT officers that were overseeing the placing of Lucifer, Bertha, and Butch's dead body inside a specialized containment vehicle that had been built to contain the Pack the year before.

The vehicle was not expected to hold the gargoyles once the they regained consciousness, but with dawn near, it was expected that they'd have enough time to get them to a more secure cell. Meanwhile, Matt had to deal with SWAT and patrol officers who wanted to arrest all the gargoyles, just as he mayor wanted.

"It would give us an ordered city, once more," the SWAT officer Matt was arguing with commented.

"Yeah, but those aren't the orders, and Goliath's clan isn't the one that started all this," Matt answered, "Do you want the NYPD to become the new KGB?"

"That is not applicable, we are Americans," the SWAT officer answered.

"You know what I mean," Matt told him, "We are only to bring in the ones who are responsible for the attack. And **I** will do it. Goliath's clan has likely won the fight. All that is needed now is to maintain some semblance of order."

"With all due respect, sir," the SWAT officer countered, "right now 'order' in this part of the city is only a word."

Matt ignored him and walked toward the doors to the Eyrie Building. The SWAT officer then moved forward before Matt could get there.

"At least let me get a team ready to go with you," the SWAT officer spoke, "the group that attacked the building had number close to twenty. You can't drag them all down here yourself."

Matt glanced back and sighed heavily. He then nodded after a few moments. He couldn't drag all of them himself, and if the sun rose, it was even less likely that he could move the stone gargoyle statues. The SWAT officer gathered up at least a dozen more SWAT officers while the remaining uninjured patrol officers on the ground began trying to get things ready for the removal of the rubble and trying to maintain some semblance of order.

"Now remember, no harm is to come to Goliath's clan," Matt instructed as they moved to the elevator, "If you feel you need to take a statement… fine, but no baited questions. Is that understood."

The SWAT officers nodded. Many of them did not look happy about the situation, but they nodded, regardless. That gave Matt some relief. At least they wouldn't go wild with some sort of knee-jerk anti-gargoyle reaction.

Flariaty, meanwhile, slowly shook herself awake to find herself laying on a stretcher in an ambulance that was near the area of investigation. She immediately sat up before the nurse in the ambulance moved to try and stop her.

"Whoa, detective," the nurse spoke, "whoa."

"What's going on?" Flariaty asked.

"What's the last thing you remember?" the nurse asked as though she were interrogating someone.

"An explosion, that's about it," Flariaty answered.

"What is your name?" the nurse then asked.

"Jennifer Flariaty, Detective, NYPD," Flariaty answered, "Why are you asking me all this?"

"You were knocked unconscious when one of the gargoyles attacking the Eyrie Building set off some sort of explosive," the nurse answered, "the blast knocked a lot of officers out, actually. But we think you have a concussion."

"Gargoyles are real?" Flariaty asked, sounding surprised.

"You might also have some memory troubles," the nurse then gasped.

"I need to find Matt," Flariaty spoke, "he was with me the explosion happened. I need to figure out what is going on."

"You need to rest and let us figure out what all is wrong with you," the nurse urged as Flariaty got off of the cot she was on, "You could have a concussion."

"I'm fine, and I'll be careful," Flariaty answered and forced her way out.

Flariaty was quick to make her way toward the Eyrie Building while the nurse began speaking into a cell phone about trying to stop her. The female detective, however, was not about to be stopped before she could figure out what was going on. As she got closer, she was met by a uniformed officer leaving his police car.

"Detective Flariaty, are you alright?" the officer asked nervously.

"I'm fine, shaken but fine," Flariaty answered slowly, "what's going on?"

The officer sighed heavily, and didn't yet notice the nurse following after Flariaty.

"Well, the Eyrie's gargoyles beat the gargoyles that attacked it, and we've arrested two of the attackers," the officer answered, "and a third was killed. Dispatch has been getting calls about where the attacking gargoyles came from. And Detective Bluestone has gone to the castle to arrest the remaining attackers."

"Where did the attackers come from?" Flariaty asked after a moment.

"Maddox Technologies," the officer answered, "I think some of these calls even came in during the battle, but we haven't had the opportunity to check for anything there, yet."

"Can we check there?" Flariaty asked.

"Right now, without a warrant?" the officer sighed, "that would depend on Mr. Thailog's cooperation."

"Get a small group ready," Flariaty instructed, "I'm sure Detective Bluestone will want to take at least a look into this once we're done here."

"Once he's done here, you mean," came the nurses voice from behind Flariaty, "you need to rest until we're certain that you've suffered no serious injuries… or at least discerned what injuries you've suffered."

Flariaty groaned as the nurse, along with two other medical orderlies began leading her back to the ambulance.

**Castle Wyvern**

Matt and the SWAT officers were greeted by Owen as they left the elevator and into the main lobby area of the castle. Owen looked as bland as ever, but Matt expected him to be that way.

"I take it you've come for the rest of the attackers," Owen spoke as he approached.

Matt nodded, "Yeah."

"I'll take you to the Courtyard," Owen spoke, "the ones that were captured are there. Although, I will also warn you that the sun has risen. The gargoyles that attacked this building will be too heavy to move."

"I don't suppose we could borrow some of your robots to carry them down?" Matt asked, sounding slightly humorous.

"Mr. Xanatos would be more then willing," Owen answered, "he will also let you know that those robots will also be sent to retrieve Coyote. He would also like to know what has been done to contain these attackers."

"I would assume that is a police matter," Matt commented and then whispered, "but I don't think we're ready."

"If you have any problems, Mr. Xanatos would be most willing to pay for the construction of a new prison to house them. He does not like rogues attacking the his home and the home of the clan he lives with."

"I'm sure the mayor will be happy to hear that someone else is paying the bill," Matt answered.

Owen led them out into the courtyard the Pack lay chained together while the gargoyles that numbered among Thailog's clan on improvised pedestals and chained to them. Several of the SWAT officers began doing a head count of the chained prisoners.

"You're missing three of the attackers," the leading SWAT officer pointed out, "One robot, one furry one, and one wearing armor, looked like he was the leader."

"The robot was destroyed by one of the clan and one of Mr. Xanatos's security robots," Owen answered, "I am uncertain about this 'furry' one, but I did overhear the gargoyles talk about the leader of these attackers."

"And what happened to him?" Matt asked.

"He was electrocuted when he glided through power lines trying to flee the clan," Owen answered, "the clan has also taken it as a personal matter to bury him."

Matt gave Owen a puzzled glance, but the blonde man did not change his expression.

"Best get the robots ready to take these gargoyles down," Matt sighed, "we might even need them for the one that crashed on the roof that they attacked from. We'll walk the Pack down."

"Of course," Owen answered and walked inside.

Matt, meanwhile followed the SWAT officers as they pulled Wolf and Jackal to their feet. Neither looked particularly happy, and Wolf was missing part of an arm.

"No smart mouthed jokes?" Matt couldn't resist taunting the defeated Pack members.

"Very funny, detective," Jackal growled, "You're just a barrel of laughs."

"We'll kill you yet," Wolf added in his growling voice.

"I'm sure," Matt answered, "but not today. Take them away, and be sure to read them their rights."

"Of course, sir," the SWAT officer answered and began leading them back inside.

As they went inside, Owen came back outside with three Steel Clan robots following him. Matt approached him as Owen began operating the robots through a small radio-controlling device.

"This whole event is going to cause a lot of trouble," Matt spoke once the SWAT officers were out of earshot, "the sight of gargoyle fighting gargoyle hasn't been seen before in New York."

"The clan was likely lucky before," Owen answered, not moving his attention away from his work, "Thailog has been the clan's enemy for a long time, and until recently the mere sighting of Demona would trigger a fight."

"I'm sure they would have much rather kept the gargoyles incarcerated here, but I doubt the mayor would allow that," Matt told Owen, "We'll be lucky if he doesn't send me back here this afternoon to arrest the clan."

Owen nodded, but didn't say anything.

"Aren't you going to say anything?" Matt asked.

"There is nothing that I can say that could alter the situation, Detective," Owen answered him.

"Couldn't you just do something as Puck to alter things?" Matt asked, "Make things better?"

"Even if I had the power to do so, that would be a violation of Oberon's Law," Owen answered firmly, "there are some things that you can't take short cuts on."

Matt only sighed, "It'd be best to have things ready to hide the clan should the mayor decide to order their arrest. I don't think I or Captain Chavez can distract him with anything this time."

Owen only nodded, but didn't say anything. Matt watched quietly while Owen used the Steel Clan robots to lower the gargoyle statues to ground level, where other officers struggled to get them into trucks to take to whatever prison they were to be held in. Matt was certain to make some contact to figure out the where as Goliath would likely want to try and convince Thailog's followers to join the clan. Whether or not that would work, would be up for debate, but Matt wasn't about to try and stop them from trying.

Once that was done, Matt slowly made his way to the elevator and prepared to return to ground level. Upon arrival he saw the large open topped trucks that had been brought in to transport the captured gargoyles and carry away the rubble from the battle. The SWAT officers were also relaying what they'd learned with the others and there were several others arriving in an open area, but these were all uniformed officers. He decided to check on them first.

"What's going on?" Matt asked.

"We've gotten some tips that the attacking gargoyles came from Maddox Technologies," the first officer answered, "we've been getting things ready to check things out there when we're done here."

"We'd need a warrant to search the building, have heard anything from the DA or a judge?" Matt asked.

"No, sir, but I would have thought that Mr. Thailog would be willing to cooperate for a few basic questions," the officer told him.

Matt shook his head, "that wouldn't work. He'd lead us on a merry go round that keeps us from discovering anything. We'll need a search warrant."

"It couldn't hurt to ask him a few questions," the officer spoke and then gestured to the Eyrie Building, "It might help keep the mayor from breathing down the necks of these gargoyles."

Matt only sighed.

**Avalon**

Dr. Weinsheimer stood with Fox and watched as all of the action going on at the castle seemed to wind down. The Steel Clan took Thailog's clan to the ground to be loaded into trucks and took Coyote's body back to the castle. Police and city workers were finishing up the gathering up rubble that had fallen from the tops of the buildings and were beginning head off in different directions.

"It looks like the good guys won," Dr. Weinsheimer commented.

"For the moment," Titania spoke from her throne, "but battles such as the one between Goliath's clan and Thailog's tend of have near 'biblical' complications for both good or for ill."

"I'm just glad that David is alright," Fox spoke, showing her obvious relief.

"You do not worry about Goliath's clan?" Titania questioned, "after all they've done for the city?"

"Not as much as I worry about David," Fox answered her mother, "I didn't marry Goliath. Elisa did that. I married David. Wishing the clan is safe will always be second in comparison to David. I'm sorry if that doesn't sound right."

"We understand that you love your husband," Titania spoke, "but the times coming will be tough. It might be wise for you and your husband to relocate to Avalon on a more permanent basis. I would even allow Puck to return, if he so chooses."

Fox turned away from the mirror and glanced at her mother.

"You and your family, and Goliath's clan would be among those who understand you and wouldn't hate you out of fear," Titania offered.

"You know that Goliath would never do that," Fox answered, "to him, that would be hiding."

"And from the looks of things, Goliath could probably take anything any bigot could throw at him," Dr. Weinsheimer added.

"Even the strongest can fall," Titania answered, "I watched it happen to Persia, Alexander the Great's Empire, Rome, the Arabs, Napoleon, the British Empire, the German Empire, Nazi Germany, the Soviet Union, and I will probably be there when America and China cease to be the dominant global power."

"I think China's already on its way from what I've seen on the news," Dr. Weinsheimer commented.

"Regardless," Fox answered, "We will be returning to our home."

Fox picked up the sleeping Alex and then looked in the mirror and then back to her mother.

"It was nice to visit, mother," Fox told her, "and perhaps if it weren't for Thailog it would have been a pleasant visit. But I do not wish to live here. We'll try to visit again some other time… and… you are of course welcome to visit us in New York."

"I will be there when your present child is born," Titania spoke with an accepting nod, and then altered the mirror so that it would work as a portal to allow them to return to their home.

Fox and Dr. Weinsheimer were quick to walk through it.

**Castle Wyvern**

Fox and Dr. Weinsheimer came out of a portal and into a hallway and ended up stumbling into Xanatos, who was on his way to bed.

"Oh, I'm sorry, Mr. Xanatos," Dr. Weinsheimer apologized quickly.

"It's alright," Xanatos shrugged, "No harm done. Are you all okay?"

"Fine, David," Fox answered, "We watched the whole fight from Avalon."

Xanatos nodded, "remind me to thank her for keeping you safe."

"She also says that the road ahead is going to be tough," Fox told him, "for everyone."

"I have no doubt of that," Xanatos sighed, "The city also just watched Thailog's clan battle Goliath's."

That lead to a series of frustrated sighs from all of them.

"But Goliath's been a survivor for a very long time," Xanatos answered, "I'm sure he'll find a way to survive this as well."

There was a short silence for a moment before Doctor Weinsheimer spoke up quietly.

"I'm glad that everything turned out well, for now, and I hope things remain somewhat calm," Doctor Weinsheimer spoke, "but I need to get going. I haven't been home all night, apparently."

"Of course," Xanatos spoke, "I'll have Owen call a cab for you."

Dr. Weinsheimer nodded and then began walking toward the castle's lobby where he was likely to meet up with Owen.

**Maddox Technologies**

Fang sulked as he stood guard inside the Maddox Technologies building. He wanted to go along with the others for the attack, but just as he prepared to leap into the air, Thailog held him back and told him to guard the Maddox Technologies building. And now it was certain that Thailog had been beaten, leaving him alone.

"If only he'd taken me with 'em," Fang grumbled as he walked toward the clan's sleeping room, partially wondering if anyone had escaped Goliath's clan without him noticing, "I could have roasted those gargoyles alive if he'd let me go with them… but no! I'm stuck here. Guarding a building that doesn't need guarding."

"And suppose the police raid this building," came Thailog's voice, making Fang turn to see the robot that looked like what Thailog and Goliath would look like if they were human, "you would be needed to defend it from them."

"This ain't the middle ages you piece of scrap iron!" Fang growled at him, "Xanatos may have a castle, but that doesn't give him the power to resist the law. You might be able to avoid punishment, but I can't. The law knows that I am a criminal… although they might not recognize me anymore."

"But there are many things that Master Thailog left that must be guarded," the robot Thailog spoke, "Suppose the police arrive and are searching for it?"

"Then you'd best see if they have a warrant first," Fang answered and was about to continue when he was cut off by a secretary's voice.

"Sir, Mr. Thailog is very busy at the moment," the secretary spoke.

"I'm sure," came Detective Bluestone's voice shortly after.

The doors then opened to reveal Matt and two other uniformed officers. Fang was caught utterly by surprise, even more then the human policemen were at seeing him there. The robotic Thailog realized he had to act quickly.

"No!" the robotic Thailog yelled, "don't hurt me!"

"Freeze, Fang!" Matt yelled at the mountain-lion mutate.

Fang then fired an electric blast at the officers and fled. The blast hit Matt squarely in the chest and knocked him back into the officers. He was slow to recover, but the blast wasn't strong enough to kill person, just enough stun them for awhile. And while Fang made a hasty retreat, the robotic Thailog moved to quickly help Matt up.

"Thank you, sirs," the robotic Thailog spoke, "thank you. You've truly saved me from a fate worse then death."

"You may not say that when you hear what we have to ask you," Matt told the robot while he got to his feet.

"Come again?" the robotic Thailog asked.

"We have several witnesses that told us that the gargoyles who attacked Castle Wyvern came from here," one of the officers behind Matt spoke.

"And given who was just threatening you," Matt added, "I wouldn't think they were lying."

"They probably weren't," the robotic Thailog spoke quickly, "those gargoyles, the Pack, and that creature have been holding me and the company hostage for the past several months."

"Hostage?" Matt asked, "if they were threatening you, couldn't you have simply smashed them during the day?"

"I would have been killed by the Pack or that creature if I have," the robotic Thailog reported.

"He does have a point there," one of the other officers commented, "that creature wasn't stone and the Pack may be mutated freaks, but they aren't gargoyles."

"Did they leave anything that might indicate what they were doing, aside from attacking the Eyrie Building?" Matt asked, "Can you tell us?"

"If they had any evidence, it isn't here," the robotic Thailog spoke, "the gargoyles always seemed to go in an out of the building through he sewers when it was close to dawn or if they were plotting something."

"Could we look around to check?" Matt asked, "it is possible that they could have left something here."

"No," the robotic Thailog answered, "with those gargoyles gone, Maddox Technologies finally has the freedom to get back to its true purpose. There is no evidence here, and an investigation would only disrupt our work schedule."

"You do understand that we need to check for ANY possible leads," Matt told him, "It may take a bit longer, but we can obtain a basic search warrant, and you know the Mayor will agree to it after what happened today."

"I understand that, Detective," the robotic Thailog nodded, "and I will cooperate when you have the warrant. But for now, I must do what is in the company's best interests. Get it back on its feet."

"I don't think anyone will be 'on their feet' for quite a while," Matt warned the robot and slowly turned to lead the other officers out, knowing that by now, Fang was long gone.

Fang, meanwhile, was rushing out along the roof toward the edge. His original hunch was right. Thailog had been beaten and now the cops were looking for evidence to convict his clan. They had arrived sooner then Fang intended, but that wasn't the point. The point was that they arrived. So, Fang was now fleeing to find a new hideout.

"I told Thailog he should have taken me," Fang grumbled as he began gliding and searching for a dark ally to duck into, "now I'm having to hide in the sewers again… and according to Thailog, Talon's got an army of mutates helping him now."

Fang finished with an enraged roar and continued his descent toward the ground.

**City Hall**

"So what are the final results from last night?" the Mayor asked for a report from New York City's Police Chief while the City Council sat around a large table to hear the report and make the final decision on what was to be done about the gargoyles.

The police chief cleared his throat and began to deliver his report.

"According to the report from the twenty third precinct," the chief reported, "all of those attacking the Eyrie Building were defeated. Both of the Pack's robots were destroyed and are in the possession of Xanatos Enterprises for technical research. They'll pass on any further information on them about plans and evidence as they uncover it… IF they uncover it."

The gathered people all nodded.

"The Pack has also been arrested and taken to Rikers to finish out the sentences they were supposed to serve," the chief continued, "and I talked with the DA, he's willing to work out a deal with a judge to add on to that sentence for what they've done since their escape."

"Good," the mayor spoke.

"Two of the attacking gargoyles were killed in the fighting," the chief continued, "One was shot by the officers as it pursued one of the Wyvern gargoyles. The other was electrocuted by a power line when it tried to flee the fight. The Wyvern gargoyles claimed the one that was electrocuted to perform some sort of funeral and we have the one that was shot. It still turned to stone when the sun came up, by the way."

"And how are two dead gargoyles important?" one of the council members asked.

"I'm merely reporting what happened," the chief answered, "I would have thought that you might want to know this."

"We do," the mayor told him, "continue."

"The rest of the attacking gargoyles were arrested, although that was after dawn," the chief reported, "they were chained to concrete slabs when Detective Bluestone and the SWAT officers made it to the castle's courtyard. They're also being taken to Rikers, although most of the guards are currently being issued powerful tranquilizer darts and are being stationed on the level that the gargoyles are being sent to. Until a prison that can easily contain these gargoyles, that is the best we can do."

The group slowly nodded.

"Mr. Xanatos has also volunteered to pay for the construction of a new prison that can hold the gargoyles," the chief added, "citing the ones that attacked the Eyrie Building as a threat to himself, his business, and his gargoyle friends."

"Of course," the mayor grumbled.

"To conclude things," the chief then finished, "the furry creature that was with the attacking gargoyles has apparently escaped. Twenty-third officers are still looking for it. At first it fled to the Maddox Technologies Building where it was threatening the owner, but it fled when the police arrived."

"Great," the mayor grumbled, "Is that all?"

"For now," the chief nodded.

The mayor then nodded and then turned to the city council. They looked glad to be in on the report, but there was the sort of confusion that was apparent when one didn't know why they were there.

"Which now brings us to the main reason why we're here," the mayor spoke, "officially dealing with the gargoyles. Both the Federal government and the State government have said the gargoyles are our problem, and after last night, it's clear that we have quite a problem."

"I'm sure there is that much that we can do," one councilman, named Frank, said, "I mean, while they aren't human, if we go in to arrest them now, we'd likely need a warrant to arrest Xanatos, and who knows if his gargoyles will stay there for much longer after last night."

"What are the options we have?" a councilwoman, Jane, asked the mayor, sounding slightly curious.

"We have only a few limited options," the mayor spoke, "first, we could do nothing, and let the gargoyles continue to operate as they have outside the law…"

There were a few gasps, but no one said anything for the moment.

"Two, we could declare them a threat to public safety as they are and that they must either be incarcerated in a specialized zoo for scientific study or placed in the prison with the attacking gargoyles," the mayor continued, "and try to restore things to the way they were before Xanatos bought that castle of his…"

No one said anything about that.

"And three, by suggestion of the 23rd Precinct's Captain, we could ask them to volunteer as patrol officers for that precinct for the rest of this fiscal year," the mayor finished, "and fitting them into next year's budget can be dealt with later."

That made everyone look up with a rather shocked expression.

"She wants us to hire the gargoyles?" a councilman sitting next to the police chief asked, sounding flabbergasted.

"Yes, under the assumption that they would accept it, and would allow to insure that the gargoyles follow the rules," the mayor answered.

"It would ease some of the pressure that the PIT people have been making," Jane commented, "they've all been demanding equal rights for them and stuff like that. It might make theme ease up a bit."

"Yeah, and piss off the guys that still agree with the Quarrymen and all the messes they made," a different councilman grumbled.

"And we should side with a group that gave us more headaches?" Jane argued.

"No…" that councilman sighed, "it's just that we'll end up dividing the city between pro-Quarrymen and pro-PIT constituencies, and right now, there are more pro-Quarrymen then there are pro-PIT."

"You sound as if you want us to do nothing, which we can't do," Frank told him, "History has always proven that the one who does nothing ends up paying for it in the end. We have to do something."

"Like what?" a fourth councilman brought up, "It's doubtful that these gargoyles have immigration papers and even less likely that they were born here. Even if we do 'hire' them, it probably wouldn't be legal."

"It could if the courts count Xanatos's buying of the castle as a legal means of 'immigration'," Jane commented, "they probably wouldn't be granted citizenship, but they'd be allowed to work here."

"I take it you would favor hiring them?" the mayor asked directly.

"Well…" Jane looked up, "Yes. It would help us get some of PIT's more insistent members off of our backs, and it would probably be the right thing to do in the long run. I mean, there almost as many reports of people claiming to be saved by gargoyles as there are claims of gargoyle attacks, and most of those, upon further investigation indicate that the real attacker was a criminal."

"It would also allow us to control them better then we could by trying to arrest them," a fifth councilman spoke up, "if we do that, and they fight, we could take heavy casualties and they could escape. Leaving us with a manhunt that would be even more costly."

The mayor watched as several councilmen who looked like they would be opposed to hiring them then traded glances. One of them then turned to the police chief with a question.

"How much would it cost to arrest the Wyvern gargoyles?" the councilman asked.

"I don't have any exact figures," the chief answered, "but it wouldn't be easy. Detective Bluestone of the 23rd has done the most to monitor the Wyvern the gargoyles, and his reports have indicated that they are very formidable warriors. If we move to arrest them, they could very well fight to try and protect their freedom. And it wouldn't be easy to bring them in, especially with all the PIT/'Quarrymen' split that's still evident at times in the city. In my opinion, it might be a good idea to hire them. It'd let them stay free while also insuring that everyone in New York is following the law."

There was a short silence for awhile.

"Which would be better then destroying the city hunting them down," the chief finished.

The mayor listened quietly to the conversation. He was certain that there councilmen who opposed hiring the gargoyles, but were nervous about doing damage to the city by trying to arrest them.

"Are we ready to take a vote?" the mayor asked.

The mayor watched on as one by one the City Council members nodded in agreement.

"All right then," the mayor spoke, "all in favor of Option One, say 'aye'…"

**Castle Wyvern**

It was nearly mid afternoon when Fox felt rested enough to get out of bed and journey out into one of the main 'living rooms' that was in the main part of the castle. She found both Xanatos and Owen watching a news report near the main television in the room.

"What's going on?" Fox asked, sounding nervous, "don't tell me we're in trouble again already."

"The mayor has come on with a news conference," Xanatos answered her, "I think he and the City Council have achieved some agreement on how to 'handle' the gargoyles."

"Goliath and the others won't take kindly to being arrested if that is what it comes to," Fox warned him.

"If that's his idea, we'll sneak all the gargoyles to the Labyrinth," Xanatos answered, "I don't think the Detective informed anyone, other then maybe Bluestone of its existence, and I'm certain Bluestone hasn't. From there, I'm not sure what we can do."

They then nervously turned to the television as it showed the mayor standing beside the chief of police in front of a podium.

"Citizens of New York," the mayor spoke in a calm, yet firm voice, "as I'm sure you're all aware of the actions taken by the gargoyles that attacked the Eyrie Building last night and the fact that that attack create a new, or amplify an existing, problem."

Xanatos glanced over at Owen who said nothing.

"And that problem is dealing with the gargoyles that have taken residence in Manhattan since David Xanatos legally brought them here from Scotland," the mayor spoke, "admittedly there have been mistakes made, and narrow minded people were allowed to wield too much influence when the gargoyles first arrived and when they were revealed, but their response to these mistakes has only aided the problem."

The mayor paused for a moment before continuing.

"Our city, our state, our nation is one based on the rule of law for the protection of all our citizens," the mayor spoke, "and since their arrival, these gargoyles have lived outside of the law. And this is the problem. Regardless of the fact that the Wyvern gargoyles have aided New York's finest in several instances, including last night's incident, they have not submitted themselves to the rule of law. And without it, they could be considered a very great threat."

"Owen, start getting all the gargoyles to one of our 'secret' elevators" Xanatos ordered, "the mayor is playing his 'it's not my fault I'm a Quarryman' card."

"At once, sir," Owen answered.

"It is the decision of the City Council, and I approve of it, that the Wyvern gargoyles be given some opportunity to work within the laws of the City of New York," the mayor continued, "we leave them with two choices. They can volunteer to serve the NYPD as patrol officers, and will undergo training by the NYPD, or they can continue try and remain outside the law. If they decide to serve, they will be able to continue their service to the City of New York, but if they do not, I will be forced to order the arrest of the Wyvern gargoyles to restore basic order to the streets of the city."

Xanatos now traded glances with Fox.

"Given that the Wyvern gargoyles are currently sleeping, we will wait here until ten PM for their reply to this statement," the mayor finished, "and I will now take a limited number of questions."

Xanatos then turned off the television looking somewhat surprised.

"I'll admit he went in a slightly different direction then what I expected," Xanatos commented.

"Sounds more like he is trying to enslave them," Fox grumbled, "I doubt Goliath will go for that either."

"Maybe, but it might be the only way to keep them 'free' without making them criminals," Xanatos commented, "if this is the way government is taking things."

"I think my mother was right," Fox spoke, "things are going to be rough for awhile."

**Maddox Technologies**

The robotic Thailog watched nervously as the mayor finished his speech and began answering questions, some of them rather pointed and anti-gargoyle. The robot admired the way the mayor tried to be simultaneously on both the side of those who hated the gargoyles and those who supported them, but that wasn't the reason the robot was watching the report.

The police would surely get a warrant eventually, and since Fang had fled, the robotic Thailog would need to free the gargoyle Thailog's clan somehow. He would need them to defend, or move many of the secret projects that the real Thailog had been working on. The robot had hoped that the mayor would give him some hint as to where Thailog's followers had been taken. The robotic Thailog was greatly disappointed by the fact that the mayor was not giving away he location of the arrested gargoyles.

He would need to figure out some other way to get rid of that evidence. After a moment, he buzzed his secretary.

"Yes, Mr. Thailog?" came the secretary's answer.

"Ms. Hide we will need to hire some computer technicians for a special project," the robotic Thailog spoke, "and it is imperative that this be done quickly and as quietly as possible."

"Yes, sir," the secretary, Ms. Hide, answered.

"I also want moving crews to report to the basement area this evening," the robotic Thailog spoke, "there are some things there that are ready to be moved to a secondary facility."

"Of course, sir," Ms. Hide answered as the intercom connection was cut.

The robotic Thailog then sighed heavily. He would have to work both carefully and quickly if he was to either remove or destroy the evidence of the real Thailog's activities before Detective Bluestone returned in force with a warrant. Things were not going to be easy, but for the robotic Thailog, that was mostly because of the knowledge of the failure of the real Thailog's plans.

**Riker's Island, Dusk**

The island prison was usually quiet at the time when day turned to night and during the night. Many prisoners were usually ready for dinner or were deciding to get some extra hours of sleep. But in one section that was locked tight and had triple the guards, all armed with tranquilizer guns, the prison was very loud as several gargoyles awoke in chains inside the prison. All of them were shocked to say the lest. The chains were heavy and they couldn't break them, at least not easily, and the guarding officers didn't look like they were going to give them the opportunity.

"Relax you," one guard ordered gruffly, "this will only last until a better prison is constructed for you."

"These chains can't hold us!" Bertha growled from her cell, "and you will all pay for killing Butch!"

One of the officers in front of her cell raised his tranquilizer gun as she began to struggle against the chains.

"And if you don't calm down, we'll simply tranq you and let you sleep through the night," the guard said very firmly.

Bertha backed down. She did desire revenge, but she wasn't going to get it this way. The other members of Thailog's clan also backed down. The silence, however, was short lived.

"So, where are Goliath and his followers?" came a female voice from the cell closest to the door at the end of the hallway.

The guard looked over toward the red skinned female gargoyle, who was actually sitting calmly in the chains she had been placed in. Holly, while frustrated at being in a jail cell, had no particular worries. Her magic could easily counter their tranquilizers and the chains. All she needed was the right spell, and that would take a little bit, so for the moment, she would try to distract he guards.

"The Wyvern gargoyles have been offered a chance to earn human trust," one guard answered slowly.

"You mean you didn't arrest them too?" Holly challenged them, "they caused just as much damage as we did by fighting back."

"They didn't attack their own home or endanger the people living near the Eyrie Building," a second guard retorted, "and if they don't agree to serve, they WILL be arrested."

"And you honestly think they're 'good' by your definition?" Holly questioned.

"The mayor is willing to give them the chance to prove they are," the first guard answered.

Holly inwardly smiled as the guard did sounded somewhat regretful about the mayor's decision. She didn't know that much about it, but from what the guard had told her, it seemed that the government was going to enslave the gargoyles to it. And that made her determined to get out, if only to watch Goliath and his followers struggle with a changing world.

While there was a brief pause in the conversation, Holly began quietly chanting in Latin, as she had figured out the spell to use. And neither guard paid any attention to her until a shot of green energy shot from her hand and wrapped around the heads of the two guards.

"Hey!" the second guard shouted in surprise, "I can't see! I can't see!"

With that that, Holly cast a lightning spell snap her chains and rushed the bars in front of her. The bars didn't last long, and she threw the steal door down the hall, knocking most of the other guards down. With them out of the way, Holly made a quick bolt for the door near her cell. Her time for revenge would come, but for now she had to escape.

**Castle Wyvern**

Goliath gave a heavy sigh Xanatos finished explaining what the mayor's idea was.

"Why would he do this?" Goliath rumbled, "He should already know that we seek to protect this city. Just as the police do."

"Yes, but I think the mayor has some questions about whether or not ALL gargoyles agree with you," Xanatos commented, "by making you work for the NYPD, he will likely feel more confident that you will be operating within the law."

"Human laws," Goliath rumbled.

"Your 'laws' aren't all that different, Goliath," Xanatos retorted, "and you both want the same things."

"We want to be accepted, not enslaved," Elisa spoke up from beside her mate.

"The mayor is concerned that you'll cause more trouble by being outside the law," Xanatos warned, "and short of starting a war, there isn't much that I can do. I don't think you have much of a choice."

"Did the mayor give any details about what he expects?" Goliath questioned, sensing that the black furred mutate was telling the truth.

"Other then that he expects you to arrive at City Hall at ten to accept, no," Xanatos answered, "if you don't show, he'll have you arrested."

Goliath only gave a growling sigh, showing that he did not like the situation.

"I understand you want to be accepted," Xanatos spoke, "and accepted as equals, but you won't get a chance of that if you don't accept. I can't protect you during the day without becoming a 'traitor' myself, and you certainly won't be accepted if you end up in jail."

Goliath only sighed again, "You're right. But, I still do not like this."

There was a short silence for a moment as Goliath glanced back over his shoulder to Elisa, hoping for some advice, but the tan female only shrugged. After that he sighed again.

"Elisa and I will tell him that we accept his offer," Goliath told him, "but there will be some things that need to be explained, in private, about our responsibilities to Tibetan elders and the hatchlings their clan brought with them."

"Wouldn't Brooklyn be the better choice?" Xanatos asked, "he is your second."

"Yes, but Elisa is familiar with the NYPD's protocols," Goliath answered, "which may be important to try and reach a bargain that benefits both sides."

"Ah ha," Xanatos shrugged, "well, you won't be expected there till around ten o'clock. You have time to let the others know what is going on and figure out all the details."

Goliath nodded and slowly lead Elisa back towards the clan's wing of the castle. The large lavender male was still nervous as he did so. His clan had enjoyed some measure of freedom in its operations in the past, even after the Hunters exposed them by destroying the Clock Tower, but now things were changing in what could be an even darker direction.

Hopefully, the mayor was open minded enough that things would move forward enough that his laws would be preserved and the clan would be accepted into society.

**City Hall**

The mayor stood quietly on the steps of city hall with an eye on the sky for any sign of an approaching gargoyle. He had heard reports that one of the attacking gargoyles had somehow escaped Riker's Island, but they also indicated that the gargoyle did not like the Wyvern gargoyles. He privately did hope they would accept his offer. He didn't want there to be any trouble, and if they accepted, the city might get a shot at real peace, which it didn't really seem to have for years. The chief of police stood quietly behind him, and looked slightly nervous as there was still a fairly large crowd gathered in front of the building.

"What time is it?" the mayor asked the chief quietly.

"About ten to ten," the chief answered.

When the mayor looked back in the direction of the Eyrie Building, he then noticed two shapes descending toward their location. After a moment, the large lavender male gargoyle, Goliath, according to the television interview, and the tan female named Elisa landed in front of them. Their arrival shocked many and everyone present was suddenly on alert.

"Good evening," Goliath greeted in a low voice.

"Good evening, Goliath, isn't it?" the mayor responded.

"Yes," Goliath nodded, "and this is my mate, Elisa."

The mayor nodded politely.

"Where are the others?" the chief asked in a low voice.

"They are still at the Eyrie Building," Goliath rumbled, "as there are matters that we must discuss concerning your proposition to recruit my clan."

"What is there to discuss?" the mayor asked firmly, "either your clan accepts, or it doesn't."

"We do accept," Goliath said, and then spoke in a low voice, "but there are other matters that MUST be discussed before this goes any further. Partially because there are things that you do not know, but must be told about now that you want us to volunteer."

The mayor looked at the large lavender male suspiciously.

"And we will tell you what these things are," Goliath rumbled, "but they are better suited to a more private setting. Not out in front of these cameras."

The mayor glanced at the chief and then at the two gargoyles.

"Very well, but both of you will also have to answer some questions," the mayor spoke firmly, "if you'll follow me."

The mayor and the chief then moved to head into City Hall while Goliath and Elisa looked on. After a moment, the two caped their wings over the shoulders and followed. The eventually followed the two of them into a small office just inside the front doors to City Hall. It wasn't the type of setting that meetings were held in, but it would do in for the moment.

"Now, what is it you want to talk about?" the mayor asked once they were all inside.

"Mostly how things will be handled," Goliath answered, "My clan is more then willing to work with the NYPD."

"That's good, because you'll all need to go through some level of training," the chief spoke up from behind the mayor, "make sure you all understand the rules governing law enforcement."

"The clan largely knows those rules," Elisa spoke for the first time.

The mayor showed no notice, but the chief did.

"Detective Maza?!" the chief spoke in surprise, "You're… you're… you're a gargoyle!"

"Yes, yes, I am," Elisa answered.

"Wha… how?" the chief asked.

"This may be hard to believe, but it was done by a human sorcerer," Elisa explained, "using a powerful spell that changed my form."

"Surely there must be some scientific explanation," the chief commented.

"Name one mammal that undergoes such a radical transformation naturally," Elisa countered, slightly frustrated with the fact that she was having to reveal so much about what happened to her, "magic IS quite real. It just isn't common in our world anymore."

"That might be how that one gargoyle escaped Rikers," the mayor mused, remembering the incident that happened shortly after dusk.

"What?" Goliath gasped.

"Shortly after dusk a blood red gargoyle female that was among the gargoyles arrested last night escaped from Rikers," the mayor answered, "the guards claimed she made them go blind, momentarily, thank goodness."

"Holly," Elisa growled, "She is a sorceress, and that is likely how she escaped."

"We will help hunt her down," Goliath vowed, "but we are getting off of the reason we came back here."

"Why you came back here," the mayor answered, "we are merely being diplomatic."

"Yes," Goliath rumbled, "well… as I was saying, my clan would be more then willing to work with the police, but at the present time, we can not all go to these 'training' sessions at once."

"WHAT?!" both the mayor and the chief cut him off.

My clan has responsibilities to itself in addition to its responsibilities to the people of this city," Goliath answered firmly, "at present the elder gargoyles and the hatchlings of a clan from Tibet have taken refuge to escape the fighting currently raging in China. Since most of the adults have returned to Tibet to try and free their home, my clan has promised to aid their elders in raising their hatchlings."

"It is not my fault or your fault that they have poor parental decisions," the mayor grumbled.

Goliath held his temper and tried his best not to sound like he was arguing.

"Maybe, but I gave them my word, which I can not take back," Goliath spoke, "and in the coming years, the Breeder's Moon will rise, and my clan's females will conceive and lay eggs of their own. At that point, we will have responsibilities to our own offspring and all of us can not be out at the same time."

"What are you saying?" the chief asked suspiciously.

"We're asking for shifts, that's all," Elisa clarified, "from our point of view, your 'offer' sounds more like you're trying to enslave us to you. That we would all have to obey you without question. That we would lose our right to live our own lives aside from what you want, which wouldn't be fair to anyone. Not to mention that slavery is illegal in this country."

"Shifts?" the chief asked, "I thought you were only awake at night?"

"We are, and I'm probably not using the right word, but the word 'shift' was the only one that came to mind," Elisa answered, "We're asking that you take part of the clan for one night, leaving the rest to have their private lives and aide the Tibetan gargoyles for that night and then alternate between the two groups."

The mayor and chief exchanged glances.

"We can talk more about benefits packages and days off when it comes time to setting next year's budget," Elisa finished.

The mayor and the chief shared glances again. Neither of them expected Goliath to arrive with a gargoyle that already had a knowledge of police work , or course none of them expected that gargoyle to have been an ex-detective as well.

"The gargoyles not on duty would have to let the protection of the city fall to those that are on duty," the mayor spoke, "and all the gargoyles will have to complete the training courses before they go on duty… and that will include you, Ms. Maza."

Elisa nodded, but didn't say anything.

"We understand," Goliath rumbled slowly, trying to be 'diplomatic' as the mayor had put it.

**Castle Wyvern**

Meanwhile at the castle, the rest of the gargoyles watched nervously. Even the older Tibetan hatchlings were paying close attention to the live broadcast coming from City Hall.

"Will they accept?" Othello grumbled in slightly skeptical voice, "from what we've learned, it does not appear that they are much better then the Quarrymen. No outright hatred, but neither do they support us."

"They're afraid," Amy spoke up from her spot on a couch, "they believe we're good, but we presented an image of all gargoyles being similar to us in wanting to be protectors."

"Aye," Hudson nodded, "and learning of corrupt members like Thailog is probably a great shock."

Othello sighed as Desdemona patted his shoulder, trying to reassure him. Thinking calmly, he did understand why they were doing what they were doing, but that didn't mean he had to like it.

"But will they accept?" Othello repeated his question.

"I think we're about to find out," Brooklyn commented as he pointed to the screen to see Goliath and Elisa following mayor and the chief of police out of City Hall and approaching the podium.

The mayor was the first to speak at the podium.

"I am sure that this will create some tension between those who have let their minds be governed by fear and those who seek to bring the gargoyles into our society," the mayor spoke, "but we can not let fear govern our lives. As an intelligent man once said, 'we have nothing to fear, but fear, itself'. And the representatives of the Wyvern gargoyles have spoken to me on their understanding of the issues at hand."

The mayor then gestured to Goliath and Elisa, who were both hanging back slightly.

"They understand the rule of law and have agreed to accept the city's offer to allow them to work under the supervision of the NYPD," the mayor spoke, "which will go a long way to restoring order to our city which, should the be the objective that all of us have… which will help all of us move forward."

The mayor stepped back and allowed the chief of police to take the podium.

"Starting tomorrow night, half of the Wyvern gargoyles will take their first steps in formal training at the Twenty-third Precinct headquarters," the chief spoke, "and they will alternate which half will work, each night. That is all."

The clan all watched in surprise as the gathered reporters began asking a lot of questions, mostly of the mayor, but occasionally one was aimed at Goliath or Elisa, which Goliath thankfully answered.

"And so a new chapter begins," Brooklyn commented, "City employees."

"We have chapters?" Amy asked him, raising a brow-ridge.

"Dividing up how our lives have gone," Brooklyn commented, "but it could depend on how you look at it. Our time in Scotland is 'Chapter One', and it could extend until the Hunters Moon and our feud with Xanatos ended… but our first year or so in Manhattan could easily be its own chapter."

"So we're up to chapter three or four, now?" Amy asked.

Brooklyn nodded.

"So long as we don't hit 'Chapter Eleven' we'll be fine," Candy said in a joking voice from behind the couch.

"I think Xanatos is the only one that would understand that," Brooklyn replied, shaking his head.

**The End…**


	48. Old Hatreds

All characters appearing in Gargoyles and Gargoyles: The Goliath Chronicles are copyrighted to Buena Vista Television/The Walt Disney Company. I've taken the idea for the Unseelie Court from the TGS. Characters and concepts from Star Trek are property of Paramount and created by Gene Roddenberry. No Infringement of these copyrights is intended, and is not authorized by the copyright holder. All original characters are the property of SN.

Note: I'm disregarding the events of the "Goliath Chronicles", with the exception of "The Journey" because I do not wish to use the rest of the "Goliath Chronicles" as canon to my story. Also, I'm altering large sections of the Star Trek storyline, especially concerning events like WWIII and the Eugenics Wars, which without the Cold War as a backdrop probably wouldn't happen the way Roddenberry wrote them, if at all. This story takes place one week after "Gargoyles, Chapter Three, or Four".

Old Hatreds

By SN/TVfan

Email: Sam_Nary

**The Bronx**

A lone dart flew through the air and impacted the cork target of a dart board with a dull thud, only made louder by the presence of paper placed over the dart board. The impact of the dart did little to draw the attention of the other persons in the bar.

"Can you believe all this?" the man throwing the darts asked in a frustrated voice.

"Give it a rest, Ralph, you've been complaining about it for the past week," the bartender spoke from his position behind the bar, "and I don't want hear it anymore."

"But you agree with me, don't you?" Ralph asked back, sounding undeterred from continuing his rant.

"Of course I agree," the bartender answered, "but there's nothing we can do right now. The mayor decided to go ahead with this scheme, and the city council appears to be behind him… and I'm tired of listening to you groan about this every night!"

"I'm not sure why you're going through all this," another person in the bar commented, "I mean they aren't being paid and they have to be controlled by the city, which means they can't just do anything they want."

"Do you want those demons to get away with murder?" Ralph asked back, "because that's what will happen if they're kept as city employees. They'll manipulate our very laws and use them to begin a rain of terror from the night sky. I mean do you honestly think they'll read criminals their rights, or can truly tell who the crooks are? I've seen stuff go through the DA's office that would knock your socks office with all the complaints about gargoyles."

"I can't believe they're all bad," the other man commented, "I mean, if they were 'evil', shouldn't they have done something along those lines by now?"

"They're smart and tricky," Ralph answered, "they're waiting till we let our guard down."

"But why didn't they do something like that before they were discovered?" the other man asked.

"Hell if I know," Ralph answered, "I just know that we're gonna have to look up constantly once them freaks actually get badges. They'll kill us all!"

"Give it a rest, Ralph," the bartender spoke up, "I agree it will be marked as a huge mistake… but you're taking this too far."

"You don't know what they'll do!" Ralph pointed out.

"Maybe, but I know that unless you want to end up like Castaway did, you'd best keep quiet, or stay within the lines of the law," the bartender spoke, "and if you keep this up, I will know that I'll be throwing you out. You're close to your limit, anyway."

"Bah!" Ralph grumbled and threw another dart at the dart board, which was covered with a newspaper.

The dart landed in the picture of Elisa and Goliath speaking in front of City Hall with the mayor looking on.

**Castle Wyvern**

Caroline came in quietly for a landing with Candy and Amy following behind her. So far the training to be police officers, permanently assigned the night shift, had gone fairly well. The training sessions were being held at the 23rd Precinct offices, which many in clan felt grateful for… probably from hearing of some of Elisa's past work with that particular precinct. The physical requirements were easily met, much to the surprise of the two male officers running the tests when Candy easily lifted more weight then they could.

The mental and intellectual training would likely take longer. It wasn't that they couldn't learn it, but there was simply a ton of rules and regulations that the police had to follow to enforce the law. And at present, the only gargoyle who knew all those regulations was Elisa, and the tan female was doing her best to help the rest of the clan whenever possible. But, no one could do everything. They would all have to learn them on their own.

Some things everyone grasped very easily, like the reading of the Miranda Rights to a captured criminal. But there were some things that confused everyone but Elisa. Specifically the rule that one could not engage in romantic affairs with their 'partner', especially while on duty. Elisa had explained that it was to try and keep things professional and that if one officer was seriously injured, or worse, the partner wouldn't do something foolish to either avenge or rescue the other officer and end up in the same condition. This lead to some opposition from nearly all the mated gargoyles, and even from Hudson, who pointed out that gargoyle mates had fought side by side for centuries and incidents where their anger got the better of them were rare and far between. Both Elisa and the training officer repeated that the rules and regulations couldn't be changed for gargoyles.

Then there were some answers that they all gave the training officer that seemed to confuse him. Much of it had to deal with the regulations going with the use of firearms. Largely that there were certain things that would have happen before they could be fired and if shots were fired, they'd have to file paperwork explaining why shots were fired. Every gargoyle, including Elisa, had told the officer they'd prefer not to use a firearm at all. Caroline chuckled at the memory of the officer nearly falling over backwards when he heard that answer.

They found Lex and Brooklyn waiting for them as they returned.

"How did things go?" Brooklyn asked as they landed.

"About as well as can be expected," Amy answered, "still working to memorize their manual."

"Which is impossible," Candy grumbled, "no one can memorize it that quickly. The only one who knows it all is Elisa…"

"Well, she was a cop once," Lex patted the pink webwing on the shoulder, "I think she told us she made it up to a Detective, Second Class."

"I'm sure all that will be needed is the time to learn the stuff in there," Brooklyn commented, "at least they let us take a few copies of their manual to study here while were not at lessons."

"They don't have to rub our noses in the fact that we have to learn this stuff," Candy grumbled, "We're all trying."

"Well… not everyone can support us like Matt or the PIT crew," Brooklyn shrugged, "Goliath would say that all we need to do is persevere."

"And what do you say we do?" Caroline asked, bringing herself back into the conversation, "You are the second in command, after all."

Brooklyn gulped, not knowing if the blue female was teasing him or was serious asking if had a different opinion from Goliath's.

"I don't think we can do anything else," Brooklyn commented after a moment, "I mean all of this should help us get to a point where humanity will accept us…" he then paused for a moment before continuing nervously, "… and I'd think that you three and Elisa deserve that the most since you were human once."

"There is no need to be embarrassed," Amy told her mate, "and it's nice that you're thinking of us."

Brooklyn gave only a weak smile and began to lead Amy into castle while Candy and Lex went toward a different entrance to the castle, leaving Caroline alone for the moment. For the moment Caroline only watched after the two groups, sighed and then made her own way in.

Meanwhile, Lex and Candy had gotten into a different conversation from the one they had just left.

"Did you get a chance to get their radio frequency, by any chance?" Lex asked as they made their way inside, mostly hoping to get a quick snack before heading to their pedestals for the day.

"I asked, but they wouldn't tell me," Candy told him, "I think they want us to use their system."

"We can't carry their system," Lex gasped back, "Elisa let me see the radio they had her carry in her car…when she had it… it's too big. It would strangle you and me, and wouldn't be able to get it into the air, and the others may not struggle as much with it, it certainly wouldn't help them a fight."

"I know," Candy sighed, "and I like the little walkie-talkie thing you came up with. It works."

"I know," Lex nodded, "I might need to enlarge it a bit to improve its range… but I'm sure I can find the parts, or Xanatos has them lying around, and above all, we can easily carry them. All we need is the radio frequency the police use in order so that they can contact us as needed while on patrol. And we could contact them."

"Maybe you ought to tell them that," Candy commented, "it's your group's turn tomorrow night with the other males… and you can demonstrate it a lot better then I could."

"I'll try again, but they've been trying to change the subject on me as well," Lex sighed, "maybe it's some sort of rules thing."

"Maybe," Candy shrugged.

**Axel Apartment, Next Morning**

"I can't believe this," Mr. Axel grumbled as he read through the 'letters to the editor' page, "That idiot has written another one."

"Who, dear?" Judith asked as she came into their kitchen/dining area looking for a full cup of coffee.

"This Ralph Macho character," Mr. Axel answered his wife, "another letter spitting out lies about the gargoyles."

"I believe it's Maccio, dear," Judith answered, "and you know full well that he is entitled to whatever opinion he wants, regardless of how absurd."

"I know, but this guy is worse then the Quarrymen," Mr. Axel sighed, "they at least appeared to voice genuine fears that the clan has easily countered, that we've argued against with PIT. But this guy is off the wall in every regard, and slightly repetitive."

The was a slight pause before Mr. Axel continued.

"Listen what he's written," Mr. Axel spoke, "these gargoyles are nothing more then conspirators. The hiring of them by the city will be a mistake bigger then any made in history. As soon as they get the badges they will bring down terror from the sky and will use the badges as their justification for their evil."

"Well, at least he didn't call them demons in this one," Judith sighed.

"It's still off the wall, and it will agitate all the Quarrymen members that weren't arrested when their organization went under," Mr. Axel pointed, "They might come out in force and try to kill the clan… kill our daughter."

That made Judith sigh heavily. They had dealt with their daughter's transformation fairly well, and were happy to see that she found someone to be happy with, herself. But, all of that didn't mean that they didn't worry about both their little 'girl' and her mate. They had in fact spent the night of Thailog's attack nervously watching the news reports until they saw a flash of a yellow gargoyle on the castle's walls.

"They'd commit a crime if they tried," Judith tried to reassure her husband, "the mayor has offered to let them work for the police. Legally, trying to kill them will be considered assaulting an officer."

Mr. Axel nodded as he listened to her.

"Not to mention all the 'self-defense' moves that Elisa and the clan taught Amy and her friends" Judith added, "I'm sure they'll be perfectly fine."

"I hope you're right," Mr. Axel answered, "because stuff like this makes me seriously wonder if we've really done enough to promote interspecies tolerance and how much of the peace we've had in regards our 'relationship' with the gargoyles has been more to criminal mistakes of the Quarrymen rather then anything real in the way of progress…"

"I think we have made progress, dear," Judith commented, "PIT membership is up, and even some former Quarrymen members, like Abby, have joined."

"I doubt many of them are like Abby, with a daughter in the clan," Mr. Axel quipped, "but I see your point. Hopefully things turn out well."

**Elsewhere in NYC**

Ralph Maccio slowly walked through an old investment office sipping from a cup off coffee as he walked towards his office. He wasn't hung over from a long night of drinking the night before, but neither was he really in the best of shape. He was drinking the coffee to stay awake and had not even had the time to see if his 'letter to the editor' had made into the day's paper. He barely noticed the disappointed looks several of the other employees there gave him as he walked by their offices or cubicles.

"You certainly are a bold one," a voice told him as Ralph finally reached his office.

Ralph looked up to see one of his few friends that he worked with, a man named Victor, standing there.

"Man you don't look so good," Victor told him, "You ought to stay out of the bars at night. It can't be good for you."

"I'm fine," Ralph grumbled, "I just need to blow some steam."

"Well, it looks like your blowing off steam has given you a six o'clock hangover," Victor told him.

Ralph only grunted in response.

"What was this about being bold?" Ralph asked after a few moments, still feeling rather groggy.

"Your string of letters you've sent into the paper," Victor told him, "Didn't you see the paper this morning?"

"I was too busy trying to get here on time," Ralph answered as he finished the coffee he had in his travel mug, "did they print it?"

Victor nodded, "along with a couple of others, but yours was by far the most 'out there' of any of them."

"I have to point out the truth," Ralph argued, "You know that. They're trying to trick the mayor, just like every other special interest group has tried to."

"Yeah, but directly implying that they have the intelligence to covertly influence the city government to allow them to murder people?" Victor mused aloud, "the Quarrymen never assumed that when they were still a viable organization."

"Castaway merely called them demons and told people to be afraid," Ralph argued, "he did nothing to get at the truth, and that let these wishy-washy PIT people to gain influence after being bought in by this whole 'protect a minority' thing. The gargoyles are demons, yes, but incredibly smart. And smart demons do not commit random acts of terror the way Castaway said they did. A smart demon executes coordinated plans that insure the most chaos is caused."

"Can you prove they're that smart though?" Victor asked.

"They've done well in front of cameras," Ralph answered, "highly articulate. Do you think a mindless demon would be able to speak so articulately?"

"No, I wouldn't think so," Victor sighed and nodded.

"They have to be planning something devious," Ralph spoke firmly, despite his appearance, "and I will do everything I can to try and get people to see the truth."

"And how do you plan to do that?" Victor asked him, "Castaway tried it by killing the recently promoted DA, kidnapping others including a couple of billionaires, and otherwise smashing statues, and that got him sent to prison and the Quarrymen outlawed… largely why I was forced to give it up."

"We've got to spread the word, until those PIT fools are shouted out of every hall they can find and until mayor recognizes that those gargoyles should at worst be isolated and studied scientifically and at best burned at the stake," Ralph swore.

"Burned at the stake?" Victor chuckled, "very imaginative. But I don't think the mayor is going to change his mind because of your letters, and the PIT people are going to think you're a loon. Not to mention that they'll simply go to the castle to hold their meetings if they're forced out of their other venues."

Ralph only sighed, "then maybe we ought to run someone against the mayor, or talk to someone who will run against the mayor in the next mayoral election and have him campaign for what is right."

"That might work," Victor commented, "although, when I was in the Quarrymen, I remember that Castaway had trouble influencing politicians even before he got into his legal trouble."

"And WE would never get elected," Ralph sighed, "we're not rich enough. I don't want to do anything illegal, so I'd say that we should only do what IS legal."

"Yeah," Victor nodded, "wouldn't to get arrested."

**Castle Wyvern, Dusk**

The clan awoke to greet the new evening with the same roars they greeted every evening with. They found Xanatos waiting quietly in the courtyard with Owen beside him. The Manhattan clan was quick to move down to the ground to meet with the mutated billionaire, as he likely had an update on what had happened during the day. As they glided down, the Tibetan elders did their best to guide their hatchlings inside and start getting them fed before things got too out of control.

That was one of the areas that the clan's new arrangement with the city had really hurt. While Goliath and Elisa had successfully kept it possible that the Manhattan clan wouldn't have to completely abandon the Tibetan elders, the fact that half of the clan had to report for 'training' each night left the Tibetans short handed in terms of dealing with a rather large number of hatchlings. The only thing that had prevented a major fight with the Tibetan elders was the fact that they didn't want to fight with a foreign city's government over the issue.

This did not stop them from voicing their displeasure to Goliath, however, and they made it clear to the lavender male whenever they could. These things made him sigh as he an the others landed to converse with Xanatos quickly before heading for breakfast and then either work, or watching the Tibetan hatchlings.

"Has anything happened?" Goliath rumbled first as they all approached the wolf mutate and his majordomo.

"Nothing big in the way of action," Xanatos answered, "Although we both know that the police will not tolerate you acting outside their orders and restrictions."

Goliath answered with only a low rumble, but said nothing. It was eventually Elisa who answered for her mate.

"We all know, and you also know that we won't do anything to jeopardize our situation," Elisa spoke, "it's just that things are rather tight right now, and anything that might indicate how things are going outside the castle could be of great use to us."

Xanatos slowly nodded, "Just making sure."

Xanatos then gave a heavy sigh before he began to continue with the answer to Goliath's original question.

"The only thing that has gone on that I'd think would be a major concern for your clan is Ralph Maccio's rabidly anti-gargoyle letters to the newspaper," Xanatos continued, "Nothing to really get worked up over."

That only triggered a groan from every gargoyle there. Those that were given the time to read the paper each night had read the man's anti-gargoyle letters. And, to some extent, the frustrating part about them was not the hatred in the letters, but the fact that the accusations were borderline absurd.

"They're still printing his letters?" Angela asked with a sigh.

Both Xanatos and Owen nodded.

"The papers can't limit how many letters one writes to their editorial page," Xanatos shrugged, "they might be able to limit how many they'll print per day and will pick and choose which ones they will print, but that doesn't mean you can't write the letters."

"There is nothing we can do about him," Goliath rumbled in a low voice, "not every human is as open minded as those that have befriended us. All we can do is continue, and show that this man's opinion is wrong."

The others nodded in agreement, but several could tell by the way that their leader had spoke that he was no pleased with the way this man was venting such hatred at them. They did not have time to discuss this with Goliath as matters quickly turned to getting ready for their training sessions with the NYPD that evening.

"There is much work to prepare for tonight," Goliath spoke, "The males and I are expected to report to the 23rd offices for training, and the females will have to aid the Tibetan elders."

They all sighed and then went inside. The males would need to eat quickly so they wouldn't be late and while the females could enjoy a more leisurely meal, they still had a lot of young hatchlings to look after as well.

After breakfast, Goliath slowly lead the males out to the courtyard and then to the battlements before leaping off to glide to the police station. As they glided, both Hudson and Brooklyn slowly approached their leader.

"Is something bothering ya, lad?" Hudson asked in a low voice, "We all see that this Maccio's comments upset ye."

Goliath gave a low rumbling sigh in response.

"I suppose I had gotten used to the peace of not having groups like the Quarrymen about," Goliath rumbled, "Ralph Maccio's hatred only shows how little we've done to show how good we are."

"And this bothers you? The one who did the most to hold anyone in the old clan from lashing out at the castle dwellers when they weren't particularly nice?" Brooklyn asked, "I would have thought that you'd want us to keep going…"

"I do," Goliath answered, "Humanity can accept and will accept us eventually. But it will take time, especially considering Maccio's delusional comments about us. He's merely reminded us of how far we still have to go."

"On the plus side, I think we have made progress," Brooklyn commented, "none of the police officers have done anything directly 'racist' against us… and many of them seem to actually be rather supportive."

"Aye, and Matt will be helping' with the testing when they think we've gotten to that part," Hudson added.

Goliath nodded at that. No one at 23rd had treated them fairly well, but they had also had the most experience with the clan. And from what he gathered from the mayor, his decision had nothing to do with any potential pro-gargoyle sentiment, but by political expedience to insure that they were trained and weren't operating as vigilantes. He hadn't proposed any sort of legislation to the city council or even to the state or national governments on extending 'sentient' rights to gargoyles, which meant that there was much still to be done.

"Hopefully their more positive behavior spreads," Goliath then spoke with a nod as they turned to toward the 23rd Precinct clock tower, which was now coming into view.

**Elsewhere**

Ralph was quietly impressed with Victor's apartment as his co-worker lead him into it. It was already in a rather expensive part of Manhattan and its interior looked like something that should belong to a billionaire, and Victor didn't earn quite enough to be that well off.

"You've certainly got quite a place here," Ralph commented, "How can you afford it?"

"The Quarrymen had a mysterious benefactor that Castaway never identified," Victor answered, "When the organization lost its protected status after the murder of Margot Yale and the attempted take over of New York, those of us that weren't field agents and combat members withdrew the money into private accounts to protect those funds from legal investigation. When he escaped from prison, he never came back for those funds, so those of us that had those original funds largely embezzled it for our own uses."

"Isn't that a bit criminal?" Ralph asked.

"The money would have been taken by the city if they had been able to take those funds when Castaway was arrested for the first time," Victor spoke, "at least it's serving a good cause now."

"Helping you," Ralph commented.

"Maybe, but I've invested a lot of it in business that have made it official that they don't like gargoyles and would support the Quarryman's cause," Victor spoke, "Which, I would think helps both sides. It makes more money for me, and encourages businesses to be anti-gargoyle as they will make money thanks to the investment."

"If their business does well," Ralph commented.

"So far they have, so we're actually sitting on more money that what we started with originally," Victor commented, "Which brings us to why I've invited you here."

"Why did you invite me?" Ralph asked curiously, as while he and Victor got along well at work, they didn't do all that much outside of work.

"As I told you this morning, you're rather bold with all your letters to the editor, and that has finally given us hope," Victor answered somewhat cryptically.

"Us?" Ralph asked, not knowing what was going on.

Victor then opened the door to reveal a crowd of people with an old Quarrymen pin somewhere on their clothing.

"Those of us who were non-combat members of the Quarrymen that were left without either a leader or a mission when Castaway was arrested for the first time," Victor answered, "You, Ralph can provide us with what we need most… leadership."

"Leadership?" Ralph asked, "You want me to form a new group of Quarrymen?"

"Well, the name would be up to you, but essentially yes," Victor answered, "We need to do something to stop them before they threaten our children, our businesses, our way of life. We need to do something that will make the mayor see that these things are nothing but demons, and you appear to be the best choice for the role."

"You really want me to lead?" Ralph asked curiously.

"Yes," Victor answered, "You've voiced your opinions the most and in the most direct way. Who else should be our spokesman?"

"I don't know," Ralph answered, "I would have thought that someone would want someone more political for this… given that putting soldiers in the streets will only get us arrested… and legitimacy to the gargoyles."

"Most of the politicians are like the mayor," Victor sighed, "they want quick normalcy and the gargoyles, PIT, and police that claim to support them urged that the gargoyles be drafted to accomplish this."

"And that is the problem," Ralph grumbled, "many evil men have succeeded by playing restoring 'normalcy'. We have to make them understand that they're wrong."

Victor nodded, "So, will you take on the job? Be our leader? Our spokesman?"

"I will," Ralph nodded after a few moments, "but I'm afraid the 'group' will need a new name, which I'll need to think over. Simply reusing the term 'Quarrymen' would draw too much attention to Castaway's crimes against people. We'll need something flashy… something more then just a simple acronym. People will forget that, or find us to be an annoyance. We need something new that will attract attention and will hold it so we can deliver the message."

Victor gestured to the gathered group of people, "well, this is our first 'meeting'. You could make finding a new name our first official business."

**23****rd****Precinct**

They found Matt waiting for them on the roof of the exterior of the clock tower. He had done his best to provide some help, and even introduce the clan members to some curious officers and help break the ice in dealing with the officers that remembered the human Elisa Maza. Goliath found that to be a good gesture of friendship on Matt's part.

"Hey guys," Matt greeted them politely as they landed.

"Good evening," Goliath rumbled in a low voice, "I trust the mayor has not reversed his position."

"On what?" Matt asked as he looked at the large lavender male.

Goliath glanced to the other gargoyles there and then said simply, "us."

"This has to do with this wacko's off the wall accusations?" Matt asked and waited for Goliath to nod again, and then sighed.

"I don't know what to tell you about him, Goliath," Matt sighed, "other then that he's obviously a nut."

"More like a parrot," Brooklyn commented, "constantly squawking."

Matt chuckled slightly at the brick red male's comparison.

"To answer your question, Goliath," Matt sighed after a few moments, "the mayor won't be caving to the squawking of 'nut'. The deal you and the mayor worked out still stands, and the police are legally bound to accept it."

Matt then heard a relieved sigh escape the lungs of each gargoyle as he began to lead them inside.

"In the meantime, Goliath, if you can pass this on to Elisa when you're done for the night, Captain Chavez and I have been working to see if we can get her reinstated as detective," Matt told the large lavender male, "since she's already gone through all of this… but so far, it would might not be something to expect. Both the mayor and the chief of police seem rather reluctant to put her back at her old rank and post."

"She will appreciate your efforts on her behalf," Goliath rumbled, "How is your present partner fairing?"

"Detective Flariaty is fine," Matt answered, "Somewhat flustered that both she and I have been shuffled to 'desk duty' until the doctors are certain her head injuries have fully healed, but it's not like anyone can escape that."

There was brief silence before Matt corrected himself.

"Anyone that doesn't have the advantage of stone sleep, anyway," Matt commented with a chuckle, "the doctors have given her another week before she is safe to be in the field…"

He then stopped for a moment, although it seemed clear that there was more he wanted to say.

"Is something wrong?" Lex asked after a moment or two.

Matt sighed and glanced at the olive web-winged male and sighed again.

"It's nothing," Matt sighed, "The doctors said she had suffered a concussion in Thailog's attack. And well, part of that was that she's lost some of her memories, though not all of them."

"She can't of lost much if they're letting her work," Brooklyn commented.

"She hasn't lost much, it's partial amnesia, I believe the doctor called it," Matt nodded, "She remembers me, and how to do her job, but she's forgotten mostly what she believed about you."

"Good then," Othello grumbled quietly, "We was not particularly polite to us."

Goliath gave his brother a slight stare as Matt sighed in response.

"I'm sorry about that," Matt sighed, "She was a very by the book person. She didn't hate gargoyles… but, then, as you say, maybe some good will come out of this. You now have the opportunity to make a new 'first' impression."

Matt then continued on and walked into the main part of the precinct with the gargoyles following him.

**Castle Wyvern**

"What are you working on?" Caroline asked as entered Lawrence's room to find him at his desk, likely working on homework.

"A paper for English," Lawrence sighed as he looked up, "and it's killing me."

"You don't look like you're in mortal peril," Caroline chuckled.

"Trust me I am," Lawrence answered, "I have to take and analyze a work of literature from a selected list of works, and give a fully functional review of it from all possible angles, with evidence to explain why my review is feasible."

"I think we all got the same assignment at the beginning of the year, before the obvious happened," Caroline commented, "I don't think I could figure out all of that, either. Isn't the review of the work supposed be somewhat of an opinion?"

"That's what I thought, but the teacher is of the opinion that opinions are short cuts not to be taken, didn't he explain this to your class?" Lawrence replied.

Caroline shrugged, "I guess so. I guess it's a good thing for me that I'm a gargoyle now, huh?"

"I knew you did this to get out of homework," Lawrence laughed at the slight joke, "It may be killing me, but don't worry. I'll manage to muddle through, and it isn't due till the end of the year."

Caroline smiled back at him, "Good to see things are going well."

"How goes the hatchling patrol?" Lawrence asked, using his nickname for the clan's babysitting of the Tibetan hatchlings.

"About as well as we can manage," Caroline answered, "but I'm not here to ask you to help. Candy and Amy have a group of them getting ready to watch a movie, so I came to talk to you for a little bit before going back. You don't have to come if you don't want to."

Lawrence caught something in his mate/wife's voice and turned in his chair away from the desk to face her.

"Something is wrong," Lawrence spoke, "What's bothering you?"

"Has anyone been bothering you?" Caroline asked, "anyone at all?"

"No, no one has," Lawrence answered, sounding nervous, "what is wrong?"

"Have you seen the letters to the editor that this Ralph Maccio has been writing?" Caroline asked.

Lawrence slowly nodded as he began to get some idea as to where the conversation was going.

"You're worried that he's gonna spawn some new gargoyle hate group?" Lawrence asked, "and that he'd come after me?"

"There are bound to be people that know you've moved here, other then your folks, and the clan's friends," Caroline spoke, "and not all of them are going to like gargoyles. Maccio is a clear sign of that."

"Maybe not, but this Maccio guy is a nut," Lawrence commented, "and no nut hold's people's attention for long. Remember all the weird religious guys who thought the world was going to end when we reached the year 2000? Eventually people will realize that he's a nut."

"Just be careful, Lawrence," Caroline spoke, "he may be a nut, but people tend to follow nuts when the nut screams something they want to hear… and I can't watch over you during the day."

"No one other then us, the clan, the clan's friends, and my family know of our marriage, mateship, whatever," Lawrence answered, "I can't really brag about it until the populace becomes a bit more accepting…"

"That will take time," Caroline interrupted, "and a lot can happen in that time."

Lawrence nodded, "I know, but I have to believe that things will get better and that our children will walk or glide in a world that won't hate them for what they are or who their parents are… or is it 'were'?"

Caroline couldn't help but smile at his answer. Ralph Maccio's insane rants had worried every gargoyle in the clan, and even though she had once been human, Caroline was no exception. She was quite confident that both Xanatos and Goliath would do everything they could protect the castle, but outside it was a different matter. Goliath's deal with the mayor gave them some legitimacy in the city, but it seemed to also be reigniting the old hatreds that she had thought died with he Quarrymen.

Which was partially why she had stopped by Lawrence's room. She could vent her frustration at New York's bigots to him and voice her concerns for his safety, because of her present form, as well. And Lawrence, as always listened, and answered with both hope and confidence, and when required, strength and wisdom. Caroline always admired that.

"You will be careful, though?" Caroline asked after a moment as she pulled him into a hug.

"Of course," Lawrence nodded, "but you will have to remember that this can't and won't last forever. Things will get better."

Caroline only hugged him in response.

**23****rd****Precinct Offices**

Lex quietly made his way through the hallways of the station with some nervousness as he did so. Their classes for the night had only taken a short break, and he decided to use the time to try accomplish his own mission. The officer that ran the station's communications system had been a dead end for him, so he had turned to asking for a favor, and he hoped it wasn't against their procedure.

That, however, wasn't the reason why he was quiet. That was mostly out of nervousness that the other officers in the station didn't the gargoyles or not, or if they agreed with this Ralph Maccio at all, but Lex didn't want to risk starting a fight inside the station. Especially since he was not large enough to look like he could deter an anti-gargoyle human from deciding to fight him.

Once he reached the door he was looking for, he looked around and then knocked on the door.

"Come in," a voice answered from inside the room.

Lex slowly opened the door to find Captain Chavez seated at her desk. The captain looked up to the web winged gargoyle with a very business like face.

"Is there something you needed, Lexington, isn't it?" Captain Chavez asked calmly and respectfully.

"Yes," Lex slowly nodded, "It's sort of a request…"

"I can not let you go straight to patrolling," Captain Chavez told him, "I have to follow the regulations for training patrol officers. Although I'll tell you that you're all making good progress."

"No, we understand all that," Lex answered him, "it's more of a technological request. You see, the radios that you have installed in your cars are too big for gargoyles like Candy or I to carry, and the others couldn't fight with them, and your walkie-talkies have a very limited range, usually using the car to amplify the signal."

Captain Chavez looked on as Lex paused and prepared to continue his explanation.

"Well, using some of the tech that Mr. Xanatos let the clan have I've managed to put together a walkie-talkie type unit that we could easily use and carry," Lex explained, "they're smaller and have slightly larger range… although it's relying on cutting edge technology that isn't fully for sale yet…"

"I can imagine," Captain Chavez commented as she listened on.

"Anyway, I still need the radio frequency that you use so I can program the devices to let us talk with you, or you to talk with us once we've completed the training period," Lex answered, "no one else has given it to me, and I thought you could help in that regard."

"In getting the radio frequency?" Captain Chavez asked.

"Yes," Lex nodded, "it will take me awhile to reprogram the devices with that frequency, which is why I've been trying to get it now… I'm sorry if this goes against any procedures you have."

"I don't think it does," Captain Chavez answered, "largely because the manual for the NYPD was written before your clan arrived. Usually our frequencies are listed as individual channels for each car and each walkie-talkie set, but we're only given a specific range that we can use. I can talk with the officers in charge of that, but I'll take me a night or two. You'll have to be patient."

**Mayor's Office, the Next Day**

The mayor was quiet he made his way into office to go through whatever mail had come in, and finish the work he hadn't finished the day before. So far, for the past week there had been no major problems that threatened to tear the city apart. This calm had enabled him to relax in the evening without any worry of a crisis. He sat down with a sigh and began to check the mail that had come in to his desk.

For the past week things had been relatively calm. There were of course problems that had to be dealt with, most of them revolving around the decision to deputize the gargoyle clan. The thing that surprised him the most that the opinions were far more balanced then what he thought they would be. PIT automatically supported the decision and sent him letters of congratulations. And most of the people who opposed the idea had taken rather ludicrous stances, many of which didn't dignify a response.

The other issue, came from within the police department itself. Many of the 23rd Precincts officers wanted to restore Elisa Maza to the rank of detective. Now, given that she had been a detective before, and that from a legal standpoint, it could be argued that Yale's termination of her service was wrongful, he could see why the officers there wanted to give her, her old job back, but it would also anger many of the anti-gargoyle people even more. He was trying to attain a compromise that would benefit everyone, and he hoped it would work.

"How are you doing, sir?" came the voice of his deputy mayor.

The mayor looked up for a moment and gave a slight smile.

"Quite well," the mayor answered, "No lunatics trying to destroy the city and things are starting to get back to some semblance of normality."

The deputy mayor nodded slowly, "I got a call from the Chief of Police. The 23rd still wants to restore Maza's rank as a detective."

The mayor only sighed at that report. He wished that people would just leave the deal as it was. He had seen the various letters to the editor in the newspaper, and regardless of Elisa Maza's former species or how she became a gargoyle, making her a detective while she was presently a gargoyle, would only cause more trouble.

"If she does well, I would not oppose a decision to promote her, but it would have to come through the standard procedure," the mayor sighed, "She left the NYPD's employ and is only just returning. She will have to start at the bottom. Like every other patrol officer."

"You would promote her, sir?" the deputy mayor asked.

"No, I wouldn't," the mayor answered, "I wouldn't oppose the promotion if her service to the department convinces the Chief of Police to approve a Precinct Captain's recommendation for promotion. There is a difference."

The deputy mayor nodded in agreement.

"At least this has been our only problem so far," the deputy mayor commented, "I mean, deputizing the gargoyle clan will be rather controversial for awhile."

"Would you rather we start some sort of war with them by having Xanatos hand them over?" the mayor asked, "the PIT people would go nuts, and even if Xanatos agrees, the gargoyles are likely more then capable of fighting some sort of guerilla war against the NYPD."

"I don't disagree with the decision," the deputy mayor told his superior, "I'm just saying that there are a good many people who do not like the gargoyles for various reasons. As a result, deputizing them will be controversial."

"Yes, I've seen the 'letters to the editor' pages," the mayor sighed, "hopefully things will go well, and their antagonism will never leave the confines of the printed page."

The deputy mayor gave no direct response, but did look up toward a window when he heard a loud chanting coming from outside the building. The mayor also heard it after a few moments.

"What is that?" the mayor asked to no one in particular as both men walked toward a nearby window.

They found a small group of people outside their offices shouting something and waving banners that looked like they had a crudely drawn red colored bird on them. One of them had a sign that read 'down with the demons'. The mayor only sighed at this.

"It would appear that some won't leave their protests confined to the newspapers," the deputy mayor spoke, "you might have to respond to this criticism. Especially since the gargoyles themselves aren't awake to defend themselves."

The mayor only sighed. At least these people weren't being violent, yet.

"Shall I call the police, sir?" the deputy mayor asked as he continued to watch the protesters shout something, which neither of them were close enough to make out.

"Only for basic crowd control and to make sure nothing gets out of hand," the mayor answered, "If they don't want to support deputizing the gargoyles, then that is their position and one that we can not silence… not legally anyway."

The deputy mayor only nodded.

**23****rd****Precinct Offices**

Captain Chavez slowly made her way to the dispatch office before heading home after her own shift. She found the man who was running the dispatch lines for their precinct also preparing to leave.

"Excuse me, sergeant, may I have a word with you?" Chavez spoke as she approached him.

"Of course, Captain, is there something I can do for you?" the sergeant replied.

"Yes, you can answer a few questions for me," Chavez nodded, "specifically relating to our radio frequencies."

"I haven't lost any Captain, and the sheet of frequencies for our units is at my desk," the sergeant answered.

"Including the list of possible frequencies available to this precinct?" Chavez asked him.

"Yes, that's on a separate list," the sergeant nodded.

"And has any gargoyle asked for them?" Chavez asked.

"Yeah, some little pink one and then a green one," the sergeant smiled, "I told both of them to scram."

"I trust you have a good explanation as to why you've done that," Chavez spoke firmly.

"Those frequencies are only to be used by official NYPD officers," the sergeant responded, "if those things pass the tests, which I think is completely impossible, they'll be issued their radio frequency for their vehicle."

"And why is it impossible?" Chavez asked.

"Come on, Captain," the sergeant gave a laugh, "you don't expect those freaks to understand the written word, let alone the New York City Legal Code, do you?"

"You do understand that I am responsible for reviewing their progress in regards to knowing our manual, procedures, etcetera, etcetera?" Chavez questioned him, "And so far they've done relatively well. If they keep up their current pace we might be able to send them on regular patrols by the end of next week."

"You'd seriously trust the city's safety to hands of those things?" the sergeant asked.

"And how many people have they killed sergeant?" Chavez questioned, "what evidence of conspiracy do you have to prove that they aren't trustworthy."

The sergeant didn't have an answer for that question.

"Remember sergeant that everyone is innocent until proven guilty," Chavez said firmly, "So unless you have hard evidence, I would suggest you check your Quarrymen supporting attitude at the door and have the list of possible frequencies on my desk by this evening. Is that clear?"

"Yes, ma'am," the sergeant answered in a tone that accepted the order, but didn't agree with it or support it.

Captain Chavez then turned and continued on her own way out. She sighed heavily as she did so. A lot of this was a reaction that she expected. Things had looked good for the clan so far, but much of that was because the city government had allowed them operate outside the law and on the far fringes of society. Now, the clan was being brought into society, probably not in the way that Goliath had wished, but it was a start.

But a 'start' did not insure the path would be easy. Many people had joined the Quarrymen when that organization was formed, but weren't involved in Castaway/Canmore's criminal endeavors, which meant that despite PIT's attempts to 'educate' people on tolerating the gargoyles, there was still a long way to go. A lot of people would hate gargoyles, or at best, only tolerated them so much.

If things had staid as they were before, she was confident that the clan wouldn't need to worry about these small things. But things had changed and still were changing. Many of these things would begin to effect the clan in various ways, even if they didn't notice it.

**Elsewhere**

Ralph and Victor walked through the halls of their work office to refill their cups of coffee before returning to work.

"I think today was a good start," Ralph said with a slight smile.

"The mayor isn't going to reverse his position after one hastily organized protest," Victor told him.

"Maybe, but it will show him that the people do not support him," Ralph answered, "and it will gain some press coverage for us. With that will come new members, as PIT hasn't lied to everyone yet."

"Maybe," Victor nodded, "how do you plan to avoid the Quarrymen comparison though? A lot of people really turned against them when their leaders were convicted of crimes."

"That part is easy," Ralph answered, "we aren't going to be a paramilitary organization that fights outright battles with our foes. That is essentially what Castaway did. A lot of people hate and rightfully fear the gargoyles, but when heavily armed and armored men are left to be arrested, people tend to turn against them… especially when those people aren't part of the city's law enforcement agencies."

Ralph paused to sip from his freshly refilled coffee mug.

"The mayor isn't going to back some ten or twelve gargoyles over thousands of people who vote for him," Ralph continued, "the more people we get, the more pressure we'll put on him and eventually he'll change his position to save his job. Which means that when it comes time to kill the gargoyles, it will be the NYPD that does the killing, not some paramilitary organization… which is perfectly legal."

"This could take awhile," Victor sighed, "couldn't we just look through the city ordinances to see if there is some way that we could shoot them?"

"Not while the mayor is treating them like officers of the law," Ralph explained, "if we fight them, we'll at last be charged with assaulting an officer. We are to be a grass roots organization for the protection of our families, our jobs, our civilization. We will not commit crimes to save the city."

"You two were the ones behind that monstrosity in front of city hall this morning?" a woman asked from another section of the break room.

"Yes," Ralph answered.

"Of all he low down stuff," the woman grumbled, "my husband had a pull a double shift to make sure your little Nazis didn't burn the building down."

"Which wouldn't be necessary if the city realized how dangerous the gargoyles are and killed them," Ralph answered firmly.

"It's like talking to a brick wall," the woman grumbled, "the ones the city recruited haven't caused any trouble and all he can think of doing is lash out at them for some absurd reason."

Ralph and Victor only watched as the woman left. Both sighed once they were sure she was out of earshot.

"It will take time to enlighten them to the truths about the gargoyles and build up their fanaticism," Victor commented.

"If we scream it loud enough and often enough, eventually they will believe it," Ralph answered, "remember, we won't actually do the killing. It will be the city that does it, which will make what happens to the gargoyles the execution of a dangerous pest, and perfectly legal."

**Castle Wyvern, Dusk**

The clan awoke to find Matt ascending the stairs to Goliath and Elisa's level on the tower. The red haired detective looked somewhat nervous s the others gathered on that level to see what he had to say.

"Are things okay, Matt?" Elisa was the first to ask, "We normally don't see you till we get to the precinct offices."

"Well, some stuff has gone on today that you guys should know," Matt sighed, "and some things to be prepared for."

That produced a collective groan from the gargoyles there.

"That Maccio guy didn't write another hate filled letter to the paper, did he?" Broadway asked.

"Not that I noticed, but a bunch of anti-gargoyle people held a rather loud and sloppy rally outside city hall," Matt answered, "which has caused some trouble of its own."

"They did not harm the mayor, did they?" Goliath rumbled in a low voice.

"No, thankfully they didn't get violent," Matt sighed, "they limited things to shouting slogans and waving signs. Generally being a nuisance, really."

"And this caused problems?" Othello questioned.

"Not in the way you're thinking, but if they're protesting outside the mayor's office, the may decide to show up outside the 23rd," Matt sighed, "and in the sense of warning you, I thought it a good idea to let you know what could be there, so there isn't a fight between you and them. You will have to ignore them."

"What have the PIT people said of this?" Sarah asked, hoping that Amy's parents had done something to stop this.

"As far as I know, they've been caught just as flatfooted by this as we have," Matt told the Avalon female in a defeated tone, "and if they weren't, they can't do much. Regardless of how wrong the opinion is, our country grants everyone the right to voice that opinion."

"Seems kinda one sided that they're doing this," Candy piped up, "I doubt they'd let us debate them on the issue."

"Debate is not their goal," Goliath rumbled, "they are manipulating the same hatreds and fears that Canmore did. Their goal is our eradication."

"These people aren't a majority, are they?" Othello asked from his position.

"Of all New Yorkers?" Matt asked, "they may represent it, but very few were at the protest, and I'd tend to think PIT will be able to persuade many of the fence sitters that you guys aren't evil."

Goliath only sighed. He could sense that a new battle was coming, and it was not one that his great strength could win. Hatred couldn't be stopped through physical blows, and it would take all of the available patience that his clan had to survive what was coming. Hopefully they could endure the trials ahead.

"We will have continue to show that we wish to protect this city," Goliath said firmly, "We will not fight them, unless they attack us first."

"Thanks Goliath," Matt nodded and then turned to Lex, "and Lex, Captain Chavez was able to get the available frequencies for you. You'll have to stop by Precinct to pick them up."

"Thanks," Lex answered him.

"And now, I'd best get going," Matt sighed, "You aren't expected for awhile, but I need to be there soon to clock in."

"We'll see you there, Matt," Elisa said to her former partner as he moved to head down the stairway.

The clan slowly followed him to prepare for their own breakfasts. As they did so, Goliath was approached by one of the Tibetan elders, who had remained silent during Matt's warning for the clan.

"Perhaps it is time to pull back, Goliath," the Tibetan elder, named Wi-Suh, spoke, "pull back from this fight."

"Pull back?" Goliath turned to face the Tibetan elder while the others went inside.

"Yes," Wi-Suh nodded, "while we admire your drive to aid the human policemen in protecting this city, the actions of this city's inhabitants has proven that they do not WANT your help. And given that that you have also agreed to help our clan raise our hatchlings, we can not afford any sort of confrontation until the fighting in China is over and we can return to our home."

"Your best advice is to surrender?" Goliath questioned, "These people are like the Quarrymen that we faced before, even if their actions are so far different. Their goal is our destruction by spreading intolerance of gargoyles. If we do nothing and retreat behind the castle walls to care for your hatchlings only, we will face a tougher fight when your clan returns home, and potentially a government that has changed its mind and will use modern technology and weapons against us. If this were our time in the ninth century, it might be an option. Our strength offsets their numbers and swords and arrows… but not guns, cannon, aircraft, and harnessed electricity."

Wi-Suh didn't answer.

"My clan has learned that times change," Goliath answered, "And we have learned this lesson well. If we do not change to adapt to the times, we will be passed by the times. We must do our best to move forward and not cling to the past. And that is why we will stick to the bargain made with the city, regardless of how popular it is with zealots that are seemingly against us, or with those who lack the will to fight for their own equality."

And with that, Goliath left Wi-Suh to stand alone and sigh heavily. The Tibetan elder actually supported Goliath's wish that humanity and gargoyle-kind live together as if they were all one great clan. It is the prime reason why the Tibetan clan lived with the Buddhist monks for so long.

But the people of Manhattan had largely only been exposed the aspects of gargoyles that made them powerful warriors, which the Tibetan clan understood, but was hesitant to use. They accepted that force might be necessary at times, but it wasn't the answer to every problem. To Wi-Suh, the answer to the present problem for the Manhattan clan was not to flex its muscles and stand firm, but to show that gargoyles were more then the 'fearsome monsters and demons' that men like Ralph Maccio tried to portray them as. And this would not be easy.

**23****rd****Precinct, Later**

Lex landed on the railing to the tower above the precinct with Candy beside him. For the night it was the females' turn to resume the lessons from the NYPD's manual, but Lex was there to pick up the frequencies for the walkie-talkie devices he had been working on. As Matt had warned them, there was a small group of people waving signs outside the station, and Lex swore he could hear 'there they are' being shouted from among them.

"This is all so sad," Lex sighed as he looked down over the railing toward the protesters.

"They'll get over it eventually," Candy tried to cheer him up, even though she felt much the same way about the issue, "Amy's folks will show them that we aren't monsters and we'll be accepted… eventually."

"But you shouldn't have to go through this…" Lex protested turning back to his mate, "it wasn't your decision that…"

"I know," Candy put a hand on his shoulder, "but they don't know I was human once… and to be honest I'm not sure if telling them that is a good idea. I mean, if they're this nuts about gargoyles being drafted as police officers, how will they react that four of the gargoyles were once human?"

Lex only sighed at that, as he knew she was right.

"But it isn't fair to you," Lex managed after a moment.

"Not all things in life are fair, Lex," came Elisa's voice from the entrance to the interior of the clock tower, "you know that. These protesters believe they have a legitimate argument and fanatically support it. That does not mean that they are right… it might only make them jerks."

Lex only nodded.

"In the meantime, the rest of us have class to get to, and it won't be a good idea to keep the Captain waiting," Elisa finished as both Candy and Lex began to head inside.

It took Lex a few moments to make it down to Captain Chavez's office. As before, he knocked before entering.

"Uh, Matt said that you'd gotten the radio frequencies," Lex spoke after she let him in.

"Yes," Chavez answered with a nod and lifted up a sheet of paper, "Now, I trust you won't be using these devices until after you've completed the training requirements."

"Of course," Lex answered, "I don't think I'll have them all ready before we've finished the training, anyway."

Chavez nodded and turned around to look out her window, and down toward the protesters outside her station.

"How those people can think so little of your clan is beyond me," Chavez sighed, mostly to herself.

"Some would say you and many of the clan's friends know us better then they do," Lex commented.

"I mostly know what Elisa and Matt have told me," Chavez commented as she turned back around, "and that's been enough to convince me that you aren't evil or mindless or anything that they're shouting."

"I can't say I have any answers," Lex sighed weakly.

Chavez only sighed in response.

**Castle Wyvern**

Hudson settled into his own private chair to follow the late local news before Brooklyn and Broadway brought in a group of Tibetan hatchlings to either watch a movie or play one of the board games that they had taught the new arrivals. As the television came on, it showed a man standing on a street corner next to the reporter.

"As you can see, the protesters who appeared outside City Hall this morning are still out in force," the reporter spoke, "and we are now here with the founder of the organization in the hopes of getting some answers as to why these protests have suddenly erupted in New York over the Mayor's initiative to use Manhattan's gargoyle population as patrol officers with the NYPD."

The reporter then turned to the man he was standing near.

"Now, Mr. …" the reporter began.

"Maccio, Ralph Maccio," the man answered.

Hudson watched as the reporter seemed to almost cringe at the answer.

"Well, Mr. Maccio, may I ask why all this is going on?" the reporter asked.

"This?" Ralph gestured the few other protesters near him, "I've organized the Order of the Phoenix to take a stand for people of New York… and possibly the country before we are all destroyed."

"You believe that the gargoyles are out to destroy us?" the reporter questioned, "isn't this just a repeat of all the things the Quarrymen have said before?"

"The Quarrymen actually had the right idea in defending humanity, but Castaway took it too far when he began sending out armed persons to actually combat the gargoyles directly," Ralph answered, "that was at best vigilantism and opened the door for the criminal activities that many Quarrymen engaged in later. It is the city that should be responsible for dealing with the gargoyles, not the average citizen."

There was a brief pause for a moment before Ralph continued.

"And that is where the mayor has made a tremendous mistake," Ralph continued, "the gargoyles are powerful and dangerous. By bringing them into the police force, he has opened the door for them to use our own laws against us and bring in a reign of state sanctioned terror from above. And that is why the Order of Phoenix has been formed. To push and persuade the mayor to make the right decision and have the NYPD arrest and execute the gargoyles living atop the Eyrie Building before they destroy us all."

Hudson turned off the television and gave a heavy sigh at that. Ralph Maccio was a figure of hatred, which the clan had long struggled against. And all signs indicated that the clan was in for another long fight with those who were intolerant of them.

**The End…?**


	49. Public Debate

All characters appearing in Gargoyles and Gargoyles: The Goliath Chronicles are copyrighted to Buena Vista Television/The Walt Disney Company. I've taken the idea for the Unseelie Court from the TGS. Characters and concepts from Star Trek are property of Paramount and created by Gene Roddenberry. No Infringement of these copyrights is intended, and is not authorized by the copyright holder. All original characters are the property of SN.

Note: I'm disregarding the events of the "Goliath Chronicles", with the exception of "The Journey" because I do not wish to use the rest of the "Goliath Chronicles" as canon to my story. Also, I'm altering large sections of the Star Trek storyline, especially concerning events like WWIII and the Eugenics Wars, which without the Cold War as a backdrop probably wouldn't happen the way Roddenberry wrote them, if at all. This story takes place two weeks after "Old Hatreds".

Public Debate

By SN/TVfan

Email: Sam_Nary

**PIT Meeting**

"This man's action has to be stopped!" a voice shouted across the room, "he's hurting everything we're doing to try and bring everyone together."

There were several voices that agreed with that. This made Judith Axel sigh heavily. PIT was holding meetings to try and present some sort of coordinated answer to the wave of hatred that Ralph Maccio and his "Order of the Phoenix" was spreading across Manhattan. Maccio's group was only a small group of rabble rousers, there were still many people who at best didn't trust gargoyles. It was now up to PIT to come up with an answer to this latest wave of hatred.

Goliath and the clan were likely working on their own solution, likely with the help of the police, which would likely mean leaving Maccio alone until he actually committed a crime. So far, Maccio's followers had not committed any crimes. They had so far limited themselves to waving signs and shouting slogans about the gargoyles being evil. Wrong and stupid, maybe, but not illegal, which meant the law and the clan couldn't do anything.

PIT's members were all determined that the new "Order of the Phoenix" would live a short life and would fade into obscurity for it's racist behavior. Their organization had been founded to bring humanity and the gargoyles together, so that they wouldn't be living in two separate worlds, and for Judith Axel and her husband, and for Abigail Wexmand, it was also to be able to be with their daughters in public and not risk being shot at or insulted for their daughter's current species. Their past few meetings were all aimed at trying to find some way of countering the "Order of the Phoenix" before people started actually believing their lies, or before they did something violent.

Most of the solutions proposed came from some new members, which appeared to be almost as ludicrous and "out there" as what Maccio was doing on his end. Judith guessed that this came from some frustration about having to spend time countering the Quarrymen to now only have to counter a new anti-gargoyle organization. But, at the same time, she couldn't approve of doing anything like that. It would only cause trouble and would make PIT look as bad as Maccio's lunatic followers.

Before Judith spoke to try and voice her opinion, Abigail stood up from her chair next to Judith's.

"I'm sure all of you know that I was once a member of the Quarrymen," Abigail began slowly, "and a few of you know how I learned how wrong I was. I am grateful that you have accepted me, despite what I did in the past."

There were a few short claps.

"But, I feel I must advise against doing anything violent or outlandish," Abigail spoke, "Maccio's Order of the Phoenix is a threat to gargoyle-human relations, but if we go after him the way he is going after the clan and the city, or the way the Quarrymen went after the gargoyles… we would only become the forces of evil that you'll all been trying to persuade the people of New York to fight. It would give them credibility as we would appear foolish. Surely there must be some way we can PEACEFULLY show Ralph Maccio and his adherents that he is wrong."

"And how are we to do that?" someone there questioned, "we've tried to peacefully try to persuade them when the Quarrymen were about and look where we are. Facing the same racist tendencies we were fighting three years ago when the gargoyles were revealed to us. We must do something."

"Fighting Maccio with our fists will prove nothing, other then that we are violent and that the gargoyles have something to hide," Judith spoke to stand by her friend, "He is accusing them of masterminding some covert plot to destroy us all and that we, PIT, are their 'tools' in this plot. If we fight him, we will only make people think he is right, and if we win… if we win, we'd go to jail for assault and he would be spreading his hatred again the next day."

"Then what do we do?" a third voice questioned, "we can't keep doing nothing. Handing out flyers and talking to people on the street is not doing enough."

"The only thing we could do would be to challenge Maccio to a debate of the issue," Mr. Axel commented, "it might allow us to directly counter what Maccio is doing, and going as loony as he's been on television would likely cause trouble for him."

"And if these people aren't stopped, they could hurt the clan," the first man protested.

"We don't suggest we don't stop them," Judith spoke, "we suggest we do not do anything rash or illegal to do so. If so, we'd be no better then the Quarrymen, whose organization has been outlawed because of Castaway's CRIMINAL dealings."

"If only we could debate that guy," a new voice commented, sounding half mournful, "I'm sure we could push him into a corner and show him how wrong he is that way. And it wouldn't be violent, and we wouldn't come of as 'pawns' of the clan."

"You don't think it's possible?" Mr. Axel asked the man, "Maccio's an idiot in my opinion, but he doesn't seem to operate like Castaway did. He might agree to a debate because it might give him more publicity."

"He doesn't really talk with those that disagree with him," the man sighed, "He just repeats the same talking points over and over again, and usually getting louder as he goes. He was absolutely rude to one reporter that was trying to get him to explain something."

"It's in our best interests to try," Mr. Axel pointed out, "his followers would surely come, and if we are able to debate him into a corner, they might break away from him."

"Who would moderate such a debate?" a new voice asked, "neither us nor Maccio's 'Order of the Phoenix' are political parties, so unless the media wants to televise the debate, it'd be tough to get a moderator to insure that everything is on the level."

"I was thinking that Travis Marshall could do that, if the media will do it," Judith commented, "after all, he did moderate Macduff's debate with Margot Yale when the gargoyles were first revealed."

"That wasn't much of a debate," the second voice commented, "all they did was yell at one another."

"Marshall did try to moderate it," Mr. Axel said, "it wasn't his fault that both Macduff and Yale were highly combative people."

"So how do we get him to moderate this debate?" a new voice asked.

"I don't know," Judith sighed, "first we have to see if Maccio will accept the challenge."

**23****rd****Precinct**

"I don't know why you're still doing this," Captain Chavez spoke to the man standing in front of her desk, "They will begin testing to see if they are ready to receive their badges and begin taking on the responsibilities as officers of the law. And that is final."

"You're seriously going to go through with this?" the officer sitting across from her asked, "the mayor only did it so that they'd be off the street and we wouldn't look like some evil secret police or something."

"You make it sound like the mayor is leading some sort of diabolical plot," Chavez told the officer, "I can tolerate you not liking the gargoyles. What I can't tolerate is the repeated derogatory remarks you have made within earshot of me and them. We are bound to uphold the law and respect fair play. Not to stab each other in the back like teenagers in high school."

The officer was one of a handful of officers that Chavez knew was anti-gargoyle, but unlike the others, this one was rather vocal about it. He almost went out of his way to try and make the gargoyles feel unwelcome at the precinct. And now that was causing greater troubles. Through great effort, the clan was now ready to take the tests given to every patrol officer in the NYPD. Elisa was likely ready for that the instant the clan was "drafted", but that was a different issue. And this man was now doing everything possible to make them miserable.

"They aren't human," the officer protested, "they haven't followed the law since they arrived… and we really don't know how long they've actually been here."

"I will remind you that whites did not think of Africans or Native Americans as entirely human at one time," Chavez spoke firmly, "and that was their excuse for slavery, murder, theft of land, and the list goes on. This is the twenty first century. Not the Middle Ages. I'm not demanding you like them. You don't have to if you really don't want to. But I will not tolerate racist behavior while you are on duty. And if your prejudices are blocking your ability to do your job, I will have to ask for your badge."

"You'd fire me over them?" the officer shouted.

"It's clear that you'd rather be marching with Maccio's 'Order of the Phoenix' then doing your job based on what I have heard you say and seen you do when members of the clan are here," Chavez answered, "The mayor brought them in to be trained and to try and restore some sense of order in this city. As officers of the law our job is to serve the law. If you think the mayor's decision was unjust in anyway, there are legal ways to make that opinion known. The way you have behaved is not one of them."

There was an awkward silence for a few moments.

"And I'm not firing you," Chavez spoke, "I'm giving you a choice to either correct your mistakes and take the legal course of action, or to at least be respectful of your fellow officers, regardless of their species… Or, you can leave. It is your choice."

"It's still a mistake," the officer grumbled and went back his station, leaving Chavez to only sigh in frustration.

Chavez sighed and hoped better things were coming.

**JFK Airport**

The man who had arrived in New York wasn't all that much to look at. Not very handsome, but neither was he ugly. He was a very average looking person. And he was treated as such as he left the gangway and made his way towards the baggage claim at the airport. He picked up his bags and made his way out of the airport. As he left, he bought a copy of the day's newspaper as he went.

The cover contained headlines about the Manhattan Clan taking the tests needed to become officers of the law, and some smaller side articles on the reactions to it.

"Ah, New York," the man mused to himself as he looked at the paper, "the city that never sleeps… the city of gargoyles and all that. It sounds like an interesting challenge."

He then calmly walked on his way, with no one thinking twice about giving him a second glance.

**Castle Wyvern, Dusk**

High above much of the city, the clan awoke, just as they always did, as the sun sunk below the western horizon. As what had become routine, Xanatos was standing quietly on Goliath and Elisa's level on the tower.

"So how bad is it?" Elisa asked as she hopped down from her pedestal with Goliath beside her.

"And what makes you think what happened today was bad?" Xanatos asked, "for all you know, everything could have gone quite well."

Goliath ignored Xanatos's jab at his clan's stone sleep during the day. The wolf mutate was correct that things could have gone well, but given the way things had been going, something going well wasn't likely.

"A closed minded human has been running an anti-gargoyle hate group for the past two weeks," Goliath rumbled in a low voice, "current events does not incline me to believe that what happened while we slept was entirely good."

And that is where Xanatos sighed. Goliath had him there.

"Things are no worse then they were yesterday," Xanatos reported, "Maccio's 'Order of the Phoenix' has still protested outside City Hall and the 23rd Precinct House, but still they haven't done anything violent."

"What has the mayor said?" Elisa asked.

"He seems to be sticking to his guns on bringing you in as officers," Xanatos shrugged, "we haven't seen anything that would indicate otherwise. And your Captain is obviously on your side."

The tan female nodded.

"That is some relief," Goliath rumbled as he looked out over the city, "we'd best get going. They expect all of us to take this test."

"You'll do fine, Big Guy," Elisa told her mate, "You'll do fine."

Goliath only nodded and made his way to the stairs. The clan would eat and would then depart for the 23rd, and the tests that awaited them. The Tibetan elders likely wouldn't like it, but this was at a point where Goliath had to do what was best for his clan. And since they had agreed to split up their shifts once they'd earned their 'badges', the Tibetan elders could make do for one night.

The rest of the clan also made their way inside. They didn't really hear what Xanatos had told their leader and his mate, but given the way things had been going, many of them could guess.

"Do you think he's stopped?" Broadway asked.

"I doubt it," Brooklyn grumbled from behind the aquamarine male, "he's probably got guys shouting stuff already. As if tonight won't be hard enough."

There were audible sighs from many of the gargoyles with them at that. They all knew they were scheduled to take the tests the NYPD required to let them patrol. For some of them, they were still puzzled and confused about the need for the tests. Gargoyles were protectors by nature. None of them would do anything to harm the people deliberately. Of course, these rules were there to make sure that any officer of the law didn't go too far in enforcing the law. Elisa, Matt, and the instructor at the precinct explained that, even if the concept seemed alien to many of the gargoyles.

For Caroline, Amy, and Candy it was only a case of pre-test jitters. They had taken tests before, in school, but none of them carried the weight that the test they were scheduled to take did. The female trio hoped they would be able to pass the test and continue to move on in a productive fashion.

"Maybe things will go well," Amy said hopefully, "the Precinct's captain seems supportive. Maybe she's had all the Phoenix people pushed back to a safe distance."

"Maybe, but I wouldn't think so," Brooklyn commented to his mate, "we've seen some stuff like this on the news from time to time. The 'bad guy' is saying rude and hateful things, but continuously sites 'the First Amendment' when good people try to stop his hatred."

"The First Amendment to the Constitution," Caroline spoke, "which guarantees every individual the right to say pretty much anything he wants… although that doesn't mean there aren't consequences. You can say something, but that doesn't mean that you can't get in trouble if you say certain things."

"Then I wish they'd pay some serious consequences for spreading their hatred," Brooklyn commented, "it isn't right what they're doing."

"You have no argument from us," Candy spoke.

Their group was about to go in when Angela stopped Caroline for a moment, looking curious about something.

"Why do they have this Amendment if it lets people say hurtful things?" Angela asked, "It isn't right."

"I think it dates back to what our founding fathers saw of Europe," Caroline sighed, "European kings didn't tolerate criticism. Many saw themselves as appointed by God, so they had not only a political and financial right to oppress their people but a religious right as well. I mean, who would be critical of one chosen by God? And Kings, Dukes, Barons routinely shut down anything they deemed to be against them. America's founding fathers wanted America to be free of that sort of oppression. Where its citizens could speak, even if it's critical of the government, without fear of being imprisoned for having a different opinion. I don't know how right I am, but that's what I can summarize from history class."

"It seems to me they did not think things through in letting people say whatever they want even if it's hurtful or a lie," Angela commented.

"Policing whether or not someone is being entirely truthful would likely cost too much," Candy commented, "and if someone is operating on incomplete evidence, that person can not be lying. Ignorant maybe, but not lying. Lying is when one deliberately tells someone something that isn't true."

"Although people have gotten in trouble for talking about things they don't know anything about," Amy added, "I think all we can do is wait this out. My folks have been trying to work on some way of stopping Maccio's movement from gathering momentum… although I don't think they've come to a decision yet."

"At least someone's doing something right," Broadway gave a heavy sigh, as it was clear that Maccio's actions were putting a strain on all of them.

**Elsewhere in New York**

The average looking man calmly walked down the street looking about things as he went. He still had to get a hotel room to stay in, but he felt that New York required a once over look before he started his own work. The city's gargoyles were an interesting curiosity to him, but he also knew that it would be stupid to fight them directly. Moving through the city and looking up periodically would give him some clue as to what they would do.

Now, of course he could trust what the newspaper reported, which was that they were to take a test that if they passed it, would allow them to join the NYPD as patrol officers. But, not everyone in New York liked the idea of these gargoyles being there. And being sentient, he didn't think that the gargoyles would just mindlessly endure hatred being thrown at them. He thought that however their society was arranged would do its best to avoid human interaction as much as possible for their own safety. Regardless, there would always be questions for everyone to ask.

"They will make my stay interesting," the man mused to himself, "They're likely to stay away from the people that hate them, but even if they do not, one can not deny that they will make things interesting."

As he passed a alley, he was grabbed by unknown attackers. They pulled him out of sight of the people on the street. Once out of sight of others, the man finally got a look at his assailants. All of them were dressed in some strange 'punk' attire and had spiked multi-colored hair.

"Of course there are other things that are interesting," the man mused.

"Yeah, interesting," the first punk smiled as his two compatriots held the unknown man by his shoulders, "Do you know what would be more interesting? You handing over all your cash."

"Or, I could… do this!" the man smiled as he brought a foot down on first the man to his right and then on the man to his left.

That attack startled the two punks and they let the unknown man go. The lead punk moved to attack him, but the unknown man produced a small dart gun from inside his sleeve and fired the dart at the punk. It hit the punk in the chest and he ended up dropping to the ground at the unknown man's feet.

"What's… in… this…?" the man asked, his voice getting weaker with each second.

"Lethal poison," the unknown man smiled, "that's all any of you need know."

The punks to his flanks had by now recovered and came charging at him from two sides. The man smiled as this would take a bit of timing. As they approached they both prepared to throw punches, and as they started to deliver their blows, the unknown man ducked and the two punks ended up punching each other. That knocked them both back and bought the unknown man time to shoot both of them with his dart gun. As the last two punks slumped to the ground and were beginning to fall out of consciousness, the unknown man calmly and quietly down the alley.

"Yes, things promise to be very interesting indeed," the unknown man thought to himself as he continued on his way.

**23****rd****Precinct**

Matt was waiting for them on the clock tower balcony as the clan arrived. He looked somewhat nervous, although none of them were yet certain whether it was because of something coming from City Hall, within the police department, or from Maccio's collection of uneducated bigots.

"You all okay?" Matt asked as they landed.

"About as well as can be expected," Goliath rumbled, "He has not given you much of a problem, as he?"

"Maccio?" Matt asked as he overheard some of the shouts of Order of the Phoenix protestors outside the precinct drifted up to where they were, "No more then what the standard nut organization does. They may not like you guys, but at least they're non-violent. It means you will get a chance to prove them wrong."

"We tried that with the Quarrymen," Brooklyn grumbled, "It didn't work."

"Yes, but Castaway was a militant fanatic," Matt pointed out, "I don't think there was anything that could have persuaded him otherwise."

"And ye think these people will be different?" Hudson asked plainly.

"They're non-violent, so that has to be a start," Matt commented, "If they're not going to take your head off at first sight, there's a chance that they might listen to you… provided you don't come off as sounding crazy beside their lunacy."

"Great," Caroline, Candy, and Amy groaned, practically in unison.

"I never said this would be easy," Matt shrugged with a sigh, "and for right now, Maccio and his bigots aren't your concern. You have your tests to take, as so far, the mayor won't be backing down."

"That's one good thing to hear," Elisa spoke as they all began to follow Matt into the clock tower.

The trek into the station was rather quiet. Matt and Flariaty would be the ones supervising the test along with the officers that had been supervising their training to make sure things there went well. That was some good news for the clan, as Flariaty's tone toward the gargoyles had softened tremendously since the battle with Thailog. And there were of course a few officers who didn't like having the clan there, but even they didn't go even as far as Maccio's Order of the Phoenix.

Many of the officers they passed were quiet as they walked through the station. Matt lead them to a large classroom like room where they had having their classes on the rules and regulations that governed the NYPD. A lone officer sat at a single desk with a stack of papers in front of him. There were enough tables and chairs for the entire clan, but they were spread out enough that they could look over the shoulder of any neighbor, though none of them intended to cheat.

"Please sit in an alternating gender pattern," the officer at the desk instructed, "boy, girl, boy, girl."

"It's only to make sure no one cheats," Matt apologized.

"I don't need to," Elisa chuckled to him, "I've already TAKEN this test before."

"You were human then, and so far the mayor isn't going to restore you to your previous rank," Matt said with a sigh, "though Chavez and I are still trying."

Elisa only nodded as the clan took their seats. Once everyone was seated the officer at the desk began shuffling through the papers in front of him before getting up to hand out the answer sheets to them, along with a blank sheet of paper for answers that required a written explanation. Matt, meanwhile settled into his role as instructor or the time being while the answer sheets were being handed out and while waiting for Flariaty to arrive.

"These are the answer sheets for the standardized exam given to all potential patrol officers for acceptance into the NYPD," Matt explained, "Some of you may be familiar with standardized tests, and some may have even taken this test once before, but it is still important to review the rules for this test."

He paused for a brief moment before continuing.

"All answers must be done in pencil, with multiple choice answers being filled in completely," Matt spoke, "written answers must be written out as precisely as possible to demonstrate an understanding of NYPD rules and regulations. This test will determine which members of your clan are ready to directly join the NYPD as patrol officers. Now because of agreements between you and the Mayor's office, I am authorized to tell you that those who do not pass will only be required to continue the training program and take the test again in one week's time."

It was at this time that Flariaty arrived. She quietly moved to the desk and picked up the question booklets and prepared to hand them out.

"Detective Flariaty is handing out the question portion of the test," Matt explains, "They are mostly multiple choice, but there are several questions where you will be expected to write out an explanation for your reasoning, or a question that requires a written answer. You will have until dawn to complete the test. Once you finish, you are free to return to the castle."

The clan quietly looked at Matt as Flariaty returned to his side.

"You may begin at any time," Matt spoke as the clan began the test.

**Outside**

"So how are we doing?" Maccio asked as he came to check on a group that he had had protesting outside the 23rd, hoping that the police would realize "the people" didn't want the gargoyles as officers and would arrest and kill them.

So far, that had been unsuccessful.

"Fairly well," the man running the group of protestors commented, "they still haven't chased us away, and several people have even clapped for us."

"That's about all we seem to get," Maccio grumbled, "Support from a few people and no recognition from where we're looking for it."

"Maybe we ought to get 'em ourselves," a young man among the group of protestors, "they'll likely call us heroes when they're gone."

"No, that was the mistake Castaway made," Maccio answered, "It is the police that must kill the gargoyles, not us. If we do it, they'll only support their lies more and we will be punished for it. All we can do is protest and make their lives so miserable that they'll do what we say just to get us to be quiet. And then, we can claim victory."

"Excuse me," a voice spoke.

Maccio turned to see an African American officer with his partner coming down the steps from the 23rd's offices.

"Excuse me," Officer Morgan said again, "You're gathering is blocking my car, and I got a shift to do."

"What's going on in there?" Maccio asked.

"They're taking the test to gain entrance into the police," Morgan's partner spoke, "Real employment. Something you people might consider looking for."

"We have real employment," Maccio spoke up to defend his people, "we are trying to do this city a service by forcing those who wish to destroy us all, out."

"You're just repeating the same worn out and stupid junk the Quarrymen spewed out for three years, man," Morgan said firmly, "Now, excuse me."

"You don't actually believe them do you?" Maccio challenged.

Officer Morgan then turned to face Maccio directly, finding the man to be a few inches shorter then he was.

"Listen, you want to spew out all these lies, that's fine with me," Morgan growled, "it's within your rights to voice your opinion. It's within your rights that you don't like the world is a lot weirder then you once thought it to be. But I've known one of the gargoyles for a good long time, before she ever was one of them. And I will tell you now that I will always believe her over racists like you."

"I'm not a racist!" Maccio said vehemently, "it's the gargoyles that are the racists! Anything you knew with one was only because it was in disguise, and wasn't real."

"Get away from my car," Morgan growled in a very icy tone.

Maccio and his protesters finally parted ways enough for Morgan and his partner go to their squad car. The two officers were not happy with having to deal with Maccio's Order of the Phoenix.

**Elsewhere**

The unknown man returned to the hotel room that he had purchased. He was in a rather crowded sector of the Bronx, but he would be away from the near constant activity that went on the Manhattan borough and away from the security forces that the man presumed protected the major international airport on Long Island. He didn't know that other then security guards and the NYPD, JFK International Airport did not garner massive security forces that patrolled outside the airport. But even if he did, the hotel in the Bronx was a good idea for basic security's sake for his operations.

No one had yet said anything about the thugs that he had killed, but they were small scale urchins who commonly lived short lives. But it would be best to know what they were reporting on it, as his plans could be foiled if he had been spotted. He had the news on and not surprisingly, it was focused on the current storyline surrounding the Manhattan Clan.

"Ralph Maccio's 'Order of the Phoenix' continues to protest outside the 23rd NYPD Precinct Office, even as a few gargoyles have already left the building and have begun returning to Castle Wyvern," an on site reporter spoke.

"Do we have any results on how those gargoyles did?" the station reporter asked.

"We can not expect any results for at least a week," the on site reporter answered, "which still leaves the present problem of the Order of the Phoenix, which has done everything possible to protest the mayor's decision to deputize the gargoyles."

"They would argue that they are trying to protect the city," the station reporter spoke, "and their ranks have been growing."

"But they've mostly been repeating the same things the Quarrymen shouted before their demise as a result of their criminal activity," the on site reporter explained, "most of their new members are confirmed former Quarrymen that Castaway did not bring into his criminal activities. The Order of the Phoenix has made little real impact on those not connected with the Quarrymen."

The on site reporter paused for a moment before continuing.

"Much of this comes from the fact that Maccio has offered no definitive proof that the gargoyles are secretly conspiring to take over New York City," the on site reporter finished, "And while the gargoyles have not responded in the press to these allegations, because Maccio has not brought forth any proof, nothing can really be done either way. The police won't investigate the gargoyles without proof, which means the mayor's decision to deputize them stands…"

"Meaning the Order of the Phoenix's protests will continue," the station reporter sighed.

"Yes," the on site reporter finished with the same degree of nervousness.

"Things are most interesting here, indeed," the unknown man smiled.

**Castle Wyvern**

Elisa was the first of the clan to finish the test, mostly as the questions had changed only slightly since the last time she had taken the test, and the laws had barely changed at all. She found the Guatemalan gargoyles peacefully explaining to a group of hatchlings about the importance of protecting the world's trees.

It was Zafiro who noticed Elisa's arrival.

"How did things go?" Zafiro asked politely as Elisa landed.

"About as well as can be expected, I think," Elisa replied, "We're only taking the tests now. It'll be a week before we get any answer."

"We hope you did well, then," Obsidiana spoke from where she was.

"Oh, I have no problem," Elisa said with a slight chuckle, "the test hasn't changed much since the first time I took it. Hopefully the others fair just as well."

The Guatemalan gargoyles nodded in agreement. New York may not be their environment, but they weren't about to wish ills on their own kind.

**The Next Day**

It had taken them forever during the previous night's meeting of making phone calls and checking the phone book to learn where Ralph Maccio. The replies they got were not entirely favorable, as though his anti-gargoyle rants were not all that popular with the people that knew him. Mr. Axel, however, was not in the business of fully explaining why he wanted to know where Maccio worked. Many of the same people may not be willing to outright join his Order of the Phoenix, but none of them had joined PIT either, and Mr. Axel didn't have the time to debate half the city.

His mission was to deliver PIT's challenge to a debate with Maccio to try and peacefully settle the matter of whether or not the gargoyles were good or evil, and whether or not they deserved equal rights. They had found out that he worked with an Investment firm, and Mr. Axel was now walking through their hallways trying to find Maccio's office.

"Excuse me, sir," a female security guard came up to him, "can I help you, sir?"

"Sure," Mr. Axel answered, "I need to speak with Ralph Maccio about something. I know this is likely outside your standard modes of operation, but I was unable to contact him at a more convenient time."

"And what business do you have with Mr. Maccio?" the security guard asked, "I'm afraid we do not allow Order of the Phoenix meetings during working hours."

"I'm not a member of his organization," Mr. Axel responded, "I'm here on behalf of PIT. I'm only here to deliver this to him. Once I've done that, I'll go."

He held up a small slip of paper that held PIT's formal challenge to a debate as well as the phone numbers that Maccio could use to set up the debate.

"I'm afraid that such business can not be permitted during working hours," the security guard repeated.

"I couldn't reach him when it wasn't working hours," Mr. Axel repeated, "and I shouldn't be here that long. I'm sure you can afford the time to allow me to hand him a slip of paper."

The security guard was silent for a moment before she sighed heavily.

"Alright," she sighed, "You have the time to hand him your letter of challenge. That is all. Privately, sir, I'd say that his views on the gargoyles are entirely over exaggerated. Because of that I'd tend to agree with PIT, but it is company policy that such matters are not discussed during working hours in order to maintain a business like atmosphere."

"I can understand," Mr. Axel nodded, "if we could have contacted him last night, we would have. It appears that right now is the only time that I could reach him."

The security guard didn't answer, but lead Mr. Axel down a couple of hallways until they came to one actual office then the rows of cubicles that Mr. Axel had been earlier walking around.

"Mr. Maccio," the security guard said in a formal voice, "there is someone here to see you."

Ralph turned.

"I don't have any appointments for today," Ralph spoke as he turned to see a man he didn't know standing beside on of his firm's security guards.

"On behalf of PIT, I challenge you to an organized debate over the present gargoyle issue," Mr. Axel spoke calmly and handed Ralph the card, "When you have time, call the number on the card and we will work out the details."

Mr. Axel then turned and left quietly with the security guard following to make sure he left. Ralph only looked at the card.

"They're challenging me?" he thought after a moment.

**Castle Wyvern, That Evening**

"And you honestly think this will work?" Goliath rumbled as Mr. Axel, his wife, and Candy's mother explained their idea to challenge Ralph Maccio to a debate.

"It couldn't hurt," Mr. Axel sighed, "I mean they haven't yet picked up hammers and tried to smash you like the Quarrymen did."

"That doesn't mean they can't start," Othello grumbled.

"But while they haven't, we can talk with them," Judith spoke, "Maybe we can convince them to back off… and if not… if we can persuade someone to be a non-partial moderator, we'd be able to show the world just how wrong he is."

"It's the best anyone can do," Abigail added, "they're running the same lies that I fell for. That you're monsters out to eat children… but unlike the Quarrymen they haven't done anything criminal. Which means if you swoop down and grab them for protesting, you'll prove them right. It isn't like fighting the Quarrymen who commonly started the fights with you."

"They have a legal point there, big guy," Elisa told her mate, "they may hate us, but that doesn't make it a crime."

"Do you think you can win this 'debate', mom?" Amy asked nervously, "It could really hurt PIT if Maccio wins."

"It could," Judith sighed as she put a hand on Amy's shoulder, "but from what we've seen of Maccio's charges, I doubt he's smart enough to win such a debate. Winning debates depends on presenting facts in a believable manner. All Maccio has done is yell absurd hatred, repeating what the Quarrymen shouted between their bouts of violence."

"Who are you wanting to moderate this debate?" Candy asked after a moment or two.

"Hopefully Travis Marshall," Mr. Axel sighed, "It would do the most to insure that Maccio's Order of the Phoenix is exposed to at least the entire city as a bunch of lying thugs, as with him as the moderator, the debate would be televised."

"He's become rather pro-gargoyle, though," Hudson commented, "Wouldn't this Maccio then consider the debate to be staged?"

"He could, but he also holds the reputation of being a rather fair and professional," Judith answered, "People won't expect him to ask any loaded questions."

"Except for maybe Maccio," Brooklyn pointed out.

"He's still only our preferred moderator," Mr. Axel said, "we'll take just about anyone for a moderator so long as we can get confirmation that he or she will be professional in their demeanor."

**The Bronx**

The unknown man sat quietly once again rereading through local newspapers and following the local news. He needed to know if the police had discovered the three gang members he had killed and if they had any witnesses. So far, it appeared that not even the bodies had been found, but maybe they were waiting for some identification of the bodies. He couldn't be entirely sure.

It was then that the local news on the television did report something. The unknown man paid very close attention to it.

"In local crime news, three members of the 'spike' gang were found dead late last night after being injected with an presently unknown poison," the reporter spoke in a grave voice, "the announcement of the death of these gang members was delayed while the Police attempted to run some basic background checks to identify the victims."

The reporter paused for a moment before continuing.

"The victims carried little official identification, and could not be identified immediately by means other then tattoos hidden under their shirts as 'Tank', 'Mace' and 'Claws'," the reporter continued, "blood tests were needed for their actual names, which have been released to their families. At present the only guess the police have for their deaths is gang violence with rival street gangs."

The screen was then replaced with mug shots of the three men that attempted to mug him.

"If anyone has any information about WHO killed these men, please contact the authorities," the reporter finished.

The unknown man continued to watch as the reporter then moved on to a different topic leaving things as they were. The police had discovered the bodies, but their only clue was gang violence and at present had no clues as to who had actually killed the three muggers. He pondered this for a few moments. Someone might have seen them grab him or someone in one of the nearby skyscrapers might have actually seen the scuffle between them. He would have to wait and pay close attention to news to see if anyone had witnessed it and gave the police a good description of him. His plans revolved around not being recognized.

In the meantime a couple of ideas also came to his head, largely given to him by the news reporter. It would be better for his overall plans if he had as little police and, or, potentially gargoyle interference as possible. The reporter had cited gang violence as the police's prime suspect at the moment, and the unknown man figured it might do him good to see if he could instigate some gang violence. If they fought each other, the police and the gargoyles would be too distracted to worry about anything he was doing.

**Order of the Phoenix Meeting Hall, Victor's Apartment**

"He outright challenged us?" Victor asked as Ralph read the note on one of the few nights that most of them weren't out protesting.

"To a debate, yes, to a duel, no," Ralph told him.

"Well, dueling has gone out style," Victor shrugged, "What do you want to do about it?"

"I'm tempted to take it," Ralph commented, "it will give us some publicity and a chance to crush those PIT fools who have fallen head over heals for their lies…"

"But," Victor spoke.

"They want this to be fairly public," Ralph commented, "which means anyone in New York could see it. It would potentially be bad if we lose this debate. Wonderful if we win the debate, but dangerous if we lose."

"Name me the moderator then," Victor commented, "They're letting us choose the moderator… at least it looks that way from their card. Name me the moderator and they'll be answering such twisted questions that they will remain on the defense and will appear foolish for calling the debate. You will receive easy questions allowing you to repeat our message, and you will obviously be able to give a rebuttal to whatever weak and defensive answers the PIT people give."

"A very clever idea," Ralph gave a half smile, "We'd face very little trouble and we'd paint PIT as going against all the people in the city."

Victor nodded.

"All in favor of debating PIT?" Ralph asked.

"Aye" was the near unanimous reply.

One or two said nay, but they were by far in the minority.

"The motion passes," Ralph smiled, "We will debate PIT with Victor here being the moderator. I will remind all members that we are to be on our BEST behavior during this debate. PIT doesn't want a fight, and I do not either. It would only make us look like the Quarrymen. Like we aren't willing to even hear a different opinion."

The others in the room nodded.

"In the meantime," Ralph spoke as he picked up his cell-phone, "I suppose I should call their number to let them know they will lose to us."

He heard a small cycle of cheers as he began dialing the number given to him earlier in the day. He quieted them with a wave of his hand as he heard it ring twice.

"Hello?" he eventually heard an answer on the other line.

"Yes, this is Ralph Maccio, President of the Order of the Phoenix," Ralph spoke, "is this the same person who delivered the letter of challenge to me today?"

"This is William Axel," the voice answered, "Go ahead."

"This is to let you know that I accept the offer of a debate, and that I am willing to work out a location for it," Ralph spoke into the phone.

"We are willing to meet almost anywhere, so long as it's public and that your people promise not to be violent," Mr. Axel replied over the phone.

"We are not the Quarrymen and I will not tolerate any violent action," Ralph responded.

"Just checking," Mr. Axel told him, "Castaway usually made many non-threatening promises too, before he broke them."

"Which is why he is in jail, sir," Ralph answered, "having the right opinion doesn't excuse criminal behavior."

"Ah-ha," Mr. Axel answered, "well, I'm sure we can rent a hall for the meeting. It should be big enough to seat everybody and even a few extra guests."

"Good," Ralph nodded as he heard Mr. Axel give him the address, "and I have the name of the moderator we would prefer. A Victor Rascal."

"The man to your right at most of your protests?" Mr. Axel questioned, "We won't accept members of YOUR organization as moderators. It must be someone professional and officially neutral in the matter. Otherwise it wouldn't be a moderator. You'd simply be setting us up as proxies to take the fall."

"And who would you prefer?" Ralph questioned.

"We thought of Travis Marshall," Mr. Axel spoke, "He is a professional with these sorts of things."

"He seems to be rather PRO-gargoyle," Ralph answered, "If you will not accept our man, we will not accept yours."

"He is a professional though," Mr. Axel spoke, "he will not belittle you to try and make us or himself look good, which I think is what you wanted to do naming your right hand man as the moderator."

Ralph only sighed, as it appeared like they weren't going to give him the easy victory their letter of challenge indicated.

"Hold on," Ralph spoke.

"They want Travis Marshall as the moderator," Ralph announced, "they won't accept Victor."

He heard several grumble, and Victor didn't look happy. Clearly they were expecting an easy victory as well.

"You've already accepted the challenge," Victor spoke up, "We're bound to it now. If they won't accept our choice, you'd best brainstorm over some alternatives, or accept Marshall… he is a professional at least."

A few people agreed to that. Ralph only sighed. He was unprepared and didn't think one of his other members would make a convincing moderator. He also couldn't think of a person who was neutral that would listen to him. He and Victor had tried to recruit several of his coworkers into their organization, but they had either blown him off or cited the company's policy in regards to controversial issues. As a result he couldn't think of anyone besides Travis Marshall that would work. He didn't want to use the reporter though, because he was rumored to be pro-gargoyle, and because he was likely to give him just as hard a question as he would the PIT representative. But it was unlikely that he had any other option.

"Very well," Ralph sighed, "If you think Marshall would make a good moderator, go ahead. When do you want to hold this debate?"

"Hopefully this coming Wednesday," Mr. Axel answered, "but it may take time to coordinate things with Mr. Marshall."

"I'll call you Tuesday night then to see what progress you've made," Ralph spoke and then hung up.

He then looked to Victor, and said, "they're still in the middle of basic planning."

**WVRN Offices, Next Day**

Travis Marshall sat quietly in his office reading over the topics for the week's episodes of Nightwatch. One was to include an interview with the mayor over the decision to deputize the Manhattan gargoyles and how he was trying keep the city 'ordered'. He could sympathize with the mayor to a great extent as the Order of the Phoenix wasn't making things easy for him on one end, and the mayor probably could feel some pressure from PIT on the other side.

Now, he had found himself rather supportive of Goliath's clan, particularly as it seemed to him they wanted to join society and were continually running into people trying to push them out. But Marshall knew that his job was to report the news, not make it. Other then give interviews where they were required to get at a story, he wasn't about to over sensationalize things in either direction.

"Sir?" came his assistant's voice from outside his door, a young male who looked like he was right out of high school, "I have a guy from PIT wanting to talk to you."

"PIT?" Marshall asked.

"Yes, sir," the aid answered.

Marshall only sighed, "I'll take it in here. What line is he on?"

"Three, sir," the aid told him.

Marshall pressed the button and picked up the phone.

"Hello?" he spoke calmly.

"Mr. Marshall?"

"Speaking," Marshall answered, "what can I do for you?"

"My name is William Axel, I was wondering if you could do PIT a tremendous favor," the voice on the other line answered, "and do not worry, it is nothing that makes you take sides… it actually sort of depends on you being neutral."

This actually had him intrigued. People involved in controversial issues, such as the gargoyles, rarely wanted someone to be neutral.

"And what is this favor, Mr. Axel?" Marshall asked.

"As I'm sure you know, PIT has been trying to help get humanity and the gargoyles together," Mr. Axel spoke, "but right now, the Order of the Phoenix is really curtailing that…"

"I can't condone violence," Marshall told him.

"I'm not asking for violence," Mr. Axel told him, "we want to debate Ralph Maccio and show the people of New York that his opinions are wrong and closed minded. We need someone to moderate the debate."

"I take it you want me to be the moderator?" Marshall asked, sensing there was an opportunity there, if things could be worked out.

"Yes," Mr. Axel replied, "Maccio has agreed to the debate, so we've been working to find a moderator. We thought you were the best choice since you've moderated some of the city mayor elections for WVRN."

"I see," Marshall answered, "and when do you plan to hold this debate?"

"Hopefully this coming Wednesday, but mostly depending on what would work best for you," Mr. Axel told him.

Marshall quickly checked his schedule. The interview with the mayor was on Wednesday, but Thursday was 'open'. He did have something already scheduled for that day, but it was not a subject that couldn't be delayed, and a debate between PIT and the Order of Phoenix would make for huge coverage immediately after the interview with the mayor. He'd have to clear the changes with the station manager, but that could be easily done.

"This coming Wednesday is full for me, but if you postpone your debate a day, I think I could even bring you on Nightwatch," Marshall told him, "Give New York some of the publicity you were asking for."

"You would do that?" Mr. Axel asked.

"It is a big story," Marshall replied, "and with the clan joining the NYPD in an official manner, it will be a good lead in to the whether or not they've passed the tests. Hopefully you're a good enough debater that this Maccio character will back off, giving everyone fewer headaches."

"Thank you," Mr. Axel spoke, "Thank you."

**Castle Wyvern, That Evening**

"So this debate tis to be on television?" Hudson asked curiously as Mr. Axel told the clan what he considered to be good news.

"Yes, I can hardly believe it," Mr. Axel spoke, "I had thought I'd have to beg to get him to agree and find some way to work around HIS schedule, but he's said he'd alter his if his station manager approved of the idea."

"Do you think he will, dad?" Amy asked.

"He might," Mr. Axel shrugged, "Mr. Marshall seemed to have the opinion that you guys were big news still. A debate between us and the Order of the Phoenix seemed like a very newsworthy story."

"Well, we're controversial," Elisa spoke, "News generally gravitates to controversial topics because your bound to get strong opinions from them."

"I'd wish we'd stop being controversial, Elisa," Angela told the tan female, "we mean no one any harm."

"I know, Angela," Elisa sighed, "but it's a tough road… but I'm sure we can do it."

"Says the one who likely got every question on that test right," Caroline quipped, "I'm still sweating bullets over that thing."

"I'm sure you did fine," Elisa spoke, finding herself trying to comfort the others again.

The test had been easy for Elisa, but that was mostly because she had taken it once before. The rest of the clan had all done relatively in Elisa's eyes, even Hudson, who usually had the most problems with the NYPD's rules and regulations. But with the exception of the female trio, none of them were familiar to standardized tests, so she guessed that this was a result of that.

"Trust me guys," Elisa spoke, "You're all very smart. I'm sure you did well."

"We aren't used to these sorts of tests, Elisa," Broadway commented, "we're still a little nervous about it."

Elisa could only nod to that.

"When do you suppose Mr. Marshall will get back to you to make this debate official if his station manager approves his alterations to his schedule?" Goliath rumbled, unsure entirely how this would work, but hoped it did.

"Some time tomorrow," Mr. Axel sighed, "I'm still waiting for Maccio to make his call to let him know about the changes in the time table for the debate."

"We hope you are successful in your attempt to help us, Mr. Axel," Desdemona told him politely, "but I believe we have other things to tend to, tonight."

There came a slightly frustrated sigh, as the clan knew it had baby-sitting duties with the Tibetan hatchlings to take care off, although all of them knew it was good training for their own eventual futures.

**Castle Wyvern, TV Room, That Thursday**

Things for the clan progressed quietly as they waited out the week for Thursday to arrive. They wouldn't know the results of the test for a few days, but tonight was the night that Mr. Axel had been waiting and hoping for. The debate against Ralph Maccio over the issue of the gargoyles and their employment by the city. To view this, the clan, the Guatemalans, and all the Tibetan gargoyles, elders and hatchlings, squeezed into the clan's rec room where Hudson commonly watched television with Bronx on most nights.

"I'm sure things will go well," Brooklyn said to Amy, "You're dad's a smart guy."

"I hope so," Amy nodded as she placed a hand on his shoulder.

On the screen they were watching the intro for 'Nightwatch' ended to reveal Marshall standing behind a podium.

"Good evening, and welcome to Nightwatch," Travis Marshall began, "tonight, in keeping with our focus on Manhattan's gargoyle related issues, we have a special show as Mr. William Axel, a leading representative from the organization known as PIT, People for Interspecies Tolerance, will debate Ralph Maccio, the leader of the recently proclaimed Order of the Phoenix."

The screen then panned out to reveal Mr. Axel and Ralph Maccio standing at smaller podiums that semi-faced one another, making the set up look like a political debate.

"As I'm sure most viewers remember the first 'debate' that aired on Nightwatch with then deputy-district attorney Margot Yale debating college professor Lennox Macduff on the issue of the gargoyle's appearance in New York," Marshall continued, "and remember that it was a lively affair, and I'm sure the present debate will not be lacking in 'heat'. I will serve as a moderator for the debate, and urge all viewers to call or write in to let us know who was the most effective in this debate."

Marshall then looked like he was shuffling some papers on his podium.

"I will begin by asking each representative to explain the purpose of their organization and the platform they stand behind," Marshall spoke and then gestured to Mr. Axel.

"PIT stands for an open minded approach," Mr. Axel spoke, "the gargoyles are something new and certainly something that people consider abnormal, but that doesn't justify hatred. They want to join society. Their efforts to fight crime in this city, their willingness to even let Mr. Marshall here interview them show that the only things that differentiate them from us is largely appearance… and we should be better then to hate sentient creatures for their appearance."

"Thank you," Marshall spoke and then gestured toward Maccio.

"This isn't a question of racism," Maccio spoke, "this is a question of surviving a very real threat to the people of New York City. I have started the Order of the Phoenix to urge people to come to their senses and realize that these gargoyles are dangerous and that their only plausible objective in this city is to take it over and eliminate its citizens or enslave those that they do not kill. They are intelligent, surely, but intelligence doesn't mean 'good'. There have been plenty of intelligent people that have also been despicably evil. People must also remember that these gargoyles lived here in secret until the 23rd Precinct's clock tower was attacked, which revealed them to the people of the city. If they were truly good and wishing to join society and live under OUR laws, they should have come out into the open the moment they arrived here, not living in secrecy. That secrecy can only imply that they have plans that are not for the benefit of the people of New York."

"The man understands nothing," Othello grumbled, as the show went to commercial, "all that was, was a blind accusation based off of superstition."

**WVRN Nightwatch Set**

When the commercial break ended, Marshall began to move into the real meat of the debate.

"Mr. Maccio, you charge that the gargoyles are not a force of good inherently and that their intelligence doesn't make them good?" Marshall asked, "is that right?"

"Yes," Maccio nodded, "this can even be seen in the recent attack on the Eyrie Building by the Pack, a group of known criminals, along with several gargoyles. An attack and battle that did serious damage to the surrounding buildings and proved to New York that gargoyles are NOT inherently good."

"But wouldn't the mayor's decision to deputize the gargoyles that were attacked in that incident, and the fact that they have submitted to the mayor's program demonstrate that while ALL gargoyles may not be good, there are those that are good?" Marshall questioned.

"But we have no hard evidence as to why the battle occurred there, why the 'bad' gargoyles in that case attacked the Eyrie Building," Maccio countered, "it is likely that what happened was that there were two groups of gargoyles looking to control the city, and one was defeated. That has left us with one group of gargoyles that were caught in the open. They had no other obvious choice but to submit to the mayor's demand without starting a war, which they know they can't win. And this relates back to their intelligence. They know they can't win a straight up fight with us, so they will be sneaky. Work behind the scenes and pick us off one by one, using our own laws against us."

Marshall turned to Mr. Axel, "can you counter these accusations?"

"I can not deny the charge that intelligence doesn't mean that one is good," Mr. Axel admitted, "good and evil are potentially present in everything, whether they be human or gargoyle. It is how we deal with the temptations of evil that determines whether or not we are good. Those who give in, commonly become evil, and usually by their own choice."

Mr. Axel then paused for a moment.

"But simply lumping all the gargoyles as 'evil' because a few rotten apples had chosen to be evil is no better then saying 'all gargoyles are good' because of one or two noble individuals," Mr. Axel continued, "being able to judge people, human or gargoyle, as good or evil comes from first hand knowledge of them as individuals. PIT has met with the Manhattan clan that lives at Castle Wyvern and has gotten to know them well. They are smart, kind, and caring. Strong and brave. They are essentially everything we wish ourselves to be, other then the obvious species difference. We say they are good because we know them personally."

He paused again and looked toward the cameras.

"And while that doesn't mean that there could be other evil gargoyles out there, it is a reinforcing notion that the mayor's decision to deputize the gargoyles was a good thing," Mr. Axel finished, "by deputizing and bringing more into our society then they had ever been before, he has insured that the rule of law applies to all of Manhattan's citizens. If a gargoyle commits a crime, he or she can be punished for it. It will insure in the long run that they obey the laws, yes, but it will also give those that are good the chance to shine alongside the city's finest. To be what they have repeated claimed to be, protectors, guardians."

"What of the charge that their submission to the law is only act and that they intend to destroy New York from within?" Marshall asked, "Use our laws against us?"

"That is a sign of paranoia and nothing more," Mr. Axel said firmly, "as police officers, their duty will be to enforce the laws we have, which have not been written in a manner to allow such covert action. If a gargoyle attempted it, he or she would be caught by the police and either arrested or suspended for abusing police powers. The only way they could undertake something of that nature would be if they would have had to take over city hall in its entirety in order to enact laws that would allow such activity, and they haven't. And while it is plausible that there may be those that do have that idea, Mr. Maccio has no evidence other then his own accusations, that the Manhattan clan would enact such a plan, and because of PIT's personal experience with the clan, I can safely say that they do not wish to take over the city in any manner, covert or otherwise."

**Castle Wyvern**

"You're dad is doing well," Lexington commented to Amy while the show was on another commercial break, "All Maccio has done is repeat his same accusations."

"And you're dad saying that he knew us was a good touch, I think," Candy added, "people tend to trust people that actually know the subject they know…"

"So long as they agree," Amy told the two web-wings, "So long as they agree. These Order of the Phoenix people probably won't."

"We left with the comment that your accusations are fueled by nothing more then paranoia," Marshal spoke to Maccio as they came back from commercial, "can you present any evidence that would suggest that the Manhattan clan is actually involved in some sort of covert operation? Or that the mayor has made a mistake?"

"The evidence is in the attacks on New York's populace that have gone on for years since the gargoyle's initial arrival in the city," Maccio spoke, "common people on their way home, office workers in their offices, subway train passengers, private citizens in the park, and many others. Many people claimed to be attacked by these creatures for no reason, and while the government refused to take action, these attacks continued. And that can not be denied. Police reports have been filed on these attacks. And their descriptions match the gargoyles that the mayor has now deputized."

"So you believe this plan has been an ongoing offensive on the part of the Manhattan Clan?" Marshall questioned.

"Yes," Maccio answered, "there can be no other explanation for these attacks."

Marshall then turned to Mr. Axel, but didn't say anything.

"A few police officers that have joined PIT have said during meetings that these reports are likely exaggerated and made out of fear," Mr. Axel explained, "and all of them coincided with some other criminal activity. The people in the park were mugged, the gargoyle took down the mugger, and the people then accused the gargoyle of attacking them out of fear. In fact the only people to have actually been wounded or knocked out by the gargoyles have been criminals. No innocent person has been harmed by them. Those reports represent a cycle of fear, a cycle that can be broken if we only give them a chance to prove themselves and truly get to know them."

"Can you respond to the possibility that some of the reports were false?" Marshall asked, "and explain why the only ones having injuries inflicted by the Manhattan clan were criminals?"

"Many times the police arrived by the time the criminal had been caught," Maccio answered, "the gargoyle likely didn't have time to finish his attack, and that their "vigilante" activities is only a cover for their real goal."

"They're real goal?" Marshall asked.

"One they have yet to reveal," Maccio spoke, "one they've hidden from us."

"It could be perceived that you are trying to frighten people by playing to a lack of understanding or knowledge of the gargoyles," Marshall commented, "PIT's representatives have met the clan personally and have gotten to know them. And they do not believe they have these secret plans."

Maccio didn't answer immediately, sensing that he was at a dead end.

"Anyone can make mistakes," Maccio spoke, "and from what I've seen, these gargoyles are too smart, too secretive, and too potentially dangerous to be trusted. The only way for our city to be safe is for the mayor to at least have these gargoyles arrested before they do us all great harm!"

"What a load of…" Caroline began but stopped herself when she remembered the Tibetan hatchlings were there well.

"A load of what?" one hatchling asked looking up, curious about what the blue female was going to say.

"Bad stuff," Caroline told the hatchling, "bad stuff."

"It does give my dad an advantage though," Amy commented while the show was on commercial again, "He's just rattling of excuses to make it okay to hate us. With no concrete evidence that our clan is evil, people will hopefully be hesitant to support him… and we can move fully into society."

"So what will you do when you enter their society, fully?" a Tibetan elder asked curiously.

"I'm hoping to take Brooklyn to a Mets game," Amy spoke, "I'm hoping we win it all this coming season."

"I'd like to try some of that vendor food people sell on the street," Broadway licked his lips, "pretzels, hot dogs, and bunch of other good stuff."

"Wouldn't you like something not food related?" Angela asked her mate, "There are so many interesting things in this city."

"Of course… but that doesn't mean I can't NOT like food," Broadway said weakly.

They quieted down as Nightwatch finished its final commercial for the night.

**WVRN Nightwatch Set**

"When we went to commercial we had finished what has been a very lively debate between Mr. William Axel of PIT and Mr. Ralph Axel of the Order of the Phoenix," Marshall spoke, "PIT supports the mayor's decision to deputize the gargoyles as a step to doing something great, while the Order of the Phoenix believes it was a dangerous mistake granting power to beings that we 'do not know'. Both have explained their views and brought up good points to support them. As we close for tonight we leave you the viewers with the question. Who was right? Who's argument carried the most weight? Call or email the WVRN studios and we will post the results on tomorrow night's episode of Nightwatch."

And with that the lights dimmed, as the live feed cameras were shut off, ending the debate. Mr. Axel stepped down from his podium feeling rather confident. He hoped his plan worked and the bulk of New York would come out and support the gargoyles.

**23****rd****Precinct, later that week**

"I passed by the mail room on my way in," Matt spoke as he and Flariaty entered Captain Chavez's office, "the test results are in. I thought you'd like to see them."

"I would," Chavez nodded as the two detectives nodded, "I'll need to prepare a report for New York's chief of police and the mayor explaining the results."

Matt handed Captain Chavez the folder containing the results and sat down while Flariaty sat down beside him. She opened it and looked inside. It contained a series of singular sheets that had condensed all of the clan's answers, even the written ones onto a single sheet of paper. She looked through them carefully, and after a moment smiled.

"All of them passed," Chavez smiled, "hopefully this give the Order of the Phoenix something ELSE to choke on."

**The End…**


	50. Case No 1

All characters appearing in Gargoyles and Gargoyles: The Goliath Chronicles are copyrighted to Buena Vista Television/The Walt Disney Company. I've taken the idea for the Unseelie Court from the TGS. Characters and concepts from Star Trek are property of Paramount and created by Gene Roddenberry. No Infringement of these copyrights is intended, and is not authorized by the copyright holder. All original characters are the property of SN.

Note: I'm disregarding the events of the "Goliath Chronicles", with the exception of "The Journey" because I do not wish to use the rest of the "Goliath Chronicles" as canon to my story. Also, I'm altering large sections of the Star Trek storyline, especially concerning events like WWIII and the Eugenics Wars, which without the Cold War as a backdrop probably wouldn't happen the way Roddenberry wrote them, if at all. This story takes place two days after "Public Debate".

Case No. 1

By SN/TVfan

Email: Sam_Nary

**23****rd****Precinct**

"You want to have ceremony here?" the mayor asked curiously as Captain Chavez lead him through the precinct's conference room, "wouldn't it be a tad small?"

"We're mostly going to be giving them their badges and setting down the schedules that they'll follow," Captain Chavez sighed, "it may be a smaller venue here, but more appropriate. And besides, if this is done at City Hall, I'd tend to think the Maccio's Order of the Phoenix could try something that could get a lot of people hurt."

"That man and his group are driving me crazy," the mayor grumbled.

"You're not the only one, trust me on that," Captain Chavez replied.

The mayor didn't answer immediately and proceeded to walk about the room for a few moments.

"You're certain you want this small?" the mayor asked, "the fact that they passed will be big for the press. They will be all over this."

"It is the clan that wants it small," Captain Chavez replied, "besides, I'd assumed you were under enough heat for the decision in the first place."

"It comes with the job," the mayor shrugged, "and I have to have done something right if I've got the people talking… and for the most part, deputizing them has actually lightened my workload a bit… and probably yours as well."

"At present my workload has gone up," Captain Chavez replied, "mostly from dealing with people like Maccio demanding we arrest and execute them… or at least arrest them."

"Most of that stuff I throw out," the mayor admitted, "I'll admit that I'm not their biggest fan… but they can not be as Maccio has portrayed them. If they really wanted to destroy us and have been here in secret, they would have done so by now."

Captain Chavez nodded.

"I am a little surprised to hear you defending them," Captain Chavez spoke.

"I've already made the decision to deputize them," the mayor admitted, "I can't NOT defend them before the new policy has even started."

Captain Chavez nodded.

**Castle Wyvern**

The clan awoke to find Matt waiting patiently in the courtyard. He was holding a large envelope and was occasionally glancing up in the direction of the tower and battlements where the clan rested during the day.

"Evening, Matt," Elisa spoke as she left her spot to glide down to meet him, the rest of the clan following behind her.

"Evening, guys," Matt spoke, "I come bearing good news."

"Maccio's left the city?" Brooklyn gave a guess.

"We all wish," Matt answered, "No, this has more to do with the tests you all took."

"The results are in?" Angela asked, sounding curious.

Matt nodded, "and it is all good news. You'll be pleased to hear the you all passed the test."

"We passed?" Broadway asked, sounding surprised.

Matt nodded, "Congratulations."

Matt then opened the envelope, which appeared to have the tests themselves in it. He then began handing the ones that had taken the test the folded up test sheet. The sheets had the number right over the total number of questions written in red ink to allow for the 'grade' to be figured out. All of them did remarkably well, though Elisa was the only one to get a perfect score… but then, she had taken the test once before already.

"So what will happen now?" Goliath asked as Matt began passing the tests to each clan member that had taken the test.

"The obvious thing is that you'll get your badges, which is supposed to be a big ceremony," Matt answered slowly, "and then I'd assume that you'll be assigned partners and schedules. Thankfully Chavez will be in charge of that, so I wouldn't think that you'd have too much of a problem."

The clan was largely quiet as Matt finished handing out the tests. It was only after he had handed out the last test that Elisa spoke again.

"So when is this ceremony, Matt?" Elisa inquired.

"I think the hope is that it will be as soon as possible," Matt answered slowly, "which I would guess means as soon as you can arrive at the station."

"All of them?" a Tibetan elder asked.

"All that took the test," Matt nodded.

"And what about our hatchlings? We can not watch them all," the elder spoke firmly, "we are not as young as we used to be."

"But it shouldn't be that long," Matt sighed, "and to be honest, this may not be my place, but it's seemed to me that you're using Goliath's promise to help you against him. It may make your job easier, but you're making Goliath's job harder."

"He gave us his word," the elder argued back, "and we are truthful when we say that we are not young enough to keep firm tabs on all of these hatchlings. Even with Goliath's clan's help a group managed to get outside the castle and was nearly killed for it. We do not oppose Goliath's wish to integrate his clan with you and your city, but his word to us comes FIRST. You will have to wait until our clan's adults can return to take our hatchlings home."

"The mayor won't allow that," Matt told her, "he's already taking a gamble that by deputizing the clan he can balance out human/gargoyle relations. Now, thankfully the Quarrymen proved to be too criminal while the Order of the Phoenix has been rather stupid… but if the clan doesn't work with the mayor on this, it could add fuel to a fire that is already burning. The end result would not be beneficial to you or your hatchlings in the long run."

The Tibetan elder did not immediately respond.

"The work schedule has been arranged so that only part of the clan will be on duty each night and will alternate," Matt finished, "Just as the training and testing schedule was. I'm sure you can make do for one night."

"It is only one night," Goliath repeated, trying to be a peacemaker, "if it is absolutely necessary, perhaps you could ask Owen for help."

**Elsewhere**

Meanwhile, the unknown man who had so far managed to avoid being identified as the killer of a group of street thugs that had tried to rob him sat quietly on the bed in his hotel room following the local news. Most of it was his own concern that someone would identify him, but a good part of it was also to analyze the chain of events that were going on in New York. Much of which he found to be very interesting.

The present 'controversy' over the clan of gargoyles being given a legal role in New York's Police Department was one the man found extremely interesting. The major problem with it though was that Maccio and his 'Order of the Phoenix' had proven themselves to be nothing more then idiotic zealots who weren't much good for anything other then yelling lies at the top of their lungs.

Now, the man had no preference for either those that were anti-gargoyle or pro-gargoyle. He was more interested in the controversy to try and gauge what New York's opinion of the gargoyles really was. If the people didn't really support the gargoyles things might be easier, as they would have to lay low for quite a while until they were forgotten by Manhattan's populace, or they would have to fight for their very right to survive and be free. If the people of New York did support them, he would have to be careful, as gargoyles were strong and fast, and there was the potential risk that they were strong enough to resist the poison darts he carried…

"If only the Order of the Phoenix was a little bit smarter in how they presented things," the man half grumbled, "no one I've ever known listens to a jabbering idiot."

A small thought then crossed his mind.

"Or I could prod things along a bit," the man mused to himself, "see if I can't stir up a little trouble and rile the masses. See how much they really support those flying lizards… of course, I'll need some supplies first."

The man then got up, put on his coat and left the hotel room. A lot of places would be closing soon, and he feared that those that would actually have the supplies he needed were already closed. If so, he decided he would at least scout out a possible location for a workshop to put his plans in motion.

**23****rd****Precinct**

Captain Chavez waited quietly on the landing where the clan was likely to land before making their way in. Bluestone had assured her that they would arrive, so she waited with the idea of going over all last minute details before taking them in for the ceremony. As she watched she saw winged shapes begin to descend towards the clock tower. With the bright city lights though, she had some difficulty in identifying any individual. She thought it best to wait till they all landed.

"Evening, Captain," Elisa greeted her as they all landed.

"Evening," Captain Chavez answered, "Good to see you could all make it. Where's Bluestone?"

"He's on his way back," Elisa answered, "but since he drove to the Eyrie Building, we couldn't carry him back here."

"We can wait for him," Captain Chavez sighed, "most of the news crew people are still setting up."

"This isn't going to be too big, is it?" Goliath rumbled in a low voice.

"The NYPD is giving police badges to a clan of gargoyles, at one point thought to be myth, and who are not supported by one hundred percent of the city's population," Chavez answered, "this will be big no matter HOW many reporters are actually allowed in. Those who can't come in now will buy copies of the footage and run with it from there."

"We're not wanting to cause trouble," Brooklyn spoke up.

"Oh trust me, YOU aren't," Captain Chavez told him, "this is the sort of thing the media LOVES to cover. It wouldn't matter what species you are. I've managed to limit the number of press cameramen in to a relatively small number, but I've still been fielding questions from just about every news channel in the city."

"Sorry, Captain," Elisa said weakly.

"It's not your fault," Chavez sighed, "it's just one of those things."

Chavez then led the group inside before continuing.

"While we will be issuing your badges and assigning your schedules and partners tonight, we're still sorting other things out bureaucratically, so there won't be any scheduled patrols for you tonight."

"What sort of bureaucratic 'things'?" Goliath rumbled.

"Mostly pay stubs and that sort of thing," Chavez answered, "though there are some things that are still organizing how your patrol groups will interact with the dispatch officers and other patrol units that are on duty."

"A lot of normal stuff, eh?" Elisa chuckled.

"Largely," Chavez answered, "though some of it is still the attempts by Matt and I to get you reinstated as a Detective, Elisa."

"Thanks, Captain," Elisa answered, "though you don't really have to."

"You'd have to climb the same ladder you climbed before just to get there, you know," Chavez reminded her, "it wouldn't be fair to you."

"Not everything in life is fair," Elisa shrugged, "and besides, I don't think a human detective, other then Matt, would take too well to having a gargoyle partner… and Matt has a new partner already."

"We still want to be fair to you," Chavez answered, "and if successful… well maybe you'll get your wish about not having a partner."

Elisa only nodded, not sure on what to really say. They all made their way to what was a lounge area where most of the station's officers took their breaks. Cups of coffee and donuts, danish, pretzels, and a few other snack foods were waiting.

"You can wait in here for a few moments while I let the Mayor know you're here," Chavez instructed, "Once he knows, and Matt arrives, we can move on to giving you your badges…"

They all nodded, while Broadway took one of the donuts.

**Castle Wyvern**

Abigail Wexmand sat quietly with her eyes glued on the television screen. The clan was supposed to get their badges tonight, and she was determined not to miss it. She had even volunteered to watch some of the Tibetan hatchlings if they didn't mind watching the Manhattan Clan officially become officers of the law.

"You must be proud," came Xanatos's voice from behind her.

She turned to see the black furred wolf mutate coming into the living room that the clan commonly used. Fox was with him.

"In a way," Abigail answered.

She sighed again at the puzzled looks she got.

"The NYPD is a pretty good employer," Fox commented, "and your daughter and the clan will be paid for what they do, now."

"Oh it's nothing against the Police Department," Abigail answered, "and I am glad my daughter is happy… it's just that I never saw her as a police officer before. She was always interesting science and those fields. I sort of pictured her becoming a biologist that finds some ultra rare animal living in the rainforest…"

"She'll probably do some stuff that is similar," Xanatos commented, "from what I've overheard, she and Lexington have been working on some sort of guidebook to explain gargoyle biology… and as for picking up police work, that's likely a gargoyle's natural protective instinct."

"It's still a big jump from what I had expected," Abigail answered, "and it will take a little time to get used to it, I guess."

"I'm sure," Xanatos commented, "but I'm sure you can do it, considering where you when first met the clan."

"What did you do before you adopted Miss Candy?" one of the Tibetan hatchlings then asked.

That raised a couple of small chuckles. The hatchlings either hadn't been told, or didn't understand that Elisa, Candy, Amy, and Caroline had all been human and were transformed into gargoyles through sorcery. As such, they assumed that Abigail had adopted Candy.

"It was a mistake," Abigail told the hatchling, "I made some mistakes that I'd rather not talk about. And Candy is my biological daughter. She was born human and transformed into a gargoyle by magic."

"Really?" was a near unanimous response.

"Really," Abigail replied simply.

"Have you ever thought of becoming one?" a different hatchling asked.

Abigail had not been expecting that. She had never thought about something like that. She hated that her work commonly kept her and Candy apart, but she was grown up now and married as far as the Clan was concerned. She thought was too young and too soon, but she did respect Lexington and she wished them both many happy years together. Most of the rest boiled down to a case of empty nest syndrome for her.

"No, I haven't," Abigail answered after a moment, "but I don't think that would be the best answer for me to take… though I'm not sure if I can explain the reasons for it…"

**23****rd****Precinct**

It took Matt nearly thirty minutes to navigate Manhattan's traffic to get to the precinct house, and then another thirty minutes to be able to park. He found both the Mayor and Captain Chavez waiting for him as he made his way into the conference room where the clan was to receive its badges.

"Sorry I'm late," Matt spoke as he approached.

"As informal as many of these things have been, you're right on time," Chavez told him.

"Though that will have to change," the Mayor commented, "if they want this to work out for their best benefit… and my reelection… they need to be punctual and to show up on time. Not just when they feel like it."

"They are protectors by instinct, Mr. Mayor," Matt told him, "if we have any problem at all it will be them going to work before officially clocking in, and I don't think we'll have that as a problem either."

"You had better hope so," the Mayor answered, "these Order of the Phoenix people may be stupid headaches, but I guarantee you, the decision to deputize them wasn't popular. I need it to go well in order for it to work."

"If done right, it will work," Chavez spoke, "and now that we're all here, we'd best get started."

Matt and the Mayor both nodded. The Mayor then turned and walked toward where the "ceremony" would be done while Matt followed Captain Chavez towards one of the Precinct's break rooms, where the clan was waiting. They found the clan patiently waiting with Elisa sipping coffee from a Styrofoam cup.

"Is everything ready?" Elisa asked.

Captain Chavez nodded, "It may take the present news people a minute or two to finish their set up, but we're far enough along that we can begin. As a reminder though, your leadership structure within your clan is officially null and void in regards to the NYPD. For the time being you will report to Bluestone and the dispatch officers in terms of any criminal activities and issues you come across. As far as the Mayor and the NYPD will officially view you, you are all equal. Goliath's leadership will only be viewed as racial matter which doesn't factor into official policy."

"I understand," Goliath rumbled, "so long as we can protect the city, how our clan's organization is viewed is unimportant."

Chavez glanced at the large lavender male, and wondered if his desire to protect was more then simple instinct.

"Your badges have arranged alphabetically by your names, and Maza, you and the rest of the former humans in the clan, you'll have to go by your first name since the rest of the clan has no surname," Chavez then instructed.

Everyone nodded. As Chavez and Matt then turned to leave, the clan slowly sorted themselves into line, based on how they were told they would get their badges. Once they arrived at the briefing/conference room, they found the various news networks sorting things out and the Mayor was waiting near a small podium. They quietly went by him and took a standing position where Captain Chavez and motioned for them to stand. She and Matt then went to stand near the Mayor.

"We're ready," Captain Chavez said to the mayor in a quiet voice.

The Mayor nodded and then moved to more formally stand behind the podium and gave one of the news crew members a 'thumbs up' to indicate that they were ready.

**Castle Wyvern**

Abigail's eyes were glued onto the screen as the news station went from their standard crawl of things that had happened to a live broadcast coming from the New York Police Department's 23rdPrecinct.

"We're now taking you live to the Twenty Third Precinct House, where the Manhattan clan of gargoyles has just arrived and is preparing to accept their badges in accordance with the Mayor's recent decision to deputize them," the station reporter announced.

The camera then focused on the Mayor who was standing behind a podium with the clan standing behind him and Captain Chavez and Matt Bluestone standing to his right.

"Good evening, citizens of New York," the Mayor spoke politely, "tonight marks the beginning of will be a new era for the city's law enforcement agencies. Some have called this a triumph, some a mistake and a horror, and some merely an experiment, but one can not deny that the city will be different from here on out."

Abigail put all of her attention on the screen.

"I will not voice my reasons why I made my decision," the Mayor answered, "I feel I have done that ENOUGH. The Manhattan Clan of gargoyles that have been revealed to us and have been living here with us have all taken the standard tests required of all NYPD officers, and as you know, they have passed all these tests."

Xanatos gave a confident smile and took Fox's hand.

"As such, we will now take the next step and issue the Manhattan Clan police badges for the 23rd Precinct with special jurisdiction to allow them to cooperate with all NYPD Precincts," the Mayor continued, "each individual gargoyle may come forward and accept his or her badge as their name is spoken."

They all watched as Matt picked up what looked like a small brief case and opened it. Captain Chavez took the first badge, which was connected to a chain so that it could be hung around the neck, and handed it to the Mayor. He nodded and took the badge.

"Amy," the Mayor began and handed the badge to the yellow beaked female, who then returned to her place in line.

"Not her full name?" Abigail wondered aloud.

"The rest of the clan, being gargoyles all their lives have no surnames," Xanatos answered, "and from what I learned when I first awakened them, Goliath was the only one with a name."

"No wonder Brooklyn, Broadway, Lexington, Hudson, and Bronx all have names that mirror geographical locations from around New York," Abigail shrugged.

"Angela."

Goliath's daughter moved forward to accept her badge.

"Broadway," the Mayor spoke and then shook the aquamarine male's hand as he took his badge, and then said, "Brooklyn."

"No, I think those names came from their initial look at the city," Xanatos commented as he answered Abigail's comment, "though, I'd thought Candace had told you a lot of this stuff already."

"Some of it," Abigail answered, "but given our schedules, we don't have much time for mother/daughter bonding any more."

"Another reason to become like Candy," a hatchling spoke, hugging one of Abigail's legs.

"Candace," the Mayor spoke.

Abigail shed a few tears of joy as she watched her daughter accept the badge. She hadn't expected her daughter to end up doing police work, and didn't really want her to, but at the same time, she couldn't help but feel proud of her.

"Caroline," the Mayor spoke and then shook hands with the blue skinned female, then took the next badge and said, "Desdemona."

The golden female quietly came forward and took her badge.

**23****rd****Precinct**

The progression through the clan was going along well. The media people hadn't interrupted anything and the mayor was allowed to easily go down the list of gargoyles that had taken the test and passed it as well.

"Elisa," the Mayor spoke in the monotone he was trying to use to make him sound impartial.

The tan female stepped forward to shake the Mayor's hand and take what would be her new badge. As she did so, she came in front of Matt and Captain Chavez.

"Welcome back," Matt said in a half whisper, although he wondered if that was really necessary as a good many people had likely learned that Elisa Maza, gargoyle and Elisa Maza, Detective Second Class were the same being by now.

Elisa only responded with a slight nod and took her badge and returned to her place in line. The Mayor continued with listing the names of the clan to hand them their badges.

"Ethan," he spoke and gave the Avalon male his badge.

Even then followed after her name was announced.

"Goliath," the mayor announced, and the large lavender male stepped forward.

Elisa found herself smiling with pride as her mate accepted his badge. She knew that Goliath felt devoted to protecting the city in a way that surpassed some officers that Elisa had worked with in the past. Now, he had was given the chance to do what he what he loved to do and do it legally as well. For Goliath this had to be a triumph.

"Hudson," the Mayor then spoke as the elderly male gargoyle made his way forward.

**Castle Wyvern**

"They ought to let him retire," Abigail grumbled, "at his age and after what he's endured, he deserves some peace and relaxation."

"I think they would if he actually voiced the desire to retire," Fox commented, "He's still volunteered for patrols in the past."

"And no one forced him to go along and take the test," Xanatos added.

"Still doesn't seem right to me that he's not given a moment of peace to enjoy for himself," Abigail commented.

"Maybe," a Tibetan elder spoke from where she was helping in supervising the present hatchlings, "but retirement among gargoyles has never really been done. When one becomes too old for one task, he is moved to an easier task and different responsibilities, and this is usually determined by the elder him or herself."

"Ian," the Mayor continued to go down the list of clan members.

The Avalon male came and shook the Mayor's hand, took his badge and returned to his spot in line. Abigail again felt some pride when Lexington's name was called and the olive green male received his badge. He was smart and kind, and her daughter was happy with him, and while he kept her happy, Abigail could easily support him. And hopefully, everything went well for them both.

**23****rd****Precinct**

Matt quietly stood by as the Mayor handed the last badges to Lexington and Othello and then called Captain Chavez to administer the standard oath to serve and protect that all new police officers took when they joined their respective police departments. Once that was done, the Mayor made a few closing remarks before ending what would be the 'press conference' portion of the night.

"That went well," he commented to Chavez as the reporters began to leave the room.

"Remember that we still need to assign their partners," Chavez answered, "those that have 'mates' may not take to being partnered with someone other then their 'mate' all that well."

"I think they'll deal with that alright," Matt commented, "Elisa's done the most to explain why we do things that way."

"I'm sure she has, but remember, she was a human officer before the Mage transformed her," Chavez reminded the red headed detective, "the other transformed gargoyles don't have Elisa's experiences and the rest of clan has never done anything like this before."

"Indeed we have not," came Goliath's voice as he and Elisa approached, "but we will survive. It may be different and new, but not threatening."

"Thank you for being so… supportive," Chavez said slowly.

Goliath and Elisa both nodded.

"Is the Mayor going to stick around for the shift assignments, or.." Elisa began to ask.

"I'm afraid I need to get going," the Mayor cut her off, as he had been listening in on the conversation, "I have some other work to take care of, and my wife is expecting me to return home sometime tonight. Have a good night."

There were a couple of polite nods as the Mayor packed up his own paperwork and began to make his way out. Once he had headed out, Chavez motioned for the clan to take seats at the table between the podium the Mayor had spoken from and the area where the reporters had been.

"First I will thank you all for putting up with all of this," Chavez spoke, "as I'm sure a lot of it will mean a lot of BIG changes for you."

"It is no problem," Goliath rumbled.

"I'm sure," Chavez answered, "Now, to move onto business."

Chavez then lifted up a map of Manhattan.

"Now, traditionally, officers are only to remain within their specific precincts unless specifically called," Chavez explained, "but since this is new, and there are so few of you, I've been allowed to tell you that all of Manhattan will be your 'precinct' to patrol."

The gathered gargoyles all nodded.

"It is the intention of the NYPD that you be teamed in two 'man' teams to patrol a section of the city and be on call for anything that the 23rd Precinct, or any of Manhattan's other precincts may require," Chavez explained, "your shifts will run from an hour after sunset, at the latest, to an hour before dawn, giving you plenty of time to make it back to the Eyrie Building and or shower as necessary."

"That would leave us rather thin in dealing with groups like the Pack," Goliath commented, "they would send everyone they had against the two that they found."

"Maybe, but the Pack was all caught in Thailog's attack on the Eyrie Building," Matt commented, "You have Canis and Vulpine, as Mr. X doesn't want the world to know what Sevarius did to him. We have Jackal, Hyena, and Wolf, and Shadow and Dreadnought were destroyed. The Pack shouldn't be a threat anymore, provided someone doesn't spring them."

"What about Holly though?" Elisa commented, "Thailog's sorceress managed to escape. She could either come back for Thailog's clan or for the Pack… or attack us."

"In terms of dealing with potentially serious threats, you can obviously call the rest of the clan for help, as well as other police units," Chavez answered, "Protocol will generally demand that you try to avoid such large battles and try to bring a criminal in 'peacefully', but given some of the strangeness that has gone on in this city, some things may just be unavoidable."

"We're bending a couple of rules to insure that you're not left totally defenseless," Matt added, "you can call for help if someone just attacks you… and that individual is stronger then you are, or it's a group that has the numbers to beat you."

Goliath and Elisa nodded, their prime concerns having been met. Chavez then continued.

"Now, I will remind you that you are assigned to only the precincts on Manhattan Island," Chavez spoke, "if any leads you follow take you outside of Manhattan, you will be granted the right of pursuit, so long as officers in that local area are the ones who officially make the arrest… though I'm sure you know that from your lessons."

Everyone nodded at that.

"So who will our partners be?" Brooklyn asked.

"I've gone over everything I can in an attempt to insure that the system will work out for the best," Chavez then sighed, "but considering that you all get along well, it was somewhat difficult and to be honest, I probably failed in do what I wanted to do."

There were a few puzzled glances that were exchanged.

"Ms. Axel, you and Ms. Wexmand will work together and will be responsible for the northern most portion of Manhattan," Chavez spoke, pointing towards a section of the map, "Brooklyn, Broadway, you will take the southern most portion of Manhattan."

"Right," the four gargoyles mentioned so far answered.

"Angela, Ms. Nexus, you will deal with this section of Manhattan here near the west side," Chavez instructed and pointed to a section of the city near Amy and Candy's patrol area. She then pointed to a section on the eastern side of Manhattan, "Desdemona, Elisa, you will take this section."

The four gargoyles all nodded.

"The rest of you will be placed in a position to be 'trainers' for the Avalon gargoyles that have come here," Chavez spoke, and pointed to a section just below Elisa and Desdemona's patrol zone, "Goliath, you will take Eve and patrol this sector."

Goliath nodded.

"Othello, you will take Ethan and patrol the northern part of Central Park," Chavez spoke, "Hudson, you will Sarah and patrol the southern part of Central Park."

"Lexington, you take Ian and patrol this sector," Chavez then spoke and pointed to the area south Angela and Caroline's patrol area.

"Right," they answered.

"Now, that will be the system to use once the Tibetan gargoyles have the time to return to their home," Chavez sighed, "For now, you will be working in shifts and that means your patrol zones will proportionately increase in order to cover the entire city."

"We've commonly done much the same in past," Goliath commented, "Each team can increase their zones as needed."

"Very good," Chavez nodded, "and for a while you may have to do that. The Mayor's Office and the City council has the expectation that you will all work the same 'shift', I'm not going to lie, but they will accept the split shifts, which we will do while you have responsibilities at the Castle to take care of."

The group nodded.

"For now, half of the clan will be on duty each night and will alternate with the portion of the clan that isn't on duty," Chavez explained, "Ms. Axel, Ms. Wexmand, Broadway, Brooklyn, Angela, Ms. Nexus, Desdemona, Elisa, you will all start tomorrow night. The rest will start the night after."

"Okay," Amy acknowledged her, "I hope we don't let you down."

"With Elisa to help all of you, I'm sure you won't," Chavez only sighed, "and in the meantime, I will also tell you that with you present position you will be given all the allowed benefits for NYPD officers, including sick days, vacation, days off… or for you nights off, and other benefits. We can not pay you as this was all done after this year's budget was decided by the city council, but that problem should be fixed for next year."

"A gargoyle doesnae need money to protect," Hudson grumbled.

"I'm sure," Chavez sighed, "but from a 'civil rights' standpoint, this is a starting point to bring you into New York society in general… so that that you're expected. As part of society, you will be expected to pay for goods… which will require money, and as much as Mr. Xanatos has been helping you, I doubt he'd be completely willing to pay for everything you might need for the rest of your lives."

"He understands, don't worry, Captain," Elisa told her.

That then reminded Chavez of something, and she then spoke with a slightly joking tone.

"And it would be appreciated that you call in before getting on a boat to magical island that has a strange time-differential and miss six months," Chavez made her joke while watching Elisa sigh heavily.

"I'm never going to live explaining that to you down, am I?" Elisa sighed.

"Probably not," Matt commented, "and if not the Captain, you know I'll have a joke or two."

**Castle Wyvern, Later**

The clan returned to the castle to find a small welcoming committee had been prepared. Xanatos, Fox, Owen holding Alex, Abigail Wexmand, and the Tibetan elders along with the hatchlings. The presence of the Tibetan gargoyles was somewhat surprising as they did not appear to want the clan to go to the ceremony unless it was on their terms, but no one wanted to start a fight.

"Is anything wrong?" Goliath found himself asking as he came in for a landing.

"No," Xanatos shook his head, "Quite the opposite, actually. The news gave fairly decent coverage of your official deputizing… and to make things official here… congratulations."

Goliath paused to look at the man who had been the clan's enemy when they first awakened to their protector after the Hunter's Moon incident. Putting on a slight smile, he shook the billionaire's hand. The 'bad blood' was all in the past.

"Thank you, Xanatos," Goliath rumbled in a polite voice.

"I'm kinda surprised you're still up, mom," Candy spoke as she approached her mother with Lexington by her side.

"Tonight was a big night for you," Abigail told her, "Did you honestly think I'd miss it?"

"Not deliberately," Candy answered, "your work keeps you busy, and I'm stone from dawn until dusk.."

"I know," Abigail spoke as lifted the pink web-wing up into a firm hug, "but I'm still your mother. Tonight was a big night for you, and like any responsible mother, I want to tell you how proud I am."

"You're proud of me?" Candy asked.

"Of course I am," Abigail smiled, "True, I never thought I'd see you doing police work for a living, but I am proud of you. I things had to be rough when you were first transformed, and my first reaction certainly didn't help… but you've overcome that. To me, it shows how much you've grown as an individual. And for it, I'm proud of you."

"Thanks mom," Candy smiled.

"You're welcome, dear," Abigail responded.

"What did Lawrence think of it?" Caroline asked to Owen who appeared to remain as stiff as ever.

"He requested that we tape the broadcast for him," Owen answered, "Saying something about a big test in the morning."

"So I have to wait until tomorrow night for my congratulations," Caroline chuckled, "If you'll excuse me, I'll just kiss him good night before taking over whatever is needed out here."

**Elsewhere, The Next Day**

The unknown man's hunch had proved right the previous evening. There weren't any stores open that late that sold the goods he needed for his project to try and truly gage how New Yorkers would really react to having gargoyle officers. His test largely involved creating a dummy 'gargoyle', one that he could spread a little mischief with. To be successful, he needed several items, most of which could only be purchased from various hobby stores, though some of the things on his list seemed to be even more novelty like then the store's sales clerk that was with him was prepared for.

"I don't think the make balsa wood at that size," the clerk told him after the unknown man finished his description.

"The model I am constructing requires wooden pieces of those dimensions," the unknown man insisted, "largely to serve as a frame."

"I would suggest a lumber yard then," the clerk told him, "you'll have to rethink how you're displaying this model as I don't think they sell balsa wood, but they do sell wooden boards of the dimensions you're specifying."

"The types of wood they use would be impractical for the purposes I have for it," the unknown man answered, "too much weight."

The man wasn't about to reveal his plan, as it would technically be considered a misdemeanor for causing a disturbance if it worked, but he would try to convey as much as he could without revealing everything.

"Are you intending to hang it from something?" the sales clerk asked.

"In a manner of speaking," the unknown man replied.

"What are you planning to hang it from? Do you know how strong the frame of the ceiling or roof that you're using is?" the sales clerk asked.

"What is the point of that?" the unknown man grumbled.

"Plenty, sir," the sales clerk explained, "a strong beam should be able to support the additional weight of a denser wood that you would get from a lumber yard, although you would still need to rethink how you're hanging it."

"It probably is more then strong enough, but the building ordinances are pretty firm against hanging things of excessive weight," the unknown man lied.

"You might want to then either consider reducing the size or altering your display method to using a stand rather then hanging it if building ordinances are coming into play," the sales clerk advised, "the only other option to hang this model would be to use a light wire frame, but that could be difficult given the exterior design you've described and I would warn you that it would not be as durable. One bump, and the whole project would be 'upset'."

"I don't intend to have anything bump into it," the unknown man lied, "maybe wire would work."

**Much Later**

The unknown man settled into a warehouse that appeared to be abandoned from major use. He had scouted it out the night before and that that is how he knew it was abandoned. And with no official business going on there, he now set up shop inside the warehouse to begin his little project. He had settled for working a wire frame rather then a wood frame. It would mean he'd need to be extremely careful in getting his intended creation to where he ultimately wanted to take it, but that was only a minor setback.

"The gargoyles want to patrol the city, let's see how the city responds to 'them' having a little fun while on duty," the man mused as he began weaving the wires to form the outline of he was trying to create.

His plan was to create a life sized dummy gargoyle and swing it at a height just above the walking height of people on the sidewalk. And this was to be his grand test. If they truly accepted the gargoyles, they might give some voice of annoyance at being 'buzzed' by a gargoyle, but that might be it. If not, they'd assume they were being attacked and it would start something bigger. And that would be the determining factor as to how the Mayor's decision was taken by the average New Yorker.

This would seem like a rather odd strategy to be taking, but for the unknown man, it was in his best interest to know how the city of New York would accept the gargoyles as officers. He had fairly big plans, and if the city backed the gargoyles, some of those plans would become more difficult to achieve as the gargoyles would arrive from positions better suited to stopping him then what one would normally expect from any police force. If not… the unknown man was fairly certain he could achieve all the goals that he had.

**Castle Wyvern**

Dusk came as it always did, and as the clan woke up, the knowledge that their first real steps to integration with the humans of New York was to begin. They would be going into official work alongside the NYPD. For Elisa, it was going back to work, but the principle is the same. It would represent great change for the clan with new trials and new ups and downs, though they were all fairly confident that they would be successful.

"Good luck, my love," Goliath offered his hope that everything went well for his mate. He had very much preferred to remain by her side, but the police department's rules and regulations were clear, those involved with each other on a personal or romantic level could not be partnered with one another.

Elisa felt herself relax as Goliath ran his knuckles over her weak brow-ridge while placing the other hand on her back, just above her tail. Instinctively, she didn't want to be separated from him either, but she had long known the NYPD's policy and had even used it when Jason first tried to join the police as part of the whole Hunter's Moon incident.

"It'll be alright big guy," Elisa told him, "this is a 'return' for me, you know that."

"The circumstances will be different for you now," Goliath rumbled in a low voice, "I just want you to be safe."

"I'm sure Desdemona will see to that," Elisa tried to comfort him, "She'll look after me, and I'll look after her."

Goliath only nodded. He then watched as the first shift departed for the night.

**23****rd****Precinct, Later**

The group arrived to find Matt seated at a desk that had been hastily set up in the attic area of the clock tower. Flariaty was present and was directing a couple of work crew members on where to place a second desk.

"Is is okay for her to be working?" Angela wondered aloud, "Didn't you say she has a concussion?"

"She's passed all the tests required for basic office work," Matt shrugged, "which is all that both of us will be getting while we're getting the new 'Gargoyles Task Force' up and running."

"With the obvious exception that gargoyles now make up this task force," Brooklyn quipped.

Matt nodded.

"So they're moving you up here?" Elisa asked as she looked around the rebuilt clock tower.

"As a sort of headquarters, yes," Matt nodded, "ultimately there will be desks for all you to fill out any and all necessary paperwork on. Captain felt it best that I headed up the operation. There are plenty of folks that want to see the Mayor's decision to deputize you guys fail, and I'm not talking about Maccio's Order of the Phoenix. I'm talking about badge carrying officers."

"Proving we're here to do good will take time," Amy commented, "all we need is the chance to prove that we are good."

"I'm sure, but if your boss is firmly against you, you will never get the chance to prove it," Matt answered, "He'll make sure that you either end up hating the job or look incompetent at it."

"They could counter that by saying you're looking at us through rose colored glasses," Elisa pointed out.

"They made comments like that with the FBI," Matt shrugged, "that didn't stop me."

"It did get you fired," Elisa pointed again.

"Maybe, but I was RIGHT!" Matt retorted, "It's not my fault they were either helping Hacker cover it up or were being kept in the dark by Hacker."

Elisa only shook her head.

"We're here to clock in for the night," Elisa sighed after a few moments.

Matt nodded as the task at hand returned to making sure that the clan could begin their roles as law enforcers, now with the law very much on their side! He reached into his desk and pulled out a legal pad. He then placed it on the desk where the clan could sign it. The date was the first thing written on it.

"Since your recruitment came after the city council set the city's budget, your position is being classified as a volunteer position," Matt explained, "but for bureaucratic purposes, they do want to know who comes in and for how long. You know your standard shifts, but as you know, Elisa, there are other guidelines that have to be followed as well."

"Make sure we're not over-worked," Elisa nodded, "although I think some of that will be negated by our alternating shifts with the rest of the clan."

Matt didn't respond to that as Elisa took a pen and wrote her name down underneath the date and wrote the time next to her name. She then passed the pen to the rest who wrote their names down along with the time.

"The locker rooms and showers are available to you at the end of your shift," Matt spoke as they prepared to leave for their patrols, "should you wish to use them… and if you need to contact me… best to leave a message with the dispatch officers and have them deliver it to me. They won't have phone lines running up here until tomorrow at the absolute earliest."

"Sucks being promoted, isn't it?" Elisa teased.

"Feels more like I've been incarcerated up here," Matt only grumbled as the gargoyles went out for their patrols.

**Rooftop**

Meanwhile, the unknown man had found a rooftop that would suit his purposes well. It was an older building that had plenty of shadows that he could hide in. Now, he doubted that his actions would go completely unnoticed. No one could be that stupid, but he doubted that anyone would really be able to pick him out of a lineup, which was the real thing. Crooks that were caught usually left some evidence behind or had someone deliver a description to the police that practically identified the criminal. The unknown man intended to keep that to a minimum as much as possible.

He was wearing gloves to insure that he'd leave no fingerprints and deliberately chose a building that had a roof that was well covered in shadows, both from structures on the roof and from the older buildings around it that were taller then it was. He had managed to carry his fake gargoyle to the roof with little trouble. No one stopped him, and he was fairly certain that no one had gotten a good look at him. He then looped the wire into the harness on the back of the fake gargoyle.

The next part of the operation was tricky. He needed to get a line suspended between the building he was on and another, largely brick, building across the street. He only had two viable options. One was to fabricate the need for a banner to be hung for whatever purpose and pay the money required to allow him to go through with it. It would have to connected to the gargoyle issue, of course, but it would allow him to use the dummy gargoyle openly and hide behind a prepared excuse for either reaction it would generate. But, that would take awhile to get done, by which point the issue that he was capitalizing on could pass and all that work would be for nothing.

The other option would be to fire a zip line across the span and swing the dummy gargoyle down quickly. It was the most criminal of his options, but given the shadows and the distance most would have to look to see him, it was doubtful that anyone would be able to give the police a description that would point slowly to him, and by using gloves, he wouldn't leave any fingerprints behind. And even if he was caught, the only crime they could make stick would be 'creating a public disturbance' which the unknown man was fairly confident that he could argue his way out of that with only a minor fine. He decided to take the gamble that he could fire the zip line, sling down the dummy gargoyle, and gain some reaction before anyone would notice him there. Once the reaction had really started he could move off to a different location and observe from there.

The unknown man then moved as much as possible into the shadows of the building he was on and readied the zip line launcher he had managed to sneak up to the roof. It wasn't very big, and the line certainly wouldn't be strong enough to hold his weight, which had been the real reason he was looking for as lightweight a material as possible to use in constructing the dummy gargoyle. It needed to be light weight so that it wouldn't snap the line and immediately reveal itself to be a dummy, but in the end, the weight problem was solved, though only just barely.

Once in position he fired the zip line and prepared for the next stage.

**At Street Level**

On the street, no one noticed the zip line fly through the air and those that heard it hit the brick of a nearby building dismissed it as something unimportant and didn't even look up. What they heard next sounded like a cloth flag blowing in the wind. A few did look up to see what looked like a gargoyle diving on them. It was an olive green with no visible wings and it was coming down at them as if to attack.

"What the devil?!" one man gasped and ducked down.

"It's a gargoyle!" another spoke, "It's attacking us!"

"I ain't done nothing!" a third person said defensively and ignoring all the rules of grammar.

Their shouts of surprise ended when the gargoyle crashed face first into a nearby building.

"They're blind?" a woman gasped.

"Hey that's a dummy!" a teenager pointed out as the 'gargoyle' hung limply where it crashed.

"Why would gargoyles attack us with a dummy?" the woman asked.

"Gargoyles wouldn't have done this," the first man spoke, "it's a dummy on a wire. If the gargoyles did it, they would have done it themselves, and they wouldn't have crashed into a wall besides!"

"How do you know?" the third man spoke, "It's plausible deniability! They use a dummy to say that they didn't do it!"

"Don't tell me that, that's as bad as Maccio's logic!" the first man argued

"Maybe Maccio is right!" the second man countered "It's all a conspiracy!"

"No he's not!" the teenager replied, "besides have you seen the female gargoyles? They all look to sweet to do something like this."

"And what do you know kid?" the second man growled grabbing the kid by the shirt.

"Hey! Let him go!" the first man argued and tried to push the man away.

The push knocked the guy back a few steps, but he did not release the teenager immediately. The first man, however, had no chance to try and help the teenager as the third man attacked him.

"Dirty gargoyle lover! The mayor never should have deputized them!" the third man shouted as he landed a strong blow to the first man's face, knocking him back, and breaking a couple of teeth.

Meanwhile on the rooftop, the unknown man did his best to remain in the shadows, but watched as a fist fight began to break out in the area where his dummy gargoyle ended up. It seemed that among his small group of test subjects the numbers were fairly equal between those who were supportive of the gargoyles and who was against them, but this was only a small sample of New York's population. It could be possible that most of the city's firmest supporters of gargoyles where here.

While he was observing the fight, he still remained in the shadows, just to make sure no human could identify him… although for the moment, humans should have actually been the least of his concerns.

**Over Manhattan, Not Too Far Away…**

Angela and Caroline, meanwhile, were gliding quietly along route that they were expected to take to patrol. They could hear chatter on the small 'walkie-talkie' devices Lex had built for the clan to use, though no one used it to call for them so far.

"Quiet night, so far," Angela commented.

"Maybe the crooks are just waiting for the night to end," Caroline guessed, "they know that if we catch them now, they can't just get off with 'a gargoyle caught me'… largely as we part of the police now… legitimate law enforcers."

Angela nodded at that. She could hear the pride in Caroline's voice at how far the clan had come from being persecuted beings living outside the law to being accepted members of society. Angela felt proud at that too. She honestly hoped that they and PIT would be successful at showing the world that gargoyles were good, and she could have no fear in inviting her brothers and sisters from Avalon to come visit, should Titania allow it.

As they rounded a corner, the silence was broken by what sounded like a fight. They looked down to see a large crowd of people fighting over something to the point where they had stopped traffic. Their sharp night vision also saw the zip line and the dummy gargoyle above the fighting people.

"So much for a quiet night," Caroline grumbled as they landed on the roof of one of the taller buildings in the area to report in.

"This is officers Angela and Nexus to dispatch, come in," Angela spoke into her 'communicator', "we have a potential riot in progress."

"Riot?!" came the dispatch officer's voice in her ear, "what did you do?!"

"We just found it, we didn't do anything to start it," Angela answered the anti-gargoyle cop's accusation, "they're punching each other up down there…"

"And it looks like we got a guy who is way too interested in watching the fight," Caroline commented as she noticed the unknown man.

"Where are you right now?" the dispatch officer asked.

Angela gave him the address where the fight had broken out and then waited a moment or two while the dispatch officer checked something. After about a minute or two he responded.

"We have been getting 9-11 calls from that address," the dispatch officer spoke, "and riot police are on the way. See if you can question this guy watching it, but try not to get involved with the fight until riot police can get there for back up."

"But they could do damage to the buildings around them, not to mention themselves," Angela spoke, "couldn't we try to talk them down?"

"Not proper protocol, and they could turn on you," the dispatch officer spoke, "and with only two of you, they could easily turn on you."

"Roger that," Angela sighed, "we'll see what this guy watching knows and keep an eye on the situation."

"So we're only going after this guy watching?" Caroline wondered as Angela looked over.

"We're not to deal with the fight until after enough 'riot police' arrive to gain control over the situation," Angela sighed, "I know it sounds rough, but that looks like twenty people fighting twenty people. We can't stop them without diving on them, and that could make things worse."

Caroline nodded with a heavy sigh.

"Let's see what our spectator has to say," Caroline sighed.

**On the Rooftop**

The unknown man was fairly focused on the chaos that had erupted because of his stunt with the dummy gargoyle. It didn't give him all the answers he wanted, but he was captivated by the impromptu display of combat going on below him. He was so engrossed in watching the fight that he did not notice that he was no longer alone until he heard a rather sarcastic sounding voice speak from behind him.

"Mind if we join you?" the voice asked.

He jumped and turned to see two female gargoyles standing there. One was a dark blue wearing a red shirt and light blue cut-of denim shorts. The other was a shade of lavender wearing what looked like a medieval tunic and lion-cloth. Police badges hung on chains that went around both of their necks.

"It's not what it looks like," the man blurted, too startled to think of anything coherent.

"You're not watching a riot?" Angela questioned as she came forward, "a riot I'd tend to think you started."

"I didn't start it," the unknown man swore.

"Then who did?" Caroline questioned as she came along to stand on his other side, "You were clearly watching it, and…" she then strummed the zip-line like a guitar string, "… I'd think that this was used in setting the fight off down there."

"I didn't launch it," the unknown man answered, silently cursing himself at letting himself get caught.

"Then who did?" Caroline pushed a little, "you had to have seen someone. This fight hasn't been going on for hours. We're the first officers to arrive."

"I don't know," the man said somewhat defensively.

"You don't…" Angela raised a brow ridge, and then sighed, "Please stand over there for a moment… Caroline, can you keep an eye on things down there. Make sure no one is killed and keep an eye out for riot police."

"No problem," Caroline spoke.

Angela then moved the unknown man to a separate area. Once there, she began to pat him down for anything that might be hidden.

"Is this really necessary?" the man asked.

"I don't trust you when you say you don't know anything," Angela answered, "you have to know something. Right now I'm checking to make sure you're not hiding anything. If you have anything hidden, you will be arrested for at least causing a public disturbance."

The man then stood by nervously as Angela completed a basic search of his person, which netted the zip-line launcher that he had stashed away in one of his coat pockets to insure nothing was left behind. Angela looked at this and then at the zip-line and then to Caroline who was keeping an eye on things at ground level.

"You're under arrest," Angela then spoke as she turned back to the unknown man, "anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law…"

Caroline, meanwhile, watched the fight going on below them while Angela continued to go through the man's Miranda Rights. Every protective instinct she had told her to go down and directly stop the fight, but with only her and Angela there, and the two of them no responsible for looking after a prisoner, if the crowd turned on them, they could be in trouble. Part of her wished she had a bull-horn to try and talk all these people into calming down from the relative safety of the rooftop.

The fighting on the ground remained dramatic, as a few people had already been knocked unconscious, with the fact that the fight had already stopped traffic in the area being a source of relief for those who had been knocked out.

"This is officer Nexus to dispatch," Caroline spoke into her own radio, "they're still fighting each other here. People have been knocked out! How long until the riot police arrive?"

"They're being slowed by traffic," the dispatch officer answered, "they have about ten minutes more to get there."

"TEN MINUTES?!" Caroline nearly roared.

"Do you know what caused this riot?" the dispatch officer changed the topic.

"We think a guy on a nearby roof started it with some sort of prank involving a dummy gargoyle," Caroline answered, "He's been denying it though…"

"He might not have done it, unless you've seen him do it," the dispatch officer spoke.

"We've got evidence that proves he's lying," Caroline told him.

"Oh," was the only response she received, and it sounded reluctant, "Hold him until the riot police arrive."

"Can you vector Elisa and Desdemona in… possibly Brooklyn and Broadway as well?" Caroline asked, "this is getting out of hand. We need to do SOMETHING before some one is killed."

"I'll try," the dispatch officer answered, "but you are not to do anything until we have enough numbers to make sure that no one is seriously hurt."

"We're too late for that," Caroline sighed to herself.

"Ten minutes?" Angela asked.

"That's how long he said it would take the riot police to get here, considering the traffic," Caroline commented.

"That is too long, and we need to stop this," Angela spoke.

"You're right, guard him," Caroline answered and leaped from the rooftop.

On the ground, the fighting between the two groups continued and was becoming increasingly desperate. At first traffic continued on as normal, but as the fight began to spread out into the streets, it stopped traffic and drew the anger of several drivers, many of whom ended up being pulled into the fight by their own voicing of their anger at the fight itself. The result was a mess, and no one really even knew what the fight was even about anymore. It finally paused when a shout echoed down from above them.

"STOP THIS AT ONCE!" a voice yelled down from above.

Nearly everyone stopped as a dark blue female gargoyle landed in the middle of where the fight was. Her sudden arrival served to shock many.

"Stop this madness!" Caroline repeated her command as he moved over and pulled a couple of people apart who hadn't quite got the message.

"Why, you gargoyles started this!" a man accused.

"Pardon, I only just arrived," Caroline growled back, "you all look like you've been fighting for awhile. You've knocked people out, you've stopped traffic. I am here to stop this and restore order."

"It's your garg-lovers to arrest, as well as yourself!" a second man shouted.

"Take that back!" a third man yelled .

The two men lunged forward only to run into Caroline's outstretched right wing. They both ended up on the ground from the impact.

"As I said, I have only just arrived," Caroline spoke, "you've all been reeking havoc for a while now."

"Oh yeah, well how do you explain that?" the first man pointed to the damaged dummy gargoyle.

"That's a dummy, launched by a HUMAN on that building over there," Caroline pointed to the building where Angela and the unknown man there, "my partner has the man who launched it down here in custody."

"Prove it!" the first and second man shouted.

"If we wanted to harass you, why would we need a dummy?" Caroline asked back, "from what it looks to me, the dummy was launched from that roof, slid along the zip-line, came over here at head level and smacked into the wall. You all overreacted and started fighting each other… over a dummy."

"You still have to prove you didn't launch it," the first man growled, poking Caroline in her collarbone.

"We have wings of our own," Caroline answered, "if we wanted to duplicate what that dummy has started down here, we would not have bothered to use a dummy, we would have done so ourselves. Common sense is the proof. Forensics will likely confirm that it was the human that we've arrested that launched the dummy."

"See, they didn't even do it," a badly beaten looking teenager challenged.

"Well of course you believe it, garg-lover!" the second man growled, but was stopped from advancing by Caroline.

"You may not like gargoyles, but the fact remains that we are now officers of the law," Caroline answered, "and this fight has created a public disturbance and stopped traffic. Now, you tell me, is opposing gargoyles worth dragging the entire city down? Because I know there are far more civil options that ALL of you could have taken."

"Yeah is it?" one of the drivers yelled from his car, "I'm late for work because you all decided to have yourself a fistfight in the street!"

The first and the second man didn't answer as they knew that Caroline had a point there. They didn't like the gargoyles, but they didn't want to incite a riot or stop traffic, and by participating in the fight they had done exactly what they didn't want to do. Caroline watched their response closely as she needed to be ready to get away if the anti-gargoyle people turned on her since the riot police still had not arrived.

As she finished looking around though, the riot police finally arrived, on foot, with shields ready to contain a fight, which Caroline through the shock and surprise of her arrival had stopped. Caroline only sighed as they arrived.

**23****rd****Precinct, Later**

"Cutting it a little close, are we?" Matt teased as Caroline and Angela made their way back into the Precinct's clock-tower, "dawn isn't too far off."

"We still have time to make it back to the castle," Caroline answered, "and we would have been back sooner if it weren't for the riot we ran into…"

"I know," Matt nodded, "Just a little teasing."

"They were fighting over a dummy that some idiot had launched," Caroline told him, "it was just… stupid."

"Things are that way," Matt commented, "be glad that your 'task force' won't ever be assigned to working with the dispatch section. They've had to deal with things far more stupid then that, including an elderly person wanting help opening some bottle around the house."

Caroline slowly nodded.

"But look at it this way," Matt then spoke, "You're making progress. No one told me of you being involved in the fight."

"In fact one of the riot guys that called us told us that you stopped the fight," Flariaty commented from her desk.

"One step at a time, then," Angela commented, "One step at a time."

**The End…**


	51. Instigating Chaos

All characters appearing in Gargoyles and Gargoyles: The Goliath Chronicles are copyrighted to Buena Vista Television/The Walt Disney Company. I've taken the idea for the Unseelie Court from the TGS. Characters and concepts from Star Trek are property of Paramount and created by Gene Roddenberry. No Infringement of these copyrights is intended, and is not authorized by the copyright holder. All original characters are the property of SN.

Note: I'm disregarding the events of the "Goliath Chronicles", with the exception of "The Journey" because I do not wish to use the rest of the "Goliath Chronicles" as canon to my story. Also, I'm altering large sections of the Star Trek storyline, especially concerning events like WWIII and the Eugenics Wars, which without the Cold War as a backdrop probably wouldn't happen the way Roddenberry wrote them, if at all. This story takes place one day after "Case No. 1".

Instigating Chaos

By SN/TVfan

Email: Sam_Nary

**Castle Wyvern**

"So now the next shift will take its turn," Goliath rumbled in a low voice after awakening from stone sleep.

"Yes," Elisa nodded from beside him, "Largely the same as has been done before… except now you're legal and officially, attacking you will bring with it legal penalties as well as the bruises you'd surely give them."

Goliath looked over to her.

"And on the plus side, eventually we'll either draw a wage or a salary," Elisa quipped, "You'll be paid to protect."

The simplistic delivery made Goliath think for a moment that his clan had been reduced to being simple mercenaries, but he knew the subject of 'pay' was more complicated then the way Elisa put it, and that he also knew that Elisa knew it as well.

"This sounds like it will lead to more of what you call 'paperwork'," Goliath commented.

"Just wait till you have to file a tax return," Elisa chuckled.

Goliath could only chuckle.

"Come on, your shift will be heading out soon," Elisa sighed, "and the rest of us have hatchlings to watch. Best to get to breakfast."

Goliath nodded and followed her.

Getting breakfast was a rather routine event, though those that would have their first shift with the NYPD were in a bit more of a hurry then the others. Though anticipation of the work did have its own curiosity.

"So, how did it go last night?" Eve asked to Caroline and Candy who were eating their breakfast.

Lexington sat beside his mate and was fairly curious on the issue, since he didn't patrol with Candy, but he was also more used to it in a way.

"The patrolling isn't too different from what you've done before," Candy commented, "you'll be expected to report more to the dispatch officer then before, but you know that."

"There is the part of the jealous women," Caroline grumbled.

"Jealous women?" Eve asked nervously.

"Some of Elisa's policewoman friends got a little jealous over things," Caroline answered with a sigh…

**23****rd****Precinct, The Night Before**

Caroline and Angela had brought their suspect back to the 23rd and had the man in the station's interrogation room. Flariaty was there to supervise basic procedure was followed, and included the questioning in the new 'Gargoyles Task Force' was included in the first reports to the 23rd's 'leader', Captain Chavez.

"Can we start with your name, sir?" Angela asked, "we can not just call you by pronouns for a male…"

"Very detail oriented, very interesting," the unknown man commented, "very interesting."

"Your name," Caroline gave a low growl.

"You may call me John Doe," the man answered.

Caroline and Angela glanced to Flariaty, who only shrugged.

"Very well, John," Angela continued, "can you tell us why you had the dummy gargoyle?"

"I…" John began to deny the charge.

"Forensics did confirm that you had fired the dummy gargoyle," Caroline answered, "and in doing so, caused a riot. We want to know why?"

John Doe looked down for a moment before he actually answered the question.

"It was a test really," John Doe answered slowly.

"A test?" Angela asked.

"Yes, a test," John Doe answered, "things have been changing rapidly here in New York of late. I merely wished to see what the reaction to all these changes has been."

"To see if New York supports gargoyles or doesn't support gargoyles," Angela surmised.

"Yes," John Doe answered with a nod, "that is exactly it."

"Couldn't you have just opened up some public poll?" Caroline questioned, "it might have prevented the riot that you caused."

"I have found polls to be inaccurate," John Doe answered, "especially when it comes to issues of race. No one in this country will admit it, but 'minorities' are hated by the majority of the white populace. Your kind has merely replaced the African, the Native American, the Latino, and the Asian American as the principle target."

"Things can not be that bad," Angela replied in a sort of disbelieving voice.

"Believe what you will," John Doe commented, "but your kind is in for a long road to gain equality."

"You still had no cause to start a riot," Caroline said firmly.

"Perhaps you are right there and I overdid it a little," John Doe answered, "and for that I'm sorry… I really didn't intend for anything like a riot to break out."

Caroline and Angela then looked to Flariaty again as if for guidance on what to do. Matt's present partner only shrugged.

"That's about all we can really get," Flariaty sighed, "he's been read his rights, denied to request an attorney, and has admitted to causing the riot for what would appear to be fairly innocent goals. I can finish the processing of him. You two had best shower before making your final report to Matt."

Angela then led Caroline out and began to walk slowly toward the locker rooms that the officers used to store soap and other personal items.

"I still do not understand these communal showering concept," Angela commented, "shouldn't one's body be private?"

"Broadway's seen you naked, hasn't he?" Caroline asked.

"He is my mate, the one who will sire my eggs," Angela answered, "It is different with him."

"From what I've heard from Hudson, the clan was big on this 'communal' stuff in the Middle Ages," Caroline commented, "wouldn't Princess Katherine have tried to raise you the way the clan raised its hatchlings before the massacre?"

"The Princess hated the clan before the massacre," Angela answered, "You know that from Hudson. She didn't know how the clan operated, so when the massacre showed her how wrong she and the Magus had been, they didn't know how the clan raised its hatchlings. I and my brothers and sisters were raised the way Katherine would have raised her own children if she ever would had any."

"I see," Caroline sighed.

The two continued silently for a moment before Caroline spoke again.

"I know this seems weird, but at least we'll all be female," Caroline said slowly, "there shouldn't be any men in the women's locker room… and I don't really know or sure. Maybe they have individual stalls to use."

"But why do humans do things like this?" Angela asked, "from what I've seen, humans do not have the same communal practices that the old clan had."

"I don't know," Caroline commented, "the system extends to a lot of things that we… that society doesn't consider 'private'. School… the police… the fire department… these are all institutions aimed to help society as a whole, so maybe they're a bit more 'communal' then the norm… or maybe it all boils down to money. It's cheaper to make the showers communal. As I said I don't truly know the exact reason."

"And you just accept it?" Angela asked.

"Amy, Candy, and I lived with it all our lives," Caroline answered, "we've accepted it because we've never known any other expectation. There are some things that require 'communal' showering… and since everyone is female, there has been no problem."

Again there was a silence for a moment.

"Can you deal with all of this?" Caroline asked after a moment, "from the way you've said things, it sounds like there is something more then just showering that is troubling you."

"I am uneasy about this," Angela answered, "being naked in front of strangers."

"It will only be females," Caroline answered, "you have nothing any woman hasn't seen on herself before."

"I'm sure," Angela answered slowly, "but that does not make it less embarrassing."

Caroline raised a brow-ridge. Angela only sighed.

"It happened before you and your friends joined the clan… before Elisa was even transformed," Angela answered, "I was showering to clean my hair. But the castle's plumbing has had so many improvements done by Xanatos that no one could hear the water running."

"One of boys accidentally walked in on you?" Caroline inquired.

"Elisa, actually," Angela replied, "but I didn't want anyone to see me naked, and it could have been one of the 'boys' as you put it."

"At least it was Elisa and nothing she saw was new," Caroline whispered.

"It was still embarrassing," Angela whispered back, "and it leaves me somewhat uncomfortable."  
"Everyone is uncomfortable with it from time to time," Caroline answered, "believe me."

Angela only sighed and they continued on their way. They found the other female clan members on shift heading into the locker room

"How did things go for you two?" Elisa asked as she held the door open.

"Had to stop a riot caused by some nut who wanted to see if the people on New York liked us or not," Angela answered, "More frustrating I suppose then anything else."

"I know," Elisa gave a soft chuckle, "though for police work, the annoyances may be more tolerable then the big problems. Less paperwork that way."

They then slowly made their way into the women's locker room. As they entered there were a row of stalls and a couple of sinks, so that no one outside the locker room would see anything improper, even by accident. The group then slowly made their way toward a side wall that didn't fully enclose the bathroom section of the room but lead to the lockers and the showers.

The clan's lockers were all together on one section with one or two other people there as well. Caroline went quietly to hers and began to get ready to shower before making their final report for the night. There were a few others there. She did her best to focus on her own preparations, but she could guess that Angela and even Candy were somewhat uncomfortable with the idea.

"Damn," a voice spoke from the showering area.

That made Caroline pause and look up to see a couple of female human officers wrapped in towels and holding small bags of bathing supplies. Both of them were looking at them with almost wide eyes.

"Hearra, Rodriguez," Elisa responded, referring to them by their last names, which made Caroline assume that Elisa knew them before she had been transformed, "Is something wrong?"

The first woman, Hearra, blushed in embarrassment, "sorry."

The other woman was a bit more direct.

"It's just…" Rodriguez said, "damn. You don't do anything small do you?"

This made Caroline give a heavy sigh. She glanced back to see the state the other females were in. Desdemona and Candy were completely nude, though Candy was trying to hide behind her web-wings. Elisa, Amy, Angela, and herself were down to either their underwear or shorts. Despite this it gave the two women a sight that apparently made them jealous. The object of their jealousy was all too clear, the breasts of the female gargoyles present.

"I did not become a gargoyle for cosmetic reasons," Elisa answered, covering her tan breasts with her wings.

"Sure…" Rodriguez accepted the answer, "but… damn those are big."

"Gargoyle hatchlings generally drink more milk then human infants," Desdemona answered, "I suppose it would be logical to assume that our sizes are to better feed our own offspring."

Caroline wondered if the golden female had learned that sort of stuff from Candy, or her form as Coldfire was somehow linked to the internet and she learned that way. Not that the answer really persuaded Rodriguez, though.

"You sure there isn't some other explanation?" Rodriguez asked, "some sort of pill, perhaps?"

"No, all of this was a result of being turned into a gargoyle," Elisa answered and went by her.

Caroline and the others began to follow, carrying their bathing supplies with them.

"Damn," Rodriguez answered and then paused for a moment, "we'll be behind you, Maza."

"Thanks, I guess," Elisa said slowly and carried on into shower.

**Castle Wyvern, Present**

"They were jealous of you over that?" Eve gasped in shock, none o her sisters on Avalon were ever jealous over those sorts of things, and Princess Katherine was never bothered by it.

Caroline only nodded. It was Candy who gave a vocal answer.

"Human women are not 'built' equally," Candy said slowly, "some are bigger then others…"

"And men seem to like those who are bigger," Caroline grumbled.

"…and this leads to some competition or rivalry between women, as everyone wants to be loved," Candy finished, "which results in rather childish behavior. To be honest, I had thought those two officers would be more mature about this sort of thing by now."

"There is much about human culture that seems so…" Eve begin, "alien to me."

"I'm sure," Candy answered, "but this is all 'small potatoes' stuff in comparison to other things that could be problems for gargoyles in the future. Both of them did say they were supportive in regards to the clan."

"They are supportive of Elisa," Caroline corrected, "we don't know how they view gargoyles."

Candy only sighed, and the group worked to finish their breakfast. Once breakfast was over, they began to continue to go into what was quickly becoming routine for the clan. Part of it stayed with the Tibetan elders and the Guatemalan gargoyles to look after the Tibetan hatchlings while the rest headed out for their shift with the police.

"Remember to keep your calm, big guy," Elisa said to Goliath before he left, "being official may seem frustrating, but it has to be done."

"Of course," Goliath rumbled and rubbed her brow-ridges.

Those that would be patrolling for the night then took to the air and began to head toward the 23rd Precinct. As they went, Eve moved up to glide beside the Manhattan Clan leader.

"I hope I do not let you down," Eve said to him.

Goliath looked back to her with some puzzlement. Eve, Ethan, Ian, and Sarah had been with his clan for awhile and had faced their fair share of villains, from muggers and common street criminals to the Unseelie Court. He was certain that they had picked up enough experience that he didn't need to worry them 'letting him down'.

"I'm sure you will do fine," Goliath rumbled to reassure her, "remember the patrols with the clan that you've already done and remember what you learned in the training sessions, and you should do fine."

"I hope so," Eve answered.

**Elsewhere in Manhattan**

The cougar based mutate, Fang, sat alone inside an empty section of Manhattan's sewer tunnels. Most if not all of the events that had been going on in Manhattan were not known entirely to him. Mostly because of his mutated form. While people would likely mistake him for a gargoyle, he still knew that he couldn't just waltz into a store and buy what he needed, even if he didn't have a criminal record.

But Fang did know of a few things that had gone on. He wasn't that stupid and he wasn't without the means to get information. News stands were pretty easy to hit, and there were the various distribution machines that didn't have a vendor manning them. Fang actually found them to be the easiest to hit as the activity would be termed 'vandalism' and wouldn't attract as much attention.

As a result of this, Fang had learned that the clan had been deputized by the city and that it was controversial, but that was about all he knew. Though not that Fang had any real concern about this. He was never much more then a bully and a thug. His failed attempt to take over the Labyrinth had depended on joining forces with a pair of human thugs and bullying Claw into serving him. And his plan for the Labyrinth? Merely to have the people wait on him and tell him how great he was, and he was easily out fought by Talon and the gargoyles. So, while Fang knew the clan's position had become official, he had no idea how deal with that situation, as it was beyond a common thug.

And as a thug, Fang was best served as the hired muscle for some 'bigger' boss. Serving Demona and Thailog, and then more recently, the clone of Thailog. He didn't have clue as to how Demona would respond to this, but he was fairly sure Thailog would voice some curiosity at the entire situation. Thailog would want to exercise some test to see what he could get away with, and then act accordingly. As a thug, however, there was only one thing on Fang's mind at the moment, was his wonderings about how he would feed himself and how he would acquire money.

He had grown accustomed to serving the Thailog clone and was used to having these basic needs provided for him. The searching of Maddox Technologies had removed that comfortable lifestyle and Fang was once again having to live the life of a small time thug with no master. For a moment he had thought of returning to the Labyrinth, as they would feed him there, but he didn't want to be behind bars, and he doubted he would ever come in to a position where he could challenge Talon.

That left him with hitting vending machines for food, and taking whatever change was in them at the time. It was a step down from what he was used to, but it was all he could do, outside of robbing a convenience store. As his hunger grew, Fang departed, looking for some score that would make his life easier.

**Manhattan Apartment**

"So, what happened today?" the blood red female gargoyle, known as Holly, asked the two people standing behind her.

"There were continued protests against the mayor concerning the 'deputizing' of the gargoyles, and the recent riot was added as fuel to the proverbial fire," the man answered.

"It has not changed the mayor's opinion though," the woman added though.

Holly only nodded in response. Thailog's defeat in his final battle against Goliath's clan had been just as damaging for her as it had been for Fang, perhaps even more so, considering that she had to use her magic to escape from prison as well. Her mate, Thailog, was gone. Dead according to all the news reports that Holly had received. Maddox Technologies was under investigation and it looked like the company was going to implode, taking the robot Thailog with it. Holly knew she wouldn't be able to get anything she owned there

But unlike Fang who was returned to his roots as a common thug on the street by Thailog's defeat, Holly was perfectly capable of recovering from the defeat. She knew she was smarter then the mutate, but her recovery came more from a different factor. Holly's skills as a sorceress, which made finding a place to stay and securing it easy. Holly spent the time immediately after her escape underground, but once she had a full night to work with, she returned to the area above the sewers to prepare her recovery and her next course of action.

She had chosen a Manhattan apartment from an upper middle class part of the borough, which belonged to a Martin and Wilma Ere. The two had jumped at Holly's arrival, but one quick spell left the two humans as the entranced… enslaved… individuals that were reporting to Holly what had gone on during the day. In terms of the 'writing' of the spell, it was no different from the spell Demona had used on Goliath (or was using on Khan's supermen in Tibet), but Holly had found that while the spell's wording was fairly simple, its application could go much further.

Those who had used the spell before had commonly used it to turn a person or gargoyle into a mindless drone to battle for the spell caster. And from what Molly had read, though, the spell had far more potential then just creating a mindless drone, though to do so required some cleverness that Holly guessed a lot of earlier spell casters either didn't have or didn't consider trying.

Holly, however, did consider herself to be clever. The spell that enslaved the Eres to her left them without an independent will, but with some carefully organized commands from Holly, they were as intelligent as they were before. They still went about their normal lives, but this served Holly's purpose of using them as information gatherers and insured that ultimately Holly's own needs would be met. But they were not free. Holly had worded her orders well enough that Mr. and Mrs. Ere remained enslaved to her.

"Well," Holly said slowly, "that is good news for the clan then, isn't it… the mayor not changing his position?"

Her two slaves did not answer, but then, they weren't supposed to. They were to provide and protect Holly along with being her eyes and ears in the city, so she could know what had gone on during the day. She could watch the news, but the stations that focused on the news exclusively were covering other things deemed more important the rights of gargoyles, and the stations carrying local news weren't showing the news at that time. So, Holly relied on her slaves and might watch the news later.

As for her personal plans for the future, she wasn't sure what to really do. She did desire the opportunity for power, but taking over Manhattan was impossible. With Thailog and Maddox Technologies gone, she had no power base from which to attack. Now, she knew she could simply enslave some CEO the way she enslaved Eres, but given the fact that she was a wanted fugitive from the law and Goliath's clan was surely looking for her. And since many CEOs had so much attention paid to them, if something was done that seemed out of character, that might draw the 'deputized' gargoyles down on her, which she couldn't afford.

Now, she guessed that being elected into office was a possibility, but that would take time to erase her criminal record, even with magic. On top of that, with anti-gargoyle groups like the Order of the Phoenix about, she didn't see herself winning elected office as a gargoyle. Crushing them was an idea, but that would be tricky, since she'd need to make it look like a gargoyle was not the perpetrator of the crime. That would take time, though.

And there was Goliath's clan itself. Outside of Elisa, she had no real hatred for the clan, and a part of her considered enslaving Goliath to serve as a replacement for Thailog, but she dismissed it. For the most part her problem with the clan was their attitude. She could accept the 'protecting the city' explanation, but she didn't like selfless aspect of it that Goliath's clan followed. Humans never did anything without making sure there was some way they could profit from it. Even celebrities 'giving' to charity. For them it was more of a 'hey look at me being generous' rather then any concern for those the charity wanted to help. And then there were the political wing nuts who had found loopholes in the tax codes that by donating to charity they could lower their federal income taxes and possibly even get a good portion of that money back on a tax return. Those people weren't charitable, they merely hated the government, and Holly was certain that if they didn't HAVE to pay taxes, they wouldn't donate to charity. As far as Holly was concerned, doing something for nothing was stupid.

Dealing with Goliath's clan would be the difficult thing for her future. The only one she really wanted to kill was Elisa, but the others… if it weren't for the fact that they opposed her and had opposed Thailog, Holly found that the others to have some potential use. But they would oppose her, now with the NYPD behind them. Now, with her powers she was stronger then any of them, but if they attacked her together and the police backed them up, she might be over-powered. Defeating Goliath's clan would take numbers, which she didn't have.

Getting the numbers would be difficult. She could launch a raid on the prison that the surviving members of Thailog's 'organization' were sent to, and she would rapidly regain the forces needed to consider a fight with Goliath's clan. That would restore the Pack to her, along with Granite, Bertha, Liz, Buzz, Rage, Lucifer, and Thorn to her, but that would require a major battle with the guards to get into the prison, and then a larger battle with the police and Goliath's clan to get out. That would attract more attention then she wanted. She wanted the defeat of Goliath's clan to be subtle, as a big open battle might sway the political decisions that gave Holly her ideas for political power.

Her next option would be to use her magic to create a new clan, but that was rejected even faster then rescuing Thailog's supporters was. The only ones that might support her and follow her would be common criminals, but with no base like Maddox Technologies, such a move would have the same result as freeing Thailog's followers would. Too much attention and viewed escalation. There was also the problem that she would likely have to persuade a bunch of new gargoyles to follow her, and she didn't want that frustration.

Her next option would be to enslave Goliath's clan the way she had the Eres, but ultimately she turned that down as well. This came from her knowledge that the clan had battled sorcerers sorceresses before. She might be able tool Eres' neighbors, friends, and employers with her trick, but the likely didn't know her magic even existed. The clan would at least suspect her involvement and might be able to pick up on the spell's presence as they had learned to recognize these things.

That left her with one option, spread Goliath's clan and the police thin with various acts of chaos and over time pick his clan off one by one until only Elisa remained. Then, Holly might risk a more open engagement, as the fight would satisfy her own personal want for revenge. Then she could turn to taking over the city. That way she could carry out her long term plans without serious opposition.

"And what is a little chaos among rivals, eh?" Holly spoke to her slaves, who again did not answer, "It keeps the mind sharp."

**23****rd****Precinct**

Goliath and the others quietly landed and went inside the police clock tower, which was now the headquarters for the NYPD's current Gargoyle Task Force. Matt and Flariaty were both waiting for them. Goliath slowly led the group as they went to 'clock in'.

"Good evening, Detective," Goliath rumbled politely.

"Good evening to all of you," Matt replied and let them all sign in before starting the night shift.

"Good evening," Flariaty said from where she was.

"Did anything happen during the day that we should be aware of?" Goliath asked, trying to be careful.

"Nothing really criminal has gone on during the day," Matt signed, "Maccio's people have continued their protests, but that isn't a crime. It isn't right, but it's still legal."

"And what is the specific problem 'e has wi us now?" Hudson wondered, his accent coming through heavily.

"His present argument is that your presence is the cause for the riot last night," Matt sighed, "that if the city had arrested you after Thailog's attack, there wouldn't have been a riot."

"Essentially blaming you for his racism," Flariaty grumbled.

"And you're sure nothing can be done?" Ian asked.

"Not unless they commit a crime the way the Quarrymen did," Matt replied, "there is no law against racism. It would violate the First Amendment right of free speech, and various groups, not just the Order of the Phoenix, use it as their shield to voice whatever empty headed opinion they have."

The present gargoyles nodded. They did not like what Ralph Maccio was doing, but they weren't about to swoop down him because they didn't like him. Such action would be wrong and against everything the clan had been trying to establish since they were revealed to the people of New York.

Matt meanwhile went to a large map of Manhattan that was placed on pegboard suspended by a wooden frame.

"And the Order of the Phoenix is nothing but noise for the moment," Matt sighed, "Unpleasant maybe, but not a concern for you guys. Basic uniformed officers have monitored their protests."

"I suppose we are to be saved for the 'bigger' problems?" Othello wondered aloud.

"In a way," Matt sighed, "Right now we're still trying to prove to people like Maccio that you aren't monsters."

Everyone sighed heavily at that. It seemed that some battles went on forever, and dealing with prejudiced humans was one of the.

"In the meantime, we gotten some reports in that are being directed for you guys to hunt down… keep an eye out for… however you want to put it," Matt began as he turned to the map.

"What is it?" Goliath asked, sensing some nervousness.

He had learned that there were some crimes were more shocking to Elisa then others, and some crimes made her more nervous then others. He had since guessed that a similar principle applied to the other officers, though what crimes they would find shocking would probably vary with the officer.

"It's more the 'who' then the 'what' actually," Matt said with a sigh, "the crimes have been nothing more then petty crime and vandalism on the south side of the city. The reports on these cases have been coming in over the past couple of days… since the battle against Thailog… and we've gotten enough reports to give us a good guess as to who might be doing this."

Matt motioned to the southern section of the city with a pencil and then turned to a desk nearby to continue the briefing.

"It's been vending machines and newspaper dispensers that have been robbed," Matt continued, "which normally wouldn't require much more then basic surveillance, but with these cases…it might require more then that. The newspaper dispensers have been pulled open, and by hand, as the stand wasn't uprooted from the ground… and the we actually had some CSI officers check the vending machines because of some surveillance camera footage that was also recorded in connection with these crimes."

"The cameras and the CSI officers confirmed who the criminal is," Flariaty spoke, "the vending machines were blown out by the result of an electrical overload, and one of the security cameras caught a winged furry shape fleeing the scene."

"Fang," Goliath growled in a low voice, knowing that many of the clan's old foes that hadn't had a history of going in and out of prison, like the Pack, were now known to the Police as a whole. Only Xanatos and Fox had escaped that, and that was because they had essentially called a truce after the clan saved Alex.

"Yes," Matt nodded, "Our best guess is that Thailog didn't have a hidden base for him to flee to, and he's been living off the streets."

"And we're to be sent after him," Goliath surmised.

"Yes," Matt nodded, "with his powers, he could be a real threat to pubic safety if he ever gets some brains."

Those that had faced Fang before nodded.

"Can ye contain, him, lad?" Hudson asked after a few moments.

"The guys at Rikers seem confident… though I think that's because since Xanatos's feud with you guys ended, he's been privately providing the funding and designs for cells that can contain crooks like Fang," Matt sighed, "probably to atone for some of his more dangerous mistakes… like the Pack…"

"But the people at Rikers are confident the upgrades will work," Flariaty finished, "from there, we can only hope. So far, Thailog's gargoyles and the Pack haven't escaped."

"So far," Goliath grumbled, "we'll be heading out now. We'll let you know if we find anything tonight."

Matt nodded as the group headed out for their patrol for the night.

**Outside**

Holly watched quietly from a hidden vantage point as the gargoyles of the new Gargoyle Task Force left the 23rd Precinct headquarters. Most seemed to head in a southerly direction, but Hudson and Sarah headed north. Holly was also careful to note that Elisa was not among this patrol group. Which meant to her that Elisa had either left earlier or wasn't part of the shift on duty that night. However, she had little intention of searching the city to see if Elisa was on duty. She sincerely wanted to destroy the tan female, but she wasn't going to take any major risk of getting caught by the police or Xanatos searching for Elisa.

"I wonder why they all went south," Holly commented to herself, omitting Hudson and Sarah, "Is something going on there?"

She then glanced back to the tower and saw that there were no external cameras at that height. It made her wonder what the city was thinking. Gargoyles were well known in Manhattan now. Rooftop surveillance cameras were a must because a 'gargoyle' could break into any building from the roof.

"Well, I guess I can always find out," Holly smirked and then leaped into the air and glided to the precinct building.

Holly landed quietly on the balcony and opened the door to enter the clock tower. As the blood red female entered the tower, she startled Matt and Flariaty who did not expect anyone to enter.

"YOU!" Matt exclaimed as he drew his weapon.

"Yes," Holly smirked, and cast a small spell that crushed the side arms the two officers held, forcing them to drop them before the destroyed weapons could crush their fingers as well, "me."

Holly then used her powers to have Matt and Flariaty float helplessly in front of her.

"What do you want?" Flariaty demanded.

"Merely your devoted obedience," Holly said with a grin, "Sine dubio, instantatum."

Matt and Flariaty struggled briefly, but their struggle was soon broken.

"Now, tell me, why have the gargoyles gone south," Holly commanded.

"To hunt Fang," Matt said in an entranced voice.

"Ah," Holly thought to herself, "chasing the fool…"

A part of her thought to keep the two officers entranced, but she then remembered that Goliath's clan might recognize that magic had come into play and then set both Matt and Flariaty down before her.

"You will sleep when I leave this room," Holly answered, "when you awaken, you will act as if you weren't under a spell and will remember nothing of my appearance here."

Holly then turned and left the room. As she shut the outer door to the clock tower, she heard two soft thumps as Matt and Flariaty landed on the floor in deep sleep.

"And now for some chaos," Holly smirked.

**Castle Wyvern**

Meanwhile those who went on patrol the night before went about their own responsibilities of looking after Tibetan hatchlings. While taking one group through the castle's library, which included a vast collection of children's books, Caroline and Candy wondered about their comrades on patrol.

"Do you think they'll run into the problems we did last night?" Candy asked quietly to Caroline.

They were observing the hatchlings activities from a distance, so things were not yet so risky as having a hatchling overhear something they shouldn't.

"Jealousy isn't something that goes away over night," Caroline responded, "those two will probably still have some jealousy on the issue."

"It was all so embarrassing, to have such focus on me… or on part of me," Candy shuddered.

"And not having Lex being the one to focus on it?" Caroline teased slightly.

"I'm not going to dignify that with a response," Candy answered that, "you know that was embarrassing. And you know I was always uncomfortable with the whole nudity issue. Even while we were human and had to shower after PE."

"I know," Caroline nodded, "it's just that jealousy isn't something that just goes away. The only way around it would be to give them what they want, but then you face the problem of what happens when they find out what they wanted isn't all its cracked up to be."

"And I doubt Demona would turn them into gargoyles, even if they asked," Candy answered, "and hopefully the fact that what they wanted was something else… they wouldn't ask to be gargoyles."

Caroline nodded, but couldn't say anymore as a group of hatchlings approached them.

**Over Manhattan**

Goliath and Eve glided quietly over part of the area that Fang had been active in according to the map in the clock tower. So far there was no sign of the mutate.

"Do you think he'll strike again, Goliath?" Eve asked the lavender male.

"More then likely, yes," Goliath rumbled, "from what Talon told me after I returned to New York from my 'World Tour' with Elisa, Angela, and Bronx, Fang is nothing more then a petty thug given a mutate's abilities."

The two rounded a building and continued on, so far, finding nothing.

"And that makes him dangerous in a fight," Goliath continued, "but being a common thug, he doesn't know how to pick his battles. And while he had Thailog, he had someone to give him orders to carry out…"

"A very simple life," Eve commented, "I would not have thought such a life was possible here in this city."

"You'll be surprised," Goliath answered, "anyway, with Thailog dead now, he is on his own again."

"So he'll be living like a common street thug again?" Eve asked.

"Much as did in the Labyrinth," Goliath nodded.

"Shouldn't we call Talon in?" Eve asked, "he'd have more experience, and Fang wouldn't be able to rely on long rang attacks."

"Talon is leading the Labyrinth shelter, and with our move to be official in the eyes of he law, calling someone outside the realm of law enforcement might be risky to Talon as well as us…" Goliath said slowly, "from a political point view."

"So we jump him the hard way," Eve surmised.

"If he doesn't surrender," Goliath nodded, "and as was said before, you'll do fine. You have no need to worry about whether or not you'll…"

Goliath was interrupted when a loud 'zap' rung out below them. They looked down to see a dark figure messing with an ATM machine, though from their height and the shadows the figure was in they couldn't tell if the crook was Fang or not. Goliath was quick to activate his radio and contacted the police dispatch.

"This is Goliath to the dispatch units," Goliath reported, "we have someone attempting to break into an ATM machine. We can't tell if it's Fang, be we are moving in."

The dispatch officer and responded with the numerical code that the specific crime was listed as.

"Will you require backup?" the dispatch officer asked.

"I do not believe so," Goliath rumbled back as he and Eve dove down toward the figure.

As they got closer they were able to make out the cloak that he was wearing. That didn't make the criminal Fang, but to Goliath, it increased the likelihood that it was Fang. After all, who else would be robbing an ATM, wearing a cloaked robe, and was able to generate an electrical shock.

"Eve, you approach from the eastern side of him," Goliath instructed, "I will approach from his western side."

"Okay, Goliath," Eve whispered back.

The figure of Fang didn't move as the two of them dove down. The two of them landed with a soft thump making Fang jump. The mutate turned to face the two advancing gargoyles.

"Fang, you are under arrest," Goliath spoke in a firm voice.

**Elsewhere**

Othello and Ethan's patrol was quiet so far. No sign of Fang, no visible sign of a crime yet, and no one had contacted them on the radio.

"Do you think we'll find him tonight?" Ethan asked, almost sounding eager to catch the mountain lion based mutate.

"That can not be determined easily," Othello commented, "if he has any real brains he'll have left the city. More then likely I think he will be hiding in the sewers. So while it's possible to catch him tonight, it isn't all that likely."

"I hope we catch him," Ethan said optimistically.

Below them and well out of sight Holly followed. Using her magics to create greater gusts of wind for her wings, she was quickly able to catch up with two of the patrolling gargoyles. And the first two she had caught up with was one of the adult males and one of the gargoyles that looked and acted like they were strangers in New York. She was confident that she could kill them easily, but she had no desire too… at least not right away.

"And now for a little chaotic intervention," Holly mused to herself, and sent a small spell to a nearby fire hydrant.

Othello and Ethan continued on. They had just rounded a corner when suddenly a fire hydrant rocketed up between them, and a geyser of water followed.

"What the…" Othello growled as he caught the hydrant before it could fall back down to Earth.

"I'll go make sure no one was hurt," Ethan volunteered.

Othello looked to the metal hydrant in his hand and sighed. He then activated his radio to inform the station what they were responding to.

"This is Othello," Othello spoke into the device, "we just had a fire hydrant blast upwards… the water is erupting from the pipes."

"Is anyone hurt?"

"Not at the moment," Othello answered, "Ethan has gone down to make sure no one messes with the water."

Othello then gave the dispatch officer the address they were at.

"Play crowd control there while you can," the dispatch officer said with a heavy sigh, "I'll get a crew to head there and deal with this… they'll probably have to replace the part that was busted…"

"It was the entire hydrant," Othello answered.

"Even better," the dispatch officer said sarcastically.

Othello heard no further response as he joined Ethan on the ground and began to help the Avalon male in providing some help in crowd control while they waited for a repair crew to arrive and work to stop the geyser that had erupted on that corner.

"What could have done this?" Ethan asked him as he landed.

"I don't know," Othello grumbled.

About a block away, Holly watched quietly from a rooftop as Ethan and Othello worked to keep people from getting hurt or getting in the way. She made sure she was out of sight to make sure she wasn't immediately fingered as the instigator of the water rupture.

All of this was for the purposes of causing some chaos for Goliath's clan to go through and allowing Holly to see the reaction, and by that it was the clan's reaction Holly wanted to see. That way Holly could catalogue who patrolled with who and set up her eventual move against Elisa. In the meantime, she would do her best to spread as much chaos as possible.

**Fang's Location**

Fang meanwhile had not had an easy night. He had already raided a couple of vending machines in the subway and gorged himself on candy bars, but it didn't offer him much of a score. He knew on some level that if he was gain the power that Thailog had he would need money. Thailog had talked a lot about how he had made his start, by stealing millions from David Xanatos.

Xanatos, however, was likely to protect himself from such a scheme again, and as far as Fang knew, Xanatos didn't employ anyone like Sevarius anymore. So Fang turned to a different option, and the option taken by almost any common criminal. He'd attack people and mug them or he'd rob a bank. He figured that since he could easily electrocute any human without warning that this would be an easy option for him to use.

Getting out of the sewers was fairly easy. Many of those tunnels opened up to subway tunnels, and many of the subway tunnels didn't stay below ground. But once he was out, moving around was a bit more difficult. New York City was a very populous city with an active night life. With no cloak, he would be spotted easily by someone as a 'gargoyle' and that would give him more trouble then he wanted. His other option was to glide, which had its own risks of running into one or more of Goliath's clan before he was ready for a fight.

But he decided the second option was better then ending up in a gun fight with the entire city. It lead him to a bank near the subway entrance that he had used to leave the underground. He noticed an ATM machine near the outside wall, and he landed in front of it. He tried to pry it open, and that met with a spectacular failure, so he turned to his next best option. He blasted it at close range with all the available power he had.

The machine practically exploded outward, sending several singed bills falling to the ground. Fang, however, didn't even get the chance to examine how much damage he had actually done when a firm voice spoke from behind him.

"Fang, you are under arrest," Goliath spoke in a firm voice.

Fang turned to find the lavender male gargoyle approaching him with one of the Avalon females approaching him from a different angle.

"Stay back!" Fang growled and brought his fists to a full charge.

Goliath stopped, "You are caught, Fang. There is no need for this to go any further. Surrender and you will come to no harm."

"Until they find out I'm a mutate and not a gargoyle you mean," Fang shot back and hit Goliath in the chest with an electric blast and then fled down the alley between the bank ATM he was robbing and another nearby building.

Eve was quick after him while Goliath recovered.

"Eve to dispatch, we are in pursuit of Fang now," Eve reported, "he has destroyed one of your money machines."

"Money machine?"

"You press buttons and money comes out,' Eve answered.

"An ATM?"

"Yes," Eve answered, "he has destroyed it. The paper money was smoldering as well."

"He's destroyed what was in the ATM?" the dispatch officer asked.

"Yes," Eve answered, "I am in pursuit."

"Where is he headed?"

"Down an alley just west of the bank that he was trying to get the ATM out of," Eve answered.

"Which direction down the alley? North or south?"

"The alley is to the west of the bank," Eve corrected.

"Yes, but the alley runs north or south."

"Or right," Eve nodded, "he went north."

"Okay I've vectoring the other patrol teams to you, with the exception of Othello and Ethan. They're dealing with a broken water hydrant at the moment."

Eve continued to pursue Fang as he fled in a deserted street. He looked back once to see the Avalon gargoyle continuing to pursue him. That made him growl and he bent down and pulled a manhole cover up and hurled it at Eve before jumping into the sewers.

"He's gone into the sewers," Eve reported.

"Wait for backup," the dispatch officer answered.

"But wouldn't he get away?" Eve wondered, "I could at least try to tail him and call the rest of the clan on patrol to my position."

"You're confident you can do that?" the dispatch officer questioned, "it'll take awhile for the other on duty gargoyles to get to you."

Eve was nervous for a moment, but forced a brave face.

"I will," Eve answered, and hopped down the opened manhole.

Goliath, meanwhile picked himself up from the electric blast and saw Eve chasing after Fang. He hoped this wasn't some effort to show him that she wouldn't fail, but until other officers could arrive to secure the scene and make sure no other crook came along and finished what Fang started, the lavender male would have to stay still. After a few moments the first patrol car arrived on the scene.

Goliath gave the newly arriving officers the task of finishing up the clean up of the mess that Fang had made while he moved to back up his partner. Fang had hit him with one lucky shot, but Goliath would not let that stop him. And, he would not allow Eve to make a mistake to prove that she wouldn't let the clan down.

**Holly's Location**

As Holly finally got to the patrolling team of gargoyles, she found it to another team of two males. One was the small web-winged male from the Manhattan Clan. The other was a young Avalon gargoyle that had apparently stayed with the Manhattan Clan. They had suddenly changed directions and practically now headed right for Holly. She couldn't allow that. She couldn't allow them to get by without facing some chaotic forces, and looking down to see the intersection below her, she smiled…

Hubert Rocke was on his way home from a long day at work, and had a long way to go before he would get there. The light in front of him had only just turned green when all of a sudden his whole vehicle seemed to glow with the same color. He then heard a strange chanting in a language he didn't understand when the light around his car came and hit him directly.

The first thing Hubert felt was that everything was getting larger. His clothing grew loser around him. At first he thought he was somehow turning into a child, but when he saw his finger nails turn into short stubby claws, that idea changed. He soon noticed fur growing on the few patches of skin, and that confirmed to him that something, somehow, was turning him into an animal.

All the while he continued to shrink and grow smaller. At first he could scoot forward in his seat, but after a few moments, even that didn't work and he was hanging from the steering wheel. When he finally pulled himself up onto the top of the steering column, and then climbed up onto the top of the dashboard, the sight that met him wasn't a cheery one for him.

The light had switched to red and mid-sized car was headed right for him, and strangely, it wasn't slowing down, honking his horn, or even swerving to try and avoid him. Hubert tried to scream, but all he managed was a terrified squeak as he leaped back driver's seat and prayed his body wasn't crushed in the coming accident.

From her hidden vantage point Holly looked on the scene below her as the two cars collided with each other. She had cast the same spell on each driver to insure that there was an accident and let it happen. She then looked up to see the two patrolling gargoyles slowly approaching them.

"There," Holly thought to herself, "that'll give them something to ponder over for awhile."

Holly then began to move away and was soon gliding away.

"And it will allow me a few pieces of chaos," Holly silently smirked, "and try to piece together a long term plan on what to do."

She left the scene quietly and was not noticed by anyone.

Lexington and Ian both saw the car crash and were both startled by it.

"Lexington to dispatch, we have a car wreck, right below us," Lex reported, "we're going in to see if there are any survivors."

The two landed in the intersection between the two wrecked cars where they finally came back to wrest. Neither car appeared to be totaled, but they would both need a lot of repair work.

"Uh Lex, shouldn't these 'cars' have a driver in them?" Ian asked as he looked into one of the vehicles.

"Yeah, he's probably slumped over from the accident," Lex answered, "best to open the door… but be careful. If he isn't in danger we don't want to move him until the paramedics can arrive."

Lex then turned to the vehicle he was near. The door opened with no difficulty, but instead of finding a driver, a hamster came crawling along the front seat and hopped down to his foot and began squeaking away something. The little rodent looked terrified of something. He looked into the car again and saw no one there, and he couldn't see any sign of a cage.

"There's no driver," Lex said slowly.

"That's what I said!" Ian answered him.

"This defies all explanation," Lex answered, "there has to be a driver, somewhere."

Lex then looked up to see the car's radio antennas to see them undamaged.

"Unless they're being remote controlled," Lex grumbled.

"Remote controlled?" Ian said nervously.

"Best to ask around to see if anyone got out of the cars…or if they could see a driver in them," Lex sighed heavily.

**Fang and Eve's Location**

Fang continued to run, but the Avalon gargoyle continuing to pursue him refused to give up the chase. At the same time, she also seemed to be counting and giving some directions to someone. After rounding a corner, Fang decided that enough was enough and readied an electric blast to fire on his pursuer.

As Eve rounded the corner, Fang fired the electric blast. Unfortunately she noticed it as she rounded the corner and Eve managed to roll under the electric blast.

"You're quickly becoming a nuisance!" Fang growled, "why can't you give up like human cops?"

"Because I can't let you get away again," Eve answered firmly, "I can't let you harm anyone else!"

Eve lunged forward at Fang. Fang managed to catch the thrust and used Eve's momentum against her and push her into the wall of the sewer they were in.

"And you were stupid enough to come after me without backup!" Fang snarled triumphantly, "I'll leave you for Goliath to find! See what he does then!"

Eve only responded by whipping her tail at Fang's eyes, making him roar in pain and forcing him to back away from her.

"You…" Fang began to growl.

"None of that," Eve growled back and swung one leg around to trip him, "there are ladies present."

Fang's only response was to fire an electric blast at her. At close range, the blast threw Eve against the wall of the sewer. Both then began to get up, though Fang managed to do it just slightly faster then Eve. Once on his feet, Fang fired another electric blast at the Avalon female. This time, Eve managed to dodge the attack by diving forward. Fang turned to follow her, leaving his back turned to the tunnel behind him.

"Why do you have butt your noses into business that isn't yours?!" Fang roared at Eve and again fired electric blasts at her.

The first blast missed, but the second hit Eve directly and sent her staggering back.

"Because what you're doing is not right," Eve answered, "what you were attempting to steal wasn't yours. It isn't right."

"Why can't you be morally neutral like the rest of New York?" Fang grumbled again.

Eve had no opportunity to answer as Fang was grabbed from behind. She looked up to see that it was Goliath who had grabbed the cougar-mutate, and then slammed him face first into the wall.

"I would tend to think that most of the people have very strong morals," Goliath rumbled, "the difference is that not everyone is a warrior… and to be honest, a nation at arms is not necessarily better. Now, Fang, you are under arrest."

Fang tried to struggle, but Goliath had caught him by surprise and his attack had left the mutate disoriented enough that the Manhattan Clan leader was able to wrestle Fang into a position where he couldn't do much.

"I'll hold him, Eve," Goliath spoke, "I will need your help to place the cuffs on him."

"Like human cuffs could hold me," Fang snorted.

"These cuffs are stronger and are not computerized," Goliath answered, "using your electric blasts on them would only serve to electrocute yourself."

Fang only grumbled as he felt the metal cuffs be placed around his wrists. Goliath had to turn him slightly to give Eve access to his wrists.

"You have the right to remain silent," Goliath began to tell Fang his rights.

"I know my rights," Fang growled, "not that they'll do me any good."

"What do you mean?" Eve asked.

"Oh come on, shouldn't it be obvious?" Fang asked, "I'm not the kinda guy they'll treat me with any honesty. They'll just lock me up and throw away the key."

"It's a little late to play the 'race' card," Goliath rumbled, "you ARE guilty."

Fang didn't answer and then sighed. He was beaten and he knew it. Goliath then lead him back towards the manhole that he had descended through in his attempt to try and escape through. They found Hudson and Sarah arriving at the location.

"Do ye need help, lad?" Hudson asked.

"Perhaps," Goliath rumbled, "can you lift him?"

"We can try," Sarah told him, "the others were delayed by other incidents."

"Other incidents?" Goliath wondered as he lifted Fang by the waist while Sarah and Hudson reached down.

The two managed to reach down and get a grip under Fang's shoulders. The mutate shook a little when they began to lift him.

"Hey, that tickles!" Fang cut off their to Goliath's question.

"Would ye rather we break yer arms?" Hudson replied.

Fang didn't answer that.

"Anyway," Sarah answered Goliath's question, "Othello and Ethan are dealing with a broken water hydrant and Lex and Ian are dealing with a car accident."

"Was anyone hurt?" Eve wondered as Fang was pulled out of the sewers.

"No," Sarah answered, "according to what we heard over the radio, there wasn't even any driver in the vehicle."

"Strange," Goliath answered.

"Quite," Hudson nodded, "but now that this guy is captured, I suppose we should be getting him to a cell."

As the elder gargoyle spoke, one patrol officers, now finishing the work at the bank that Fang had attempted to rob, came around the corner and parked not that far away from them. The officer left his car and slowly approached the group.

"So, you caught him," the officer surmised, taking one look at Fang.

"Yes," Goliath said slowly.

"And I trust you've read him his rights…"

"Of course," Goliath answered.

"I'll take him from here then," the officer replied and took Fang by the arm.

The mutate didn't struggle.

"Careful with him," Goliath warned, "he hasn't been the most cooperative…"

"Yeah, yeah," the officer replied, "just follow above me back to the 23rd. You can book him there."

They slowly nodded and let the officer take Fang to the car. A few moments later they were all gliding over the car as they made their way back to the 23rd Precinct.

**23****rd****Precinct**

Lexington and Ian arrived on the balcony entrance to the clock tower at the same time as Othello and Ethan. Ian was carrying the two hamsters they had rescued from the wrecked cars. Lex had the insurance information, and the two of them intended to give the owners a call as soon as they could.

"So, how'd it go?" Lex asked as they approached.

"Other then having a fire hydrant rocket into the air, everything was just… 'peachy'," Othello grumbled.

"Can't beat a car accident with no drivers," Ian commented.

"No drivers?" Ethan wondered.

"No one but these hamsters was in them," Ian held the two hamsters.

"Strange, indeed," Othello commented, "at least Goliath had some luck in catching Fang."

"Of course… there are some consequences of catching Fang that may be difficult," Lex warned.

"His status as a mutate?" Othello asked.

"And one from the first group, which includes Talon, Maggie, and Claw as well," Lex nodded, "and was all done under Xanatos's payroll."

"Maybe the fact that Xanatos is a mutate now would let him off that hook," Ethan commented.

"We'll let Goliath, Detective Bluestone, and the Xanatoses work that problem out," Othello spoke and then opened the door.

They entered the clock tower area that was the nerve center of the Gargoyle Task Force for the NYPD. And what they found only added to the surprises that night. Both Matt and Flariaty were out cold on the floor.

"What the…" Lex gasped.

Ian was the first to reach Matt's side, and quickly shook his shoulder softly. The red headed detective slowly woke up. While Lex woke up Flariaty.

"Wha… what happened?" Matt asked as he got up.

"We were about to ask you the same thing," Lex spoke.

"The two of you were sleeping where you were on the floor," Othello explained.

Matt looked to Flariaty who shrugged and then sighed.

"I don't remember going to sleep," Matt sighed, "I don't even remember being sleepy."

Flariaty nodded in agreement.

"Strange," Ethan nodded, "though not unlike a lot of tonight's events."

"Pardon?" Flariaty asked curiously.

"Lex and I had a car wreck with no drivers and a hamster as a passenger in each," Ian spoke, "we have the insurance information and the hamsters to return to the owners…"

"That'll be something that can be passed down to the traffic cops," Flariaty commented.

"It's not that simple," Lex commented, "with no driver, it could have been controlled by some remote…"

"It's pretty hard to remote control an actual car," Matt commented, "the wheels and pedals are not explicitly controlled by a computer, and even with a cruise control system, that doesn't do anything to the pedals."

"All the more strange," Lex replied, "if it wasn't under remote control, and there was no driver, HOW was it moving?"

"I'm not saying that it wasn't a remote control," Matt said, "I'm saying that it's difficult to do, and probably wouldn't make the case seem more normal."

There were collective sighs from all the other gargoyles present. A new voice was the only thing that made them notice that someone else had arrived at the clock tower.

"Make what seem normal?" Sarah asked from the doorway as she and Hudson returned.

"Just some of the strange stuff we encountered tonight," Lex answered and then turned back to Matt, "what do we do with the hamsters?"

"I'll keep an eye on them," Matt sighed, "if the families in fact own them, they'll be delivered to them… if not… by rule they have to go to the ASPCA."

Lex and the others slowly nodded, but soon their attention was drawn to Hudson and Sarah, as they were the only ones not to be interrupted by something weird and was able to make contact with Goliath and Eve.

"According to the radio we heard you were able to help in the capture of Fang," Othello said to Hudson as he and Sarah approached, "how did that go."

"Goliath and Eve actually did more to capture then we did," Hudson answered, "they're takin' him in right now."

"How do they plan to explain Fang? If I may ask," Lex wondered.

"I believe Goliath intends to go along with the same cover we used when the press got shots of Xanatos's mutate form," Sarah commented, "that we suspect him to be a strange gargoyle with some knowledge of sorcery to explain his electric powers."

"A lie?" Ian wondered.

"Better then that then go face first into a nightmare trying to explain mutates," Hudson commented.

"What if someone finds out though?" Flariaty wondered.

"Someone might… but we're hoping that they won't until we can find some way to explain it," Hudson sighed.

"The only two ways would be for Talon, Maggie, and Claw come out and say that they were willing test subjects," Matt sighed, "or if Xanatos could present evidence that he honestly didn't know that Sevarius was using shortcuts… though that second option could still take his company from him…"

"It could?" Ethan asked.

"It'd be criminal negligence," Matt sighed, "he might be able to talk the sentence down to some community service slash probation, but he'd lose his company and his wealth."

"So either our lie will have to stand or Talon and the others will have to," Lex sighed, "or Xanatos would have to give up his company."

"What would happen to Xanatos Enterprises and the castle?" Ian wondered.

"It would probably go to its board of directors to vote on a new executive," Matt commented, "and they'd likely also make sure that the new CEO isn't also the majority stockholder in the company. Insuring that the board of directors can overrule the CEO on company matters… and that's if it survives… More then likely it'll go to an outside buyer who will sell it off piece by piece or to a rival company."

The present gargoyles all shuddered. Things were not going to be easy. They had done what they had always done, but the results looked like it would create bigger problems. Problems that wouldn't be easily solved. And the other weird events made things harder. They were in chaos, and all of them in the clock tower nodded.

**To Be Continued…**


	52. Dragon's Wrath

All characters appearing in Gargoyles and Gargoyles: The Goliath Chronicles are copyrighted to Buena Vista Television/The Walt Disney Company. I've taken the idea for the Unseelie Court from the TGS. Characters and concepts from Star Trek are property of Paramount and created by Gene Roddenberry. No Infringement of these copyrights is intended, and is not authorized by the copyright holder. All original characters are the property of SN.

Note: I'm disregarding the events of the "Goliath Chronicles", with the exception of "The Journey" because I do not wish to use the rest of the "Goliath Chronicles" as canon to my story. Also, I'm altering large sections of the Star Trek storyline, especially concerning events like WWIII and the Eugenics Wars, which without the Cold War as a backdrop probably wouldn't happen the way Roddenberry wrote them, if at all. This story takes place two weeks after "Instigating Chaos".

Dragon's Wrath

By SN/TVfan

Email: Sam_Nary

**Alaska Range, Just West of Denali National Park, One Week Ago**

It was one of the many quiet areas in the sense of there being little or no human activity. Most of the people lived in towns along the coasts or in Native American villages. Most of the other lands were rather sparsely populated and weren't used all that often, or had been set aside as nature preserves by the government. Not that this wilderness deterred everyone.

"I don't like this," an overweight man complained to his partner, "It'd be safer working the oil fields up at the Arctic… or better yet running the pumps in Anchorage or Valdez."

"For minimum wage and not counting spills and cleaning up oil soaked animals," his partner grumbled back, "which I never understood why… damn animals ought to know better then to play around human things."

"We could be trespassing," the overweight man warned.

"On who's land?" his partner retorted, "how many people have you seen since we came out here?"

"No one… but we took a bunch a back roads and deer trails on all terrain vehicles," the overweight man answered, "before you lead us here where we had to go on foot."

"Oh quit being such a wuss, Jones," the other man grumbled, "we ain't seen anyone, and we ain't gonna tell anyone if what I saw here the other day was real…"

"You don't know if it's real?" Jones asked.

"I saw a faint sparkle," the other man answered, "like it was gold… but thought I heard a bear coming and thought it better to get away then be eaten."

"Weren't the gold fields closer to the Yukon territory?" Jones questioned, "In Canada."

"The original gold fields were," the braver of the two men answered, "this could be a new one. No one's really looked here, have they?"

Not sure as to whether or not geological surveys had been made, Jones simply nodded and went along with his partner's lead.

"And suppose there isn't a lot of gold there, Ben?" Jones asked, "or worse that there's too much?"

"If there's only a little, it'll still be worth more then what we make now," Ben replied, "and if there's a lot… who says we have to tell anyone where we found it?"

"People will ask," Jones warned.

"And if you don't tell them, we won't have a problem," Ben answered.

Jones silently mumbled something to himself and tightened his grip on the tools he was carrying, including the handle to small cart that he was pulling behind him. The path they were on was very rocky, but they hadn't gone high enough up the mountain to actually go above the tree line. They continued along the path that Ben had apparently found until they came to a large rocky area.

There were few trees in the area, and strangely the few that were in the are looked almost burnt. But neither man noticed that. What held their attention was a slight crack in the rocks, like there was an opening into the mountain.

"Is that a cave?" Jones asked.

"Duh," Ben answered, "what do you think it is?"

"I've never heard of there being any caves up here," Jones answered, "none of the scientist guys have said anything about there being caves up here."

"Dude, who are you going to listen to?" Ben grumbled back, "them scientist guys that never come out here, or your own eyes."

"Oh I believe it," Jones answered, "I just don't know how anyone could have missed a cave here."

"They miss lots of things," Ben shrugged, "shoot, they missed a clan of gargoyles running around New York City for what… two or three years?"

Jones shrugged and nodded and followed Ben into the cave. They'd all seen the news reports about the discovery of a clan of creatures that slept the day away in stone on the news. Although, to the two Alaskan treasure hunters, the gargoyles were the last things on their minds.

Entering the cave they found that it was no small fissure that had simply been missed. It looked like a giant tunnel that had been dug out of the mountain. Jones was tempted to question his partner again because of how strange this seemed to him, but there was a faint twinkle in the tunnel just ahead of them.

"You got a flashlight, Ben?" Jones wondered, "something looks like its twinkling up ahead."

"Yeah," Ben nodded, "you won't believe this."

Ben then pulled a fairly large flashlight out of one of his pockets and shined it in front of them. And to Jones' surprise and astonishment, the tunnel lead into an even larger cavern inside the mountain. What was even more surprising, as they finished their trek down the tunnel was what filled the cavern.

"Me… oh… my," Jones gasped as he stepped into the cavern, "that's… that's…"

"Solid gold," Ben smirked, "Just as I told you."

And it was gold. Not things like jewelry, like it was a cave full of loot, but ore. Large pieces of gold ore seemed to decorate the walls of the cave. Like they were placed against the interior walls of the cavern.

"Have you ever seen so much gold?" Jones asked.

"Before this? Never in one place," Ben answered, "come on. We gotta get a few loads of this back down to the truck."

"Where are we gonna exchange it?" Jones wondered, "the guys around here will ask where we got it… or will come looking. Lying won't work forever… or perhaps even for long."

That made Ben think for a moment. People would ask where they found all the gold and if they lied, the people would hunt them down when the went there and found no additional gold, nor any sign that there had ever been gold there. If they gave to vague an answer, people might still flock to the area and the cave would be found.

"Best to drive it across the country," Ben then spoke, "New York or New Jersey. They'd have a good gold exchange… and are far enough away that someone would have to be nuts to come all the way back here…"

"And we'd be closer to retiring in Florida," Jones commented.

"Yeah," Ben nodded, "Come on now, let's get to work."

And the two began an almost exhausting process. Using the shovels and picks they had brought with them, they began prying various large pieces of ore from the walls of the cavern. There was so much of it that neither of them bothered to wonder how the gold had gotten there and why it looked like the ore had been placed against the sides and bottom of the cavern. They only saw their prize, and were determined to get away with it. After nearly two hours of going up and down the mountain to a truck they had parked earlier on a dirt road, Jones and Ben drove away much richer then they had been when they made their way out to the portion of the Alaskan mountains.

However, neither man bothered to ponder more important questions then 'were did the gold come from'. And that question was, 'why was the gold there'. It could also be followed closely by 'who owns this gold'. Neither Ben nor Jones bothered to think over these questions. And they were questions that probably should have been thought over.

A couple of days after Ben and Jones left the area with their loot, a large shape descended from above to land on the ledge outside cavern that the two men had found. Moving on four legs it slowly entered the cavern. It turned once to roll the large boulder back in front of the opening, like the large rock was a door. Once that was done, it turned back toward the heart of the cave.

It entered what had been the gold chamber and it stopped. The chamber had been its food-store, and now… it was practically empty. Only a couple of gold ores remained, and all of them were very small in size. It gave a startled grunt and then began to sniff around the chamber. It quickly found two scents that angered it. Two strange scents, not belonging to him or of another of his kind. They were humans, no doubt to it, and that left it angry.

To the creature, humans were an annoying threat. On their own they were of no threat to it, but their technology was more then a match for the creature. What made them a threat though, was their inescapable urge to steal things. The creature had been young when the great Yukon Gold Rush began, making Alaska a big destination. And people came in great numbers with guns, shovels, pick axes, dynamite, and various other tools.

The creature's parents tried hard to feed it, but the humans took most of the gold out of the countryside. Its parents had to go farther and farther to find food… gold… and in the end, they starved themselves to raise their child and made the ultimate sacrifice. But even on its own, the creature had to go long and far to get gold, and had taken to hording it to insure it had food for itself… and now humans had raided it. Carried off his food.

The creature had their scent and had it catalogued in a memory that a computer would be envious of, if inanimate objects could have emotions. Enraged at having someone steal from it, it decided it would find the thieves, and it would make them pay dearly for their transgressions.

**Castle Wyvern, Present**

The residents of Castle Wyvern, however, knew nothing of Ben and Jones, nor of the creature they had robbed. For them, things had settled into a fairly obvious routine of patrolling the city and looking after the Tibetan hatchlings. In other words, same old thing.

Their greatest worry was Holly, Thailog's witch. Or at least the clan suspected her. They had gone through some odd incidents on one patrol shift. One fire hydrant had burst suddenly and with for no logical reason. There were no faulty pipes, no large collection of rust, and no one had left it running with the covers on. Two cars had also crashed, and when they investigated it, the cars had no drivers, just two terrified hamsters that weren't claimed and were still at the Manhattan ASPCA offices. And when the clan returned to the tower to clock out, they found Detective Matt Bluestone and his partner Detective Jennifer Flariaty we unconscious. The security cameras had a fairly long blank spot on them there as well. When it went off, the two human officers were awake, when they came back on again, they were out cold on the floor.

Now, there were logical explanations for these events. But many of them were complex, and the probabilities these things happening were minute. Magic had to have been involved in what had happened. It strangely made more sense to the Clan then to say that the quality of the metal in that particular hydrant was poor. That the car had a complex remote control. That some one could have attacked Matt and Jennifer and then tampered with the cameras. Either magic was involved in these incidents, or the coincidences were truly amazing… and if magic wasn't involved, the issue with Matt and his partner was bigger.

The two of them couldn't remember falling asleep, or being knocked out. They had no clue what had knocked them out. Now, a strong blow to the head could possibly induce amnesia-like symptoms, but such an attack would have generated far more noise as Matt and Jennifer weren't going to just stand there and be clubbed upside the head with a large object. And the resulting fight would have triggered back up to come from the station's lower floors. And after Goliath had explained this to Elisa, she was quick to deduce that magic of some sort could be the only reason for the leaders of the Gargoyle Task Force being attacked and knocked out without a struggle.

The real problem was pin-pointing who's magic was it. It could be some rogue fey, likely Unseelie that had so far managed to escape the end of the Unseelie War. There were some of them still around, but when Puck had been called in to do his best to 'track' the magic that had to have been used, no fey magic was sensed. That left only one option… mortal magic and Holly.

Holly was the obvious suspect. The clan knew she was a witch who had sided with the clone Thailog before the Unseelie War, which allowed the clone to take over Maddox Technologies. They knew she had turned herself into a gargoyle and had been involved with the clone gargoyle. During Thailog's endgame with the clan she had been knocked out when various explosives and steel clan robots exploded around her to take out the Eyrie Building's shield, but she managed to escape the prison before she could truly be secured… Or her powers as a sorceress were not noticed or suspected by the prison guards. Either way, she escaped that situation, leaving the rest of Thailog's clan to await trial.

And now, she was apparently causing chaos in the city on her own. For what purposes though, the clan didn't know… and what made things worse was that unless the war in China ended and Demona and Wedrington returned, the clan was fairly certain that they couldn't easily deal with Holly. The Coyote robot might manage, but it had been reserved as one of the clan's last lines of defense, according to Xanatos… not to mention the fact that if the city of New York had relegated many of the various robots built by Xanatos Enterprises and Cyberbiotics be registered with their intended uses and all possible vulnerabilities… incase they went nuts or rebelled against their makers. That left Coyote solely as security within Castle Wyvern and the Eyrie Building.

"Hopefully she won't do anything different from what other sorcerers and fey have done against us if you catch her," Elisa said to Goliath as he prepared to head our for his shift for the night.

"Hopefully," Goliath rumbled, "though from what Lexington has over heard from Alexander's magic lessons from time to time… is that some things are more difficult to do then others under fighting conditions."

"And the clan has had plenty of experience in fighting magicians," Elisa reminded him, "and we've done alright."

"There will always be the concern that things could change," Goliath gave a slightly frustrated sigh, "someone could eventually do something different."

Elisa sighed and nodded. For the most part, most of the sorcerers they had faced had stuck to some elemental attack. Throwing lightening or fire at them… or possibly even water. Which largely left the battles on a physical level rather then on levels that the clan could not counter easily. And the danger was always there that someone would change tactics. Do something that couldn't be easily dodged or endured. But she tried to keep herself optimistic when it came to catching Holly. It might have been all the clan had, it they gave up on it, they'd have a bigger problem.

"Maybe," Elisa sighed, "but hopefully that night will not be tonight."

Goliath looked back and nodded.

"Of course, my Elisa," He rumbled to her.

"Be careful, Big Guy," Elisa told him, "we'll keep things quiet here."

Goliath nodded and leaped from the castle walls and was soon gliding toward he 23rd Precinct headquarters with the rest of his shift gliding with him, or gliding after him. Elisa watched for a few moments before turning to head inside. Her shift would be needed to help with the Tibetan hatchlings for the night, and she couldn't ignore their care. As she went inside, she hoped things went well.

Elsewhere in Castle Wyvern, a different pair of eyes were focused on a very different scene.

"You do look well, Mrs. Xanatos," spoke the voice of Owen Burnett to the red furred fox-like mutate examining herself in a mirror.

Fox turned to see the blond assistant and disguised fey standing in the door way. Young Alex stood beside him.

"Just checking, Owen," Fox answered.

She was moving into her middle trimester of what was her second pregnancy, and the growth of her unborn child was becoming more and more noticeable as time went by. And despite her condition as a mutate, Fox still found herself drawn to checking on the development of her unborn child.

"Of course, Mrs. Xanatos," Owen answered.

"Do you know if it's a boy or a girl?" Alex asked.

"Not yet," Fox answered, "and I think I'd prefer to wait until this one is born before I find out."

"Of course, Mrs. Xanatos," Owen answered, even though he knew the response was not directed to him. After all, with most, if not all, of the restriction Oberon had placed on Puck at the end of the Gathering gone, he could do a great many things in his service to David and Fox Xanatos and in protecting their son, Alexander. And that included presenting Fox with an image of the life within her.

"Is there anything you need?" Owen asked, "before I take Alex to bed?"

"No thank you, Owen," Fox answered, "Have a good night."

Owen barely nodded and then lead Alex away. Fox, meanwhile, returned her attention to her bedroom mirror. The gown she wore was not the most fashionable of things she owned, but with her mutated form, she didn't feel like destroying more expensive pieces of clothing to accommodate her wings.

"You will be born a mutate…" Fox sighed to her womb, "you will be loved by your family and by the clan… but I wonder how you'll fit in outside the Castle's walls… as things are changing rapidly for the clan themselves. Pulling them out of the shadows they'd been in for so long."

"What was that, dear?" came her husband's voice as he entered their bedroom.

Like Fox, Xanatos had also been mutated into a canine based mutate, though the species used for him was the wolf.

"Oh, nothing, really," Fox sighed, "just wondering on what will be our youngest child's future."

"Hopefully a happy one," Xanatos answered in a rather loving tone.

"Hopefully," Fox nodded, "how did your day go?"

"Fairly well," Xanatos smiled, "Got a fairly odd request that came into one of the gold exchange companies I own. Came all the way to me because it was so odd."

"Oh?" Fox asked, sounding intrigued, "what was this about?"

"Something about two guys claiming they've found the mother load of all gold discoveries," Xanatos answered, "it's to be checked for purity and exchanged at the proper rates tomorrow."

"Someone found the mother load of all gold deposits?" Fox wondered.

"That's what the call said," Xanatos answered.

"In New York state?" Fox asked.

"They said the were from Alaska," Xanatos told her.

"Alaska?" Fox asked.

"I told you it was weird," Xanatos answered.

"Wouldn't it be easier for them to have done this IN Alaska?" Fox wondered, "they've driven across the country to state a claim and have it exchanged for the equivalent value in cash."

"And Canada as well," Xanatos nodded, "an odd case. Staying in Alaska would have been easier…"

"You think they might have stolen it?" Fox questioned.

"Maybe not stolen, but they certainly want a monopoly on the claim that they have," Xanatos sighed, "that is for sure… and could mean that the gold is stolen, or the land used wasn't owned by them… shoot it's entirely possible they took it out of one of the National Parks in Alaska."

"So what will you do with them?" Fox wondered.

"Owen will handle the actual meeting… or he will supervise the exchange," Xanatos shrugged, "and we'll have whichever clan member is on duty tomorrow night on call."

"Just in case?" Fox asked.

Xanatos nodded.

"Has there been any problems caused by Fang?" Fox wondered after a moment.

"Still silent on the fact that he's not a gargoyle," Xanatos answered, "at least according to what I've heard…"

"Too stupid to realize what weapons he has against us," Fox commented.

"Hopefully," Xanatos sighed, "his trial hasn't started yet."

**Elsewhere**

And meanwhile a different pair of eyes watched the horizon as her slaves reported to her on the day's events. She'd been rather quiet in direct activity against the clan after her little escapade a week ago. She got the sense that she had given them all some difficulty, and her moves did provide her with the information she wanted to know. Exactly who was in each patrol group.

And now she knew the rotation that the Police had the clan following in their patrols. And she knew how strong each set was. It was a good opportunity to continue to give the clan some trouble, but she had decided against taking any major action for the moment. Much of her reasoning came from what she had observed in shadowing their patrols over the past two weeks.

Her acts of mayhem did give the clan some difficulty, but they appeared to suspect her involvement in them fairly quickly. That made her curse herself and decide to back off on its own. If she was under suspicion for what relatively minor things she had instigated two weeks ago, doing more of the same would only raise more suspicion and the clan might decide to try and track her down in force. And a big drawn out battle was not what she wanted.

She also found she had underestimated the technological access the clan had. While they patrolled in twos, perfectly easy enough numbers for her to handle once they'd get farther from the 23rd Precinct Headquarters, they carried a series small walkie-talkies that connected them to the station and to each other. This meant she couldn't just instigate random acts of chaos to spread the clan thin and then go after Elisa. The clan, or the dispatchers would catch on to what was going on and vector in the rest of the clan or human officers as well.

And since she couldn't be certain that they either couldn't or wouldn't call in the others, Holly decided to keep her eyes and ears open to the events that the clan dealt with. She couldn't be the only person in New York that didn't have some sort of personal beef with the clan as a whole or at least one of the individual clan members. And she was certain that if she kept her eyes and ears out, she'd find someone who could be of use to her.

"Thank you," Holly answered as the Eres as they finished their report for the night, "you may feed yourselves now. Make sure to clean up after yourselves when you're finished."

Her enslaved minions then trudged toward the kitchen, while Holly continued to look out over the city.

**Hotel Room**

Meanwhile, the unknown man, known to the police as 'John Doe', which was only a generic name given to males that could not be identified, sat quietly watching the news. He had also been inactive for the past two weeks, though not for the same reasons as Holly. He had no personal problem with any members of the clan.

He had come to New York to earn a little money, even if his methods were considered criminal by most others. Not to war with the gargoyles. It was only the fact that his plans would bring him into direct conflict with the gargoyles that gave him any reason to be antagonistic toward them at all. And the conflict would mostly revolve around them trying to stop him from making a little money…

And dealing with the gargoyles would be a difficult one. John Doe knew that. His own observations of the gargoyles and the events surrounding them, going back to even before coming to New York, had shown that. Much of what he had seen on then news related to the racial tensions between humans and gargoyles in New York. Various groups like the Quarrymen and now the Order of the Phoenix had stated their hatred of gargoyles in fairly blunt terms. But there were also groups like PIT that supported the gargoyle clan that had appeared among them.

He tested the waters by running a dummy gargoyle down a zip-line to see what would happen if a 'gargoyle' buzzed a crowd for no apparent reason. Mostly to see how divisive the whole gargoyle issue was. Too much in one direction, and he figured he could find a way to make money off of it. Unfortunately, nothing after that really went right. The reactions were both fierce and evenly balanced, which resulted in a riot. And John Doe was unable to really catalog the events of the fight as he was caught by two real gargoyles that showed up in the area as part of their patrol. That resulted in his arrest, but he clung to an alias rather then his real name and became known as 'John Doe' to the NYPD.

But all was not lost for John Doe. When he had first arrived in Manhattan a group of ruffians from some street gang attempted mug him on the street. He successfully dealt with all of them with a concealed dart gun using extremely toxic venom. Now that he was out of jail and had paid the fine for 'inciting a riot', John Doe now had his opportunity to make some profit off of his arrival in New York. And that seemed to be with the very people who'd tried to mug him.

Members of the gang that had tried to mug him, had accused a rival street gang in the murder of their members. The fact that no street gangs had access to venom John Doe had used was forgotten, and it appeared that the two street gangs were now embroiled in a war across New York. One side vowing vengeance for the murder of its members, the other simply trying to defend itself.

Now, according to the news, this gang war hadn't resulted in any deaths, yet. Mostly because patrolling gargoyles managed to catch these fights as they began or before they could truly get out of hand. People had been wounded and a few had to receive fairly lengthy emergency room stays, but that was to be expected. The fact that the gargoyles had managed to prevent deaths was a credit to them…

Not that John Doe's latest plan would really make their job easier in that regard. In fact, if he played his cards right, John Doe would make a fair amount of money, and make life difficult for the gargoyles all in one move.

**Brewster, New York State**

"Would you quit pacing like that," Ben grumbled, "you're giving me the willies with all of that."

"We're sitting on a mountain of gold and were not in the sticks anymore," Jones answered, "Someone could steal it on us."

"No one's gonna steal anything," Ben answered, "we got a hard top in Alberta, remember? All our gold is locked up safe and sound. No one's gonna take it from us."

"I wish I had your confidence," Jones grumbled and walked back over to the hotel room window and looked out to see if their truck was still there.

"Did anyone steal it?" Ben asked, mostly joking.

"No," Jones answered.

"See, nothing to worry about," Ben answered, "so quit that pacing… you're acting like a caged lion."

"I'm sorry," Jones sighed, "it's just that it's so much gold. I've never seen so much… I don't want it to be stolen."

"And it won'," Ben answered, "as far as the locals here know we're simply tourists from out of town. So long as you don't tell anyone what we're carrying, we shouldn't have a problem."

"We told that Xanatos guy what we're carrying," Jones told him.

"He owns the company that will be doing the exchange," Ben reminded his partner, "we can't just show up at the guy's office unannounced and say we have gold to exchange. Shoot, the company website says an appointment has to be made… true they're probably expecting stuff like gold watches, rings, and the like… but still…"

"Suppose he ups and steals it from us?" Jones asked.

"You're paranoid, man," Ben sighed, "how is he going to steal a truck? Especially when I have the keys and we'd both know if someone tried to hotwire it."

"He could have an army of robots swoop down and carry it off…" Jones replied, "I heard he's been fighting with Boeing, McDonald Douglas, and Northrop-Grumman for contracts to sell robots to the government."

"What is this, a cartoon?" Ben retorted.

"You never know," Jones answered.

"You're paranoid, man," Ben growled at him, "completely paranoid!"

**Not too far away…**

The creature that had been following Ben and Jones rested somewhat lightly in a large parking area filled with the trailers to semi-trucks, or something like them. The humans that had robbed his cave had come a long way, and the creature found it very tough to trail them. His nose was stronger then anything on Earth and he had their scent memorized, as well as the gold that they had stolen from it, but that didn't make the journey easy for it.

The thieves had fled into a highly populated area. An area the creature would normally try to avoid at all costs, but the instinctual call to revenge was too strong. Humans had invaded its home and stole its food. They would pay for that transgression. And so the creature followed them into an area it was unfamiliar with and largely at risk of being exposed.

It did its best to keep itself hidden, but that got progressively harder as it came east from Alaska. When it could it stuck to thick forest, ravines, and other pieces of difficult terrain. Things that would be difficult for humans to get into and where they would have trouble in see it there if they did get out there. As it moved toward the more heavily populated areas of the American continent, warehouses and places such as the depot it was in became more favored.

This meant that it was probably on a few security cameras and humans had to have found evidence of its entry into their buildings or other areas during the day… or occasionally at night. But, the creature ignored that for the time being. It's mind was focused on punishing those that had trespassed on its home ground. And as it went, the creature, through its success, became more and more confident in its ability to either hide or move fast enough that people wouldn't notice it.

It's only problem was food. In its pursuit of the thieves, the creature had largely neglected to feed itself. This made recovering the gold the thieves all the more important. It needed sustenance, and only the gold could provide it. An instinctual fear then ran down its spine. It remembered how its parents died of starvation to feed him And now it seemed likely that the same thing could happen to it. It had to recover the stolen gold. It had to.

**23****rd****Precinct, Manhattan, NYC**

Goliath and Eve slowly made their way out of the clock tower and were soon gliding back toward Castle Wyvern. The night had been quiet. A couple of minor muggings and so forth. Their biggest action had been dealing with another small gang fight, or reasons that Goliath felt to be absurd… though to an extent he understood them. Though the concept of revenge that went through one the gangs' thoughts was a very medieval concept that from what he had read on, and what Elisa had told him about, didn't fit in with a 20th to 21st century society.

"Are you upset that all we caught were more of these gang members fighting each other?" Eve asked in a fairly nervous voice.

Goliath looked over to the Avalon female and then sighed.

"If you are referring to finding Holly," Goliath sighed, "then I would suppose so… but mindlessly focusing on her will leave the rest of the city unguarded. Even though these street thugs are not who we set out for, stopping their war will still protect the city, and that is the important thing."

Eve nodded.

"We will catch Holly eventually," Goliath answered, "she will eventually do something that will allow us to catch her."

A thought then came to Eve's mind.

"Suppose she's fled Manhattan?" Eve wondered, "gone somewhere else and decided to cause trouble there."

"I don't think she would do that," Goliath rumbled, "she spent a lot of time with Thailog, and I would bet that he taught her several of his strategy tricks… and she may have been fairly smart to begin with. Leaving Manhattan would present both potential for great gain and great danger for herself."

"How so?" Eve asked.

"It's related to human politics and our population, I'm afraid," Goliath sighed, "our clan is the only clan in this country. There are no other gargoyles here, outside of us, Talon's clan which are mostly clones of members of my clan, and the Guatemalans and the Tibetan elders and their hatchlings who have come here because of disasters in their own homes."

The two of them banked toward the Eyrie Building and began to glide up toward the castle at the top of the tower.

"But because all of the gargoyles are centralized in Manhattan, people outside of New York have little knowledge of us," Goliath continued, "some may say they support us, but because we do not live in their town, they feel free to say that because we are not 'their' problem…"

"But groups like PIT are pushing for national membership!" Eve commented, "Amy's told me that her mom and dad are working toward something like that!"

"I'm sure they are, but it will still take time for them to succeed or fail," Goliath replied, "and should Holly leave Manhattan and cause trouble farther away… she could find herself facing a reborn Quarryman movement there when they find out they have gargoyles there and that they aren't friendly to them… and even with her power… I doubt she could overpower all those she could end up angering."

"So she'd stay here where groups like PIT would try to 'protect' her in a way?" Eve asked.

"She'd stay where people are more accustomed to our presence and a mistake or action is not as likely to have as violent a consequence," Goliath answered, "as a simple point of strategy."

Eve nodded.

"There is also the fact that she likely has some rivalry with Elisa… and probably will have some rivalry with Demona when she and Wedrington return," Goliath sighed, "with the one that she personally hates here, I would think that she would stay in this area to deal with the one she has a personal grudge against."

"What if she's changed her mind and wants to be good?" Eve wondered.

"Then we'll all be relieved," Goliath answered, "though considering the stunts she's pulled recently… I doubt that that has occurred."

**Eyrie Building, The Next Day**

"And now we get to take our robot out for a spin," Xanatos gave a confident smile in one of the more private sections of the castle.

It was one of the marvels of the castle. Most of his main offices were in the main part of the Eyrie Building that had been built before the castle was moved to New York. This left a lot of the castle for him and his family and now for the clan to use as personal living space, though he did manage to keep certain things, like the dungeon in tact. But there were some spaces that were removed to allow for the supports to make sure that the castle didn't just collapse to the ground below. It made several rooms smaller and meant that some of them were now not much more then closets.

And at present they were outside one of these rooms that was in a spot where the castle transitioned into the Eyrie Building or vice versa, depending on if you were going up or down.

"Do you think this will work, David?" Fox wondered.

"It's programmed to act as I would," Xanatos shrugged, "though with firm safety controls, obviously… so that it doesn't get a mind of its own and do what it wants rather what we want it to do."

"And we've also made improvements with a lot of the software going into the robot," spoke Owen Burnett from beside the two canine mutates.

"Meaning?" Fox wondered.

"It can effectively operate as a drone, should something come up where I want to personally be involved…" Xanatos smirked, "where as you can see 'I' can't. But the robot can and through it, I will be able to see and hear everything that goes on."

"Can you talk through it?" Fox wondered.

"Yes," Xanatos sad with a smirk, "come with me and we'll show you."

He then began walking away toward a different room, leaving Fox to follow. Owen meanwhile stayed beside the presently shutdown robot.

"Okay, Owen, I'll contact you over the intercom when the Robot is ready to be activated," Xanatos called back to his glasses wearing assistant.

"Of course, sir," Owen answered, and simply stood there… almost like a soldier during an inspection.

Fox followed Xanatos into a different room about one flight of stairs down. In this portion it was quite clear that they had passed down into the Eyrie Building section of the tall skyscraper that had been built. What they entered look like some sort of high tech control room. It was dominated by a large screen going along one wall. In the middle, there was what looked like a treadmill, with sets of gloves, specialized boots, and a headset which included a visor that come down over someone's eyes, but not far enough that it would interfere with Xanatos's muzzle.

"You see, I put these on and I can see what the robot sees and control what the robot does and says," Xanatos explained as he began fitting the gloves and other items on.

Once he had everything on, he pressed a button on a control panel underneath the screen which turned the screen on. He then pressed a second button which activated the intercom to where Owen was standing.

"Okay, Owen, activate the robot," Xanatos instructed.

"Yes, sir," Owen answered.

Xanatos then smirked at Fox and then shut the intercom off. Fox only watched in surprise as she watched the screen come on, presenting the image of Owen Burnett looking toward the robot.

"Okay, Owen, the intercom is off, can you hear me?" Xanatos asked.

"Of course, sir," Owen answered.

Fox was amazed at seeing all this, but she also did expect it. Xanatos Enterprises had been a leading company in robotics and artificial intelligence programming for years… even if some of their biggest developments had their origins in the theft of Cyberbiotics data when the gargoyles first awakened. She watched on the screen as the Xanatos robot turned its head, and the screen now showed the wall of the 'closet' the robot was in.

"And now, all we do is walk the robot to where the meeting will take place," Xanatos explained, "though you and I, Fox, can not talk to each other during the meeting… it would make me look rather foolish to these people."

"I'm sure Owen is getting quite a kick out of this as we speak," Fox chuckled.

Xanatos turned back to where Owen was and saw the man hadn't moved and that his facial expression hadn't changed. If Owen had any amusement at the robot turning its head and talking to a wall, he didn't show it. Not that 'Owen' ever showed much in that regard.

"Well, Owen," Xanatos spoke, "let's get going."

"Of course, sir," Owen answered.

**Elsewhere**

Ben sat in awe as they drove along the streets of New York.

"What, you've never seen a big city?" Jones asked him, "and remember we went through Ottawa and Montreal before coming down here."

"Yeah, but man, they got nothing on this place," Ben spoke as he stuck his head out to look at the skyscraper around them.

"Yeah, their traffic is better," Jones grumbled as he tried to drive his truck down a fairly busy street.

The street was wall to wall cars going in each direction, and it was murder just trying to change lanes or make turns. He was already certain they would be late.

"Do you have the address the guy on the phone gave us for this exchange?" Jones asked.

Ben nodded and pulled out a paper map of Manhattan and pointed to where the address had been written in paper on the page.

"Yeah, got it right here," Ben nodded, "it's the Eyrie Building. You know the tall one with the castle…"

Jones glanced out at the traffic and the tall buildings around him. Because of that, he couldn't see the building.

"I'm gonna need turn by turn directions from where we are," Jones answered, "with all these dumb buildings in the way, I can't make out anything."

"Okay," Ben nodded and began unfolding the map, "the gargoyles live in the Eyrie Building, you know…"

"We ain't done nothing that would concern them, Ben," Jones answered, "we found gold and we're going to have it exchanged. Perfectly legal."

"Yeah… but do you suppose we'd get an autograph?" Ben asked.

Jones only sighed, "just focus on the directions and forget about autographs… shoot, all the national news stations say they sleep during the day. We'll be long gone by the time they wake up."

It took them awhile to make it to the Eyrie Building. As they approached it, they could easily see how it was the tallest building in the city. They could barely make out the medieval castle at the top of the building.

"You sure we'll be gone by the time the gargoyles get up?" Ben wondered.

"Yeah," Jones replied as pulled the truck into a parking garage that went under the skyscraper.

The cruised the parking garage quietly until they came across a blond man in a suit and wearing glasses. He was standing next to what looked like a loading door with a large wheeled cart.

"We got some help," Jones smiled.

They parked nearby and got out. As they did so, the man approached them.

"You here to help us?" Ben asked him.

"I am Owen Burnett, personal assistant to David Xanatos," Owen answered, "your claim has raised some interesting questions and he has taken a personal interest in this."

"But you'll help us?" Ben asked again.

"I am capable of helping you move what you've collected to the officers where your claim will be appraised," Owen replied.

"Thanks," Jones replied, "we have plenty to load. Don't pocket ANY of it. We'll be watching."

"Of course," Owen replied.

Loading the gold onto the cart took about ten minutes. Owen did his best to supervise and make sure that they weren't coming in with a truck full of Fool's Gold. From what he could tell, it was real Gold, but there were oddities that Owen sensed in it. He wasn't an expert on geology, however, and would prefer to let the appraisers make sense of it, and that would happen soon. Once everything was loaded, Owen allowed Jones to push the cart.

"If you'll follow me," Owen answered and lead Ben and Jones toward the loading door where Owen had been standing earlier.

They dutifully followed the blond assistant. Jones was very confident and could practically already count the money they would make of the claim. Once inside the main part of the building, they went lead to an elevator. It took them up several floors and when the elevator door opened to reveal a bearded man in a dark looking suit with a couple of men in what looked like lab coats.

"So these are our miners?" 'Xanatos' asked.

"Yes, sir," Owen answered.

"These are our technicians who will identify the quality of the gold you have collected," the robot Xanatos spoke.

"We'll still be paid right?" Jones asked.

"Oh, of course," Xanatos replied, "provided everything is in order."

"It is!" Ben said quickly, "we got all of it from the site!"

Xanatos smirked, "I'm sure. If you'll come with us, you can watch the appraisal and we will go over a few questions."

**In The Air…**

The creature that was tracking Jones and Ben flew rapidly through the city. The scent of its food and the scent of the thieves came from a tall building with a stone structure at the top. It was sure it had been seen by people, but it didn't mater. Its food would be recovered and the intruders on its territory would be punished, and so it flew on.

**Castle Wyvern**

Obsidiana and Turquesa were walking quietly along the castle's battlements for some exercise and to enjoy some of the sun. For the Guatemalan clan, things had not been too bad since Thailog's assault on the castle. They didn't patrol the way Goliath's clan did, so they were freer to help the Tibetan elders and to pursue gardening projects in the courtyard or other places. The castle would never replace the green, but they were managing to adapt, and night walks through Central Park did give them some 'remembering' of their old home.

They didn't have time to really think of a reason when Obsidiana looked out and saw a large winged and reptilian creature flying toward the Eyrie Building.

"A dragon!" Obsidiana gasped, "they were myth!"

"As humans today think we are myth," Turquesa countered, "or did before they've seen us."

Obsidiana quickly nodded, "alert Jade and Zafiro! Inform the Xanatoses! It is coming and coming fast!"

Turquesa nodded while Obsidiana kept watch on the incoming dragon. Gargoyle clans always had their stories on the creatures, just as humans did. Obsidiana had learned that before their clan to Christianity as a result of interactions between the gargoyles and Scottish Monks, Goliath's clan had worshiped a being they called 'the Dragon'. The Tibetan gargoyles also held dragons in high regard, although theirs was specifically the Chinese style of dragon, that the Chinese people also worshiped. The Guatemalan clan had no legacy of dragon worship… but Obsidiana did remember stories told by her elders when she was a hatchling that told of monstrous fire breathers that attacked man and gargoyle alike.

She couldn't let this dragon do the same. And as she glanced to the tower, where she caught sight of Goliath and Elisa, locked in stone sleep with the rest of the clan and the Tibetan hatchlings. If this dragon was on the attack, she couldn't let it kill them. Though she had no idea how to deal with it.

And on the ground below, the dragon landed at the base of the Eyrie Building. It knew it had been seen, as car horns blared at it. It also heard the sound of metal hitting metal. But that didn't matter. It had found where is food had been taken and it had caught up with the thieves. It largely reasoned that it could escape any pursuit the humans would make against it.

The scent of the thieves and its food went to a sort of ramp/door area that went under the building. The dragon tried to squeeze in but found it was too big. Realizing this, it roared in frustration and began contemplating how to dismantle the entire structure. If it couldn't pull its quarry out, it would dig them out.

Inside the Eyrie Building, Jones was not comfortable at all. It wasn't Ben's nervousness that was the problem. It was all the questions that Xanatos had been asking him. It wasn't his business to know why they had brought the gold to New York. They were to value it and give him and Ben the money to share.

"You don't have to go this far," Jones spoke as Xanatos stood in front of him.

"It's only common sense to have exchanged the gold in Alaska," Xanatos answered, "technically speaking, if you didn't claim it when you crossed through Canada, what you've done is illegally smuggle gold, because there is no paper trail of it being checked. And I've already served one prison term. I don't want to do another."

Jones didn't answer, but one of the appraisers did.

"And since the gold they've brought in comes from various sites, that is a big concern," the appraiser spoke.

"What!?" Ben blurted, "we found it all in one place."

"Impossible," the appraiser answered.

Xanatos was about ask what it was when a great roar was heard coming from outside the building.

"Dusk?" one of the appraisers asked.

"No," Xanatos shook his head, "too early for the gargoyles to be waking up. Owen… go see what that is and if necessary take all defensive precautions necessary. I will see if I can get our two miners to come clean."

Ben gulped while Jones looked on nervously.

**Castle Wyvern**

Zafiro and Jade came out of a small outside shed that they were storing gardening supplies for the small garden they had set up in the courtyard when the dragon roared. They met Turquesa running toward where they were.

"What is it?" Zafiro asked.

"It's a dragon," Turquesa announced, "we need to get Fox, Xanatos, and Owen."

"A dragon?" Jade asked.

"Yes," Turquesa answered, "come on."

The turquoise colored female the resumed running into the castle. Zafiro and Jade quickly followed her.

"What about Obsidiana?" Zafiro asked.

"She's keeping an eye on it," Turquesa answered.

The dark blue female gargoyle, named for the color of her hair, however, was not merely watching the dragon. She was diving down on it. The creature had led out inhuman roar that was much loader then anything she had heard before. It clearly wanted something or someone from inside the Eyrie Building. If it attacked the building itself, the building would come down, and the gargoyles sleeping in stone would all die.

As the dragon prepared to lunge at the building, Obsidiana reached is head, and unleashing a challenging cry of her own, lashed out at the dragon's cheek with her talons. It roared with pain and staggered back for the moment. Obsidiana moved to hover for a bit as the dragon looked to her. As it did so, she could almost swear that the dragon looked at her like it saw a relative of some sort.

When Owen reached the Castle he found that things were not going very well. The roars continued from outside, and no one knew what it was yet. He came across Fox, who had left the robot's control to figure out what was going on, herself.

"What is it, Owen?" Fox asked.

"An attacker of some sort," Owen answered, "beyond that, I do not know."

"David doesn't know what it is," Fox spoke.

"I know," Owen replied, "that is why I am here. To identify what it is and activate the appropriate security measures."

Fox nodded and the two continued on. As they approached the portions of the castle that lead to the outside they ran into most of the Guatemalan gargoyles, who appeared to be searching for them.

"Thank goodness we found you," Turquesa spoke quickly, "it is a dragon and a large one at that!"

"A dragon?" Owen's eyes widened, something few people ever saw.

"Yes," Turquesa nodded, "a dragon."

Owen then broke into a run for the castle's main security room. This startled Fox heavily as it seemed so very 'un-Owen-like' behavior. She and the three Guatemalans ran after him, if only to find out why he seemed to be acting strange.

"Owen… what's the danger!?" Fox asked as she rushed after him.

"Potentially everything," Owen answered, "dragons are incredibly powerful creatures. Not invincible, but still powerful. I had thought their race had actually gone extinct many years… probably even centuries ago…"

"But one has survived," Turquesa spoke, "Obsidiana and I saw it."

"Yes," Owen continued on his way to the security room, "and it's saw fit to attack the building for some reason. If it does so, it is strong enough to collapse the entire building, destroying the clan as it sleeps in the process."

By then they reached the main security room and Owen did the one thing he knew would protect the Eyrie Building and the clan of gargoyles in stone sleep on the castle's towers and battlements. He activated the shield. The dragon would be strong and powerful, but it couldn't over power the shield.

"Why is it attacking us?" Jade asked.

"My best guess is that it is connected with the miners that have come here with the gold," Owen answered, "their answers seem to be those who are trying to dodge the truth about how they obtained the gold."

"Why would a dragon care about gold?" Fox asked.

Owen sighed, "it's part of their own food cycle and is tied to how dragons evolved."

There was then a brief flash of light as Puck replaced Owen. He then created images of the three sentient races.

"Now, humans evolved solely by science," Puck began, "the Fey, the Third Race, evolved through magic. Gargoyles evolved through a mixture of magic and science… and dragons are one of the evolutionary ancestors of gargoyles."

A line then went down from the gargoyle depicted in Puck's illustration to that of a dragon.

"Now, while many legends have dragons being powerful and magical beings in their own right," Puck explained, "that is not entirely true… Like the fey they do hold some power naturally, but its more like a gargoyle's stonesleep, then fey magic… though, for dragons, it affects their digestive system more then anything else. They can't eat plants or animal matter the way other beings do… they eat precious metals and gemstones and things like that. It will generally vary with what is most common in any particular area."

"The miners must have stolen the dragon's food source," Jade surmised.

"That is a distinct possibility," Puck nodded, "and being only semi-sentient, the dragon's only real thought is to punish the thieves and recover its food. Even if it means killing us in the process."

"And maybe that's the origin of the stories of knights fighting dragons to save princesses," Fox commented.

"Yes," Puck nodded, "although the details of those encounters are not present accurately in those stories. Any princess in a dragon's clutches was not threatened by any evil act of the dragon… if and when the dragon threatened her, it would be no different then from a Mayan, say, getting attacked by a Jaguar or a European attacked by a Wolf. The dragon is merely following its own instincts."

"Can we stop it?" Fox asked.

"It is possible," Puck nodded, "though, I'd think the Police will end up doing far more to stop it."

"They'll take too long," Turquesa answered, "the dragon is already here!"

Puck sighed, "I can help… though you will all need spears…"

**Outside**

Obsidiana could sear the dragon had some look of recognition at her when it did so, but it soon shrugged that off and blew a ball of fire at her. The dark blue female managed to dodge the attack, which hit the brick of a nearby building and dissipated, though she also noticed a large burn mark on the building. As she dodged, she ended up diving closer to the Eyrie Building just as the building's shield went up.

"Hopefully that keeps it out," Obsidiana commented as the shield went up.

The dragon seemed unfazed by this and lunged forward at the shield. It then roared with pain and staggered back into the streets after receiving an electrical shock from the shield. As the dragon recovered from that, it watched the gargoyle that was watching it, and it listened to the sound of sirens.

It's hope to recover its food was gone, now. Too many people knew it was there and the building seemed to emit some energy it couldn't tear through. Trying to stretch its wings to fly away the dragon ended up giving a pained hiss. The shock from the shield had somehow damaged its wings, or at least stunned the dragon enough that it could not use them for the moment. It then began to walk away, hoping to get as far from the people as possible. The dragon's rage was gone and now all it wanted to do was get away.

**Inside the Eyrie Building**

Owen returned to where the Robot Xanatos was still questioning the two miners. The real Xanatos was still controlling the robot, so he knew that talking to the robot would allow him to report to Xanatos without doing anything that would be considered odd. He arrived to find one of the miners, Jones, vigorously defending his actions and where their gold came from.

"And I'm telling you," the appraiser spoke, "the soil and rock samples with the ore are not consistent with your claim. There are samples that have some consistency with Canada, Alaska, and even parts of Siberia. Not the one portion that you're saying."

"And I'm telling you we found it all in one place," Jones answered vehemently.

"I'm sure," Owen spoke up, "but it would be in your own best interest to tell us exactly how you found this gold and where it was… as the roar was made by the REAL owner of it."

"Real?" Ben asked.

"A dragon," Owen answered, "the buildings security measures are in place."

"They're real?" Ben asked.

"You come to the building where a clan of gargoyles live and question whether or not something else that is inhuman exists?" Xanatos questioned, "Now I suggest that one of you talk. Because if no dragon carcass is brought in by the Manhattan SWAT teams, I will have you charged with smuggling and robbery and I will have someone go to Alaska where you claim to have found this gold and tell them that you stole from their land and property."

Jones looked defiant, as the location they had given was no where near where they had actually found gold. But, Ben cracked.

"We found it in a cave," Ben blabbed, "west of Denali National Park."

"And how did you find the gold?" Xanatos asked.

"Just stacked there," Ben answered, "Jones found the cave."

"Just as I suspected, sir," Owen cut in, "the dragon had hid in the mountains there. It had dug the cave out itself and probably failed to adequately cover the cave opening and these two found it."

"And just what would a dragon want with gold?" Jones challenged.

"Food," Owen answered, "their digestive system is very different from ours."

"How do you know?" he challenged again.

"Lets just say a little 'imp' told me," Owen answered, "anyway, the dragon failed to hide its cave and these two found the cave and robbed the dragon. This in turn angered it to the point where it would risk discovery to get the gold back."

"We didn't know a dragon owned it," Ben spoke nervously.

"Obviously," Owen answered, "though the only person who can claim the dragon's gold once the dragon is dealt with will be the legal owners of the land, so we will need an exact location of the dragon's cave so we know who to contact."

Jones glared at his partner as Ben gave them the real location of the dragon's cave. As he finished, Owen and Xanatos stepped away.

"I will deal with the police," Xanatos spoke, "Owen… I want you to do what you can deal with our reptilian attacker."

"Of course, sir," Owen nodded and then headed out.

**On the Streets**

The dragon, meanwhile, was no longer intentionally attacking anyone. The shield around the building was more then enough. All it wanted to do was flee. The city it was in was far too loud. The people running in terror from it screamed and fled their vehicles, which the dragon either crushed or flicked out of its way as it looked for a spot where I could get airborne and flee the city. What hurt its ears more were the constant sounds of sirens. They were even loud and some of their undercutting frequencies served to disorient the dragon.

Gliding above and behind the dragon were the Guatemalan gargoyles, who had now united again.

"Why did you attack it?" Turquesa asked to Obsidiana, "it might have eaten you!"

"It was about to truly attack the building," Obsidiana defended her actions and accepted a long spear that Turquesa was handing to her, "and had it done so… Goliath's clan and the others would be dead. We can not fail again."

Jade and Zafiro nodded, catching the reference to their original home, the Green. Puck had armed them relatively well with long spears, which the fey had assure them would be able to penetrate the heavily armored scales on the dragon's hide. And with them, the four gargoyles, protected from turning to stone by the amulets they wore pursued the dragon as it walked along.

"The real question now is how do we bring it down?" Zafiro spoke up, to save any second guessing for a safer moment, "Owen told us that they will be confiscating the gold and turning the miners over to the police. If the dragon leaves… it may eventually return and could come hunting for the gold."

"If we can get a spear into its chest… that might do it," Turquesa commented, "although remember what Owen said… back in the days when people still believed in magic and confronted dragons and such… it took ARMIES to kill them. Not just lone knights."

The dragon, however, overheard them or sensed it was being pursued. It turned its neck around and aimed its mouth directly at the four gliding gargoyles.

"Uh-oh," Jade gasped and then dove away as the dragon sent a torrent of fire into the air.

The rest of the Guatemalans dove to avoid the fire and were successful in doing so. The fire did dissipate and did no damage to the city itself, but it was more then enough to get the four Guatemalans to try and rethink some of their strategy. Such as it was.

The dragon, however, seemed to focus on Obsidiana and Zafiro as they had dove in the same direction, and the dragon did recognize the first being that had attacked in. It then shot its neck out to try and frap the two gargoyles in its mouth but failed.

"Obsidiana and Zafiro have it distracted!" Jade said to Turquesa, "let's go!"

Turquesa nodded and swooped down low and fast as Jade moved after the dragon while it was preoccupied with snapping at Obsidiana and Zafiro. The dragon never caught on to their movement and they managed to get underneath it, as the dragon had risen up onto its hind legs. The two of them readied their spears in a position to strike at the dragon.

"NOW!" Turquesa roared and thrust the spear up into the dragon's chest.

Jade did the same and thrust his own weapon to the dragon's chest. It took much of their strength, but they managed to get the weapons to sink in fairly deep. However, the dragon reared up in pain, making itself taller and pulling the weapons out Jade and Turquesa's hands. It then looked down at the two gargoyles. It did not look happy.

Above the dragon, Obsidiana and Zafiro saw the dragon turn back down to focus on Jade and Turquesa.

"Attack it's head! Quickly!" Obsidiana spoke.

Zafiro nodded and dove down, spear ready. Jade and Turquesa would not be able to escape the dragon's fire if it attacked with that, but the gargoyles being in two teams of two, found themselves facing some advantage because of their numbers. In turning to face Jade and Turquesa, the dragon had lost all attention on Zafiro and Obsidiana.

The two of them dove down and reached the back of the dragon's head just as it prepared to breathe fire. Zafiro drove his spear into the back of the dragon's skull while Obsidiana drove her spear in behind the dragon's right ear. Their momentum caused them to let go of their spears, but the move did its job. It did breathe fire, but in reacting to the wounds to its head, it lowered its head, and when the flames did come out, the dragon ended up roasting its on chest and abdomen. This included the spear wounds that Jade and Turquesa made I its chest. It roared in pain and collapsed to the ground.

"I think we got it," Jade said slowly as the dragon lay still.

Obsidiana and Zafiro landed to find that the dragon was still groaning. It was still alive, but Obsidiana thought the wounds it had sustained had to be mortal.

"I believe so," Obsidiana commented, watching the dragon's increasingly erratic breaths. Her nose easily picked up the scent of burnt flesh from the dragon.

The dragon then raised its head with the last of its strength only to have the bumper from a car that the dragon had earlier crushed or destroyed hit the end of the spear in the back of its head so perfectly that it acted like a hammer and a nail. The spear was driven completely into the dragon's braincase while the bumper landed on the dragon's back. When the Guatemalans recovered from the dragon's near revival, they noticed who had thrown the bumper. It was Puck.

"So, I've arrived just in the nick of time, I see," Puck mused, "though I must say you for did very well. In the olden days it took an army to kill a dragon, and it was usually catapults and ballistas that actually felled the beast."

"Modern weaponry is far more powerful," Jade commented.

"Undoubtedly," Puck nodded, "but we in the Seelie Court believed that most great dragons such as this were driven into extinction in the early part of what Europeans call the Middle Ages."

"So what do we do now?" Zafiro asked as Puck was replaced with Owen… somehow without any onlooker noticing.

At the same time, the sound of sirens got closer. It was actually a SWAT helicopter that arrived on the scene first.

"Now, Owen said slowly, "we explain how a dragon ended up in New York, which will be my department on behalf of Xanatos Enterprises."

Obsidiana nodded.

"The four of you will likely be called on to give a statement," Owen told them as four SWAT officers approached, M-16s ready.

"Is it dead?" the first officer asked.

"It would appear that way," Owen stepped forward, "though it is a good thing you are."

"How so?" the second SWAT officer answered, "your gargoyles already killed it… though shouldn't they be asleep?"

"The amulets we were allow my clan to stay flesh during the day," Obsidiana spoke, "it allows us to look after the gardens in Castle Wyvern."

"These are the ones that came from Guatemala," the third SWAT Officer spoke, "Xanatos' lawyers got the Immigration Department tied up on their status as refuges, citing aggressiveness on the part of the locals to them."

"The Immigration Department can suck eggs if they're going to help us with stuff like this," the first retorted, "damn thing could probably take a full clip and survive."

"Any idea what…"

"It is a dragon," Owen answered, "and as you can see, not animatronics. It is real."

"Do you have any idea why it's come into New York City?" the first SWAT officer asked.

"I do indeed," Owen nodded, "as does Mr. Xanatos, who is informing the NYPD leaders as we speak."

**Two Hours Later**

Ben and Jones were silently loaded into transport vehicle from the police that would take them to a jail cell to wait for the trial for what had happened. Official charges of a criminal nature would be rather light. Mostly thievery, though, that would actually be the responsibility of the Alaskan courts. The one criminal charge they would face in New York would be "public endangerment" for leading such an animal into the city. Most of the rest of the charges would be civil trials in relation to the damage that the dragon had done.

And of course, Jones couldn't use the gold he had found to pay for it, as it was confiscated as stolen and smuggled property. And the gold would likely sit with the NYPD until Xanatos Enterprises could find the owner of the land where the dragon had its cave. At present, that looked like it would take awhile.

And from the castle's battlements, Xanatos… the real Xanatos stood with Fox looking down toward the NYPD vehicle.

"I almost wish the dragon had caught them out in the wilds of Alaska or Canada," Xanatos commented, "It didn't do much damage to the Eyrie Building… but it will still cost a bit to repair."

"I'm sure, dear," Fox nodded, "but it could have been worse."

"It probably is worse for the people who lost vehicles to that thing," Xanatos replied, "and he police did find that several people have broken bones… and you know our greedy miners don't have the money to compensate them all."

"Perhaps when we find out who owns the land, we can persuade him to donate the gold," Fox commented, "from what you told me, they took enough to more then compensate for the damages."

"Maybe," Xanatos nodded, "Only time will tell…"

**The End**


	53. The Fall of the Blood Red Witch

All characters appearing in Gargoyles and Gargoyles: The Goliath Chronicles are copyrighted to Buena Vista Television/The Walt Disney Company. I've taken the idea for the Unseelie Court from the TGS. Characters and concepts from Star Trek are property of Paramount and created by Gene Roddenberry. No Infringement of these copyrights is intended, and is not authorized by the copyright holder. All original characters are the property of SN.

Note: I'm disregarding the events of the "Goliath Chronicles", with the exception of "The Journey" because I do not wish to use the rest of the "Goliath Chronicles" as canon to my story. Also, I'm altering large sections of the Star Trek storyline, especially concerning events like WWIII and the Eugenics Wars, which without the Cold War as a backdrop probably wouldn't happen the way Roddenberry wrote them, if at all. This story takes place the evening after "Dragon's Wrath".

The Fall of the Blood Red Witch

By SN/TVfan

Email: Sam_Nary

**Castle Wyvern**

The battlements were quiet as the sun sank in the western sky and night descended on New York. Obsidiana and Zafiro stood quietly beside two stone forms that stood quietly at the top of the castle's main tower. Their forms didn't remain quiet as the sun sank lower. As they sun went down, cracks suddenly began to crackle through each form. A few moments later, the forms underneath the stone forms burst free with the great awakening roars that every gargoyle gave when awakening from stonesleep.

"Good 'morning', Goliath, Elisa," Obsidiana spoke to the Manhattan Clan leader and his mate as they stretched their wings and climbed down from their pedestals.

"Good evening," Elisa replied to the two Guatemalan gargoyles.

For most of the clan, it was 'morning' as they spent the day encased in stone, but their schedule was an inversion of the normal times of day that most people thought of. And the Guatemalan Clan didn't need to sleep in stone the way other gargoyles did thanks to their special pendants. The Sun Amulet may have been slightly damaged in the Hunter's attack on the Clocktower, but it still functioned well enough for the Guatemalan gargoyles to avoid turning to stone for the day.

Though it wasn't normally one of the Guatemalan clan that came to meet them when they awakened. Normally it was Xanatos and Fox, or Owen, or even Matt on occasion. The fact that Zafiro and Obsidiana were there was enough to get Goliath and Elisa a little curious. It was Goliath who actually asked the question.

"Is something wrong?" he asked in a low voice.

"I wouldn't think anything is truly wrong at the moment," Zafiro answered, "this is mostly a heads up over the things that happened today."

"What did happen today?" Elisa asked.

"A dragon attacked the city and the Eyrie Building in particular," Obsidiana said slowly, as Goliath and Elisa both gave startled and semi-disbelieving gasps.

"A dragon...?" Elisa gasped, "I know this sounds a little odd... coming from a human that was turned into a gargoyle by magic... but... a dragon."

"Our clan originally worshiped a being known as 'The Dragon'..." Goliath rumbled, "but our knowledge of it was very much like most people's knowledge of their God, Goddess, or multiple deities, depending on the specific faith."

"Well, this one was real," Obsidiana said firmly, "it was not a machine with cloth over it. It was real."

"Mr. Burnett also informed us that he thought the dragon's race went extinct at the beginning of Europe's Middle Ages," Zafiro added.

Goliath then nodded. It would explain why he and his clan had never seen an actual dragon. He trusted the Guatemalan gargoyles when they reported that a dragon had attacked the Eyrie Building and that it was real, and that they had survived somewhere. But not in mainland Europe or in Scotland, as the Medieval period in Europe's history began hundreds of years before Goliath hatched. What concerned him was why would one lone dragon come out of hiding to attack the building.

"Why did this dragon attack the building?" Goliath asked.

"Apparently some 'miners' in Alaska found this dragon's cave and looted it of the gold kept inside," Zafiro explained, "Mr. Burnett said that these things EAT gold or precious metals or stones. So when they took the gold that it had horded..."

"They stole its food," Elisa breathed.

"And it pursued them here," Zafiro nodded, "the attack was to get its food back. Why they didn't try to exchange the gold in Alaska we weren't told..."

"They probably didn't want to have share their gold find," Elisa commented, "there are people that could exchange the gold for cash in Alaska, but if they followed procedure there, they'd have to say where they found it and state who owned the land there. Doing so would attract attention and could reveal that they were trespassing on someone else's land."

"And to the dragon... those things were viewed from the same mindset as any mundane animal would view them," Goliath gave a sigh.

"Which might give your clan trouble," Zafiro nodded, "Which is why we are telling you this."

Goliath glanced to Elisa, who nodded. Tonight was her patrol shift. They probably wouldn't be assigned to do anything about this attack. That was likely handled by the day shift, and likely SWAT officers. But the fact that an 'animal' that was massive in size in comparison to most other animals and was normally only a 'mythical' creature that wasn't commonly seen had attacked the city could create the same sort of negative response that the Hunters had created when they attacked the clan.

The clan had seemed to recover from the Hunters, but contradicting the Quarrymen's lies was one thing. A dragon would essentially be a large animal that would behave in the way any animal would or could. And because of that, the response to it could be tough on the clan. That response would take time to fully understand and figure out, but Goliath had learned a lot about the modern world since the clan had been reawakened by Xanatos. News such things moved much quicker in the modern world. A response to this attack could have already occurred. If there was, Elisa and her shift would be the first to hear of it.

"Thank you for the update," Elisa said to Zafiro and Obsidiana, "hopefully things will turn out well."

"Hopefully," Obsidiana nodded.

**Order of the Phoenix Meeting Hall**

Ralph Maccio sat down the large hall-like room of his friend Victor. Victor had originally been a member of the Quarrymen who handled a lot of their organizational and 'propaganda' tasks and had never been part of the Quarrymen 'squads' that battled the gargoyle clan. Many of these members also controlled the donations that the Quarrymen had collected from members and from Castaway's mysterious benefactor. After Castaway's plot to take over the city involving Elisa's transformation and culminating in the murder of Margot Yale, these members managed to get the Quarrymen's funds into their own private pockets for 'safe keeping'.

But Castaway never came back for the money. So, Victor and the other non fighting members of the Quarrymen were able to live a fairly rich lifestyle off of all that money. But they still either feared or hated the gargoyle clan and had no leadership after Castaway and many in the Quarrymen became both criminal and unpopular. They then turned to Ralph Maccio who had taken over the leadership of the movement. A movement he named the Order of the Phoenix.

Ralph intended for it to be the defender of humanity's rights. To protect them from the dark plans that the gargoyles had for the city. In many ways Ralph Maccio and Jon Castaway were fairly similar in many ways, particularly when it came to ideology. There were, however, a good many differences between Ralph and Castaway. Castaway embraced violence and rapidly became viewed as a criminal as a result of it. Ralph knew that that was wrong. Getting rid of the gargoyles was important, but becoming a criminal had only made them look good, and Ralph suspected the conspiracy that the gargoyles and their PIT allies had depended on Castaway's rush to embrace violence.

"Okay, the gathering of the Phoenix Council will come to order," Ralph Maccio spoke to the small group of Order of the Phoenix members that had become the assigned leaders of various 'chapters' of the Order of the Phoenix.

The others nodded and gathered around him. The Order of the Phoenix was small and hadn't attracted a large following of people, as the Quarrymen initially had. Most of its members were Quarrymen holdovers, but they did get some new people, but no where near as many people as Ralph had initially hoped for. Partially because many of the people who were going to fear gargoyles as threats to their children and such were rapidly beginning to buy into PIT's arguments, or seemed to trust that the police department would be able to control the gargoyles.

Part of that had come from the failed debate against William Axel. Ralph had stated things as he saw them, but he had to admit that Axel was a skilled debater. He managed to portray his legitimate reasons to remove the gargoyles from New York as the ramblings of some paranoid nut. As a result, people weren't joining the Order of the Phoenix. Ralph was sure that most of the New Yorkers were supporters of his cause, but were too scared of the gargoyles, the police, and the PIT members.

Ralph needed something, anything, that would get the people to realize just how dangerous it was to have the gargoyles around. And the events of the day so far seemed to be just the opportunity for such a move. The dragon that attacked the Eyrie Building was another mythical creature. The news hadn't mentioned much about why the dragon had come into the city, and Ralph figured the gargoyles had to be involved in it somehow.

"Has anyone heard anything more about this dragon's attack?" Ralph then asked, "any possible reason as to why it attacked the city?"

"It attacked the Eyrie Building," one of the other 'chapter' leaders commented, "I'm not sure there is much that we can really use. Xanatos will probably make some claim that it would have killed the gargoyles just as it would have killed any people it would have caught."

"Can you confirm that was deliberately attacking the gargoyles?" Ralph questioned.

"No..." the same member sighed, "most of what they've said on the news was that it was lured to New York by some fools that were digging and mining where they shouldn't have been."

"Then it was simply coincidence that the building it was drawn to was the one the gargoyles sleep on during the day," Ralph answered, "Remember that Xanatos owns a whole series of buildings around Manhattan... or at least pays some small rent on the building for commercial use."

The others all nodded. The line made sense, but it also didn't prove the conspiracy that the gargoyles had some sort of secret plot to take control of the city.

"I'm not entirely sure that this would still work," Victor said slowly, and slightly nervously, "we need to prove that the gargoyles are secretly plotting our downfall and are trying to lure us into a false sense of security..."

"Yes...?" Ralph turned to him.

"Well... if the attack was merely a coincidence, we an not prove that the gargoyles were responsible for the attack without generating some new potential conspiracy that most of the people will not believe," Victor answered, "Especially since they don't believe the present threat."

Ralph only sighed as Victor had pointed out the conclusion to the fact that the dragon's attack on the Eyrie Building was a coincidence. All of this came from his perceived loss in the debate with William Axel. Because Axel had managed to convince the television viewers that the conspiracy that the Manhattan Clan was surely running was nothing short of a lie on Ralph's part, or at best paranoia, trying to figure out a reason why the gargoyles would have had the dragon come wouldn't be believed either.

This meant that a new tactic would be needed, and that was the purpose behind the present meeting.

"Perhaps we should take a different tactic," a different 'chapter' leader commented, "Instead of talking about conspiracies and other such things... things that we'd need concrete proof before we'd even stand a chance of succeeding... we should look to some other tactic."

"Like what?" the first member that had spoke, "Saying 'gargoyles are evil' wouldn't work... shoot it didn't even work all that well when Castaway did it. It raised some new recruits, yes, but it didn't win over everyone."

"And now, since Castaway and the Quarrymen have made their movement criminal to the rest of the city, simply calling the gargoyles evil and so forth would have less support for us," Ralph nodded and added to criticism of the idea, "we can't just stick to strategies that don't work, Elias."

The man who proposed different tactics, whose first name was Elias, sighed heavily. The Order of the Phoenix was supposedly the best and brightest of the Quarrymen, and had only avoided arrest because they weren't involved in the activities that were deemed criminal by law enforcement and the people of New York. Yet, it's leader, and several of the other chapter leaders hadn't caught on to the point he was getting at.

"We take a mode of argument that isn't so much of a direct 'attack' on the gargoyles," Elias sighed, "make the urge that what we're trying to restore is some sense of normalcy."

"Normalcy..." Ralph mused, beginning to get what Elias was getting at.

"Yes," Elias nodded, "Everyone wants their lives to be 'normal'. However, since the gargoyles were exposed... normalcy has not been in our lives. We have the gargoyles flying around like they own us... a winter that is strange and coming out of no where... abnormal... we've had a black panther that wasn't part of any local zoo or even some private owner's collection running around our subways... we were terrorized by a horde of what can only be called ghosts... we've had maniacs that have either took some sort of serum that hasn't been explained to become some sort of werewolf... and other maniacs that turned themselves into toaster ovens... and we've had gargoyles fighting gargoyles. Is any of that normal?"

"No," Ralph and the others agreed, "none of that is normal."

"And that is what we're arguing for a return to," Elias spoke, "tell everyone that the longer we allow the gargoyles, the more we allow these weird things to disrupt our lives and make things tougher. Tell them that all we need to do is remove the gargoyles, and take greater steps to keep all these weird things out. Robots, elves, dragons, whatever other weird thing there is... tell them we want them out and a resumption of normal lives in New York."

"That won't turn people against PIT!" Victor commented.

"So?" Elias countered, "If people see the gargoyles as the bringers of the weird things that disrupt their lives, it won't matter whether or not they're pro-gargoyle or anti-gargoyle. They'll want the lives they had restored. And surely you know that PIT is preaching the integration of the gargoyles into our society."

"And if they decide they want a 'normal' life," Ralph commented, "they will simply say they should go somewhere else and be some one else's problem. They'd let them live..."

"But just not here," Victor sighed, "but shouldn't we be pushing for their eradication?"

"Castaway tried doing that himself," Ralph reminded him, "and doing so, got him and the Quarrymen to be declared criminal. No one will support us if we suddenly decide to take up hammers and attack the gargoyles ourselves."

"I know," Victor sighed.

"We tried to get the city to recognize how dangerous the gargoyles were," Ralph continued, "to get the city or the state of New York to do what Castaway tried to do... but that failed because Axel and PIT have either been brainwashed by the gargoyles or think they will give PIT political rewards after they've taken over the city... and they then used their own propaganda machine to make it seem like we were paranoid idiots."

"I know," Victor groaned.

"The only way we could persuade them to realize that the gargoyles are wrong is if we were to get hard evidence of their plot," Ralph continued, "and to do that, we would need to do things that would get us arrested for criminal espionage or at best charged with criminal mischief, which would only make us appear worse... or wait for their scheme to become blatantly obvious..."

"At which point it'd be too late," Victor sighed conceding defeat in the 'debate'.

"The best we can do is get the people to demand a normal life back and then run the gargoyles out of town," Ralph finished, "or push for such regulations that the gargoyles would go somewhere else and be someone else's problem..."

"Where we might stand a chance of getting some other city to arrest them," Elias cut in, "PIT is only strong in the New York area. Outside it... while there are few Phoenix members, there are even fewer PIT members. Outside New York we stand a much better chance."

Victor then nodded.

"Okay," Ralph nodded, "since we know what we need to do..."

**23rd Precinct**

"Hey, Matt," Elisa spoke as she entered the clocktower office where the NYPD's Gargoyle Task Force was based out of.

"Hey," Matt answered from his desk, "Sleep well... or did the dragon keep you up?"

"Very funny," Elisa answered as she and her shift clocked in to start the night.

"Hey, it's the best I could up with on short notice," Matt shrugged.

Elisa gave a slight sigh in response. The exchange reminded her of days... or nights before her transformation. But it wasn't as if the clan's camaraderie was that different. Both the clan and the police protected New York, and Elisa and Angela had become good friends since the 'World Tour'. Elisa had practically counted Angela as another sister, even before her transformation. And now, thanks to recent events, the clan's world and the NYPD's world was merging. Elisa was fairly interested in seeing how that turned out.

Even with all that, Elisa did have some curiosity on the dragon's attack. The Guatemalan clan probably hadn't told them everything. Things that Xanatos reported to the police probably weren't told to the Guatemalans, and what was done with the dragon's body was something that the Guatemalans weren't told.

"Say, Matt, did the Captain or anyone else tell you about what went on while we were sleeping?" Elisa wondered.

The rest of her shift stood beside her with a short nod. They appeared to be curious also. Matt gave a slightly puzzled look. It was like he expected the Guatemalans to give them the full rundown on what happened.

"According to what the Guatemalan clan has told us... and from what they've learned Puck, Owen, or some other Xanatos employee... we know that a couple of crooked miners found the dragon's cave and looted it," Elisa answered, "and the dragon followed in enraged pursuit to get its food back... that's about all."

"There isn't all that much to say, really," Matt sighed, "what the Guatemalans told you is pretty accurate. SWAT was called in to deal with the dragon itself, though the Guatemalans had managed to stop the creature before they arrived, and a regular unit picked up the two miners."

"Did you find anything else about them?" Desdemona wondered.

"Not really... but then, we weren't assigned to the case, so Flariaty and I will have to wait until the final reports on the case are written," Matt sighed.

"Which would be standard procedure," Elisa informed her golden skinned partner, "though I would have figured they would have gotten through that by now."

"We did ask those involved in the direct investigation," Flariaty spoke up, "and it would appear they've had problems."

"Problems?" Broadway wondered.

"Nothing physical," Flariaty said quickly, "it's their stories that is the issue. First they questioned them as a pair. One of the two of them was the one who answered the bulk of the questions and he barely let the other get a word in edgewise. So they separated them. Both answered their questions as individuals, but their answers contradicted each other. One amounted to a full confession of all potential wrongdoings suspected... the other made it seem like we'd arrested an innocent person."

"Surely bringing this dragon, even if it was unintentional would be criminal?" Caroline gave a grumble.

"Rest assured, they'll both be facing some charges," Matt assured them, "public endangerment probably wouldn't work, because both of them were adamant that they didn't intend for the dragon to follow them. The crimes they'll be charged with will be related to where they got the gold and whether or not they had permission to go searching there... and depending on whether or not they let Canadian and then American officials know when they crossed the borders, smuggling."

"Which in terms of seriousness of the crime isn't that much," Flariaty added, "but because they crossed international boundaries, they will likely be transferred into the FBI's care and will end up before a Federal judge."

The present gargoyles all nodded. They remembered a lot of these explanations from their time in 'training' to earn their badges. Things related to jurisdiction and all that.

"Do you know where they took the body?" Elisa wondered, "Just curious?"

"I think the Navy actually took possession of that," Matt managed, "SWAT got a call once they'd gotten the adequately loaded that the Navy had a spot to store it in... I'd guess the government wonders if there are any sorts of secrets the body could give us."

"Do you know if anyone else has done anything because of this?" Desdemona wondered, sounding slightly nervous.

"You mean like that Macho guy?" Matt asked back in a teasing voice, deliberately making fun of the Order of the Phoenix's leader's name.

"His name is Maccio," Amy pointed out.

"Yeah I know," Matt nodded, "but I get a bit of a kick making puns on his last name."

"Very funny, Matt," Elisa shook her head.

"Anyway... no we haven't heard much of from Maccio's Order of the Phoenix since Ms. Axel's dad beat him in the televised debate that they had."

"That's my dad!" Amy said proudly while Brooklyn patted her shoulder.

"So he could be biding his time?" Desdemona questioned.

"I suppose... but it's not likely," Matt answered, "Maccio may hate gargoyles, but unlike the Quarrymen, he doesn't approve of criminal acts of violence. He wants the police and the military... and maybe the FBI to step in and kill you. Which means if he does something, it'll be some sort of protest. Something you'd best ignore."

"We know, Matt," Elisa nodded, "thanks for the update."

"Don't mention it," Matt shrugged, "I'll let you know if something new comes up."

And with their 'cards' clocked in, Elisa's shift left to run their patrol for the night.

**US Navy Warehouse, Former New York Navy Yards**

Meanwhile the powerful enemy the clan had had glided quietly to a large naval warehouse on the grounds that had been the New York Navy Yards. Holly had heard from her entranced 'hosts' and the news about the battle between the Guatemalan clan and the dragon outside of the Eyrie Building. To her, the report seemed to be a fairly good thing. She had no real reason to see the gargoyle race being killed off, as she had turned herself into a gargoyle.

Holly, however, was the kind of gargoyle that Ralph Maccio had stereotyped for the Order of the Phoenix. She had learned a lot from Thailog and had gained a lot of power in magic. As such, she felt that she deserved more then being controlled by humans. She deserved some power, and she would find some way to get it. As such, she was the type that Ralph Maccio had vilified, but he spent so much time vilifying gargoyles as a whole, that no one would believe him if he knew about her. That was his loss.

And now she was on her way to gaining the power she desired. And that involved the dragon that the Guatemalans had killed. Many legends had made dragons out to be very powerful creatures. So much so that in ancient to medieval times that it took entire armies to kill one dragon. Of course, Holly knew that technology had advanced much since those days. And if army units were called in, they'd probably send a couple of men with anti-tank rockets and set up an ambush on the creature. Still, Holly know the dragon gave her an option to gain some power, and so she was there to gain it.

And that lead her to the New York Navy Yards, also known as the Brooklyn Naval Shipyard. The ship building facilities, both civilian and military had long been shut down in favor of shipyards in the south where construction could continue all year round without having to heat the facilities. But, since New York was still a major trading port Holly had found that some of the warehouses and port facilities in the former Navy yard area were still in use.

And it was here that SWAT and US Navy personnel had taken the body of the dragon. Holly landed quietly on the rooftop and looked in through a relatively small ventilation window that was in the roof. There were several armed men surrounding the dragon's body, which was in the center of the room, along with a couple of men in lab coats. Holly didn't know what they came from, but she didn't really care.

"So what can you tell me?" a man dressed in an officer's uniform, Holly couldn't tell which service he was, questioned.

"Well... the cause of death was from these spears impaled into its head," one doctor answered, "One in the back of the jaw and the other directly in the back of the skull."

"I know that already," the officer answered, "that's what the gargoyles told SWAT and what SWAT told us. What enabled something like this to hide for so long?"

"Don't know for sure," the doctor answered, "It's scales are very tough and we had to get machinery to cut into it... but it isn't invincible, and a good rifle should be able to penetrate the hide... whether or not its bones would be strong enough to protect its internal organs is anyone's guess..."

There was short pause before the doctor continued.

"The best one that I have is that their bones are also denser and stronger then anything we've known and it was able to tunnel into thinks like rock," the doctor finished.

"With all do respect, look at the size of that thing," the officer grumbled, "if it just tunneled into a mountain do you think that we would have missed it?"

"It could be possible then most mundane animals," the doctor guessed, "like chimpanzees or dolphins... or reasonably close to that. Of course without a live specimen, there is no way we can find out."

"Couldn't you measure the size of its brain?" the officer wondered.

"The actual weight isn't the important thing," the doctor answered, "An elephant's brain is physically larger then ours. Do you think an elephant is smarter then you?"

"Absolutely not!" the officer answered in an annoyed tone.

"And that is my point," the doctor replied, "we can analyze the brain and see what sections of it are developed... but even there, that might not get everything."

The officer only nodded, "Best get the right saws to take a look. There's got to be something to this that is useful."

"Scientifically useful," the doctor cautioned him, "not militarily useful. It was killed by four gargoyles with spears."

The officer nodded again. On the roof, Holly had heard enough. True, it appeared that the dragon couldn't provide her any obvious aide, but she was certain there was something of value to be gained from it. Perhaps blood samples or something along those lines. There were still also things that man would only call 'magical' about dragons that Holly was certain she could use.

"Now to insure that they sleep," Holly said to her self and produced a small tape recorder she'd enchanted earlier with a specific spell.

Pressing play and placing it a plastic bag with ropes through the hand grips, Holly then slowly lowered it into the warehouse. It played loudly, but even as she noticed the humans noticing it, she saw that her spell worked. They heard the message and fell asleep, just as they were supposed to. And while the men inside the warehouse went to sleep, Holly went down to one of the main doors, confident she wouldn't have trouble.

**Over Manhattan**

Elisa and Desdemona, meanwhile continued what had been a rather quiet patrol, for New York's standards.

"I am concerned about the incident with this dragon, sister," Desdemona said to Elisa as they banked around a building.

"That Maccio might get some idea from this?" Elisa asked back.

"Yes," Desdemona nodded, "the times here are very different from the past. Many hated us in the past... but it usually took a perceived slight that would be difficult for even your modern lawyers to prove wrong to get them to decide to try and eradicate us..."

"Not all humans are like that, and Maccio's found himself rather unimportant when it comes to these things," Elisa gave a confident shrug, "He probably will come out with some loony idea... but it won't really matter in the end."

"Yes... but among those that do hate us, they seem to be more willing to jump to the point of wiping us out..." Desdemona said nervously, "Are you sure there is nothing we can do legally?"

"Outside of my voicing your suspicions to the Captain and giving her your best guess on where the Order of the Phoenix will protest next?" Elisa sighed, "Not really."

"I can not say I like these options, " Desdemona sighed, "something of this time I suppose I will have to adapt to."

"Don't worry," Elisa replied, "the entire clan has had to deal with stuff like this from time to time... and there are times where even Goliath will respond in a way more appropriate to 994 then 2000."

They glided a ways before Elisa spoke again.

"And most of this now has more to do with the fact that the clan has gone legit," Elisa continued, "we aren't just vigilantes protecting because of an instinct to protect... we still get to protect the city, but as official officers of the law..."

"Which carries its own protocols to insure that power is not abused and that innocent are protected," Desdemona nodded.

Elisa nodded. The rounded another building only to see Holly gliding in the distance.

"It's her! Thailog's sorceress!" Elisa gasped.

"All call in the others," Desdemona answered, "maybe we'll be able to overpower her."

Elisa nodded and the turned in Holly's direction, though dropping down in altitude. They dipped down below the rooftops so as to make sure that the red female wouldn't notice that she'd been spotted. Elisa was fairly confident that they could take Holly in a physical fight, but that also assumed that Holly wouldn't use magic. Some how Thailog had gotten his hand on some of the texts on sorcery, and Elisa suspected that he stole it from Demona while she had been outside of New York.

From there, he got Holly to act as his sorceress. At first, her powers weren't strong enough to pose any real threat to the clan and they could force her into a real fight if they caught her. But eventually things changed. Somehow she figured out the Mage's 'magical vampire' spell that enabled her to drain the magical energies from other living things. It didn't matter they were plants, animals, or people, se had been able to drain it, and in doing so, she became more powerful. And by now, she was the equivalent of the Mage or Demona when it came to raw power.

Because of her power level, the whole clan assumed that defeating Holly would take the efforts of more then one of them, and would need a massive amount of surprise. Or either the Coyote Robot, which they couldn't legally use for this specific mission, or get the direct aid of someone like Titania, the Weird Sisters, or Demona. But those options had their own difficulties. Because Titania and the Weird Sisters were of the Third Race, there would be things that the clan would have to explain which could make things difficult to the clan. Titania was also the leader of her own people and what was an unrecognized, and unknown, Nation-State. Having her being involved in a major US criminal hunt would break multiple jurisdiction issues and would violate the US border... and with the way things were going, that would be another problem. In addition to that, Demona wasn't in the New York area. She had gone to Tibet with Wedrington and most of the Tibetan gargoyle, Je Le's clan to fight the Illuminati supermen there.

"The others are on their way," Desdemona reported as she finished talking with the other gargoyles on patrol and with dispatch.

Elisa nodded and rose up a bit to keep an eye on what Holly was doing. The blood red female was still gliding back to wherever she had holed herself up.

"Dispatch is also advising we wait for SWAT units to come as back up," Desdemona warned.

"They won't be able to leave the closest station until Holly stops!" Elisa gasped.

"That was their orders, sister," Desdemona answered Elisa's response to the warning.

Elisa nodded and they continued on. They glided along until Holly landed the balcony of an apartment building and went inside.

Holly landed quietly on the balcony to the two people she had enslaved to her, Martin and Wilma Ere. Her mission had gone well, and involved no fighting. All of the men who had been guarding the dragon's body would be sleeping for awhile. When they awoke, they'd have no idea why they'd been asleep. And in the course of her mission, she'd gotten a blood sample from the dragon.

It's skin may not be impenetrable, but the blood sample could be very useful, if she could find someone with the skills and financial backing to use them. It would mean some "spying missions" and then enslaving a suitable target once she found the right man for the job. But, once she did, she figured she might be able to engineer an army of cloned dragons. If one took four gargoyles to kill it, an army of them would be even more powerful and would give even the army some trouble. Then, she figured, she could step in and use her magic and dispose of the attacking dragons herself... and thus present a bargaining chip with New York's Mayor to get any and all charges against her dropped or pardoned.

And of course, such a bargain would also involve her being put in command of the Gargoyles Task Force. She could dispose of Elisa Maza and use the other gargoyles to achieve her own ends. And with a little magic here and there, she figured she'd be able to get the entire city under her control.

Outside, Elisa and Desdemona waited quietly, for both the rest of the gargoyles on patrol to arrive, and for SWAT to arrive as well. At the moment she was talking with the SWAT team leader that was on its way.

"She's gone into an apartment on the twentieth floor of a building just across the street from us," Elisa answered, and then giving the street address of the building.

"I see, can you tell if she has hostages?" the SWAT team leader asked over the radio.

"No... but I'm also one hundred percent sure that she doesn't know that we've followed her here," Elisa replied.

"She doesn't know you're there?" the SWAT team leader gasped.

"Yes," Elisa answered, "we're simply waiting for the rest of the on duty gargoyles to arrive. I can't give you an apartment number because we are outside the apartment building that Holly glided into."

"I figure we'll learn that by the sounds of scuffling," the SWAT team leader replied, "can you subdue her quickly?"

"If we can maintain the element of surprise," Elisa nodded, though the officer she was speaking to on the radio couldn't see that.

"Alright then, we're about three blocks away, wait until we're close enough to move into the building on the ground level," the SWAT team leader responded.

"We're still waiting for the rest of our shift," Elisa told him, "You still have time."

"Roger that."

As the SWAT team leader the first of the other pairs of gargoyles that were on duty arrived. It proved to be Angela and Caroline.

"Where is she?" Caroline asked quietly.

Elisa carefully pointed to the balcony that Holly landed on. The dark blue female looked to it for a moment and then gave a slightly nervous sounding sigh. Of all the gargoyles in the clan, Caroline probably distrusted magic the most. Which said something, considering how many in the clan had come to view magic after dealing with sorcerers like the Archmage and even the Magus before he and Princess Katherine realized how mistaken they were.

Caroline's mistrust and disliking of magic came from what it had done to her. Her first exposure to magic and sorcery had been Demona's first ill-fated attempt to restore her gargoyle form. Demona's failure resulted in Caroline, Amy, and Candy's transformation into gargoyles. Now, they had all adapted, and Amy and Candy became Brooklyn and Lexington's mates, but Caroline had taken longer. Possibly because Brooklyn and Lexington had been the clan's only single males, outside of Hudson... but then Hudson was far too old for Caroline and had little interest in dating anyone. And on top of that, Caroline had been dating Lawrence Urbis.

"We'll get her, don't worry," Elisa said confidently, "all we'll need is surprise... and so far it looks like we'll still have it."

"All we need is to wait for the rest of the gargoyles on our shift to arrive," Desdemona added as Broadway and Brooklyn began to approach, "as well as for the SWAT officers to at least reach the building."

"I hate to sound doubtful, but wouldn't that sound a bit like overkill?" Angela wondered, "I mean... we've never needed that much in the way of numbers to confront her before... and even when mother... Demona... was more antagonistic toward humans and the clan, her spells and schemes were usually undone by one member of the clan. Brooklyn when she tried to enslave father. Elisa when she stole Titania's mirror. Bronx when she turned the people of New York to stone at night..."

"The past battles with Demona took more then just one clan member... and they and the first fights with Holly were before she used that 'magical vampire spell' and became far more powerful then normal. Even if we are able to keep her from casting a complicated spell... I'm sure she'll manage to use some sort of elemental attack."

Caroline shuddered again at that line. Even as the last pair of gargoyles on the night's shift, Amy and Candy, came into view. She remembered Thailog's attempt to capitalize on Sally Hay's fandom of the clan after the interview they'd given. How Holly had wanted to drain them of their life force to gain more power. She didn't even want to picture how bad things could have been for them if Holly had succeeded.

"So we have one hell of a party in store for tonight, eh?" Brooklyn asked as she landed.

"It would appear that way," Elisa nodded.

"Any idea on what to do?" Broadway wondered.

"The easiest thing to do would be to go in quickly," Elisa sighed, "in pairs. The first thing would be to locate Holly, then to make sure she has no hostages present. If there are, two will get them out of the apartment while the rest try to subdue Holly."

Amy and Candy arrived by this time to join the other gargoyles that were on duty. They had heard the plan.

"Just playing devil's advocate here, but assuming we win the fight with her..." Amy began, "how do we make sure she doesn't come to and use her magic to escape again. That's what she did after Thailog's last battle."

Some turned to Elisa, who had the most police experience among them, but the rest turned to Brooklyn, the Second in Command by the clan's traditions. The brick red male was surprised to see that Elisa was among them. It never ceased to amaze him how Elisa gave him the room to follow the clan's traditions. Traditionally the clan's second was the mate of the leader. Goliath didn't even get the opportunity to become clan second until Hudson's mate died, and when Goliath took over from Hudson, Demona became the clan's second. Brooklyn knew he had only been chosen as second in command because Elisa wasn't a gargoyle when that decision was made.

He had expected Goliath to make the change when Elisa was transformed, but if he did, the tan female refused the post, leaving Brooklyn as the clan's second. He didn't think that Goliath would actually do that without talking to him first, as well as talking with Elisa... and if he did... Elisa refused before he could get a chance to talk with Brooklyn. And that surprised Brooklyn the most. Being the clan Second by the clan's traditions was a favorable post. While instances of an overly ambitious Second engineering the death of the clan's Leader were extremely rare, that did not mean that any gargoyle in the old clan would have jumped at the chance to be Second in Command. Brooklyn even remembered competing with Broadway and Lexington over who would be Second. Yet if Elisa was offered the post, she refused it.

"Why are you looking at me?" Brooklyn asked, "You've had more experience with going into a crook's apartment then we have."

"Maybe, but you are the clan's Second in Command," Elisa answered, "The idea is my idea... and technically we're all holding the same rank within the police. As far as the station is concerned, we're all equal. So... by the clan's rules, you're the Second and the leader. If you don't like my idea... I'm more then willing to hear any suggestions you might have."

"Oh... well... it sounds like a good idea, Broadway and I will go after you and Desdemona," Brooklyn responded, "Angela, could you and Caroline be the ones who remove the hostages, if Thailog's witch has any..."

"We may not be the ones who find them," Caroline pointed out.

"Yes... but since we'll be coming in through the balcony doors, whoever finds them can bring them back to the balcony," Brooklyn explained.

"Okay," Caroline nodded.

"What about after Holly is beaten, dear?" Amy asked directly, getting things back to the original subject.

Brooklyn paused, glanced to his yellow skinned mate and sighed.

"We may need to call in some outside help," Brooklyn announced, "and make sure the rest of the officers do not know."

The others stood by as he began to explain the idea.

Holly carefully set aside the blood sample she had collected from the dragon's body in the back of the refrigerator that the Eres owned. They had not yet gone to bed, so she also made sure that they knew not to mess with the sample. The sample would sit there until she could find someone who was sufficiently corrupt enough to use the blood samples for her own purposes.

"An army of dragons... all at my command," Holly mused to herself, "They'll give the clan and their allies all the trouble they can take and allow me to gain what I want."

That would take time, though and much could still happen. And for the time being, Holly figured to check the various news televisions. They might have some coverage on her raid on the Navy warehouse and the 'oddness' of what had happened. Knowing that would allow her gage what the city's reaction to it would be. And what the Gargoyle's Task Force would do.

She was sure any investigation of her by the police wouldn't find her. They probably would be able to figure out that it was her, but she doubted they'd figure out the details of how she come in or where she went after 'attacking' the warehouse. She also figured it was impossible for them to even figure out where she was now. None of them had been in the area of the warehouse, even when she left it.

Holly's assumption that the clan didn't know where she was, was of course, wrong. The SWAT officers had finally reached the building and they were 'let loose' to take on the blood red female. Brooklyn's idea was a good one, and the one who would insure that Holly couldn't use her magic to escape again was already on the way, though his action wouldn't be available until Holly was out cold. It was an understandable deal, and the on duty gargoyles agreed to it.

Elisa and Desdemona were the first to land on the balcony, though making sure they stayed away from where the door was, just to make sure that if Holly was still in sight of the door, she wouldn't suspect that there was anyone there. The others did their best to land on the side of the walls of the building, using their talons to hang onto the sides of the building.

"Sssh," Elisa whispered up to the others and then leaned over to peak through the door to see if anyone was inside. She quickly turned back.

"She's in there," Elisa whispered, "watching the news... I don't think she noticed me."

"I can open the door," Desdemona whispered back, "you can get her."

Elisa nodded and moved back while Desdemona gripped the handle to the sliding glass door that lead into the apartment from the balcony. Once the golden female was ready to open the door, she held up three fingers for the rest of the on duty gargoyles to count down. Desdemona then clinched each individual finger, on at a time, until she had made a fist and then rushed forward, opening the sliding door as she did so. Elisa was quick to follow through the opened door before Holly could even react to the door being opened.

"FREEZE!" Elisa roared as she rushed in, catching Holly completely by surprise.

The news hadn't caught all that much from her raid on the Navy warehouse. They reported strange happenings, but couldn't explain it. It appeared that they hadn't even come up with anything that they thought would indicate that it had been her. It was odd, but then, the Gargoyles Task Force had recently caught the mutate, Fang, and so far the lie that Fang knew something of magic was still believed. What made things stranger in that regard, was that Fang hadn't countered the lie, himself. Maybe he thought the lie supposedly made him appear tougher then he really was.

"Stupid fuzz bucket," Holly commented to herself, "He'd give the clan a lot more trouble if he merely told them the truth. While the clan probably wouldn't face legal prosecution, their 'protector' in Xanatos would lose EVERYTHING. As a result, the clan would have no protection..."

She had no more time to ponder things as the sliding door opened and a tan form rushed in, screaming 'freeze' as she did so. It was Goliath's mate, Elisa Maza, the one member of the clan that she could say she hated. Her arrival, however, caught Holly by surprise and made her jump out of the couch in surprise. She nearly hit the apartment's ceiling and found herself near the corner on the other side of the couch.

"How did you find me?" Holly demanded as Desdemona followed Elisa in.

"We caught you gliding from somewhere," Elisa answered, "and followed you."

Holly silently cursed herself and fired a lightning spell at Elisa. She'd defeat them and then move on. If the Gargoyles Task Force had followed her here from her earlier raid, they had likely also called for additional support. Elisa dove to one side and Desdemona dove in the other direction and Holly's lightning spell flew where they had been. Fortunately for Holly, the spell hit Brooklyn as he followed Elisa and Desdemona in. He grunted in pain and was thrown back into Amy who was behind him.

Broadway and Candy turned back to care for Amy and Brooklyn and to make sure they were okay. That left Angela and Caroline pausing for a moment near the sliding door. Their original mission was to make sure that any hostages that Holly had were taken out of the apartment, but for the moment, none were in view and Holly was alone.

"Get her hostages out!" Brooklyn grunted from the balcony, "she could still get to them!"

"Right," Caroline nodded, "let's go."

They moved back toward a kitchen that was next to the living room where the 'battle' was occurring. It was the only area where there was a light on and seemed like a good place to start. As they went in, they came across the Eres cleaning the dishes.

"More gargoyles!" Martin Ere gasped.

In the living room, Holly heard the comment and saw Caroline and Angela heading into the kitchen. Meanwhile, Elisa, Broadway, Brooklyn, Amy, Candy, and then Desdemona were slowly advancing toward her in a line that resembled a noose growing tighter around the neck of a person to be hung. Her only hope was that the Eres were skilled enough in self defense that at least two of the gargoyles facing her would be forced to aid Angela and Caroline.

"Slaves!" Holly yelled, "defend your master!"

"She's enslaved them!" Angela gasped as Martin and Wilma Ere rushed around the counter in their kitchen to get at Angela and Caroline.

The two humans made a furious attack at the two gargoyles that were actually there to rescue them. Both Caroline and Angela found themselves dodging fairly clumsily thrown punches and kicks. Neither of them knew what to do. If this were some crook or gangster, they could simply knock them out, but these two people were innocents.

"Best to restrain them and carry them out," Angela commented, "and get them to the ground level... maybe when the others defeat Holly, they'll snap out of this."

Caroline nodded, but was unable to fully answer as she found herself on the receiving end of a slap to the face. The two managed to grip the two by their arms and wrestled them into a position where fighting was physically impossible for the Eres. Angela and Caroline then hurried to get them out.

In the living room Elisa and the others that were on duty, backing Holly toward another corner. The brick red female seemed to be backing into a short hallway that lead to a bedroom. Probably hoping that the narrower opening would give her an easier defense.

"You can't win," Elisa said firmly, "surrender."

"If I can't win," Holly growled, "then you will all BURN WITH ME!"

And with that, she cast out several fireballs that seemed to go in nearly every direction. They immediately spread the fire anything that would burn. Unfortunately from there, nothing went right. Elisa and Brooklyn ducked under the first two fireballs, but Broadway and Candy rushed forward. The large aquamarine male made a grab at Holly's left arm, to pull her back into the living room while facing the other way. There wasn't much that Holly could do, other then dodge the attack. The more powerful spells either took time to speak the incantation, or required some other ingredient, and in the present fight, she didn't have the time for it.

Holly managed dodge Broadway's attack and use his momentum to sling him into the wall next to her, but that move left her open to Candy who was right on Broadway's heals. Candy landed a strong punch to Holly's midsection and then kicked the blood red female in the back, just above her tail bone. That kick sent Holly stumbling forward into Elisa who had recovered from the fireballs that Holly had launched.

As Elisa caught Holly as she staggered forward, Holly realized that her earlier attack didn't work the way she wanted. It had triggered alarms and the building's fire safety systems had activated, and since the fires her fire-balls had started were relatively small in size, they were rapidly put out. And the tan female she found herself wrestling with did not give Holly the time to think of any other tactic to think of. Elisa caught Holly by one arm and slung over Elisa's shoulder so that Holly landed hard on the floor.

Holly gave a grunt of pain as she landed. She tried to roll away from Elisa but found herself rolling right into a three toed brick red skinned foot coming right at her face. Brooklyn's kick caught Holly with full force and threw her up and back toward Elisa. Elisa easily caught Holly, who was now out cold for the moment.

"Her hostages?" Elisa asked she checked to make sure that Holly was unconscious.

"Angela and Caroline got them out," Amy answered.

Elisa then nodded and glanced back to the hallway that Holly had been trying to back into. Broadway had gotten back to his feet, and both he and Candy were returning to the living room. They had only one thing left to do. Elisa passed Holly over to Desdemona and Brooklyn and looked around to see if anything reflective had survived the fight.

"Okay, Puck, she's out cold," Elisa announced.

Emerging from one of the water droplets came Puck with the youngster, Alexander Xanatos.

"Hey Auntie 'Lisa," Alex said, and then paused, "it's raining."

Puck looked at the devastation caused by the brief fight with Holly.

"My, you really let her have it, didn't you?" Puck chuckled, "best to fix this..."

There was one short wave of his hand and the devastated living room and hallway that lead to the bedroom area was fixed. He then looked down to see Holly out cold.

"You're sure she's out?" Puck asked tentatively, holding Alexander from going up closer to Holly.

"Yes, but we need to hurry," Elisa answered, "we have SWAT back up on the way and I'd rather not have to explain you to them."

"Okay then," Puck nodded, "then who will volunteer to 'hold' Alex then? It'd make casting the spell a lot easier... and I am still to be teaching him."

"I'll go," Candy steps forward, "it might be a bit of a bonding experience."

Puck glanced to the pink female. He would have preferred Brooklyn or Broadway, but Candy was the one who volunteered.

"What do you say, Alex?" Puck asked his pupil.

"Lex's friend," Alex pointed to Candy.

"Yes, she's Lexington's special friend and she's willing to let you use her as a vessel to make sure the bad gargoyle here can't hurt anyone with her magic," Puck nodded.

Alex nodded, seeming to understand what Brooklyn's plan had been, as told to him by Owen/Puck.

"Okay then," Puck nodded, "just remember to keep her hands away from anything you shouldn't be touching."

"Okay..." Alex responded and made his way to Candy.

The youngster made his way toward Candy, and the pink web-wing waited patiently. She and the clan's newest females had learned a lot about the clan's past adventures and such she knew what would happen. As Alex approached, she held out one hand to let Alex take. Alex had learned a lot since he was born, both in the way of talking and things that were normally expected in terms of child development, but also in the sense of his growing powers over his magic.

For many things he didn't need to use the soul transference spell to do what Puck had taught him. But there was the odd occasion where some magic lesson came along that ended up involving words that Alex couldn't pronounce on his own, yet. And this was one of those times, and from the stories, Candy knew what would happen. Alex would transfer his 'soul' to her and would seemingly vanish, possessing her like many ghost stories went. But, Alex couldn't do any direct harm, as any fatal injury to Candy while he was within her, would kill him as well. And there was also the fact that Alex had always been a good kid. Very protective of his friendship with her mate, Lexington, but still a good kid.

They made contact and the soul transference spell was cast. Candy felt her consciousness fading into the background of her own body and Alex took over. Though, she also got feeling from Alex that he wouldn't do anything that would make her embarrass herself.

"So, this is the bad gargoyle?" Alex asked, and then jumping a little at hearing Candy's voice.

"Yes," Puck nodded, "unconscious and open for you to use the spell I taught you at the castle."

Alex nodded and stood over Holly's heads and lowered Cady's pink four taloned fingers to the sides of Holly's head. Once he was ready he began a soft chant.

_"Wicked witch of Thailog's vein/lose touch and hold on your magic so dear/feel your control escape your brain/so police guards may show no fear."_

And with that, a small green glow burst from Candy's hands and then wrapped around Holly's head. After a moment, it burst out and Holly's head dropped back to the ground. Alex then stepped back and after a moment left Candy. As he did so, Candy felt her persona rushing back to the front of her mind and soon felt Alex's weight in her arms.

"Thank you, Auntie Candide," Alex then said with a yawn.

The faint sound of boots could be heard in the hall outside as Alex began to drift off to sleep. Candy passed the child back to Puck who floated back toward a bathroom and was gone through the bathroom mirror. She didn't correct Alex on the mispronunciation of her name. Formally, her name was Candace, but she had long preferred Candy. It was short, and she'd long had jokes that she was sweat like candy, and her mother had joked that it was because she liked eating it till her blood was replaced with sugar. Candy was privately sure that was an exaggeration. No one had ever called her 'Candide' before.

While Puck and Alex left, Elisa made her way to the door that lead into the rest of the apartment building. She opened the door and quietly waited until the first SWAT officer to arrive. They arrived ready for what they thought would be another big battle. They were somewhat surprised to find that the fight was over.

"You guys got her already?" the SWAT team leader asked as he arrived.

"Having a long fight would have been more dangerous," Elisa answered, "dispatch wanted you as additional back up in the case we bit off more then we could chew."

The SWAT officer looked around at the apartment and then down at Holly, who was only just beginning to regain consciousness.

"Well, I must say... your task force may be new... but I'd have think you guys will be replacing us when it comes to special cases in nighttime operations," the SWAT officer commented.

Elisa nodded and felt a great amount of pride for the clan and their service with the NYPD. They were gaining recognition from units that were trained and prepared to deal with the most dangerous cases. It was different from her past as a detective, as SWAT units wouldn't be called to solve complex problems, though she was sure many of them could if they were reassigned as detectives... but when it came to subduing extremely violent or fanatical criminals, SWAT was the best among any police units. And the gargoyles on her shift had just received a complement on their effectiveness from a SWAT unit leader.

"I'm sure there will still be things that you'll be needed for," Elisa replied, "did Angela and Caroline get her hostages to the units you left on the street?"

"We got a radio contact from the truck as we made our way up," the SWAT leader answered, "two gargoyles landed with two people that were fighting back in some odd way. As far as I know, they're trying to restrain them to figure out what this one here did to brainwash them."

"Not brainwashing, magic," Desdemona spoke up from where she and Broadway were holding Holly up and restraining her.

"Magic?" the SWAT leader grumbled and then sighed, "any ideas on how to fix it?"

"Might be easiest to get Holly here to set them free," Elisa told him, "once she wakes up completely."

Holly slowly came to to find herself being restrained by Desdemona and Broadway. By now, several men in blue and black body armor had arrived with insignia of SWAT in various areas on their uniform. One of them was holding a very powerful set of cuffs. Holly assumed they were a specialized cuff that could withstand a gargoyle's strength. She immediately tried to struggle and cast of several spells to get the two gargoyles restraining her, but it accomplished nothing.

"It'd be better that you stop that," the SWAT leader instructed as Broadway and Desdemona wrestled her arms behind her back to allow the cuffs to be put on her.

The SWAT officer that was approaching her placed the cuffs on her, and she quickly found that she couldn't break them. But that wasn't what troubled her the most. What troubled her was that she couldn't seem to touch her own magic. It was still there... the power was still there, she could feel that. But every time she tried to cast a spell, nothing happened. That she couldn't understand.

"Do you have any idea if she'll pull some magic trick on us again?" the SWAT leader asked Elisa.

"Not really," Elisa said slowly, "though I'd think that she's probably exhausted from the fight... and who knows, maybe the guys at the prison have come up with some new technology that counteracts her magic better then what was used on the rest of Thailog's clan when they were first incarcerated."

Holly was sure that the gargoyles did know what had happened to her and what was preventing her from using her magic. And she also knew that if she spoke, she could probably ruin the clan's chances of getting any positive press out of this by revealing that the clan knew more about magic and was willing to use it as they felt they needed to, but she couldn't answer the questions on what had happened to her, either. And that was something that made Holly decide to remain silent. She figured she'd wait until she knew what they had done to make her magic not a weapon for her.

The SWAT officer sighed and gave a shrug. He then turned to Holly.

"Has she been read her rights?" the SWAT leader asked, "I'm sure they were read to her after the battle with 'Thailog', but this is a separate arrest."

"We had to knock her out before we could fully subdue her," Brooklyn sighed, "and you guys arrived before she revived."

The SWAT leader nodded, "It's all yours then."

"You..." Brooklyn began.

"I know my rights," Holly growled.

"Okay then," the SWAT leader shrugged, "have it your way."

"I'll help you take her back down to the ground floor," Broadway volunteered as he stepped forward, moving Holly forward.

"Thanks," the SWAT leader replied and then turned to Holly again, "and when we get down to the ground level, witch, you can tell your hostages to quit fighting the people that are trying to help them."

"You call gargoyles people?" Holly questioned.

"If they obey the law, yes," the SWAT officer replied.

"Hm," Holly only gave a grunt and went along with it.

She was lead to an elevator with one SWAT officer in front and others flanking her. Broadway followed close behind and kept one hand on one of Holly's wrists to make sure she didn't try to bolt anywhere. Holly didn't do that. Without her magic she was not as invincible as she had been. Trying to run would only get her beat up or shot. They took her down the ground floor and out onto the street. When they arrived there was a fair crowd of people were watching, and it was here that the SWAT officer pulled out his best "insult" as far as Holly was concerned.

"Why couldn't you be like the gargoyles on the Task Force?" he asked her as they lead her to the large van the SWAT team had rode there in, "they're helpn' us defend the city. You're out attacking people."

Holly didn't answer as she was placed near the back of the van and in front of the Eres who were vainly struggling against Angela, Caroline, and the two officers that had driven the SWAT van to the building.

"And enslaving people?" the SWAT leader shook his head, "you've violated the country's constitution there."

Holly didn't answer. The SWAT leader then turned to her.

"And if you want any hope of leniency on the part of a judge, you'll free these two from whatever spell you have them under."

Holly knew that was impossible. She had cast the spell, and due to the things she had done to gain her powers, it was not as simple as handing the spell to someone else. She was the spell and only she could undo it, but she needed to be able to feel her magic in order to do so. And at present she couldn't. At best she could only order them to live out their lives as they normally did. But that was all she could do, but then the thought occurred to her, that she might be able to escape eventually or be released. Since her spell couldn't be undone, they'd still be hers when she would be released or could escape. And so she went with that.

"The two of you may live your lives as you normally do," Holly said to the Eres with a wave of her hand to make things look effective.

The Eres quit fighting, but after seeing Caroline and Angela they rushed into the building while the SWAT officers loaded Holly into the back of their van.

"Thank you again for the work on capturing her," the SWAT leader said to Caroline and Angela, "keep this up... and who knows... they might promote you."

Caroline looked to Angela and then to Broadway, who only shrugged. The SWAT van drove off and the three gargoyles moved back to the side of the building and began to scale it. They returned to the rooftop where Elisa had just finished the radio report to Matt back at the station.

"Well, that'll do good," Elisa said with a smile, "One bad gargoyle caught and de-powered. I think with Holly gone we can finally put our battles with Thailog behind us now."

"Yep," Brooklyn nodded, "so what now?"

"Finishing our normal patrols and then paperwork," Elisa said with a shrug, "basic procedure."

**Castle Wyvern, Nearly Dawn**

It was nearly dawn when Elisa's shift returned to Castle Wyvern. They all moved quickly toward their pedestals and where they roosted during the day, and making brief 'reunions' with their mates who had been busy aiding the Tibetan elders in looking after their hatchlings. Elisa landed quietly beside Goliath who was waiting for her.

"Hello, Elisa," Goliath said to her as she landed and pulled her into a soft and brief hug.

"Hey, big guy," Elisa replied, "have a good night?"

"Fairly well," Goliath nodded, "looking after this many hatchlings is new for me... but it is manageable... and I'd suppose good preparation for the future."

Elisa nodded. While there would always be times that she'd wish that the Mage hadn't transformed her, but it did have its positive side. She had two breeder's moons ahead of her, which would mean two eggs, two children of hers and Goliath's. That didn't seem too bad a thing to her.

"I'm sure," Elisa nodded back, "and anyway... our shift has finally closed the book on Thailog's clan."

"Yes," Goliath rumbled, "I had heard from Owen that you had found Holly. She will not escape?"

"I doubt it," Elisa replied, "Brooklyn's idea seemed to work out well. Alex as able to essentially lobotomize the sections of Holly's brain that allowed her to access her magic... all the power and knowledge are still there, but she can't use it now."

"Alex did it?" Goliath wondered.

"Apparently Puck had the idea to use it as a lesson for him," Elisa shrugged, "It's why he wouldn't come out until Holly was out cold."

"Ah," Goliath nodded, he then glanced out to the east where the horizon was just getting ready for the dawn, "And so, the last of our old enemies are gone."

"Making room for all new enemies," Elisa quipped.

"That was a bad joke, my love," Goliath shook his head, but before Elisa could reply to it, the sun rose and the two turned to stone for the day.

**The End...**


	54. Same Old Song, New Dance

All characters appearing in Gargoyles and Gargoyles: The Goliath Chronicles are copyrighted to Buena Vista Television/The Walt Disney Company. I've taken the idea for the Unseelie Court from the TGS. Characters and concepts from Star Trek are property of Paramount and created by Gene Roddenberry. No Infringement of these copyrights is intended, and is not authorized by the copyright holder. All original characters are the property of SN.

Note: I'm disregarding the events of the "Goliath Chronicles", with the exception of "The Journey" because I do not wish to use the rest of the "Goliath Chronicles" as canon to my story. Also, I'm altering large sections of the Star Trek storyline, especially concerning events like WWIII and the Eugenics Wars, which without the Cold War as a backdrop probably wouldn't happen the way Roddenberry wrote them, if at all. This story takes place immediately after "The Fall of the Blood Red Witch".

Same Old Song, New Dance

By SN/TVfan

Email: Sam_Nary

**Ralph Maccio's Apartment**

Ralph Maccio quietly made his way forward to collect his morning newspaper. He was still fairly disappointed over a great many things in his battle to save New York and perhaps all humanity from the insidious threat he was certain the gargoyles posed. They were strong nocturnal creatures that could easily do any person harm, but in the time that had passed since they were revealed to the people of New York and the world, it had been discovered that they were all very intelligent beings. They weren't the mindless and 'bloodthirsty' demons that Castaway and the Quarrymen had painted them as. They were smart.

But intelligence had nothing to do with intent. You could have people who held PhDs who had very evil purposes. 'Doctor' Joseph Goebbels was a prime example of such things. The man had won a PhD from some German university, and then used his intellect to forward the Nazi Party's agenda. Being smart did not make one nice, and Maccio knew that. And because of that, he got the sense that the gargoyles' plans for New York and humanity were far more subtle then simply gliding down, grabbing someone and then either dropping them from a great height or eating them. They had to have some plan that was far more subtle. They had to want to lure humanity into lowering its defenses and allowing the gargoyles to get into places of power.

It was why he opposed the idea to deputize the gargoyles. Doing so would give them the power they likely sought. It would allow whatever plan they had to continue. He'd tried to show everyone that, convince them that the only smart thing to do with the gargoyles would be to call in SWAT units and arrest them... or if worst came to worst, to call in the Army and the National Guard and shoot them down. After all, the Quarrymen fell apart because their organization became branded as 'criminal'. And to some extent, they did become criminal. The fact that there were several arrests of Quarrymen members for beating up people that had voiced even minor support for the gargoyles had been enough to keep Maccio at arms length of them. Castaway took things even further then that, and it didn't make Maccio want to cozy up to the Quarrymen either. The Order of the Phoenix wouldn't make that mistake while he was its leader. They would get the government to do the job, which would make the removal of the gargoyles perfectly legal.

But many people seemed to buy into the lies the gargoyles had given as cover for their presence in New York. They claimed to be protectors, but Maccio was certain that that was a cover to gain power. And he had tried to explain that in his first protests and 'letters to the editor' to get people to realize the conspiracy to take over New York that the gargoyles had. But people refused to listen. Groups like PIT countered the Order of the Phoenix's protests and argued back with him. And one of their leaders, a William Axel had bested him in a direct debate on the issues at hand. The people refused to believe the truth that there was some insidious and secret plot that they had created.

"Blind fools," Maccio grumbled to himself as he arrived at his door and opened it to collect his newspaper.

For the moment, the Order of the Phoenix appeared to be on its last legs. It was defeated before it could even really get out of the gate. But one of his main 'lieutenants', a man named Elias had put forth an idea that might save the organization. In fact it might be the only thing that could save them and allow them to save the city. The idea was a plea to restore a normal life for all of the people of New York. Ever since the gargoyles had been discovered, strange things happened. Some of them even occurred before the discovery of the gargoyles. There was the night where that people forgot, and there were a number of people who went missing after that night. There was the night where everyone seemed to fall asleep at eight PM, with a fair number of deaths resulting from accidents when machines kept running while their human handler slept. Incidents of odd weather, supposed ghosts, and all sorts of other strange things came after that.

And those strange things didn't fit what was normal, and more often then not, the gargoyles seemed to be the focus of these strange events. Elias' suggestion was to make the argument that if people wanted a 'normal' life, the smartest thing would be to remove the thing that attracted the strangeness to New York, the gargoyles. They didn't even have to die. Just so long as they were gone. Maccio didn't really like the idea of leaving them alive, but if they were gone and no longer threatening New York, he felt that then they would be someone else's problem... and hopefully that someone else will have the intelligence to wipe the gargoyles out.

He made it to his kitchen and set the paper he had picked up down while moving to get the main part of his breakfast ready. While that stuff cooked he then moved to look at the newspaper itself. As he did so he found some things that reinforced Elias' idea on getting rid of the gargoyles to get everything back to normal, but also some things that he found to be confusing. The main headline focused on the dragon attack on the Eyrie Building. This reinforced the theory that weird things were attracted to the gargoyles. The dragon had attacked the previous day and had been a major disruption to the affairs of the city. Cars were crushed, and abandoned when it attacked, and while four supposedly 'Guatemalan' gargoyles had killed the dragon, they probably only did so to defend their home.

The second article on the front page then reported a strange occurrence at the warehouse where the dragon's body had been taken. The police had given the body to various scientists, likely connected to the Federal government, but the paper didn't say that, in order to study the dragon. See what made it tick. And the strange thing that happened was that the men working there all suddenly went to sleep for no reason. They suspected a break, but found nothing missing or out of place. One man guessed that the method used to knock them out was some form of sorcery, but he still couldn't guess why someone would make them go to sleep and then do nothing to them or take anything.

"Like part of the gargoyle's master plan," Maccio thought as he looked over the article.

And on that, Maccio was partially right in that it had been part of a gargoyle's 'master plan', but he put the blame entirely on gargoyles as a species, and not on Holly as an individual. And that was made Maccio look at the paper again in some confusion. The third article on the front page was the report on the Gargoyles Task Force capturing the gargoyle witch, Holly, and freeing her two enslaved humans. Now, the enslavement part, Maccio understood and even expected. The fact that the gargoyles had actually captured Holly was not something he understood.

He knew from the news reports that Holly was part of the group of gargoyles that had attacked the Eyrie Building and the gargoyles that lived there. He wrote that off as a sort 'civil war' amongst the gargoyles over how to take over the city. However, Holly had escaped after the 'attacking' gargoyles had been incarcerated. Maccio had figured that the clan would do their best to let Holly go, figuring she'd accept that her side lost and join the gargoyles in their plan to take over the city. But the clan had gone after her and had managed to catch her. He had never expected that.

"It's a trick," Maccio then grumbled, "There has to be more to this then what the gargoyles are admitting."

And that was the best he could come up with for the moment. It wasn't much more suspecting some sort of conspiracy, which Maccio was privately certain was right, but his suspicions hadn't won much support. Outside of many former Quarrymen that weren't involved in Castaway's criminal adventures, the Order of the Phoenix wasn't attracting much in the way of new members. Hopefully Elias' idea would turn that around and things would be better, but Maccio didn't have a lot of time to completely ponder that now. He had his own work to get to, and his breakfast was nearly done cooking.

**23****rd**** Precinct**

As the sun went up, those that did the nightshift began to go home. Among them was the Gargoyles Task Force leader, Matthew Bluestone. Filling out some paperwork to close out the case involving the capture of Holly took him a little bit longer then he had expected, mostly from having to fill out some 'duplicates' to give to the SWAT officers, as they were involved as well. Matt sighed as made his way out. The sun had been up for a little while by now, and Flariaty had likely gone home by now. And now it was in his best interest to do the same, after all, the next nightshift wouldn't be that far away and he would need his rest... even if all he did now was being a 'desk jockey'.

As he came out, he noticed the former hunter, Jason Canmore coming up the wheelchair ramp. He was in the same position as Matt was, if for different reasons. Matt had been promoted into an administrative role in order to lead the new Gargoyles Task Force while Jason was confined to a wheelchair. This meant he couldn't do active police work beyond PR and desk duty. From what Matt knew, the only time Jason might become involved in some effort to deal with a criminal would be as a special negotiator. But that would only happen if there was a specific set of circumstances that would need to be met first. For the most part, Jason worked in giving classroom instruction to new officers coming into the 23rd Precinct to get them ready for what they would see, and where they would be for the most part.

"Hey, Matt," Jason spoke as he got his wheelchair up to the door, "You doing okay?"

"Yeah, I'm doing fairly good," Matt nodded, "let me get the door for you."

"I'll be alright, if I could spare a moment of your time," Jason commented.

"Sure," Matt shrugged.

"So, have things been going with you?" Jason asked, "Leading the Gargoyles Task Force and all that?"

"It's going fairly well," Matt shrugged, "they recently brought in Holly... Thailog's witch... and I was finishing up the report on that... which is why I'm only just now headed home."

Jason nodded, remembering the news reports on Thailog's attack on the Eyrie Building. That battle had taken out a large number of bad guys that the clan had commonly fought with. Thailog and the Pack, though Thailog ended up electrocuting himself and the Pack was captured, so their ultimate fates were different.

"Hopefully it goes a long way toward giving them equal rights and the freedom to interact with everyone," Jason commented.

Matt heard a bit of guilt in his voice as he said that. While had been working with his brother and sister as the latest generation of 'Hunters', Jason had done a lot of things that couldn't be defined as good. The attack on the original clock tower was done by the Hunters as a group. And that battle had revealed the clan to the world and set in motion all of the battles that came next, all because Demona had killed their father. And Jason carried a great deal of guilt for his actions and what they had brought. Matt got the sense that the hatred and violence that came from the discovery of the gargoyles was not Jason's original intent. Though most of the details on that, Matt didn't know.

"These groups like the Order of the Phoenix make me nervous," Jason continued, "to want to get rid of them because of some base hatred or something else... it's wrong... and ultimately my fault. Jon had originally wanted to partner with Goliath's clan to go after Demona... but... but refused to listen to him and in my pursuit of vengeance, I made everything worse. My brother vowed revenge for my being paralyzed and Robyn and I have not been able to get through to him... even still... and this Order of the Phoenix has its origins in that thirst for vengeance."

"I know you feel guilty... but remember the clan's forgiven you for all of that," Matt answered, "and you were instrumental in bringing your brother in. You at least now have the chance to get through to him."

"I'm sure," Jason nodded, "and believe me, I am thankful for that. I just wish there was more I could do to help them."

"Have you thought about PIT?" Matt asked him, "I'm sure they'd let you join."

"Robyn and I don't want to be in the way," Jason answered, "I was actually thinking on doing more to work with the clan. Not just telling people they aren't monsters."

"Join the Gargoyles Task Force?" Matt asked, "I'm afraid we've got about all the human staff we need... Me and Detective Flariaty run the paperwork and so forth. Though, to be honest I'd probably also admit that Elisa and Goliath would be better suited to running the GTF... Elisa for her experience with the NYPD… and Goliath as the Clan's normal leader."

"I'd still like to be able to help," Jason answered.

"I'm sure, and if I had the room to put bring you on board, I would," Matt told him, "though, regardless, you'd still be behind a desk."

Jason sighed and then nodded. He knew he wouldn't be going anywhere that wasn't wheelchair accessible, which left him on desk duty, but he did have the hope that he could get assigned behind a 'better' desk.

"You'll let them know that Robyn and I are pulling for them, right?" Jason asked.

"Of course," Matt nodded, "but I must get going. Let me get the door for you."

With that Matt opened the door to let Jason roll in. Jason thanked him and looked out toward where the Eyrie Building was and then went in to do his work with the day shift. Matt then went on his way home.

**Ere Apartment**

A little while later that morning, Martin and Wilma Ere focused themselves on what amounted to busy work. The fact that Holly had lost her ability to control or access her magic at the end of the battle between the gargoyles and Thailog's witch meant that neither Ere could really be freed from the spell that Holly had used to enslave them. Holly told them to live their lives as they normally would, but Martin and Wilma took that as a command, not as a cure to the spell. If Holly were to suddenly reappear in their apartment, they would do whatever the gargoyle wanted, and without question or complaint. But, Holly was back in police custody and would probably remain so for quite awhile, and that left Martin and Wilma on their own.

Still enslaved to Holly, yet commanded to live their lives as they normally would, they did their best to make sure that they maintained all the appearances of being free until Holly could return. Once that happened, they'd await her latest instructions... but that would take awhile, and they still had jobs to handle. Though for the day at least, they had time off, and Martin and Wilma decided to fill the time with some basic cleaning, even though Puck had essentially fixed any and all damage done by the battle itself. It was after all, something to do.

They had originally intended to go about their normal routine and go to their places of work, as they would normally do, but their employers had apparently already seen the news reports on the battle between Holly and the Gargoyles Task Force. They had just finished breakfast when they had received phone calls from their employers, who then gave them the day off. With no work to go to, for today at least, they then turned basic house work, as neither of them really felt much like going out. They had just finished dusting when there was a knock at their door. Both Martin and Wilma turned to it.

"It's probably another one of the neighbors wondering how we're doing," Wilma said after a moment, "best to tell them we're fine and that we're unhurt."

Martin nodded and then began to head for the door. Meeting with curious neighbors had really been the biggest problem that the Eres had had to deal with. They saw the news reports that listed them as being enslaved by Holly, and thus came over to check on them. It was the neighborly thing to do, and Martin and Wilma expected their neighbors to come and check on them. But, since they were still under Holly's spell, they didn't particularly want the attention and were even frustrated by it to a certain extent. As repeating the assurances that they were fine to give cover for Holly's eventual return was getting a bit frustrating as both Wilma and Martin had to remember what they said each time in order to make sure that they kept their stories straight.

But, they had to create the image of being freed from Holly's spell, so Martin went to the door and answered it. He found a fairly plain clothes dressed man standing in the doorway. He wore a long coat which gave him a sort of 1930s detective/FBI agent look, but Martin wasn't about critique the man's fashion sense. Martin was certain, however, that the man was not one of their neighbors.

"May I help you, sir?" Martin asked.

"Yes, my name is John Dune," the man introduced himself, "I'm with the Mayor's office and have been tasked to carry out various surveys with those that have had interactions with the Gargoyles Task Force to see how the project is progressing. And given that your wife and yourself were recently involved their latest case, I felt it fairly important to meet with you and get your response to everything. And if things aren't to your liking, I've been instructed to take down your comments to see if there is anything the Mayor and the Gargoyles Task Force can do better to serve you."

Martin slowly nodded, half expecting a visit like this, as the Mayor's plan to deputize the gargoyles had been fairly big, and run by the city government. It would come as no surprise that the city would try to keep tabs on things, but if Martin was more aware of the other people who had had interactions with the Gargoyles Task Force, he would have known that 'John Dune' was the same person as the 'John Doe' that Angela and Caroline had arrested for attempting to incite a riot with a paper mache gargoyle sliding down a zip line. But Martin didn't know that, and John Dune was sure of that.

He had seen the news reports concerning the dragon attack on the Eyrie Building and the supposed break in at the warehouse the dragon's body had been taken to. The news reported that the scientists couldn't find anything missing, which seemed to limit the police response to that, but John knew that something had to have been taken. Why else would someone go through the trouble of using some enchanted tape recorder to put everyone in the building to sleep? Someone had to have taken something, the real question was who did it, and what did they take. And John had good guesses as to the answers to both questions.

The 'who' was obvious. The obvious suspect there was Holly, the gargoyle who had enslaved the Eres as the later article said. She was the only one in the area that could do magic according to all the reports, so she was the only one who could have used magic to put the warehouse workers to sleep. The 'what' would be a little bit harder to prove. Most times in robberies, the thing intended to be stolen was valuable financially, such as money, jewels, that sort of thing. But the report on the warehouse incident stated that there was no sign that anything was taken. The financial records there weren't touched. John had used that to guess that what Holly had wanted was not money but the dragon's blood, or some portion of its body.

And that made sense to him, after all, if she could do magic, he figured she could just grant herself a ton of money or gold without any effort. The warehouse incident had to be toward some greater scheme, and John guessed that Holly hoped to use the dragon's blood for some sort of spell or something like that. It was a theft that no one would think of at first, especially when no one had seen dragons before. No one knew how much blood they had in them while alive and so, going in and removing some blood wouldn't be too difficult. And if Holly had managed this with a syringe designed for humans, John doubted anyone would notice a hole that small in the dragon's scales. And that lead to his real reason for being there.

The dragon's attack had caused a great deal of chaos in the city, and John figured that the chaos would be even greater if there were more dragons. All he needed to do was recover the blood sample that Holly had stolen. There would be other things that needed to be done after that, of course, but getting the blood sample was the first thing. And so he had come to the Eres. While the news had reported on the battle between Holly and the Gargoyles Task Force, they did not report on them finding anything. That meant whatever blood Holly had taken had to still be there. Martin led him into a living room area where Wilma was waiting.

"Mr. Dune, this is my wife, Wilma," Martin introduced him, "Wilma, this is John Dune, he's from the city to talk about... about things."

"I'm sorry if I'm imposing on you," John spoke, "but we want to make sure that we are on top of things. I'm sure groups like the Order of the Phoenix will jump all over this to say that gargoyles are 'evil'."

"You don't think they're evil, Mr. Dune?" Wilma asked.

"I would tend to think that they're misunderstood," John answered, "I mean... most people aren't night people and so they'll fear something that is awake at night. And groups like the Order of the Phoenix and the Quarrymen before them play to that fear to get people to believe that they are inherently evil."

"I would think that the one who enslaved us was," Martin commented, "she barged in and enslaved us for some reason."

"And that gargoyle's actions were deplorable," John nodded, "which is why I am here. To make sure you were treated well by the Gargoyles Task Force and to make sure that everything is on the up and up."

"They didn't treat us poorly," Wilma said carefully, knowing that they were playing the part of people being freed, "in fact while we were under Holly's spell... we were probably far more aggressive toward them then they were to us."

"I see," John nodded, "and what do you think of all of this? Was the GTF effective?"

"It was... but all of this was far more confusing on these sorts of things," Martin admitted, "Wilma and I were fairly 'neutral' when it came to the gargoyles. So long as they didn't bother us, we could care less what happened to them... but then Holly came and enslaved us..."

"I see," John commented, "so her actions have made you doubt having the gargoyles around?"

"In a way," Wilma sighed, "I mean, on all of the interviews they've given in recent months they've said they're protectors. That they live to protect and guard. And yet one of them came and enslaved us."

"I'd think that Holly had made her own choices," John commented, "And the same would go for the rest of the gargoyles as well."

"But they said it's instinctive," Wilma argued, "that they have to protect."

"That depends on your definition of 'protect', or what one is protecting," John commented, "I mean... as humans we have lots of protectors. The police protect us from crime. Doctors protect us from disease. Soldiers protect us from foreign enemies. They're all protectors, but what they're protecting is different and the methods used are different."

"So they can all choose what they protect?" Martin wondered.

"They are sentient creatures," John commented, "so it's doubtful that they're enslaved to some sort of 'hive-mind' where the opinion of one gargoyle is identical to the opinions of another gargoyle."

"So, what do you think Holly was protecting?" Martin questioned, playing the role of a recently 'freed' victim.

"Possibly herself or something else," John sighed, "figuring that out will probably be much like trying to figure out why most of the world's evil humans have done what they did."

Martin and Wilma both sighed and nodded.

"You've made some fairly good points, sir," Wilma told him.

"All comes with being part of the political machine," John smiled.

"You did arrive rather quickly," Martin commented.

"It's my job to be on the ball," John shrugged, "particularly when it comes to the gargoyles and the Mayor's plan to help them assimilate into society and work with us."

"Well, as we've said, the members of the Gargoyles Task Force were fairly calm and didn't do anything to us," Martin then told him, "the only 'rough stuff' that they did had to do with restraining us before we could be freed from the spell Holly had cast on us."

"And with that, I suppose you have nothing to worry about from our point of view," Wilma commented, "We only hope to be able to move on and get on with our lives. Hopefully we never have deal with an attack on our home again."

"I'm sure you won't," John nodded and stood up as the charade of being a city employee was coming to an end.

He had surveyed the scene of the apartment, and so far, it didn't look like the Eres had any security cameras. Both of them stood up and moved to lead him out. He followed quietly behind them, but before they could get to the door, he reached inside one of the large pockets in his jacket and produced a small dart gun. Neither Wilma nor Martin noticed it, and John took full advantage of it by firing a dart into the back of their necks. The effect was nearly immediate as a powerful neurotoxin was injected into their systems. John had to move forward fairly quickly to make sure they didn't just drop under the poison's effects, as that would attract attention.

Thankfully, he'd moved quickly enough and he laid them down carefully and quietly. Once they were on the floor, John then set to quietly moving them back to their living room. He set them both on the couch as though they were sitting and talking with one another. Once that was done, John made his way toward the kitchen and what he had come for, the dragon's blood.

Reading the morning's news reports had given John plenty of ideas on raising the level of chaos in New York. Most of them related to the events of the previous day and night. All that was needed was to get the dragon's blood sample, and he was certain that Holly had been the one to have originally stolen the sample from the scientists. The things that lead him to coming to the Eres were the closing remarks made in the article concerning Holly's capture. While it talked about the fight between the clan and Holly, it didn't mention anything about the Gargoyles Task Force or the SWAT units finding a blood sample. That meant that if Holly had stolen the blood sample, it would still be at the Eres. And now he had his shot to get it as he approached the refrigerator.

John approached it, and opened it. And there, lying on the side of the trays was a small glass vile full of a red liquid with a specialized stopper to keep it from spilling. John carefully lifted it up and held it before him.

"You're going to help me give the people of this city a lot of chaos for me to take advantage of!" John said with a smile.

**City Hall**

"I tell you, things are looking up," the mayor commented as he and his deputy mayor walked through City Hall later that day, "You think that the capture of Holly will give us some good press? Not all of the numbers have been favorable in that regard."

The mayor was referring to his decision to deputize the gargoyles. It was controversial and it was new. Things that rarely did well in politics, but the constant battles over the 'acceptance' of the gargoyles had reached a point where their only other option would be to declare 'war' on them which could only make things worse. The Mayor had chosen the route that would likely be the least violent, and if it worked, he would be seen as a sort of visionary and would leave a political legacy that would be hard to tarnish. But, like John 'Dune' had implied to the Eres as part of his charade, the city would need fairly decent PR when it came to selling the Gargoyles Task Force, particularly with the fall elections coming up.

That came from the long and difficult history that the city had had with the gargoyles and how public opinion about them had changed. Even at the present time, most New Yorkers were not firmly behind the gargoyles. They might be on the fence, but they weren't going to unquestionably support them. Though, that was better then where things were politically when the gargoyles were first discovered. That came with the attack on the 23rd Precinct's clock tower by a group of Hunters who supposedly had some vengeance plot against one gargoyle and took it out on the NYPD and the clan that had been secretly living there. They framed the attack on the gargoyles before eventually being caught in an old church.

But, while the Hunters had failed in whatever plot they had launched, they had still changed how the gargoyles would live their lives, forever, and probably not in the best of ways. Their discovery had unleashed tons of old fears and other things that had people spooked by things in the dark of night. Deputizing them then was out of the question. The bulk of the people were too afraid to accept that, even with the voices of David Xanatos and the professor Lennox MacDuff defending them. And the people responded to that fear by flocking to John Castaway's Quarrymen movement, which pledged to remove the gargoyles from New York, one way or another. The group challenged the Mayor's legal authority and the NYPD's ability to enforce the laws of the city. And with most people flocking to them, the Mayor couldn't have sided with the gargoyles for fear of being voted out when the next election cycle came up.

The response was to create the first version of the Gargoyles Task Force. Headed by NYPD detectives, Matthew Bluestone and Elisa Maza, their duties were to investigate supposed gargoyle activity and find away to question them should there be anything that was supposedly criminal about the gargoyles' behavior. They had also been tasked with keeping tabs on the Quarrymen to make sure that they did no damage to public property and that their actions were not criminal, and to arrest those that did engage in criminal behavior. And in this, they proved fairly successful. The mayor did receive reports on 'questioning' sessions of the gargoyles, though at the time, he didn't know that Bluestone and Maza were already friends with the gargoyles had had bent some of the rules to try and limit the direct conflict between the clan and the people of New York.

Though, ultimately it would be the Quarrymen themselves who put a real end to that part of the fight. They claimed to be defending humanity, but after their formation, the Gargoyles Task Force of the time and various other units of the NYPD all had to respond to some incident of criminal activity committed by the Quarrymen. They attacked people for saying anything remotely supportive of the gargoyles and smashed public statues that resembled the gargoyles in any way. The worst of it came some months ago now. According to the evidence presented, Elisa Maza turned into a gargoyle and attacked a group of people, driving them into the Eyrie Building. This was used to discredit the Gargoyles Task Force and influence the newly promoted DA, Margot Yale, to file the official charges. In pure theory that should have been the end of the gargoyles.

But it wasn't. The Quarrymen used the fall out of their first move to practically replace the Gargoyles Task Force and begin a reign of terror that wasn't authorized by the city government and wasn't officially allowed. When it all ended, Margot Yale had paid for her hatred of the gargoyles with her life, and the murderer was none other then man she had essentially given power to. Castaway never should have been given any official power, but Yale's hatred of them blinded her and she took the various legal steps to allow the Quarrymen to operate as 'legal vigilantes'. It took nearly a month for the Mayor to sort out the special action charges she had filed to give the Quarrymen power while newly appointed replacement dealt with the task of prosecuting the men that killed her. And with that defeat of the Quarrymen, things began to change in the gargoyles' favor.

It came from the obvious dislike of the Quarrymen's criminal behavior and the fact that there was no other anti-gargoyle group out there at the time. Members of the Quarrymen still hung around, but now being completely labeled as a criminal organization, their support dropped. People went from being firmly against the gargoyles to being on the fence, and for while there seemed to be a bit of a lull on that front. There were of course the odd things that happened that all seemed to involve the gargoyles in one way or another, but the great focus on them as an issue seemed to die off. The old Gargoyles Task Force was disbanded and the Mayor's office and the NYPD largely decided to simply monitor what the gargoyles did, and so long as they chased criminals, they weren't going to do much.

During this time some pro gargoyle groups either began to form, or gain better organization with the Quarryman's numbers dropped because of their arrests. The leading one of these groups was PIT, but so far they were still few in number and more involved in persuading other humans to accept the gargoyles. They weren't yet beginning to put pressure on the government. But that changed as an odd winter blew through New York. Again, it came from something related to the gargoyles, but they seemed to be the ones defending New York from something, though the details were never really told. But the reports of gargoyles being protectors helped win more support for groups like PIT, and the Mayor didn't have it in him to criticize people for wanting to get along with others.

However, as PIT grew stronger, that set the stage for a larger political showdown between those who didn't want the gargoyles around and those that wanted to coexist. This showdown quickly gave the Mayor and the city government a new set of headaches. PIT wanted the gargoyles recognized as citizens. Quarrymen leftovers wanted them dead. All the Mayor could do was to try to remain neutral and hope these things fixed themselves. But in the end, he didn't get that. Apparently in the background, another clan of gargoyles had arrived in New York. From where they came, the Mayor didn't know, but from the all the stories of magic and the revelation that Elisa Maza had been turned into a gargoyle, the Mayor wouldn't be entirely surprised if this rival clan was all made up of transformed humans. And their main move was an attack on the Eyrie Building, likely to destroy the clan that the mayor would deputize.

The gargoyles that had repeatedly said they were protectors won the battle, but the fact that it attracted a lot of news and police attention, the mayor found himself in a position where he had to do something. He couldn't just sit on the sidelines anymore. But, by this time, the Quarrymen were gone and PIT had begun to gain more support. And like earlier calls for him to do something about the gargoyles he had two good options. Arrest them all as a threat, risking war between the gargoyles and the NYPD and possibly facing civil lawsuits from Xanatos Enterprises was one. The other was to deputize the gargoyles, granting the NYPD the right to train and control the gargoyles, but the gargoyles themselves would be able to continue to protect. And the Mayor settled on deputizing them. It was bad enough criminals decided to wage wars to try and kill the gargoyles, he didn't want the city to do so as well... and with the Quarrymen gone, it didn't seem like that much of a risk.

"It could," the deputy mayor answered, "but then, with the only opposition to having them as part of the NYPD being the Order of the Phoenix, I wouldn't be too worried. Maccio has proven to be an inferior debater and all that."

"True," the mayor admitted, "but that doesn't mean that someone smarter could come along... or that Maccio might actually get an advisor that KNOWS what he's doing."

The Mayor glanced over to see his deputy nod to that. There were some groups out there that still hated the gargoyles. Most of them were generally Quarryman holdovers. The members that had initially joined out of fear and fully embraced Castaway's message, but, unlike the Quarrymen currently in various Federal and State Prisons, these members didn't have the usefulness to the more militant activity that Castaway had planned. They were used to balance books, plan rally schedules, and write out the pamphlets trying to sell the Quarryman point of view. The mayor had seen some of their pamphlets and found them to be lacking in the skills needed to persuade anyone to support their message, and that gave him some confidence for the future, if not much.

The reason for some of the concern came in the form of Ralph Maccio. The man had found himself the leader of the Quarryman castoffs, and had them out in a new round of protests and anti-gargoyle message spreading. He'd given them a new name, the Order of the Phoenix, and based off of press statements that Maccio had made, had also rejected the criminal activities that Castaway had engaged in. If Maccio wasn't trying to bring him down for deputizing the gargoyles, he was tempted to thank him. Though, thankfully for the Mayor, Maccio seemed to be about as good as many of the Quarryman castoffs... which mean, he wasn't good at all at getting his message accepted.

"He hasn't yet," his deputy mayor commented, "so let's pray it stays that way."

"Amen," the mayor nodded, as their walk took them to a hallway that allowed them to look out toward the street.

As they approached that area though, they found that some of their hopes that the Order of the Phoenix would quietly go away weren't going to come true. They heard some of the same basic chants, rants, and ravings that the Order of the Phoenix had made in protest of the Mayor's decision to deputize the gargoyles. They arguments weren't entirely successful, but they did attract attention.

"Well, you got to give Maccio some credit in this instance," the deputy mayor commented, "he may be stupid, but he certainly makes up for it with determination."

The mayor nodded as he listened more closely to what the man leading the present protest had to say.

"People of New York!" the man leading the protest shouted, "why do you support the mayor? He's given up on humanity and is backing the gargoyles in their attempts to dominate us! You ask us 'how'? I say to you look around you! Has anything been normal of late?"

The man began to move back and forth along the line of Order of the Phoenix protestors.

"Was it normal to have a blizzard sit on Manhattan and leaving the rest of New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut untouched for a month?" the man asked the crowd and anyone in the area, "was it normal to have ghosts running around and attacking people? NO! And why did all these weird and strange things come after us? Because some weird and strange thing has come after the gargoyles!"

The Mayor glanced to the deputy mayor.

"And look at recent events! A dragon invades New York to get at them!" the protest leader shouted, "doing who knows how much damage and wrecking commutes! And on top of it a 'rogue gargoyle' enslaves two human beings for her own pleasures! Tell me, New York? Is that normal?"

"NO!" the Order of the Phoenix members shouted, encouraging the people witnessing the protest to join in.

"And that is where our campaign must go stronger! We must oust the mayor and oust the gargoyles!" the man continued, "They don't even have to die. So long as they are GONE! Only once we are gargoyle free will things return to normal!"

"Nuts," the mayor grumbled as many of the people began to respond to that in a more positive light, "and things were going so well."

"We'll beat them, sir," the deputy mayor assured them, "people thought planes were strange at one time, you know."

The mayor didn't respond to that as he began to slowly walk toward his office. His earlier cheer gone.

**Castle Wyvern, Dusk**

Lawrence quietly made his way out onto the tower level where Caroline commonly slept. He found her there, encased in stone as all the gargoyles were during the day, but that wasn't the surprising thing. The surprising thing was who else was out on that level of the tower.

"You saw the reports on the latest Order of the Phoenix demonstrations too, didn't you?" Lawrence asked to the older blonde woman who was standing there as well.

"Yeah," Abigail Wexmand replied, "figured it was the smart thing to do."

"And you had the time to come here?" Lawrence wondered.

"I got off early when I heard about it," Abigail sighed, "they've commonly kept me busy, so I don't know where Candy is in this rotation that they've had them take and all… and well… after this latest stunt, I felt it wise to deliver a warning. I figured you had the same idea?"

"Yeah," Lawrence nodded, "Candy and Caroline's shift was last night, but it'd probably be big for everyone to know."

Abigail nodded, what the Order of the Phoenix had done would be big for the entire clan. It probably wouldn't affect the Tibetan elders and their hatchlings all that much, as they preferred to remain solely within the castle, and had even urged that Goliath do the same to protect their young ones. The mother in Abigail could understand that, but she also got the sense that it was an unfair position to take for the Manhattan Clan. New York was their home and they HAD to live in it.

The discussion between the humans, however, had to stop as the sound of cracking stone began to echo over the battlements. Lawrence paused to see that the sun had set and the gargoyles were now waking up. His eyes focused on Caroline's form as cracks formed in her stone skin. As they grew wider, he saw bits of her red shirt or sky blue shorts under the stone that was now coming off of her, as well as her blue skin. After a few moments, the stone skin lost its ability to conceal the gargoyle within it, and Caroline threw her wings back, throwing the bits of stone in all directions and roaring as she awakened.

The clan was, at first, a bit oblivious to their human guests as they shook off the last bits of stone and prepared to begin the night's activities.

"Tonight will probably be quiet for you guys," Candy declared to Lexington, "our group caught the last of all the 'big bads' last night."

"It'd probably be a good thing to have things quiet down," Lex answered, "after all the weird things we've had to put up with."

It was as they turned to come down from their pedestals that they noticed Lawrence and Abigail there. As they did so, Candy was the first to move forward. Mostly because of the work schedule that Abigail had, which commonly kept her from interacting with her daughter. She had been tempted to look for a job that involved working a night shift so that she'd be on the same page as her gargoyle daughter, but for the moment that was unimportant.

"Hey, mom!" Candy said with a smile and moved to give her a hug, "You got off early!"

"Well, I took time off, early today because of some things," Abigail said slowly, "and Lawrence here, had the same reasons as I did for coming to talk to you tonight."

"What is going on?" Caroline asked from her 'good evening' hug with Lawrence, catching on that portion of Abigail's response and as other members of the clan began to gather.

The Tibetans quietly began to escort their hatchlings in, though the eldest of their elders remained moved up to stand near Goliath and Elisa as they came down from the top of the tower. Though, that was expected by Abigail and Lawrence, as the Tibetan elders were not as affected by the events of human life in New York as the rest of the clan was. Abigail and Lawrence traded glances, which cued in those that could see it that something was not entirely right.

"What's wrong, mom?" Candy asked as she looked up to her mother.

"The Order of the Phoenix has put out some new talking point to try and gain support," Abigail said slowly, "I saw a news report on it in my break room and felt you should know."

"They had one small demonstration near the school," Lawrence commented, "They're selling it as that you're robbing people of normal lives."

"That makes no sense, Lawrence," Caroline commented, "if we face something odd, it is odd to us too!"

"Yes, but you're still a minority," Lawrence sighed, "they're selling things to the majority of the people in the area."

"That your presence is ruining the normal lives of the humans in New York," Abigail picked up the topic, "from what they said on the news, it doesn't appear that they're campaigning to kill you… but they'd still prefer that you leave. Because they're saying that you attract the strange things to New York."

That raised a collective sigh from all who had come to hear what Lawrence and Abigail had come to warn them about.

"I'd half expected something like this to happen," Elisa said with a frustrated sigh, "I'd expected it to happen when the Quarrymen first formed… but still I expected it to happen."

"And what will it mean?" Hudson wondered, as he came up behind Abigail while scratching his beard.

"It's a standard political tactic to try and maintain a 'democratic' movement for or against something," Elisa explained, "at its heart, the Order of the Phoenix is no different from the Quarrymen. They want us dead."

"We know that, sister," Othello grumbled.

"Yes, but the Quarrymen openly advertised their hatred," Elisa answered, "so when they started getting arrested for what they did, the support that they'd had went away… as not everyone wanted to go that far."

"But more people will listen to this," Abigail spoke, "as the solution to the proposed problem is merely your removal. And it won't matter where. Either they send you to some other country or drive you into the more rural areas where there are fewer people, or you end up arrested… and their goals are largely achieved. They no longer have to deal with you."

"How can they think this will work?" Sarah wondered, "surely someone will notice what they're doing is wrong!"

"And long term… someone will," Lawrence nodded, "we're merely letting you know now so that you don't glide over a sudden protest and make a mistake."

"And so far, it would appear that the Mayor is not in support of this," Abigail answered, "which means if the present battle goes on, it could lead to a rather impressive legal battle come November."

Elisa and the gargoyles that had once been human gave a sigh at that. The clan as a whole knew it was an election year, and knew about human elections, but they weren't something that they had had to deal with before. They could ultimately be something that would touch them in the future, but the gathered gargoyles were certain that would be a distant future.

"We will have to retain hope that the Mayor will defend us, and defend 'is policy," Hudson gave a sigh, "I donnae think we can do any more than that."

Everyone gave a nod to that.

**Order of the Phoenix Meeting**

Ralph Maccio entered the large room being used as the Order of the Phoenix's meeting hall in triumph. So far, the whole 'get things back to normal' campaign was a great success. The protests had attracted new faces to the protests, and those new faces soon joined in with them. He would have liked to be there, but he had his own work to finish, and couldn't get away. But now, his work day was done and he was able to attend to Order of the Phoenix business. And after today's efforts, business was good. Victor had even told him that it looked like a couple of PIT members had joined in support of the protest.

The Order of the Phoenix members were all gathered there to listen to what he would have to say, mostly to welcome the new members who had come after agreeing to join at the protests. It would offer a chance for him to build on the argument that Elias had provided and give them the real hopes of overpowering the Mayor, the NYPD, and PIT in the political arena, and to show to those on the fence that the Order of the Phoenix was not a criminal institution. It was not another Quarryman group that would go out and vandalize statues. That might even win Maccio more support as things progressed, possibly from more of the people who had been against the gargoyles, but also against Castaway's criminal behavior as well.

He then quietly made his way toward a central podium at what was the main portion of the hall, where Victor and his main 'lieutenants' stood. He glanced to the crowd of people that were there, and noticed that those who were new were mixed in with several of the men who had been regulars with the Order of the Phoenix. It might make getting name cards and dues from new members more difficult, but it might also allow for greater socialization and help make the Order of the Phoenix stronger.

"How many new ones do we have?" Maccio quietly asked to Victor as he got close.

"We've done a head count," Victor answered, "we count twenty of them here… and another thirty wanted to be here, but had other business they had to attend to."

"I see," Maccio sighed, "oh well, this will be a long campaign, anyway. It may take us a little while, but it will work."

Victor nodded in agreement and motioned to the speaker's podium, "the floor is yours."

Maccio nodded and stepped up to it. As he approached, the room grew quieter, as the people watching them expected the meeting to officially begin soon. Maccio quietly sipped some water from a water bottle he had been carrying and then moved to begin the meeting. This was his responsibility, after all. He would open the meeting, welcome the new members, state the Order of the Phoenix's mission, and then they would move on to new business and establishing what their protest schedule would be until the next meeting. It was fairly routine business. Unknown to Maccio, however, the man who had earlier in the day killed Martin and Wilma Ere with a dart coated in neurotoxic venom, stood quietly among the various Order of the Phoenix members. John knew he would be counted as a new 'recruit', but for the moment he was there to see just what sort of chaos the Order of the Phoenix could do. Maccio didn't know this, and moved to begin the night's meeting.

"Greetings and welcome to tonight's Order of the Phoenix meeting," Maccio spoke, "as many of you know, I am Ralph Maccio the ranking leader of the Order of the Phoenix. For those that are new, I would like to begin with a brief overview of the Order of the Phoenix. What we are and what our mission is."

The gathered new 'members' looked up, though several of them looked fairly suspicious. It was like they intended to judge Maccio on what he said next. He knew that he would have to work fairly hard to win them over.

"The Order of the Phoenix is a political action group intended to protect the people of this city from the threat the gargoyles pose to us," Maccio spoke, "and in truth, they ARE a threat, but as their publicity stunts have shown, they are intelligent. Not the dumb demons that Castaway called them. Their plans are far more subtle, and it is our mission to expose these plans and insure that the mayor is voted out of office and that those who agree with us are elected."

"What about the being 'normal' argument?" came a question, sounding like it didn't believe him.

"Yeah, that sounds just like the old BS you went on about before the debate with Axel," another added, "the gargoyles are a threat with a sinister conspiracy to kill us all, and it'd be better to have the police kill them! We heard that before, and if that's all you have, then we'll be leaving."

"I promise you that this is not all that I have," Maccio said with a sigh.

This was where he would need to use a good argument to weave the 'back to normal' part of the argument into the standard portion the Order of the Phoenix's mission. If he didn't, he would likely risk losing those who were only here to restore what they perceived to be their normal lives.

"Their conspiracy is real, and while I personally wish for all to understand that, I am not going to die on that sword," Maccio answered, "as I have no intention of becoming a new Castaway. His actions were wrong and criminal. He was every bit as dangerous as the gargoyles. And I will not tolerate any Order of the Phoenix member committing any crime to further our goals. We are not Quarrymen! We are not criminals! We are people who wish to protect ourselves."

Maccio then turned to the two men who spoke specifically about his statement being a repeat of what they've heard before.

"The solution to the city's gargoyle problem will be done by the police and the proper authorities, and that solution will be left to them," Maccio continued, "which means, if they only decide to exile them to some foreign country… or perhaps Antarctica, which is their decision. If they are not here, our city will be safe. And surely all of you have seen what danger their mere presence has been… we've had strange weather, a dragon, a witch enslaving two people… and a gargoyle witch at that! All of these strange things interrupt your lives and thus ruin them. You will find, my dear friends that there are many among us who would prefer the gargoyles dead. But we will not demand it. We wish to restore a normal life to everyone, and a normal life will only be attainable when the gargoyles are gone. Or do you wish to constantly live in fear that some dragon will come looking for gargoyle steaks?"

Several of the gathered people shook their heads no. They did want to retain a normal life. And Maccio had to keep himself from smiling when the two that had challenged him accepted that argument. Hopefully, it would give him the edge to secure the support of the others.

"And that is why we are not to commit any crimes," Maccio continued, "because by doing so, we would contribute to the strange things in this city just as the gargoyles are. The city must be the agency that deals with the gargoyles once and for all. If only to restore a normal life to everyone. If no one will fully accept the conspiracy they've launched to destroy us… that will not be the stated message, until we get hard evidence of such. I believe the conspiracy to be real, but I will not die on that sword. Because the people of New York want normal lives and the gargoyles' mere presence disrupts that. We must do everything in our power to get the Mayor to understand that as well."

He received a few claps at that. Breathing a sigh of relief, Maccio began to turn over to what would be the heart of the meeting in setting new and old business, and where their next protests would be.

**23****rd**** Precinct**

Matt's return to the precinct was a quiet one. The fact that he was assigned to the nightshift insured that he slept through the scene the Order of the Phoenix had made outside of City Hall, which now threatened to turn everything around with regard to the gargoyles 'civil rights' issue. However, he did see one news update on it on the television news while he was getting ready for his next shift. The fact that they were still wrestling these issues was a frustrating issue for him. Matt had figured that once the mayor had deputized the clan, that issue was over.

He was on his way to the GTF office, located in the rebuilt clock tower when he was stopped by Captain Chavez as he passed her door.

"Good evening, detective," Chavez said in a calm voice.

"I'm not entirely sure what's good about it," Matt grumbled, "given what the Order of the Phoenix just pulled."

"It's a good punch," Chavez sighed, "but it won't last long. People will accept that you're here to stay before the election season starts."

"Those guys don't mind me, they mind the gargoyles," Matt reminded her, "they'll have Elisa arrested or sent off to some deserted island."

"I know that, detective," Chavez answered, "You don't need to remind me. Anyway, that isn't why I've stopped you."

"Is something up?" Matt then wondered, "Some sort of special assignment that they want done?"

"No," Chavez shook her head, "in terms of criminals, you've taken down the ones we've been on the lookout for. The news I have for you is good news. Related to the capture of Holly."

"Good news?" Matt wondered.

He hadn't expected there would be good news to receive after hearing the news report on what the Order of the Phoenix had pulled out of its proverbial sleeve.

"Yes," Chavez nodded, "the city police chief got your reports on the capture of Holly last night… as well as reports from the SWAT units called in to the capture. I got a call from him just as I came in for the night. He appeared to be very impressed with their capturing her while doing so little damage to the apartment."

"Well… they are fairly familiar with crooks like Holly," Matt shrugged.

"I'm sure," Chavez nodded, "but the city's police chief is still impressed and wishes to award your unit a special unit commendation to reward them for the job done."

"I'm sure they'll appreciate that," Matt commented.

"And might be something that they or PIT can use to counter the Order of the Phoenix's little game," Chavez commented, "show them the Mayor's policy is working."

"Thank you, Captain," Matt replied with a soft smile, "I'll be sure to tell them."

Chavez nodded and then went back inside her office. With that meeting over, Matt continued on his way to the main GTF office. When the clan had resided in the clock tower, the area was largely unused by the police and functioned as an area to store anything extra that wouldn't be used otherwise. Now, the area was the official GTF office, and many things had been changed. Cleaning supplies and other pieces of equipment that couldn't be gotten rid of were moved to other areas within the station, and the stairs that linked the clock tower with the rest of the station had been made permanent, and it was those stairs that Matt climbed to get to where his desk was.

He arrived there to find the shift of gargoyles going on duty tonight finishing up the process of clocking in and preparing for their shifts for the night. Based on how they looked, he guessed that they already knew about Maccio's latest tactic.

"You've all heard about the Order of the Phoenix's latest idea, I take it?" Matt asked as he made it to his desk.

"Yes, we have," Goliath nodded, "I hadn't figured we'd have to deal with something like this so soon after Elisa's group caught Holly… but I'd suppose something like this was bound to happen."

"Ah-ha," Matt nodded, "well, if it helps, I do have some good news for all of you."

"Good news?" Ethan asked looking eager.

"Yes," Matt nodded, "the New York Chief of Police was very impressed with the reports on Holly's capture and wishes to give the Gargoyles Task Force a special unit commendation for the role it played in capturing Holly."

"A commendation?" Hudson asked, sounding slightly puzzled.

"It's an award," Flariaty spoke up from her desk, "basically to say what a good job you guys have done."

"But we weren't involved in capturing Holly," Goliath pointed out, "Elisa's shift was."

"Yeah, but the award is being given to the Gargoyles Task Force as a unit," Matt answered, "Now, I've only just been told about it, so I'll need to talk with the Chief of Police's office to figure out when they want to have the ceremony… but I figured you guys should know the good news."

"We would have done it, even if this award was not in the offering," Hudson said firmly, "a gargoyle cannae stop protectin' the castle as he cannae stop breathing the air."

"I'm sure, but we humans have a habit of giving awards when one does an outstandingly good job," Matt gave a chuckle, "you guys should be proud of that."

"Will it help us deal with Maccio's lies?" Othello questioned.

"It might," Matt sighed, "it would show that the mayor's decision to deputize you guys is working and that you're not 'deliberately' out to ruin anyone's life. Though, I wouldn't say much about this award until everything has been arranged and it's been given."

The gathered gargoyles nodded.

"Are there any 'special' assignments tonight?" Lex asked.

"Not tonight," Matt sighed, "about all I have for you are your standard patrols, and remember to respond to the dispatchers if they contact you."

They nodded and then began to make their way out again. Matt then sat down in his chair to check over the paperwork he didn't get to the night before and to get ready to try and schedule the ceremony to give the GTF its award for capturing Holly.

"I'd think the award would help," Flariaty commented, "don't you?"

Matt glanced to her, smiled, and nodded.

**Axel Apartment**

"I can't believe people would listen to him!" William Axel grumbled as he and Judith finished watching the late local news, "the man believes they have some secret plan to kill us all… and people just suddenly start listening to him when he says we'll restore a normal life to you?"

Judith sighed as she got the sense that her husband was angry, something that was very rare to see. With a lot of these things, her husband was one to just let it roll off of his shoulder and carry on. But, they, like so many others, had assumed that the Order of the Phoenix was gone and defeated following the results of the debate between William Axel and Ralph Maccio. To have the Order of the Phoenix do so well all of a sudden was like telling everyone that all the work they'd done had been done for nothing.

"People will want what they perceive to be normal," Judith reminded him, "You've even reminded others of that from time to time."

William Axel gave a depressed sounding sigh, "I know… I guess it's because getting people to tolerate and support the gargoyles is no longer a public tolerance issue for us. It's personal. If they have the gargoyles exiled, we lose our daughter."

Judith sighed again and glanced at a couple of photos they had on a nightstand nearby. Thanks to the fires the Unseelies had started, the photos of Amy as a human were gone. The photo that she was looking at displayed a yellow beaked gargoyle in a white dress hugging a brick red beaked gargoyle who had been dressed up nicely. Things in life had changed rapidly for them. Their baby girl had grown up and gotten married… even if at the cost of her own humanity. There were times when she wished she wasn't living the rather violent life the gargoyles lived, but she wasn't about to get in her way. She had seen that Brooklyn made her happy, and that is what she wanted most for her daughter, happiness. Maccio wanted to deprive her daughter of that.

"Yes," Judith nodded, "beating Maccio is a personal issue for us… and for Abigail, too. For all of the clan's human friends it's a personal matter. But as part of PIT's leadership, we need stay focused. Not get angry and throw rants. You know that, Will, dear."

William Axel nodded and sighed again.

"So I guess we're back to square one again when it comes to the whole civil rights and equal treatment issue? Right?" William Axel asked.

"I'd suppose so," Judith sighed, "so how would you think we should counter the argument that getting rid of the gargoyles will make everything easier?"

"I don't really know for sure," William Axel sighed, "I don't think it'd honestly work to tell you the truth… but it's an emotional appeal that got people to listen without thinking."

"So weird things would keep happening, even if the gargoyles are pushed out?" Judith asked.

"More than likely," William sighed, "I mean, we call a lot of new technologies weird, yet we're constantly inventing new things… and they're not likely going away. Shoot, ten or twenty years ago, you would have thought robotics and computer AI type stuff to be impossible… yet today we have robotic drones and robots that could enter into combat or diffuse bombs or do all sorts of things without risking human lives. So how much of that stuff is going to be considered 'weird' because it's something that didn't exist before?"

"You know, with the right research, we might be able to get some ideas on how to use that to defend the gargoyles," Judith commented.

"On a rational level, yeah," William answered, "but what the Order of the Phoenix has made is an emotional appeal. We need something that makes that appeal seem foolish."

Judith only sighed at that, as for the moment, she didn't have any answers. But then it was starting to get late. They'd have more time to figure that out tomorrow night.

"Have a good night, Amy," Judith whispered through a window toward the Eyrie Building and moved to bed.

**Over Manhattan**

Hudson and Sarah's patrol went quietly. So far they hadn't come across anything and no one had called them to respond to anything. For Hudson, he enjoyed having some quiet and absence of the 'weird' things that had threatened the city. While it would probably be a shock to men like Ralph Maccio, but the clan didn't like having to battle strange things any more then they liked being forced to watch the battles. And this was especially true of Hudson. He was easily the oldest gargoyle in the clan and was probably at an age at which many humans would retire.

But that wasn't for him. From time to time, Hudson did prefer to sit back and relax. Either watching television or reading something, usually something that Robbins had wrote. But he was still a gargoyle, and as he so commonly told anyone who would listen, he could no more stop defending the castle then he could stop breathing. He would always feel impelled to act whenever he came across someone doing wrong… threatening someone innocent. And so long as his opponents were humans, his age wouldn't be that much of a factor.

Not to mention that there were the younger gargoyles to lend his wisdom to. Sarah, Ethan, Ian, and Eve had all come from Avalon to join their sister, Angela, following the Second Unseelie War. And while they had the strength of a gargoyle, and their 'Guardian' Tom had done a fair job of training them, they simply did not have the experience in confronting crooks who were truly out to do physical harm. And before them there had been Amy, Candy, and Caroline, the three humans accidently transformed into gargoyles by Demona. They had no experience in combat whatsoever, and he along with the rest of the clan had felt a firm call to action to train the newcomers, be they transformed humans or newly arrived Avalon gargoyles.

Hudson knew his days of usefulness to the clan against foes like the Pack, Thailog, or even the Steel Clan was over. They had the strength to negate his age, and the odds would always be in their favor. But, while he had breath in him, he would pass on his knowledge to the younger gargoyles. He would make sure they could stand on their own. Only once he was sure they were ready, would he truly consider retiring.

"Do you think this award will help, Hudson?" Sarah asked as they glided along.

"I donae think it could hurt," Hudson commented, "but, lass, I had trouble fully grasping human politics when I was young… more than a thousand years ago! And I've found that human politics havenae gotten any easier to understand since then."

"I hope it will help," Sarah said optimistically, "show everyone that we're good and that we aren't out to subvert the rules. The Mayor is the Prince here. We follow him, just as his human servants do."

"The Mayor isn't a prince," Hudson answered, remembering lessons that Elisa had given repeatedly while the clan had lived in the clock tower at first.

They had approached things from a rather medieval perspective. The concept of a government being elected by the people and responsible to them was not something they had ever known. And they had commonly confused the duties of the NYPD with things like the army and/or air force. Hudson remembered the frustration that Elisa went through trying to explain how the government of the new world they were in worked. Hudson was partially sure he had been the cause of some of her frustration, partially because he was very traditional by gargoyle standards.

Now he found himself in the position Elisa had been in then. With the exception of the new Avalon gargoyles, the clan had largely adapted to the facts of the new world. And the Avalon gargoyles didn't get confused on these things all that often, but it would be up to the rest of the clan to correct them when they did.

"The people vote to elect the Mayor," Hudson explained, "If he does a bad job, they vote him out."

"And he's exiled?" Sarah wondered.

"I donnae think so," Hudson answered, "He simply is not the Mayor anymore."

"Human politics is hard and confusing," Sarah answered.

Hudson nodded and they continued on.

Below them a lone figure made her way along Manhattan's busy streets. She was among the new people that had just joined Ralph Maccio's Order of the Phoenix. She had long feared the gargoyles as some diabolical monsters that would carry them off in the night. Her daughter of late had taken some attraction to them, for some odd reason, but after finding PIT flyers in her backpack, she got no straight answers. The only thing she managed to get out of her daughter was a promise that her daughter would never go and meet the gargoyles in person. Her daughter thought it unfair, but she would see it was for her own safety when the gargoyles were proven to be vicious and evil monsters.

She felt proud at joining the Order of the Phoenix, in the sense that she'd found a group where she would belong to. She would be able to get the truth out to everyone. Something she hadn't been able to really do since the Quarrymen had gone down in 'flames'. At first she hadn't wanted to join the Order of the Phoenix for fear of them getting blacklisted as a criminal organization the way the Quarrymen did. But after their argument to try and preserve a normal life, she felt they were truly on the right pace. Even her daughter would have to admit that the gargoyles ruined people's normal lives and that with them gone, everyone would be able to live normally again.

Her sense of triumph was short lived, for as she passed an alley, two arms reached out from it and grabbed her. They pulled her into the alley until she found herself looking at some punk of a man with a large Asiatic dragon tattooed on his face.

"And look what we have here, a mark," the man smirked.

The woman quivered in fear, clutching her purse to her.

"More than a mark, bro," another man spoke up as he came in from the street, as if he'd been following her.

"Please, leave me be," the woman pleaded.

"Why?" a third man came out from behind a dumpster, "everyone's gotta make a living in this world, and them gargoyles are making our job harder."

"I hate the gargoyles!" the woman declared thinking that would buy her a little time.

"And every mugger, thief, punk, rapist, and homicidal maniac will thank you for hating them," the leader of the three answered, "the sooner they're gone, WE can go back to owning the night."

"But you don't need to worry about living till tomorrow," the man with the dragon tattoo smirked and began to advance on her.

The woman did the only thing she could do, scream and knee the man in the groin. The man gave a whimper at that and collapsed to the ground, but the other two were quick to grab her from the sides and slam her against the wall.

"Now you've gone and made it worse for ya," the leader answered, "do you know how much damage you might have done to Fang by doing that?"

"Especially with no gargoyles above us," the man that had followed her smirked.

There were no gargoyles above them, but Hudson and Sarah were still close enough to hear the woman scream.

"That was a scream!" Hudson stated, "Best investigate. Report it in to the people on the radio."

He immediately banked back and down toward the buildings they had glided over and past a few moments before. He landed on the roof of a building that formed one side of the alley and found the crime scene unfolding. He found two men, likely small time gangsters holding a middle aged woman against the wall of the other building. Both men were standing on her feet, and one man was holding her mouth shut. A third man was picking himself up from the ground.

"It 'tis some sort of mugging," Hudson grumbled, "do the radio people know?"

"Yes, how do you want to handle this?" Sarah asked.

"I'll move to block their exit back onto the street," Hudson answered, "Ye move to make sure they can't go any further down the alley. Be sure to disarm them when ye get to restraining them."

"Right," Sarah acknowledged, and the two gargoyles then leaped into the fray.

The punks had wrestled and moved her behind the dumpster to continue with whatever sick things they'd had planned for her. The woman struggled heavily to try and break free and run away, but she couldn't break the grip of the leader and the one that had been following her. The man with the dragon tattoo had snatched her purse and tossed it by the dumpster, figuring to take it with them when they were finished.

"What do you want to do with her, boss?" the 'stalker' asked.

"Oh, I got an idea or two," the leader said with a smirk.

He didn't get the chance to finish it as two gargoyles suddenly landed in the immediate area. One was a dull light brown color with an obvious scar over one eye. The other was a dark pink female gargoyle. Their arrival startled all of them and the muggers were thrown into an immediate panic. The older bearded gargoyle backhanded the man with the dragon tattoo before he could do anything, and he bounced off the side of the alley and fell unconscious.

The leader of the punks let go of the woman and rushed to get around the female gargoyle, who managed to trip him with her tail and sending the man face first onto the ground and skidding forward. The stalker also rushed in the same direction, but the older gargoyle managed to grab him from behind and wrestled him to the ground using superior weight and muscle power. Though, based off of the grunts he gave, the woman figured he had to be very old. She was, however, too terrified to move as the rather anticlimactic fight finished.

Sarah was quick to help Hudson cuff the three muggers and group them together when she noticed that the intended victim shaking nervously where the muggers had moved her to.

"Are you alright, Miss?" Sarah asked, "Did they hurt you?"

"No," the woman said weakly.

Sarah then retrieved the woman's purse and moved to hand it to her.

"These three jump you on the street, lass?" Hudson asked as he approached.

"Yes," the woman answered.

"Lucky we were close enough to hear you scream then," Hudson commented, "who knows what scoundrels like this would have done to you if we hadn't been here."

"I think they were going to kill me," the woman said, sounding just as afraid of these two as she was the muggers.

"Would mind making a statement?" Sarah asked, "Something official we can use to make sure these guys get a long jail sentence? So that they don't hurt anyone else?"

The woman then slowly nodded and then remembered to some of the things the muggers had said when they first grabbed her.

"You saved me," she stated.

"Aye," Hudson nodded, "tis what we do."

"Why?"

"Because a gargoyle cannae stop protectin' the castle anymore then…" Hudson began.

"…It cannot stop breathing the air," Sarah finished.

Hudson gave Sarah a slight look, sensing that she was joking with him.

"Anyway, that is why we do this," Hudson continued, "why we protect. Not to ruin anyone's life and certainly not to take over the city. Any gargoyle that does not is corrupt."

"We'd like things to be just as normal as I'm sure you would," Sarah added, "we simply do not want to lose our right to live here to do so."

The woman didn't know how to answer. The crooks had essentially felt triumphant when there was no obvious sign of any of the gargoyles being nearby and went even further to say that they hoped groups like the Order of the Phoenix won and got rid of the gargoyles. But not for the reasons the woman expected. Not to protect humanity. Not to stop the gargoyles from threatening children. But to allow them to take over the night. To mug people… to commit violent crime. It gave the woman the sense that things that the Quarrymen and the Order of the Phoenix had said as goals weren't entirely right.

They had always insinuated that gangsters and criminals were friends with the gargoyles, and the men that tried to mug her, wanted the gargoyles gone so they COULD mug people. If the crooks wanted the gargoyles gone to commit crime, which had to mean that some of the gargoyles' statements about protecting people had to be true. At least on some level it did. She was still very afraid, but now questions in her mind were raised about the validity of her earlier mindset. And that, though the gargoyles didn't know it, could very well help turn the tide against the Order of the Phoenix.

"Can you give us an official statement, lass?" Hudson asked, sounding to the woman like he'd said that already. Maybe she hadn't been fully paying attention to him while she thought.

"My name is Leslie Hay, and I'd be perfectly willing to give you a statement regarding those three," she said firmly.

**The End…**


	55. Instigating Trouble

All characters appearing in Gargoyles and Gargoyles: The Goliath Chronicles are copyrighted to Buena Vista Television/The Walt Disney Company. I've taken the idea for the Unseelie Court from the TGS. Characters and concepts from Star Trek are property of Paramount and created by Gene Roddenberry. No Infringement of these copyrights is intended, and is not authorized by the copyright holder. All original characters are the property of SN.

Note: I'm disregarding the events of the "Goliath Chronicles", with the exception of "The Journey" because I do not wish to use the rest of the "Goliath Chronicles" as canon to my story. Also, I'm altering large sections of the Star Trek storyline, especially concerning events like WWIII and the Eugenics Wars, which without the Cold War as a backdrop probably wouldn't happen the way Roddenberry wrote them, if at all. This story takes place three days after "Same Old Song, New Dance".

Instigating Trouble

By SN/TVfan

Email: Sam_Nary

**Hotel Room**

"Now… what exactly will I do with you?" the man the clan and the NYPD knew only as 'John Doe' mused as he held up the vials of blood that the gargoyle witch Holly had stolen before the clan had caught her.

The blood was the blood of a dragon that had attacked the city when two miners from Alaska had brought gold from a cave they had found. Apparently the dragon either wanted the gold back or wanted to punish the two miners for stealing it, and according to what he had read in the papers, the miners were in some legal trouble for what they had done in Alaska. The man guessed that they had probably found the gold on land that they weren't supposed to be on, and that they hadn't made any mention of having the gold when they crossed the Canadian border, twice.

Not that the man really minded. His interest was in stirring up some trouble that could cause chaos and allow him to profit off of that chaos in some way shape or form. The dragon's blood could be a stepping stone for that. After all, man had cloned sheep, why not dragons. Had the man known more about Anton Sevarius' experiments, he would have added the gargoyle and mutate clones to the list as well. But he did not know of the exact experiments, though he did know of Sevarius's skills and reputation.

However, the issue of cloning the dragon required getting access to a scientist that lacked the moral conscience to not clone an animal that could have caused immense damage in one incident. And so far, the man, John Doe, hadn't found one. Sevarius had dropped off the map, and he guessed had finally met his end battling the gargoyles or trying to dissect them or something like that. He had also asked around and made some inquiries, and found that there were very limited options for genetics and pharmaceutical companies in New York. Those that were, were owned by Xanatos Enterprises, which had put in a lot of tough legal jargon in their applications for such a position that gave John Doe the suspicion that they were deliberately trying avoid a scientist like Sevarius.

This left John Doe with a great prize in the dragon's blood, but nothing that he could use to take full advantage of it. And that was what he pondered. He needed someone who was greedy and lacked a moral compass, but for the time being that would have to wait.

"All I need for you is the scientist and the lab," John Doe said to the blood, "Though I suppose I'll need to get a little more money first. Something to line pockets with… and maybe observe some of the present employees with the companies I've found. Xanatos may have some tough qualifications, but I'd bet he isn't perfect."

He placed the blood sample in a small igloo that was lined with ice, just to preserve the blood and then checked the television to see what else was going on. He flipped around the channels until he came across a twenty-four hour news channel, and to his 'luck' it was focusing on the issues related to the gargoyle presence in New York.

"Wouldn't this continuing argument among New York citizens on the gargoyle issue raise its importance?" the reporter asked, "they are after all a non-human species, supposedly from Scotland. Groups like PIT have argued for their rights as sentient beings, and so far those that have joined the NYPD have NOT started an incident, while the Order of the Phoenix continues to claim that they are involved in some grand conspiracy against humanity, and recent incidents, including the arrest of a 'rogue' gargoyle has given the Order of the Phoenix some leverage in that argument…"

"It could," one of the people being, a man, interviewed answered, "though not entirely for racial reasons. Because the ones that joined the police haven't started anything, we'd have to conclude that they are generally good, and Mr. Bush's campaign has already made statements that tolerating the gargoyles would be the prudent choice at hand. And Vice President Gore has even advocated some additional testing for even possible US citizenship… so the gargoyles could find themselves on the national political stage, but it won't be a 'get rid of them or keep them' argument. It would appear as though it's been decided to keep them."

"Most of that has come from the political trust in the mayor of New York," the other person, a woman, added, "he's trusted by members of both parties, and that's why the argument won't be about keeping them or getting rid of them."

The male expert nodded in agreement, "The issue where groups like PIT and the Order of the Phoenix will likely be able to either bring the gargoyles into the discussion or influence the discussion is on their exact status. Do we make them US citizens and extend to them full rights, and if so, what is the justification for that, since they aren't human and all of our laws were written with humans only in mind, or to we keep them in the sort of legal limbo that they're presently in where they're allowed to work for us, but have no real rights that we take for granted in many ways. And so far, no leader from either party has taken a firm stance on the issue."

"Do you think that the Order of the Phoenix or PIT will ask for such a statement?" the reporter asked.

"That's an unknown," the woman answered, "and they may not be accepted even if they do. PIT has generally come off as a 'new' group of hippies to certain circles and many also remember the criminal acts of the Jon Canmore and the Quarrymen, and will as such avoid the Order of the Phoenix. Until either organization comes out with anything formal, I don't think we'll get an answer on that question."

That gave John Doe a good idea on what to do next. His goal, after all was chaos. He would do well under it, so long as the gargoyles and the police were busy with the chaos and either didn't or couldn't connect him to it. That was generally the problem all of their enemies fell into. The Quarrymen tried too much to be a 20th Century KKK that was anti-gargoyle rather than anti-black. As such they had to directly challenge the gargoyles out some absurd racial hatred. When the gargoyles didn't match them crime for crime, they lost support. The Pack had been mercenaries that turned to petty crime, and simply saw the gargoyles as rivals. They thus signed their names to anyone who was against the gargoyles and paid well, but the result was the same. They had to go after the gargoyles directly, and they lost. All of them did, and anything besides defeating the gargoyles was lost as well.

John Doe could really care less about the gargoyles whether they lived or died. His real goal was the money he could make, and unleashing chaos was his chosen method. If the gargoyles died as a result, that was okay, and if they lived, that was okay too. And now the news had given him a new idea to spread some chaos. He had observed both the Order of the Phoenix and PIT. Both claimed to be non-violent. The Order of the Phoenix did so only to get away from the negative image the Quarrymen carried for their criminal activity. Inciting them to violence wouldn't help. It would only confirm opinions on these anti-gargoyle groups.

But PIT was a different story. They claimed to be non-violent because they thought they were the 'good guys.' They were standing up for the poor helpless gargoyles and urging that humanity accept them. It was a noble stance, and one John Doe expected from people willing to accept new and different things, but he also knew that movements like this couldn't always stay on the straight and narrow, especially after gaining the successes that PIT had most recently made. Some might argue that greater steps were needed and that more must be done, or that progress is simply not being made fast enough. And John Doe knew these elements could be pushed into making a disastrous mistake.

"I guess my next step is a PIT meeting," John Doe smirked to himself.

**Castle Wyvern, Dusk**

Ko Lun sighed heavily after the gargoyles that presently resided in the old Scottish castle awakened for the night. On the tower were the members of the Manhattan Clan, either Scottish gargoyles that had been made to sleep for a thousand years or humans turned into gargoyles through sorcery. Surrounding the battlements were the Tibetan gargoyle elders along with the hatchlings that were her age. After a quick glance at the others she turned to look out over the city that the castle sat above. As she looked down on the lights, she sighed again.

Manhattan was a very interesting city, with things Tibet never had, and might never have. The period of punishment for her, Fang, Xian, and Mu Tsu sneaking out and nearly getting themselves killed by Alex Sevarius and a pack of mutant rats had ended, but she still couldn't help but wonder about many of the wonders of the city they had come to. Sevarius was gone and no longer a threat, even though it had come as a result of a massive attack on the castle itself, which terrified her more than the encounter outside the castle walls. The Manhattan gargoyles now even carried badges, and things looked better. Ko privately wondered if the lessened danger might allow some of the hatchlings to get some time outside.

"Come along young one," a nearby female elder said, "it is time to go in for breakfast."

"Yes, elder," Ko answered obediently, if she wanted to explore, she would need to get some adults to agree to take groups out.

She then followed the others inside and into the dining hall area set aside for the clan. Broadway had already made it to the kitchen when Ko arrived, and she joined her friends, Fang, Xian, and Mu Tsu to wait for breakfast. Ko knew they wanted to explore the city more too, as did all the other hatchlings, and said nothing. Fang had not come up with any new schemes to get outside the castle since the encounter with Alex Sevarius and the flying rats, and Ko would have made sure that if he did, nothing would come from such plans. She only went along with them the last time to keep him out of trouble, and all it did was get them ALL in trouble.

"Hey there, why so glum?" a male voice asked.

Ko looked up to see the olive skinned web-wing, Lexington standing there. The pink female that was commonly by his side was not there.

"Just wishing we could go out," Ko said slowly, "explore and have some fun. I mean Thailog and his supporters are gone and you guys are legally welcome now. Would it be that wrong for us to go out? It could be in small groups and under observation."

"I would need to converse with the others before any such decision along those lines is made," Lexington spoke with a sigh, and wondering if this was what his own parents went through when he was younger, "there are other dangers out there, and you know that your elders don't want you getting hurt."

"You would at least ask them, wouldn't you?" Fang asked, "we promise we'll be good."

"I'll try, but I can't make any promises," Lex told them.

"If they say yes, could your mate come too?" Xian wondered.

"Candy is on duty tonight," Lex told them.

"Aw," was the answer from all of the hatchlings.

While that was going on, Elisa settled into one chair to wait patiently for breakfast. Things had remained largely quiet for the clan over the past few days, and really going back to Holly's capture. It was showing that deputizing the clan was working. She doubted that full scale acceptance would come soon, but it looked as though the clan would have a relatively safe future. Thailog was gone forever, the Pack was again behind bars, the Unseelie Court was gone, Dracon and Brode were both put away, and the Quarrymen were all incarcerated.

To her, it would mean that she could get back to more what she would have considered 'normal' before meeting Goliath. Go out, and if someone does something wrong, find out who, and arrest them. The only thing that would be different for her now then from the past was the obvious change in her species, but that couldn't be reversed. The one thing she didn't like about the present situation was that she wasn't with Goliath. She understood the reasons the NYPD didn't want there to be any relationship beyond a professional one between officers, but instinctively, it seemed to rub her a bit the wrong way.

"Of course the bond between a mated pair is strong between gargoyles," Elisa thought to herself, remembering the time period she spent learning about herself after her transformation, "Goliath is my mate and I am his… I'd guess that for a gargoyle it is only second nature to be with the one they love and trust the most. They can protect each other and because they know each other so well, they can anticipate one another."

"Are you, okay, Elisa?" came a low rumble from across the table.

She looked up see Goliath looking to her with some degree of concern. He wasn't worried, more curious than anything else.

"I'm fine, big guy," Elisa answered, "Just thinking over some things. Being thankful for how quiet it's been. No Thailog, no Pack, no Quarrymen attacking people, no evil fey, and no gangsters that know us personally."

"There are still the Order of the Phoenix members that hate us," Othello grumbled from beside Goliath, "despite all the people like Amy's parents try to do… despite all that we've done…"

"It's a free country," Elisa reminded the gray colored male, "they may not be right, but they are legally allowed to believe what they wish. And they aren't in control of everything, certainly not the police or city hall."

"Or able to hold on to their followers," Desdemona chimed in from beside Elisa, "Didn't Hudson and Sarah rescue some Order of the Phoenix member from a group of muggers a few nights ago?"

"Yes," Goliath nodded, "Hudson told me that the muggers were stupid enough to even say they were glad to see the Order of the Phoenix gaining power."

"See, it's not all bad," Elisa added.

"I know," Othello admitted, "and I'm not trying to give any sort of bad opinion… it's just that we've done so much… those that have supported us have done so much… and yet there are groups that refuse to ignore all the good to fit their own fantasies."

Elisa sighed at that. Othello did have a point in that regard. No matter what they did, there always seemed to be someone against them for the most absurd reasons. The Order of the Phoenix was another of these organizations that wanted to raise gargoyle hatred. The only thing that made them different from the predecessors in the Quarrymen was that they weren't about to engage in criminal activity. That made them dangerous, because the people turned away from the Quarrymen because of their criminal activity, not because they'd become pro-gargoyle. Elisa had to believe though, that because Maccio's group hadn't gained any influence with city hall or the NYPD that he wasn't about to win the people over any time soon.

**Maccio's Apartment**

Meanwhile, Ralph Maccio and his main associate, Victor, were discussing things that the Order of the Phoenix should take up. They had both seen the same news report that 'John Doe' had seen and were now nervously trying to figure out what to do.

"They're freaks and monsters!" Maccio grumbled, loudly, "They need to be arrested and put away for life at worst and killed at best!"

"I don't disagree," Victor answered, "but I'd suppose that saying that would only come off for either Party as endorsing the Quarrymen, which I'm sure neither wants to do given their record."

Maccio sighed and nodded. He and Victor had formed the Order of the Phoenix to try and restore the rightful opposition to the gargoyle presence in Manhattan. So many weird things had begun happening when they arrived. They had abnormal weather, cyborgs, mutants, and all sorts of weird things that came because the gargoyles were in New York. If they were gotten rid of, then all of the weirdness would go away as there would no longer be any gargoyles to attract them. And of course he wouldn't simply move them and make them someone else's problem. They had to be killed or imprisoned.

But it had to be done legally. The gargoyles needed to be arrested, tried, and convicted of conspiracy to commit genocide and conquer the Earth. Then, their deaths would be justice. He agreed with Castaway that 'hating' gargoyles was the right thing, but Castaway, Canmore, whoever he was, took it too far. The violence and criminal actions that the Quarrymen had committed were the reason the organization had died. Maccio was determined to keep the Order of the Phoenix's activities on the legal up and up.

But, so far he hadn't done much more then win over Quarrymen holdovers and the few that were truly creped out by the weird events that always seemed to focus on the gargoyles. Far too many saw him as a continuation of the criminal acts of the Quarrymen and stayed away. They didn't realize that if they joined him, their wish to be rid of the gargoyles would come, and it would come legally. But now, it looked like politicians at the Federal level were considering taking up the issue of the gargoyles, and even the conservatives seemed willing to let the gargoyles remain.

"But we aren't the Quarrymen!" Maccio nearly shouted back in his frustration, "name one crime that has been committed by a Phoenix member?"

"None that would be 'gargoyle' related," Victor answered, "One guy got arrested for public intoxication a week ago."

"We're trying to save this city and to protect them from the plot they have," Maccio stated.

"I agree, but until we have proof, all we have is suspicion, which people equate to the stuff that the Quarrymen threw around like it was money to spare." Victor reminded him, "and since the NYPD won't respond to our calls for an official investigation of them, the Mayor's office won't order the NYPD to investigate them, and Xanatos Enterprises won't let anyone into the castle at the top of their headquarters, not even for tours anymore, we can't get at what they wish to keep secret."

Maccio again only sighed. He was certain the gargoyles were out to get the people of New York, and he did his best to get his point across. But, he was continually compared to the Quarrymen and their theory that the gargoyles were just dumb beasts and monsters. They were beasts and monsters to Maccio, but he also found them to be intelligent. Their plans were far more devious then what New Yorkers knew. After all, if they were really so innocent and good, why did they reside in a place that few are legally allowed to go and has the money to erect a force field that could probably withstand an hour's worth of bombardment from the largest cannon an army could muster. The Eyrie Building and Castle Wyvern made the perfect base, and David Xanatos had just the reputation to be involved in such things, especially in recent months when he and his actress wife quit making public appearances.

"We've got to keep reminding them that they aren't to be trusted, that they are leading us astray," Maccio answered, "and they're using good press to aid their efforts."

Victor nodded in agreement, "We could also do more though…"

"You mean spy on them?" Maccio asked, "That would only turn us into a poor man's Quarrymen, and who knows how long it would take someone to do something stupid and take the law into their own hands."

"Not spy," Victor shook his head, "there are private detectives out there. Granted, they're generally used by wives and husbands that think their lover is cheating on them, but if given enough money, one of them could take the case, and since the law does recognize them as a 'law enforcement' service, they might be able to either gain access to the Eyrie Building and Castle Wyvern or tail the gargoyles and maintain the professionalism to not go overboard. In time, they'd uncover some evidence of the gargoyle's plot or at least prove that all things are not on the up and up. With that we can try to use it to influence the elections in our favor…"

"Legally of course," Maccio told him.

"Of course," Victor said slowly, though he didn't quite sound entirely willing to do that.

With that, Maccio then sighed and turned to look out a window at the glittering lights that made up New York at night. The main thing that had him thinking at the moment was still the possibility that the gargoyles might gain recognition at the national level. He'd never thought that that was possible, but he'd also never thought the mayor would ever willingly deputize the gargoyles into the NYPD.

"We've got to make contact with one of the campaigns," Maccio then said, "We've got to give them our stance and the truth of our organization. Show them that we are not just Quarrymen holdovers. For, if they recognize the gargoyles, we're done for."

"I would suggest letters to Bush's campaign," Victor advised, "he's at least looked like we might be able to persuade him if things do come that far."

Maccio only nodded, and looked back to the window and hoped for a miracle that would allow him to save humanity, as he saw it.

**PIT Meeting**

Abigail Wexmand quietly made her way to the hall that was being used for the latest PIT meeting. There were always times when she wished that she could return to the castle and be there for Candy when she awakened or privately converse with Hudson as the old gargoyle shared his grief with her. There was a lot of that that surprised her how much the old male held back from the others, with regard to his personal pain or with regard his own physical discomforts related to his age. She honestly felt he deserved the right to retire and relax, but she did enjoy the stories he told. They reminded her of her own father, now long dead of old age. His stories were of a different time from Hudson's and a very different war, but the overall themes were the same. She enjoyed being there to converse with him on the nights he didn't have to patrol before going to bed.

But her PIT membership was the only way she could have any life outside the castle and her job. Thanks to Candy's presence in the clan, she had found herself counted as a member by them, even though she was still human, and her meeting with the clan for the first time was not a positive experience. But that was the past, and while she did enjoy being able to be with her daughter and listen to Hudson's stories, she needed to be able to do things, and PIT was the way to do it. Pay for her sins while she had been part of the Quarrymen movement, and protect her daughter by helping promote a better world for her daughter.

"Abby!" a voice called to her as she came in to find the room fairly well packed with people.

Abigail turned to see that it was Judith and William Axel seated at one of the tables. The tables were small and covered in with only a simple mat, to protect the surfaces from whatever drinks were being offered or had already been brought. Abigail thought she could smell coffee from the Styrofoam cup that William was sipping from. Nearly all the other tables were about the same as the one the Axel's were at. She slowly made her way over to their table and took the one empty chair that was there.

"Glad you can make it," Judith Axel said with a confident smile, "they let you off early?"

"I generally always try to make sure I'm off on time to attend these meetings," Abigail answered, "it gives me time to see how you two are doing and so forth… especially since we aren't living in the same building any more."

"We didn't want to be a hassle to the clan," William told her, "besides, as much as every boy daydreams of being Lancelot when they're kids, I wouldn't look good in that castle."

"You don't hold anything against me for staying?" Abigail asked after a moment.

"Of course not," William said in a very friendly voice, "you're our eyes and ears on how our daughter is doing. A lot of the police work seems to keep her fairly busy."

"The price of gargoyles being accepted, I suppose," Abigail shrugged, "Even I don't get as much time as I'd wish with Candy to talk with her and Lexington… though, I think they are physically ready for things that talking with me would be awkward."

"Well, they are all married now," Judith said with a laugh, "Caroline and Lawrence, Candy with Lexington, and Amy with Brooklyn. Our girls all grew up…"

"Faster than any parent could wish," Abigail sighed, "Is it wrong for me to look at her and see her as an infant?"

"No," William told her, "that's just the feelings of a loving parent."

"Good to know," Abigail responded, as she sat down, "so, what's with the crowd? Did you guys run a new recruiting drive or we being infiltrated by politicians?"

"I don't think any of the people running for President have sent anyone to see us," Judith commented, "I think the only reason they've suddenly become involved is because of the Mayor's decision to deputize them."

"And they both appear to trust or support the Mayor," William nodded.

"So they're just deciding to pick up the gargoyles as an issue?" Abigail wondered, "even though New York City is the only city in America with gargoyles?"

"They're probably just looking for something to attack the other with," Judith shrugged, "You know how everyone goes nuts during election years."

Abigail nodded. Like many people, she had seen the news report, and Abigail had some suspicions related to the suddenness of it, but figured that it was acceptable. If both Parties were in favor of keeping the gargoyles around, it should be okay to let their positions stand. Their chief issue was convincing New York that the Order of the Phoenix was nothing more than a pacifist version of the Quarrymen that had no understanding of the creatures that protected them at night. The noble creatures that Abigail and Judith knew their daughters had become.

"Anyway, I think most of this is actually some defections from Maccio's little band of nutjobs," William spoke, answering Abigail's earlier question, "that one woman who got attacked and had her muggers tell her that they looked forward to a gargoyle free New York really did something."

"Proving forever that crooks are stupid," Judith gave a chuckle.

"Amen," Abigail replied.

**23****rd**** Precinct**

"You mean Xanatos or Owen didn't tell you guys?" Matt asked in surprise after a few moments.

The members of the clan that were on duty that night had come in through the door from the outside balcony to the interior portion of the clock tower that was now the office for their part of the NYPD. As they did, Detective Flariaty had asked them what they thought about potential recognition on the national level of America's political levels. The surprised faces that Matt and Flariaty received indicated that they hadn't even heard about it. He didn't expect them to have seen the report, but he had thought they would have heard about it. The fact that no one had told them about the report surprised Matt more than anything else.

"Xanatos probably still had some paperwork that he was working on, and Owen either had magic lessons with Alex or was assisting Fox with something related to her pregnancy," Brooklyn commented.

"What about the Guatemalans?" Matt asked, "Did they sleep during the day, or did they stay up?"

"I think they did stay up," Elisa commented, "but they don't really watch a lot of television. They probably spent the day tending to the gardens and other plants that are in the castle… so we were left in the dark with regard to all of this."

"Being a bit ironic, Maza?" Matt teased.

Elisa chuckled after a moment, remembering that without some assistance from magic, gargoyles were strictly nocturnal and they were only flesh and bone when the sun had set.

"Maybe," Elisa gave a smirk, knowing there was no real easy way out of what she had stepped into.

"You'll forgive me, Detective," Desdemona said carefully, "but I am afraid that human politics are bit beyond me. A thousand years ago we understood that Katherine was the ruler of Castle Wyvern, and THAT was simple, but the affair of the overall human court and her relationship with other nobles was always beyond us… and I'm afraid that your modern politics is much the same for me. Your city has already sanctioned us as protectors under your command. Wouldn't that be the end of the issue?"

"Within New York City it is, but only so long as the rest of the state or the country accepts the decision," Elisa spoke to her, "city and local governments handle affairs that relate to them, state governments handle slightly bigger issues, and the national government handles the biggest issues."

"Which means that if this Maccio guy is smart, he'd challenge the mayor's decision to deputize you before a court of law and take it through the chain of command," Flariaty added, "and if the national courts agree with him, then the mayor's decision is overturned."

"But, if the national government passes a federal law that either accepts you as 'legal aliens' or declares you 'citizens of the US' Maccio's position will be a lot tougher," Matt finished, "at best, you'd be able to go anywhere in New York and expect equal treatment."

"That would be good news," Broadway commented, "I've seen at least half a dozen restaurants that I've wished I could go in and eat at… and main library… I've kinda wanted to go explore in there."

"I don't think they carry cookbooks," Brooklyn commented half humorously, and gave a shrug when he noticed the look that Broadway was giving him, "but anyway, this IS good news."

"Yes," Matt nodded, "yes it is."

"I could take Lawrence out for a real night on the town," Caroline mused to herself as the conversation went on, "not just dance with him in one of the rooms in the castle… and we could get away from the hatchlings for an evening at least…"

"Well, best that we go out and keep giving people a good reason to support us," Angela said with a slight confidence and cheer in her voice.

Matt and Flariaty nodded in agreement.

**Castle Wyvern**

Meanwhile, Lex was in the middle of a very different discussion. He had brought Ko's concerns to Goliath and a small group of the Tibetan Clan's elders. He honestly hoped there was a way that they could allow at least some of the older hatchlings to go outside the castle. The Illuminati had been inactive with regard to pursing them, and Lex had heard the suspicions of the others that they were too heavily distracted by the growing violence in Britain and China. Thailog was dead, Holly stripped of her ability to use her powers, and his clan of corrupt gargoyles was in jail. The Pack was in jail and now lacked the backing needed to get any heavy weight weapon like what the Unseelies had made for them, and the Unseelies had largely fled New York following Madoc's defeat.

The only 'threat' that had been encountered by any of the clan's members while on patrol was nothing more than common street criminals. And they could easily be restrained by a lone member of the clan. Lex knew that even he and Candy were physically strong enough to outfight most street criminals, even if they didn't outwardly look it. And they didn't even have to take all the hatchlings out at once. They could only take out a small selection with some of the Manhattan gargoyles as body guards and baby sitters. The hatchlings would be safe.

"I thought this matter had been settled when those hatchlings had decided to sneak out and get themselves attacked," one of the Tibetan elders, named Wu, spoke, "even if your major enemies are gone, this city is far too dangerous for them to be exposed to."

"It would be better to keep them safely away from any and all possible danger," a female elder, named Nu Bii, added.

"There might be some dangers still out there," Lexington commented, "but they are much less dangerous than the Pack, Thailog, and Sevarius. In small groups with a decent escort of adults, there shouldn't too much of a problem."

"And what of this Order of the Phoenix?" the third elder, Kay-Lin asked, "they still hate gargoyles, do they not?"

"Yes, but they have repeatedly stated that they aren't violently antagonistic towards us," Goliath rumbled in a low voice, "they have been more of a nuisance than a threat."

"And suppose they decide to change?" Nu inquired, "suppose they find one of our hatchlings alone and where no human can see them. Do you honestly trust these bigots not to take advantage of the situation?"

"If anyone thinks they can get away with a crime, they will commit it," Goliath admitted, "but I also find it doubtful that such a scenario would happen. If allowed to explore in small groups, we can then decide where to let them play and explore and keep them under a firm guard."

"So you'd agree to let them out?" Lex asked to his leader.

"Under specific conditions and in small numbers at a time," Goliath nodded, "the worst of what they'd have to be wary of are no longer a threat."

The three Tibetan elders did not look pleased. It was very clear that they preferred to keep the hatchlings at the castle, which Goliath and Lexington agreed was safer than other places to be. The only place that rivaled it would be the Labyrinth with Talon and the clones, which had been offered, since Talon had greater experience in managing the numbers, but the Tibetan elders rejected that on the fact that the Labyrinth wasn't as clean as Castle Wyvern. Elisa and Goliath ultimately agreed that Talon had a lot of responsibilities with the people turned into mutates by the Unseelies that would be complicated by dumping the Tibetan elders and their hatchlings on them.

Lexington understood their need for safety. Everyone had it, be they human or gargoyle. But to him, the attitude of the Tibetan elders reminded him of how Goliath had looked toward human interaction when the clan had first awakened in New York. He'd made friends with Elisa, beginning the path to being loving mates that they now were, but Goliath didn't really trust anyone else. Particularly after Demona revealed that she had betrayed the clan and Xanatos revealed that the clan was only to be a tool to earn him more money. But the truth was no one could really hide from the outside world. Being safe was one thing, but the Tibetan elders were taking it too far.

"And suppose the unlikely happens?" Wu asked.

"You can't just have them hide here," Lex argued, "they have wings and the worst of our foes, and the only ones that would really do them harm are gone… they have the right to use them."

"We have learned, young one, that humans in large numbers are mistrusting," Kay-Lin said firmly, "our clan was originally from the area around Beijing. But the Communists saw our presence as counter to their revolution and drove us out, along with the monks we lived with. We managed to find seclusion in Tibet when the Supermen drove us from there."

"We know you're clan's past," Goliath countered, "and we understand the hardships you went through…"

"Then you should also know that we are not anti-human," Kay-Lin cut him off, "we are all for human-gargoyle equality. But we refuse to do it en-masse. For all it will do is allow the one bad apple to something stupid and make us suffer more."

"But all you're doing is hiding," Lex insisted, "it can't be good for you. Even your wing muscles look like they atrophying from lack of use. Why would you do that to your own hatchlings? Suppose Demona and your 'warriors' return tomorrow night and say China is clear and you can go home if you so wish to do? Are you and the hatchlings going to be able to glide home, or will you reside here permanently because the hatchlings will never be safe enough to glide?"

The Tibetan elders did not answer.

"We will do everything we can to keep them in a safe environment and we'll do it in small shifts that only take small groups out," Lex said firmly, "we'd make things as safe as we possibly can."

"We cannot hide from the world," Goliath rumbled, "as once pointed out to me. We must live in it."

The Tibetan elders again shared glances, but were then quiet.

"Very well," Wu said after a few moments, "we will consider your suggestion for the health of our hatchlings. We will also converse with the others to see what sort of groups would be workable for their safety."

"Thank you," Lex sighed, silently feeling a bit victorious.

**PIT Meeting**

The meeting went relatively quietly and calmly as new members were introduced and asked to explain why they were joining PIT. This was generally a formality to welcome new members and Abigail remembered going through the process herself with Judith and William being her sponsors to join the organization. There were a few who weren't joining that seemed to be observing the meeting, but Judith had told her in the past that that occasionally happened. Despite the strength and support that PIT had been gaining of late, there were still quite a lot that treated it as a curiosity than anything else. Abigail figured the meeting would go quietly from there with congratulating on any progress that had been made in getting humanity as a whole to accept the gargoyles, maybe even welcome them into society. Then they would move onto new business and brainstorm some way to get people not to join the Order of the Phoenix.

Abigail's hopes were rapidly dashed, however, as they got into discussing what had been done so far.

"It's all too little!" a voice called out after a member commented on getting a few people from his workplace to join PIT.

The voice sounded angry, frustrated, and more importantly, out of patience. Abigail and many others turned to see a lone man standing up near the back of the room, and very close to exits to the room. He had a fairly 'forgettable' face, and would look like just about any other New Yorker that Abigail had ever seen. She didn't know it, but the man was known to the police as John Done, the same man that had incited a near riot with a dummy gargoyle. He was the same man that had murdered a few gang members and Holly's slaves and stolen the dragon's blood, though no one could identify him for those crimes. Now, he was at a PIT meeting, and Abigail and many of the other PIT members had no clue what John Doe was up to.

"I beg your pardon, sir?" asked the PIT member that had been given the role of leading the night's meeting.

"It's all too little!" John Doe answered, "You talk of getting a man here or there to consider joining progress? What does that do for the future of the gargoyles? The government is only treating them like a special attack dog. We have no way of knowing what the national government if they will do anything at all! The Order of the Phoenix continues to protest and continues to attack you and the gargoyles at every possible opportunity."

"Ralph Maccio has no proof behind his assertions," the meeting leader answered, "as such, while his men protest, they've had little real effect, and in light of recent events, their membership has at worst plateaued if not gone down."

"So he'll grow desperate?" John Doe countered.

The meeting leader gave a nervous sigh, as there were a few hushed whispers going through the room, particularly among some of the older members of PIT, though Abigail could see nervousness on Judith and William's faces.

"He'll grow desperate and will take things further, while all we do is talk?" John Doe asked again.

"Are you advocating that we break the law, sir?" the meeting leader questioned.

"I am advocating we make sure that justice is done for the gargoyles!" John Doe answered, "Maccio complains about normalcy being lost when dealing with the gargoyles. Any event that is new or odd becomes his weapon to attack the gargoyles, and people will listen to that!"

"They do… but he's done a sloppy job of making the argument," the meeting leader answered, "he keeps trying to bring his ludicrous conspiracy theories into the same discussion, which has turned away almost as many people as he attracts."

"And we do nothing to get them to join us? To actively counter the Order of the Phoenix?" John Doe shouted, "just hang up posters or give slogans and hope that persuades people? I have news for you, that doesn't work!"

"We cannot turn to violence or intimidation," the meeting leader answered, "We'd be no better than the Quarrymen if we did."

"And we let them grow more and more desperate while you do nothing? While the police do nothing?!" John Doe answered, "they could kill us or kill the gargoyles in their hatred and you will stand there and do nothing! For shame, sir. We stand for justice for those who have been oppressed at every turn! And you advocate standing by and let those who hate grow desperate! We must do more! We must stand firm! We must stand up to them and tell directly to stop and to at least go away! If they don't… then we must irritate them! Protest in front of their homes! Shout their own insults back at them, and defend those that have had no real defenders!"

There were a few more hushed whispers.

"Sir, what you're arguing for goes too far and will only cause problems," the meeting leader answered.

"I can think of a bigger problem, the Order of the Phoenix manages to get support from potential opponents of the mayor and his policy and wins control of city hall in the fall elections," John Doe answered back, "then, with either a new mayor or a new city council, the gargoyles are fired and forced to retreat back to the Eyrie Building, but now with an active NYPD with orders to shoot to kill! Because that is the action that will happen if you continue to do nothing!"

This time there were more active support for John Doe's statements and several stood up. To Judith's horror, some of them were original members that had endured getting attacked by the Quarrymen from time to time for their support of the gargoyles. It was at this point that Abigail stood up. She then began to speak to those turning to follow John Doe and John Doe, himself.

"Friends and new members, please DON'T do this," Abigail spoke, "I know things are tough and not everything is as we would like, but this… this is wrong. The Order of the Phoenix is no serious danger. Too many people remember the criminal acts that John Castaway/Canmore committed while the Quarrymen were around… the murders, the faked robberies to attract a gargoyle, the vandalism in smashing statues that were thought to be gargoyles or would attract gargoyles, the outright robberies when their funds ran low… believe me… I KNOW of these things. I was all too easily sucked into it when I was afraid my daughter would be carried away… but I was wrong then, as was Castaway/Canmore… and if you do this, you will be wrong now. Please don't do this. Please, think of your children, think of the future of PIT… if you go 'crooked' to try and stop the Order of the Phoenix, all you will do is ruin any hope of us attracting more support and you will lose the support of your children. Trust me; my daughter loves the gargoyles deeply…" Abigail then thought to herself, "especially Lex, but they need not know that," and then continued her verbal statement, "and I nearly lost her when learned I had been in the Quarrymen. Please… DON'T make my mistake!"

Abigail gave a very nervous sigh as her plea did little. John Doe lead about twenty people out, with another ten following shortly after.

"This is going to get our daughters in trouble," Abigail very nearly cried as Judith came to hug her, "I want my daughter here, I want to hug her… protect her… be sure that she'll be alright… and apologize for the hell that man will ultimately unleash on her."

Abigail felt like her heart and mind were breaking under this.

**Castle Wyvern**

Ko and her closest friends among the Tibetan hatchlings gathered cheerfully in the castle's courtyard as the news passed between the adult gargoyles and ultimately to the hatchlings. They would be getting a chance to go outside the castle. From what the news was, they'd only get to go in small groups with a fair sized escort, but they would get to go out and that was all Ko really wanted. She would get to see the city and its wonders.

"Won't this be fun?" Fang asked to her as they waited in the courtyard, "we'll get to go out!"

"Yes," Ko agreed, "see the wonders of this city… it is all so amazing compared to the snow and rocks of home."

"The elders talk about being from Beijing from time to time," Mu Tsu commented, "maybe when all of the stuff in China is over we'd get to return there. I bet it's as big as this city is by now."

"I think the Chinese city that rivals New York is Shanghai," Lex commented, "at least that's what the maps I've seen online would indicate."

"Have you ever been there?" Mu Tsu wondered as the olive web-wing approached.

"Goliath, Elisa, Bronx, and Angela were the only clan members to go beyond Manhattan or Scotland," Lex answered, "I don't think they ever went to China. If they did, they didn't tell us about it."

Ko and the others nodded and looked to see who else was on their escort duty with Lexington. Joining him were Sarah and Ethan from Goliath's clan as well as the elder Wu. The Tibetan elder's 'beard' that resembled the 'beards' on Chinese dragons was lengthy and blew a little in the wind as he approached.

"This excursion is intended as a test," Wu spoke authoritatively to Ko and her friends, "the other elders and I are not sold on the safeness of letting you go out, but Goliath and the web-winged male seem confident that their plan will work. I expect you all to be on your best behavior. If you do well and we have no problems, we will implement these excursions to the others."

"Yes, Elder Wu," Ko, Xian, Fang, and Mu Tsu said in nearly perfect unison.

"And so, where shall we go?" Wu turned to Lexington, who apparently was given the right lead the 'exploration' mission.

"I'd thought we'd go out and glide through Times Square before going into Central Park, and the hatchlings can enjoy some play on grounds larger than the courtyard."

"Don't worry, we won't let any harm come to them," Sarah said to Wu confidently.

"Your clan mates have already assured us that they have no intention of seeing our hatchlings harmed," Wu answered, "tonight we're testing to see how capable you are of fulfilling that promise."

"Do not start any mischief, Fang," Ko said to her male friend, "You'll get us all in trouble, again."

**Over Manhattan**

Elisa and Desdemona's patrol had started quietly. With no trouble, the two females thought over the news that they might receive official recognition and protection from the Federal government and possibly even citizenship.

"I would suppose this is a restoring of things for you, correct, Elisa?" Desdemona asked, remembering that Elisa, like many of the transformed humans were still somewhat uncomfortable with being called 'clan sister' as had been tradition for as long as the golden female could remember.

"Not restoring, because I never lost my citizenship and other 'legal' rights," Elisa answered, "the problem that I and our female trio face and that Talon and the mutates face is not the loss of the rights but the loss of recognition. People don't recognize us as we were and wouldn't give to us what they would if we were still human."

They banked around one building and began head up a different street before Elisa continued.

"We'll still probably have some hoops to jump through that Owen will have to organize the legal experts to help us with," Elisa continued with a shrug, "but it hopefully allow us to restore the recognition…"

"And if that does not work?" Desdemona asked, "They give you citizenship, but do not recognize you as one who already had it?"

"For me that isn't likely," Elisa sighed, "my transformation was caught on camera and turned over to the NYPD as evidence. It's how the Quarrymen got control of New York. Yale thought I'd secretly been a gargoyle using sorcery or something like that and got the warrants needed to arrest the clan or at least put it under investigation… then using the excuse that I'd somehow used magic to 'blind' the NYPD, she deputized the Quarrymen to deal with the gargoyle problem…"

"And using this video would not get you in trouble?" Desdemona wondered.

"Using it would prove that I was transformed," Elisa answered, "from there, it's up to what the courts would say in response… though in either case, it wouldn't be too bad. I'd get citizen status again, though probably a new social security number as though I were a completely different person…"

Desdemona glanced to the tan female.

"Which, technically I am since I'm now a gargoyle, but that normally wouldn't count before the law," Elisa said with a bit of a smirk.

"This all goes over my head, Elisa," Desdemona replied.

"Just wait until you're voting for politicians," Elisa joked, "then civics gets a lot more fun."

Desdemona didn't answer as they suddenly came up on the building that had been picked for the night's PIT meeting. Both she and Elisa were startled to find Judith and William Axel consoling Abigail Wexmand outside the building, and looking very much like they were waiting for a taxi. Both of them began to immediately descend toward the ground.

"Are you okay?" Elisa asked to them as she landed and caped her wings over her shoulders.

"Ms. Elisa!" William spoke with a start, "What are you doing here? We didn't call the cops…"

"We're on duty right now, Mr. Axel," Elisa answered.

"And we happened to notice that things were not all well with you," Desdemona added, "did something go wrong?"

"They're making a mistake!" Abigail Wexmand said weakly, "They'll screw things over for Candy!"

Elisa and Desdemona traded glances to each other as Judith Axel began to explain.

"We had a new guy show up at the meeting tonight," Judith spoke, "I've never seen him before and he struck me as a fairly average character, but he challenged the meeting's leader over our responses to the Order of the Phoenix and how we've worked to help the clan…"

"He was against the help you've given us?" Desdemona wondered, sounding a little nervous.

"No, more that we haven't done enough, that we haven't outright confronted Maccio's Order of the Phoenix," William Axel gave a frustrated sigh, "he essentially said that since we're the only pro-gargoyle group in the country at the moment, it should be our responsibility to remove such groups…"

"If it's done through persuasion, there is nothing wrong with that," Elisa answered, "legally, anyway… though I wouldn't say that Maccio's organization hasn't been much of a true threat to us since the debate you had with him. He's gained supporters here and there, but never enough to truly change peoples' minds."

"He isn't going to do that!" Abigail spoke nervously, "his voice sounded like he would go beyond that! He'll ruin everything for Candy! My only girl! I never got the chance to have a happy ending with a knight in shining armor, don't let this man take that from my daughter!"

Elisa gave a heavy sigh. She knew that Abigail Wexmand loved her daughter dearly, and had truly learned that after they had struck a bargain to allow her to see her daughter after the Quarrymen had left her to get blown up by a van they had tried to rob. But she had never seen the woman like this. She looked like she was on the very verge of panic and it wouldn't take much to push her over the edge.

"The man's words and his tone made it pretty clear that he wasn't going to just debate and put up posters," Judith spoke, "I don't know for certain if what he'll do is outright illegal, BUT it will be escalation and will surely make things rougher for you guys…"

"And that brought out the fear for her daughter's safety," Desdemona finished.

"Which is probably heightened by the fact that you're all with the police and spread out as part of the Gargoyles Task Force," Judith nodded, "Before, you'd all be together for the most part and could call it quits for a night if anything gets too rough. Now… while you can call for back up and get it, it won't be easy for you to truly get away… particularly if we go into a 'civil war' over you guys. I know I worry plenty about Amy… and I will admit I even worried about her before the mayor deputized the clan…"

"But this man sounds like he will escalate things," William said nervously, "which we don't want and will make things worse for us and you."

"Do you know which way they went?" Elisa asked.

"I think I saw them going south from here, towards an old neighborhood… I think one that has a couple of 'ma and pa' groceries that cater to those neighborhoods," William answered, "but we were doing so to help get Abigail some air."

"You'll protect Candy for me?" Abigail asked nervously.

"Legally, if they don't break a crime, we can't to anything, but we will look into this," Elisa promised, "under the 'we saw something suspicious' clause and are just checking out the scene… but you don't need to worry."

"Your daughter may have been born human, but she has become as fine a warrior as there has ever been in our clan," Desdemona spoke, also trying to cheer up Abigail, "We are proud to have her as a younger sister."

Abigail slowly nodded, remembering Hudson's stories and the communal nature that the clan had lived under in Scotland.

"Thank you," she said weakly.

Elisa and Desdemona quickly scaled the building and were soon gliding again. After they had a few short moments, Desdemona asked Elisa a different question.

"Do we tell dispatch about this?" Desdemona wondered, "Or at least tell Candy?"

"No, we don't want to cause a panic," Elisa answered, "and all we can justify this with is suspicion, which will limit what we do if and when we find them. We tell dispatch, and they will expect an exact reason why, and a friend's worries about what someone might do wouldn't amount to much in the way of probable cause, especially when even the Axels weren't one hundred percent sure about what the guy leading this group will do… and if we tell Candy, dispatch will hear, and Candy will want to go and make sure her mother is okay, which could get us in trouble."

Desdemona only sighed as the two glided on.

**Ahead of Them**

Ahead of Desdemona and Elisa the PIT members that 'John Doe' had lead out of the meeting advanced in a fairly loose formation along the street. It was not in any way an organized procession as many had to dodge other pedestrians as they walked. But to John Doe, it did serve the purpose he wanted. The men and women he'd lead out shouted a series of short slogans that emphasized that they'd had enough of the Order of the Phoenix and continued along a path that would lead to serious agitation between those that backed PIT and those that did not. Such tension could lead to rioting and a practical 'civil war' among New Yorkers over the gargoyle issue. Such unrest would then weaken the chances of the gargoyles making serious progress and creating the distraction that John Doe needed to have the time to make the money that he wanted.

"I'll still need to find someone corrupt enough to work to clone the dragon's DNA with some subliminal instincts to follow me…" John Doe thought to himself as members of his group began to go into a nearby grocery, "and it wouldn't hurt to begin building an organization… especially while the gargoyles and the police are too busy running to curtail racial unrest."

As the PIT members moved into the grocery, John Doe quietly slipped away. No one noticed him leaving at the time, and he quickly began to head the other way. The PIT members would be on their own, but that was his intention as it would protect him from any potential legal proceedings later. If caught, he could always say that he never intended for there to be an actual riot. After all, he wanted the chaos, but not the credit for it.

A block or two away, Victor and Maccio left a small local post office and began to move back toward Victor's apartment that would take them along the edge of Central Park. The two of them had put together a formal letter and mailed it to the major conservative candidates in the upcoming Presidential elections to be wary of doing anything that would give the gargoyles power. It was formal and actually toned down much of the conspiracy theory talk that the Order of the Phoenix used.

Maccio didn't like it, but got the sense that if he truly wrote what he felt to be the truth, he wouldn't gain anything. He knew the gargoyles had won unofficial recognition from the Mayor of New York when they were deputized, and that it seemed that the Federal politicians trusted the Mayor's judgment. If he came off as he had, they'd throw out his letter entirely. He had to say enough to get them to think critically about the gargoyles, but not enough to sound like he was mad. That would buy him time to try and persuade them to either revoke the Mayor's decision or put pressure on the Mayor to get the gargoyles at least exiled to their castle and not allowed to leave for any reason.

"You do know it won't go anywhere till tomorrow, mid-morning, anyway," Victor grumbled, "We didn't have to do this tonight."

"I want it to go as soon as we can get it to go," Maccio answered, "the sooner they read it, the sooner we might get something to go our way. If we wait until tomorrow, even if we go in when it opens, they won't get to sending it out until early afternoon. This way it will leave New York earlier and we can get an earlier response…"

"Yes, an earlier declaration of 'we don't deal with criminals'," Victor said with a sigh.

"We haven't done anything criminal," Maccio said firmly, "that perception is entirely from Canmore's actions with the Quarrymen. And I think we wrote a good letter that will avoid those perceptions."

"It is a good letter, and it will emphasize our differences from the Quarrymen, but so long as there is no suspicion on groups like PIT or the gargoyles themselves, our letter probably will not have much effect," Victor reminded him, "especially while the Mayor is trusted and even respected by BOTH parties."

"We have to do something," Maccio answered, "and this is the only way that's legal. Need I remind you about what would happen if the Republican candidate promises to declare them legal residents and free to 'enforce the law'? Or worse the Democrat promises them citizenship?"

Victor only sighed, "No."

And both knew the consequences. If the gargoyles won recognition from the Federal government, they could never be made to leave. They'd integrate with humanity, and Maccio was privately certain that that would create bigger trouble in enabling their plans for conquest to continue.

**Central Park**

Meanwhile Ko, Mu Tsu, Fang, and Xian were having a wonderful time. They had seen some of the sights of the city and marveled at all the electrical power that was needed to power the lights and billboards. It was amazing to them. With that done, they had settled into Central Part where they were skipping stones into a lake in the park with their guards standing quietly over them. So far they had had no trouble, and from where he was, Lexington felt glad that there was no trouble. With some things being quiet, the hatchlings deserved some time to see things other the stone walls of the castle.

"Come on Xian! You can do it!" Ko cheered to the other Tibetan female hatchling.

Skipping the stones had become a sort of contest, which so far it seemed that Mu Tsu and Fang were winning. Their stones went further and skipped more times than Xian or Ko's.

"I'm trying," Xian answered, "but Amy and Candy said the stones have to be smooth to do this. Not all these stones are smooth. The males are just lucky!"

"Our fortune is better than yours!" Fang teased.

"There will be no disrespecting of your rookery-mates," the Tibetan elder, Wu, said firmly.

"Yes, elder," Fang responded and watched while Xian took her turn.

"It does feel good to let them get out of the castle and get some exercise," Ethan commented, "they've been bundles of energy that are hard to counter while in the castle."

Lexington nodded in agreement. It was part of why he'd brought up the issue, but he'd also feel it'd be good for the hatchlings to have a little freedom. Ko's group earlier attempt to sneak out had come from boredom, and while their run in with Alex Sevarius had been frightening, it wouldn't be enough to deter future attempts to go out.

"I'm more pleased to see them have a little bit of freedom to some things they can't do at the castle," Lex commented.

Ethan and Sarah nodded. As they listened however, the sounds of shouts soon echoed toward them from the far end of the park. It wasn't close to them, and wasn't a threat to the hatchlings but it was loud.

"They're here, let 'em be!" came a chant, "The Phoenix should not be free! They're oppressors and they are against we!"

"What is that?" Wu turned and wondered.

"It sounds like a protest of some kind, but I don't know what, for sure," Lex answered, "they mentioned 'Phoenix.' They might be campaigning against the Order of the Phoenix."

"We're tired, you're tired! Tired of their villainy and lies! Join our campaign and our tide! Until the Order of the Phoenix dies!"

"Can we go see?" Mu Tsu wondered, as the chants had interrupted the hatchling's game.

"I'd think it'd be better to stay back here," Ethan said slowly, "they may not be after us, but they sound somewhat aggressive… and if they run into anyone from the Order of the Phoenix we'd get additional trouble."

"And things would spiral out of control from there," Lex agreed, "best to stay here. They won't give us any trouble."

"You're certain they won't be trouble?" Wu asked to the olive green male.

"They might be trouble, just not trouble for us," Lex said slowly.

Victor and Maccio felt somewhat uneasy as they made their way along the edge of the park back toward Victor's apartment. They had heard the chants too, but they didn't have much chance for taking a detour. The streets had some pedestrians, the roads were still busy, and the detours they had were lengthy to get back to the apartment. The two ultimately decided to continue on. Even if the people shouting were deluded into thinking the gargoyles were good, PIT had so far proven to be just as non-violent and non-criminal as the Order of the Phoenix was. To Maccio the difference between them was that peace for PIT was a cover for the gargoyle's plans and Maccio's was a determination to keep things legal. But, all the same, he had no reason to expect this group to be violent.

"It would appear they're trying to rhyme their chants," Victor commented with a chuckle.

"Like that makes 'em right," Maccio grumbled, "Just ignore them and we'll push on. They won't attack anyone until the gargoyles feel their plan is ready."

They continued along until they came across the crowd of PIT members that had followed 'John Doe' out of the meeting coming toward the two Order of Phoenix members. They barely noticed that their 'leader' had left them, but they still agreed with his message, and they were determined to make some statement.

"There he is! The one who's causing all of the trouble in the city!" came a shout from one of them, with an angry finger pointed at Maccio.

"Ignore them," Maccio said to Victor.

"Ralph, they've got a bunch of tomatoes and other produce," Victor said somewhat nervously.

"Ignore them, we cannot start anything," Maccio said again in a fairly insistent voice.

And that was when a tomato hit him in the face, splattering him with the juice within the fruit.

"We don't want you here!" came a shout.

"No one wants you here!" added another, "nothing but the latest Canmore!"

More tomatoes were thrown as Victor and Maccio soon found themselves surrounded by the mob of PIT members that John Doe had raised.

"If you weren't so duped by them, you'd realize that we're trying to save you!" Victor managed to argue back, "this notion that they're protectors is nothing but a ploy to get into power! Once there, they'll make us their slaves or kill us all!"

"Oh put a lid on it!" a woman said angrily, and shoved a tomato into Victor's face, "if they were planning such a thing they would have done it years ago! You're nothing but a bigot who thinks that it's okay to persecute something just because it isn't human!"

"It's for humanity's protection," Maccio answered, half nervously at being surrounded by so many people, people that were surprisingly aggressive toward him, "When two species clash, one always seeks to replace the other."

"We said shut it!" growled a male voice as Maccio was pushed from behind into Victor, "you're going to quit your persecutions if we have to make you!"

"Yeah!" came a shout in agreement, "we've lived in fear for far too long."

**One Block Away**

By now Elisa and Desdemona could hear the shouts and chants from where they were as they patrolled. They were still moving to check out this group that had upset the PIT meeting and pushed Abigail Wexmand to the point of a nervous breakdown. It was only basic suspicion, and if they found that if this group wasn't committing a crime they would have to let them continue with whatever protest they were launching. From what they could hear, it so far sounded like chants, and could mean that they were only walking along.

"That sounds like that might be the group that disrupted the PIT meeting," Desdemona commented as the shouts rose up to them, even over the sounds of traffic and other city noise.

"And at least making a nuisance," Elisa grumbled and then banked down, both to gain speed and to get closer to hear what was being said on the ground.

Even as Elisa and Desdemona began to level out, Elisa's communicator came to life on the radio frequency that the on duty gargoyles used and shared. It turned out to be Amy and Candy.

"Hey, Elisa, you mind providing a little backup?" came Amy's voice over the communicator.

"Is there a problem?" Elisa asked back.

"Not quite sure," Amy replied, "Dispatch has been getting a bunch of nuisance calls, and since the calls seemed to revolve around people shouting about us, they send us to go and put a stop to it."

"Were they against or for us?" Desdemona asked.

"Never got any clear answer on what they were protesting," Amy responded, "just that their shouting is disrupting their business. They're supposed to be headed for Central Park, last Candy and I heard."

"We're about a block away," Elisa answered, "and I think we've been tailing the same group that you've been called to…"

"Huh? What? Why?" came Candy's voice.

"Supposedly some guy interrupted tonight's PIT meeting," Elisa answered, "and got the PIT members there to take a more 'militant' stance with regard to our rights…"

"So these are PIT members causing trouble?" Amy gasped disbelief clear in her voice, "My parents have said that the organization was never and never would be militant!"

"They may be frustrated over the slowness of progress," Desdemona offered, "we didn't get much on what this unknown man did… other than that he upset and unnerved your mother, Candy…"

"Is she alright?!" Candy gasped immediately.

"Physically, yes," Elisa answered, "but emotionally, she's a nervous wreck right now… but there is nothing we can do at the moment. Desdemona and I are nearly there, we will back you up…"

"Okay," Candy and Amy responded over the radio.

"And Candy, remember… we're supposed to be professional," Elisa said firmly, "Don't let what this man has done cloud your judgment. And do not use any unnecessary force."

"Right, Elisa," Candy answered.

In the time it took to complete the conversation, Elisa and Desdemona and closed the gap and they were now close enough to see the group that was making their protests and making all the noise. The two gargoyles could also see Candy and Amy approaching from the other direction. Elisa felt fairly confident that the four of them could easily curtail and get the group to break up before anything more than the public nuisance they'd raised could be leveled on them.

Her confidence, however, was dashed when she saw them hone in on two men walking on the sidewalk. The two men were none other than Victor and Ralph Maccio, two of the leading figures of the Order of the Phoenix that had been the other nuisance in the clan's life at the moment.

"This won't be good," Elisa grumbled as she saw the first tomatoes being thrown at the two Order of the Phoenix members.

Amy and Candy couldn't quite see this yet, as they had several of Central Park's trees in their way, but they could see Elisa and Desdemona begin to dive rapidly on something going on at ground level. What did reach their ears were the shouts and roars of the crowd that 'John Doe' had raised. Neither the pink web-wing nor the yellow beaked female could make out what was said, but it didn't sound friendly, whatever it was. The two of them rapidly began to dive as well, and with luck, they'd arrive at the same time as Elisa and Desdemona.

"I can't believe PIT members are responsible for all that!" Amy said to her partner, still in complete disbelief.

Candy didn't answer. Her mind wandered to her mother and all the problems they'd had to overcome since her transformation. Nearly losing their relationship because of her mother's membership in the Quarrymen and rebuilding it after her mother realized she'd been on the wrong side. Then they suddenly began to grow apart because of Candy's strict nocturnal lifestyle, growing love with Lexington, and her mother's work schedule that didn't let them interact much. Things were getting better, but not by much, and now some fractioning of PIT was threatening to make things worse for them.

"You okay?" Amy asked her after a moment.

Candy glanced to Amy and sighed.

"Yeah, I'll be fine," Candy answered, "We'll put a stop to this protest and hopefully it doesn't do too much damage… and I'll be checking on my mom as soon as our shift is over."

Amy nodded in agreement, "Let's go!"

The attack became more and more brutal as a couple of the PIT members that had been incited to such action ran out of tomatoes and began to throw a few punches. Victor and Maccio managed a few minor shoves to try and give them some room to try and get away, but the crowd was too big, and they weren't fighters.

"You ain't wanted!" a shout was made at the both of them.

Eventually Maccio was shoved by one and tripped over the extended foot of another. He landed face first, and soon had Victor pushed on top of him. He'd never imagined that PIT would ever attack him so directly. They had always struck him as just the 'hippie' sort of person that groups like the gargoyles would like to take advantage of. Now, however, they looked as though they were going to finish him off once and for all. Maccio looked to Victor and then covered his head with his arms in expectation of the final blow, which never came… and due to something he even less exaptation of…

"Stop this madness!" Desdemona roared as she and Elisa came in for a landing.

"Back off, NOW!" Elisa added as she landed beside the golden female, staring down the PIT members on one side of Maccio and Victor.

Amy and Candy soon came in from the other side and landed between the crowd and the two Order of the Phoenix members.

"Gargoyles!" said someone in surprise.

And it was in fact four gargoyles that came to his rescue. One was a tan female that most knew of thanks to the video that the Quarrymen had played when they took over the city. One was a golden female with split wings. One was a pink web-wing and the last was a yellow beaked female.

"They're monsters!" a different PIT member protested as Victor and Maccio got up, "causing trouble and all that! He'll kill you all if given the chance!"

"The only one who's caused trouble tonight is you!" Amy growled, "Bunch of PIT members deciding to start a riot."

"Are you okay?" Candy asked to Maccio and Victor. She didn't want to defend them, but letting them get beat up wasn't right either.

"I've been assaulted by your partisans and beaten up in the street!" Maccio spoke, managing to regain some of his composure, though he was trying to figure out why they would be helping him, "Do you think I'm alright?"

"Do you need medical attention?" Candy rephrased her question.

"No," Victor answered.

"We need this entire lot arrested for assault!" Maccio said firmly, "I've never attacked anyone, and they just attack me!"

"You're wishing to press charges?" Elisa asked, though keeping her eyes on the crowd.

"Most definitely!" Maccio answered.

Elisa sighed and retrieved her communicator to speak with dispatch, "This is Elisa Maza, GTF to Dispatch, over…"

"Copy that, Maza, what is your situation?" was the response.

"We've got a fairly large body of PIT members here… they've assaulted Ralph Maccio and an associate of his," Elisa answered, "they appear to be fine, but they wish to press charges. We're going to need a couple of wagons and additional ground officers."

Gasps went the through the crowd of PIT members. Some of them even dropped to their knees.

"But we're trying to help you!" one protested.

"You've done us no help by doing this," Desdemona scolded, "Your own target will use your attack against us, you must know that."

"Backup is on the way," Dispatch replied, "you said PIT, right? Aren't they the guys that have tried to argue for gargoyle rights?"

"They are," Elisa answered, "I believe they were incited to this by someone that ISN'T part of PIT, but we haven't had time to figure out who that person is yet."

"How many are there?" Dispatch inquired.

"I would estimate between thirty and fifty," Elisa answered, "we haven't had time to do a head count."

"Are you in any danger?" Dispatch asked.

"No," Elisa answered, "The issue is the number of cuffs and space to transport them as with normal procedure. We won't even go through the formal arrest process until we get the backup that will be needed to keep control of the situation."

"Backup is on its way," Dispatch repeated what they'd said earlier.

Elisa watched as some of the people there paled at the mention of the arrest and a small handful near the far edge turned and ran.

"They're getting away!" Maccio roared, pointing.

"And if we leave to chase them down, what's to stop them from resuming their attack on you?" Amy turned and raised a browridge to him, "You're my LEAST favorite person, Mr. Maccio… but even YOU deserve the same rights and freedoms as any other American. Human or gargoyle."

"Spare us the propaganda," Victor answered, "this was probably planned by you to begin with!"

Amy glanced to Candy who only sighed. They overheard Elisa giving a brief description of the fleeing PIT members to dispatch with the report that they were fleeing the area, but that they couldn't pursue for the safety of the ones that the mob had attacked. They would have to wait quietly until their back up arrived to arrest the group.

**In the Park**

Lex as somewhat nervous the sounds of sirens grew closer to their overall location. The trouble had nothing to do with them, but the Tibetan elders would certainly use it as an excuse to reason why no hatchlings should leave the castle. Gargoyle hatchlings were just as curious as human children, and curiosity could get anyone into trouble.

"You certain this trouble doesn't concern us?" Wu asked cautiously, "you do seem to have enemies here. Enemies, I'm sure you'd prefer to keep away from your own hatchlings when you have them."

"I won't say that life isn't perfect, but due to the recent past, I doubt anyone would just call the police and say 'there's a gargoyle, arrest it'," Lexington said slowly, "and even if they did and they arrived, the officer would still have to follow the law that has deputized the clan and given us the right to live without being attacked."

"Not to mention that the noise, while close to us, appears to be from the edge of the park," Sarah added, "not within it. As Lex said earlier, the trouble is someone else's."

"And you would ignore your base instincts and not protect those in danger?" Wu questioned, almost sounding philosophical.

"We are protecting the hatchlings as well," Ethan said, "we cannot protect them and the general populace at the same time."

"That and we aren't on duty," Lex sighed, "if we did get involved, we'd need to be directly attacked for the police to accept it… and since no one is attacking us, we cannot do anything."

"Can we go see what it is?" Fang asked, "We can stay in the trees and observe from there."

That made Lex sigh again, as that was the curiosity issue that he wished to curtail. The hatchlings' innocent games had been stopped by the extensive series of shouts and now sirens coming from the edge of the park. He, Sarah, and Ethan had spent more time keeping Fang, Xian, Ko, and Mu Tsu from wandering off then in 'supervising' some game. The Tibetan hatchlings were presently standing on a park bench and leaning over the back of the bench toward the sounds of the sirens.

"No," Lex said quickly, "the trouble may not be ours, but there is no need to interfere in it."

"I'm sure the police and the clan that have it well in hand," Ethan added.

"Why don't we go down the path a little ways," Lex suggested, "I think someone set up a hop-scotch game with chalk that hasn't worn away… if you're really that curious, I'm sure you can ask one of the others that are on duty tonight about it."

"We'd best go," Ko commented, tugging on of Fang's wings, "those sirens don't sound fun anyway."

Fang looked over his shoulder and then sighed and followed the Ko and the others toward this hop-scotch course that Lex had seen. Ethan and Sarah went along side while Lex hung back slightly. He was waiting to hear Wu's decision that the experiment had failed. The Tibetan elder approached him deliberately and slowly.

"I would believe that we approaching the end of tonight's excursion," Wu said slowly, "and I must congratulate you."

Lex blinked at that.

"You've shown great responsibility and great wisdom," Wu answered, "A gargoyle must protect, yet he cannot protect everything. This is the key flaw we find in your leader. He will defend everything until it kills him…"

"Hey! Goliath is a great leader!" Lex protested, eyes glowing softly, "he's gotten us through more trouble you'd probably believe."

"You misunderstand me, we do not believe him to be a bad leader," Wu answered, "and his strength and bravery are admirable. But he takes little responsibility for his promises to us and his responsibilities for the protection of his race and family. Had he been here, he would willingly put the hatchlings at risk to try and save whoever was threatened elsewhere… and then who would protect the hatchlings?"

"It would still seem as though you consider him a bad leader," Lex answered.

"Not bad," Wu said slowly, sounding slightly irritated, "but overly passionate with regards to protecting his protectorate. Our clan's protectorate was never just our hatchlings. It was originally the people of Beijing… and then the monastery in Tibet and the monks who lived there…"

Wu then began to slowly lead Lex along.

"But, as strong as we are as a species, we knew that we weren't strong enough to defeat the forces that drove us from Beijing and the forces that drove us from the monastery," Wu continued, "it left us with the deep question as to what is more important… do we protect the protectorate to the bitter end and ensure that no gargoyle lives or protect the lives of our young and ensure that we have a future?"

"I think you're mistaken about Goliath," Lex countered, "He wouldn't leave your hatchlings unguarded. And he would not avoid making a hard decision when necessary."

"That is not what we have seen," Wu answered, "we have seen him spread your clan thin to try and protect this city and us… remember that while your clan has fought off armies, from what you've told us, they were all from the Ancient World with regard to the world's timeline…"

"Medieval Europe," Lex corrected.

"Still not advanced," Wu answered, "even of the time, both Scotland and the Vikings were backward when compared with China… but those armies are not like today's armies…"

"We've beaten the Pack and even Oberon, to an extent, aided in the defeat of the Mage and the Unseelie Court," Lex pointed out.

"Yes… a hyped up group of mercenaries that were small in number, and two members left the organization and became 'good guys' in Fox and Dingo, a lone Fey, a lone wizard when assisted by the Fey king and queen, and a group of rebel fey when massively reinforced by the local mutates, clones, two immortal soldiers, one immortal king, Demona, and the Seelie Court…" Wu summarized them, "you have not defeated a modern army on your own. The Pack might be able to defeat some small armies based on their weaponry and skills if they operate under a smart enough plan… but you've never described them as anything more than super-powered thugs… modern armies are well lead and well-armed, and while you might do some damage, you cannot win without a lot of help…"

"I doubt we're going to go war with the US any time soon," Lex commented.

"Maybe, and hopefully you do get to live in peace," Wu answered, "but your position is still precarious. If you were completely accepted, groups like the Order of the Phoenix would not exist. Their existence proves that you are not universally wanted and therefore, the success you've gained can easily be lost, and you may have to make that choice."

Lex didn't answer that. He knew things were tough at the moment as things like the Gargoyles Task Force with the NYPD were still new and being 'tested' on many levels. Any mistake could set them all back.

"And in this case you made the wise choice," Wu answered, "you kept the hatchlings safe and ensured that there will be a future for our race… a future that may very well live in a better world. You didn't rush off to rescue whoever might be in danger. You wisely followed your responsibility and had faith in either your local police service or those that are 'on duty,' as you put it. Such actions demonstrate that you are capable of making the difficult decisions needed… not just to protect our hatchlings but your own in the future."

Lex briefly daydreamed of Candy holding a small pink web-wing to her chest to feed the infant. Losing track on the conversation, as the Tibetan elders always seemed to be critical of anything that wasn't all about defending the Tibetan hatchlings.

"And for that, we will consider this experiment a success," Wu spoke, "and for that we congratulate you."

That surprised Lex even more, and all he could do was nod in surprise.

**Castle Wyvern, Near Dawn**

Abigail Wexmand quietly paced inside her room nervously worrying. The Axels had made sure she made it back to the Eyrie Building without incident, but the unknown man's interruption of the PIT meeting had unnerved her deeply. She had dedicated her life to protecting her daughter. Because of it, she had gone down some wrong paths, but because she'd had her daughter's best interests at heart, she had been forgiven for her mistakes. Once forgiven, Abigail continued to try and protect her daughter, even if her daughter was now protecting her in many ways.

At present, that would mean protection and tolerance of the gargoyles, which was still a tough goal to achieve, even with the mayor deputizing the clan. The Quarrymen had only been broken by their criminal activity, not by outpouring gargoyle support. PIT had won support because it had been non-violent and often ended up the victim of the Quarrymen's crimes. She remembered urging Castaway or one of his flunkies to leave PIT members alone when she was still a member of the Quarrymen, but that did no good… and those were the actions that got Castaway/Canmore removed. And now it appeared that PIT was at the same "bridge" that Castaway had been in the past.

And now some unknown man had succeeded in pushing PIT over the edge and into making the same mistake that had doomed the Quarrymen. She'd seen the news report on the riot that they had started and that made her position worse. The man they attacked was an enemy of the clan, but he hadn't done anything illegal and the attack on him would surely ruin any chance the clan had of having a happy future. And now she paced her room thinking of some way she could apologize to her daughter for failing to be good a good mother. She'd half completed when the door opened behind her.

"Mom… mom are you up?" came her daughter's voice.

"Candy?" Abigail turned to face her daughter as the pink web-wing came in.

"Yeah, it's me, mom," Candy said as she approached, "are you okay?"

"Physically, I'm fine," Abigail answered, "Mentally and emotionally, I'm shot…"

"Is this about the guy that busted up your PIT meeting tonight?" Candy asked.

Abigail blinked in surprise.

"You… you know?" she stammered after a moment.

"Elisa, Desdemona, Amy, and I were all called in to help put down the riot that they caused," Candy answered, "Elisa's presently telling Goliath about what happened. I came to make sure you were okay."

Abigail came forward and hugged her daughter, her hands resting on the outside of Candy's webbed wings.

"Things aren't going to be easy for you, Candy," Abigail said slowly, "that man's done enough to make sure that everything PIT has done to give you and the clan a good life and everything they've allowed me to make up for… it's all going go downhill. Everything will be destroyed…"

Candy gripped her mother in a firm hug, "we'll be fine, mother. The guy that inspired this may have gotten away, but we did the right thing, and Maccio's arguments are still the words of a loon that no one will easily believe. We'll be fine."

Abigail gripped her daughter tighter, and whispered, "I hope so, I…"

Her line was then cut short when she heard a very light cracking noise and looked down to see her daughter turning to stone for the day, still hugging her. She wanted to pull away, but soon found that to be physically impossible. Not because Candy was returning the hug she had given her daughter, but because the stone that was encasing Candy for her daily stone-sleep was also beginning to encase her as well!

Abigail managed only a slight squeak as the process of petrification finished, and the room fell silent as what looked like two statues occupied the center of the room. Both figures in a tight and loving embrace, though one that also showed a great deal of fear. One looked like a web-winged female gargoyle; the other was that of a middle aged human. No one noticed it as a slight shimmer of energy seemed ripple from the gargoyle to human as Candy and Abigail began to sleep through the day.

**Later That Morning**

A lone news reporter continued his report, which was now focusing on the response to the riot last night.

"PIT has already issued a statement to the police that the members arrested were not authorized to carry out such an act, and the Gargoyles Task Force did show an adherence to the 'human' concepts of law and order that the direct effect of this shouldn't be TOO bad," the reporter spoke, "but given that this has shown that PIT has attracted some of the shadier elements of human society to their banner, the support that they might have won seems to be slipping. Officials from both political campaigns have decided to hold off any direct talks with PIT or with regard to issues related to giving the gargoyles citizenship until the criminal element within PIT can be investigated further."

With that, Xanatos turned the television off. The black furred wolf-mutate glanced to Owen who stood beside him.

"This will set things back for the near future," Xanatos told him.

Owen nodded, "Though one could probably say that things were going too fast. We got very lucky with the mayor deputizing the gargoyles…"

"We've both seen the goals PIT has," Xanatos reminded his assistant, "full citizenship for the gargoyles, equal rights before the law, equal treatment as sentient beings, and ultimate acceptance."

"I agree, sir," Owen nodded, "but those plans were not intended to get this far this quickly… but with the right leadership and the right protection, I'm sure that this will not set gargoyle-human relations back far enough that the clan will truly be in danger."

"Hope so," Xanatos sighed, thinking of his son, "Because I will always owe them a great debt of honor for saving Alex. We have to make sure that progress keeps moving forward."

**To Be Continued…**


	56. Backlash

All characters appearing in Gargoyles and Gargoyles: The Goliath Chronicles are copyrighted to Buena Vista Television/The Walt Disney Company. I've taken the idea for the Unseelie Court from the TGS. Characters and concepts from Star Trek are property of Paramount and created by Gene Roddenberry. No Infringement of these copyrights is intended, and is not authorized by the copyright holder. All original characters are the property of SN.

Note: I'm disregarding the events of the "Goliath Chronicles", with the exception of "The Journey" because I do not wish to use the rest of the "Goliath Chronicles" as canon to my story. Also, I'm altering large sections of the Star Trek storyline, especially concerning events like WWIII and the Eugenics Wars, which without the Cold War as a backdrop probably wouldn't happen the way Roddenberry wrote them, if at all. This story takes place immediately after "Instigating Trouble".

This was the most recent post from the "Gargoyles" saga from the Gargoyles Fan Website, so this series will now fall into my standard rotation...

Backlash

By SN

Email: Sam_Nary

**Axel Apartment**

Mr. and Mrs. Axel, William and Judith, both found themselves pacing the apartment heavily as the sun had only just risen. The night before they had they had one of their standard PIT meetings, which were are intended put together a responsible and legal organization that could push for protection of the gargoyles in Manhattan. But the meeting had been hijacked by a strange man that had never joined their meetings before. William had done his best to try and pinpoint who the man was, but no one who had been at the meeting knew who the man was. Now, new members were a good thing, but what the man had done was completely opposite what PIT stood for or wanted.

"I can't believe this," William said in frustration, "we endured all sorts of hardships. We endured having several practically empty meetings in the beginning… we endured the physical attacks that Castaway's Quarrymen inflicted on us… and we endured all the hate filled propaganda that the Quarrymen and then the Order of the Phoenix threw out there to make people hate gargoyles… and now some odd man has likely overturned every good thing we've done for the clan."

Judith sighed and placed her coffee mug down and looked to the newspaper that William had been reading. The page he was on was focused on the news report on the incident that had gone on the previous night. The attack on Ralph Maccio, the leader of the Order of the Phoenix, and one of his associates was sure to bring some serious backlash against the clan, and definitely for PIT. That was proved in a written statement from Maccio that was in the paper.

"_I was walking quietly when I was attacked by a bunch of those gargoyle lovers_," Maccio was quoted as saying, "_I've dedicated my campaign to spreading the truth about those monsters and now their supporters attack me when it looks like they've finally deluded bigger 'fish' into thinking they're right. I would think this whole incident would prove me right in saying the gargoyles are a threat_."

He was clearly using what the unknown man that had wrecked the PIT meeting had done to his own advantage.

"At least the Mayor hasn't turned on the clan," Judith offered, trying to sound optimistic.

"The Mayor likely hasn't felt the full brunt of this," William sighed, "that won't come for a while, yet. The big issue is what will happen to PIT… or to Abigail… you saw her after that lunatic hijacked the meeting."

"I did, and I know full well what his actions did," Judith said weakly and then looked down into her coffee mug, "but there isn't much that we can really do directly against Maccio. PIT members DID attack him. Maccio can always use that as a banner to taunt us with."

She looked up to watch her husband breathe deeply and regain a good deal of his composure. He was about to answer, when his cellphone rang. Hesitantly, William lifted it from its holster, sitting on counter behind him.

"Hello," William spoke, "Yes, yes I saw it."

Judith looked on, assuming he was likely talking to the leader of PIT. It was a sign of the things they would have to do to try and keep PIT in existence as an organization.

"I'm afraid that we'll have to take fairly firm stances," William sighed, "Maccio has already made the claim that we are criminal in his statement to the press in response to what that lunatic did at our meeting. We can say he was a rogue and not a PIT member all we want, it won't change the fact that PIT members did follow him."

Judith watched as William took his free hand and rubbed his face with it. Clearly PIT's leadership was at a loss for what to do. It wasn't too much of a surprise as most of the organization's interactions with the law had been as the victim of attacks, usually made by over enthusiastic Quarrymen members. This time, however, they were the perpetrator of the attack.

"The only solution I can really think of is to expel all of the members that followed the man from PIT and ban them from returning," William sighed, "We can't deny what they did, but we can make it clear that we won't stand for what they did. It might be the only thing that can prevent Maccio from winning converts to his cause by playing the "PIT is criminal" card over and over."

Judith continued to watch as William nodded and finally said, "Okay then. Thank you." With that he hung up.

"So, we're going to cut our numbers?" Judith asked after a moment.

She watched as her husband only put the phone down and sighed heavily.

"Who would have thought that saving the gargoyles would mean that PIT would need to lose numbers rather than gain them," William sighed.

"I hope Abigail is okay," Judith then said off hand, "the guy seemed to freak her out more than any of the other others…"

William could only nod. The friend they were referring to was Abigail Wexmand, a dear friend of theirs, who like them had a child who been turned into a gargoyle. Her daughter, Candace, was the mate of Lexington just as the Axel's daughter, Amy, was the mate of Brooklyn. William knew that he had Judith would fight in almost any way to keep their daughter happy. Abigail had to do that even more and even longer for Candy.

"Hopefully what we've done will ease her fears," Judith told him, as an image of armed men surrounding Amy with guns, "and ours."

**23****rd**** Precinct**

Matt yawned rather loudly as he was lead into one of the precinct's main interrogation rooms. He had been as upset any of the clan with the reports of PIT members attacking Ralph Maccio and having to be stopped by the gargoyles they were claiming to be protecting. The clan had been friends with him since he found out about them, and had long since forgiven Elisa for initially hiding the clan from him. They were good friends, and Matt hoped to keep them that way. But the PIT members had all just been taken in, and Matt assumed that they wouldn't have collected enough information to be certain about their motives at the moment.

"So, what's up?" Matt asked in a low voice, trying to hide that he was fairly tired.

"We've gone through all the PIT members that the gargoyles took in last night, Detective," one of the precinct's sketch artists answered, "and according to them, your gargoyles missed one of their number."

"They and the local human officers caught all the ones that were involved in the direct attack on Maccio," Matt told him.

"Yes, Detective, I know," the sketch artist nodded, "but all of them stated that they were coerced into forming the mob that went after Maccio and his associate. A guy that was NOT among those that the GTF and the human NYPD officers caught."

Matt gave a heavy sigh, as that information reinforced about what Elisa and Desdemona reported to him that some strange man had all but destroyed the PIT meeting that was scheduled for the previous night. It gave them some idea on who to look for, but based off what the clan had gotten, the man was fairly average and would be difficult to identify. Based off of that, he figured finding that guy would be nearly impossible.

"We've already been told that someone busted up the PIT meeting last night," Matt groaned, "what is your point."

"Well, we had all of our sketch artists go over the description that the ones that joined him gained," the sketch artist reported, "and this is what they came up with."

He then handed Matt stack of papers. Matt took them over. It was a stack of profile sketches that were fairly repetitive. Matt noticed some differences here and there, but noticed that most of those differences were relatively small and largely the result of the different angles the PIT members saw of the man… or the result of differences in the memory of the man. The overall picture of the man was rather average with no feature that would easily stand out. Matt was about to comment on this when he watched the sketch artist turn and pull out another sheet of paper.

"This is what we got when we then drew a sketch that tried to combine the descriptions from all of the questions that were asked," the sketch artist reported as he handed it to Matt.

Matt took it and again looked at the sketch drawn on it. It wasn't too terribly different from all of the others that he had just flipped through. Again there wasn't too much that stood out about the image that they were presented. About the only thing they could truly tell about this man was that he was a Caucasian male who was about five foot ten inches and was between one hundred-ninety and two hundred-thirty pounds. However with all the features combined together, Matt felt he got some bit of déjà vu off of the image.

"I've… I've seen this sketch before," Matt said hesitantly.

"You've seen the man?" the sketch artist asked curiously.

"No, I've seen either a sketch or a photograph taken of this man," Matt answered, "but I can't quite place it…"

"Would you believe that the Gargoyles Task Force has arrested this man once before?" the sketch artist inquired.

That didn't entirely surprise him, as the gargoyles had arrested a couple of crooks more than once. It wouldn't be the first time someone reported that a guy was a repeat offender. But something in it did make him blink. Most of the guys that the clan had grabbed more than once had been stopped before the clan was given its badges. As such, crooks tended to see them as an inconvenience to be overcome, since 'vigilante' gargoyles was a good defense to get out without consequences.

"It wouldn't surprise me," Matt spoke after a moment.

"Good," the sketch artist answered and then handed a photograph to Matt, "because compare the drawing with this."

Matt looked at the photograph and his eyes then widened in surprise. It was a mug shot of a man that had started a riot shortly after the clan got their badges by sending a dummy gargoyle down on a zip-line to make it look as though the gargoyle decided to buzz them. Caroline and Angela had caught him and the NYPD knew him only as 'John Doe.'

"John Doe," Matt spoke, "If that even is his real name."

"I doubt it's his real name," the sketch artist answered, "You gonna sick the gargoyles on him?"

"If the rest of the NYPD doesn't get him during the day," Matt answered, suddenly feeling greater energy as he knew this guy had to be caught, "He's spooked two riots and seems to be focusing on the clan. We have to stop him before he makes things worse."

**Motel Room**

John Doe was meanwhile relaxing in his room while trying to judge the impact of what he had engineered the night before. He'd felt remarkably confident and felt that the city would soon devolve into chaos over PIT, a supposed pacifistic group attacking the organization that opposed it. The initial reports had led him to that conclusion. The talk of recognizing the gargoyles by the Federal government had ended with the drop of a hat, and he'd given Maccio enough ammunition to keep PIT uncoordinated. It would give him the time to find what he needed for the sample of dragon's blood that he had appropriated

However, as he turned on the morning news, hoping to get more details on the chaos he had caused, he found a fairly different report. The report was a local news that was displaying his mug shot from when he had been arrested for his riot causing dummy gargoyle.

"The man is known only as John Doe and is believed to be connected with the riot that occurred last night between members of PIT and Ralph Maccio's Order of the Phoenix," the reporter gave the announcement, "the connection is believed to be that he orchestrated the actions that transpired. At present he is wanted for inciting a riot, though the NYPD has not ruled out further investigation of the man."

That made John Doe sit up in earnest. He might have succeeded in throwing chaos in the path of the gargoyles, but it looked as though he had failed to fully distract the NYPD from looking for him.

"Anyone who has seen this man should contact the NYPD immediately," the news reporter continued.

John Doe quickly got out of bed and began getting dressed. He did a good job of looking plain and unassuming, essentially trying to look as though he was any other New Yorker. While no one noticed him, that enabled him to operate fairly easily in the open. However, the fact that the police had somehow gotten a description of him from the PIT members that had been arrested would now mean that people would know his face and know him as a criminal. People had seen him and it wouldn't be long before someone recognized and reported him.

As John Doe pulled up his pants, he felt some great frustration in his situation. His ultimate goal was to put together several ideas to spread chaos and then profit off of it. His chief plan for that was the dragon's blood, but he still needed time to find someone who could use it to create the clone that he wanted. And at present, he didn't have the time. He needed to find someplace where he wouldn't attract too much attention and would be allowed to carry out his 'work' without being handed over to the police.

He finished dressing, grabbed the vial of dragon's blood and sighed, "oh well… even Rome was not built in a day."

**Castle Wyvern**

The affairs of the castle and the clan that lived there was somewhat quiet, though this related to the fact that the clan was presently in its daily stone sleep. Of those that were still awake, the fact that John Doe had been identified by the NYPD was not the chief concern. The concern was still the matters of trying to protect the gargoyles that lived there. They had come a long way, and David Xanatos's money and influence, among other things, had protected them, but they had always been on the outside of society looking in. The recent consideration that the Manhattan Clan might be formally recognized by the Federal government, and even granted citizenship had been an opportunity for the clan to truly join with society, and it was one that was heavily hoped for by the clan's former humans. But, John Doe's trick had brought all of that to a halt thanks to the scrutiny now falling on the one organization that wasn't Xanatos Enterprises that had been backing the gargoyles… PIT.

"So, where do we stand right now, Owen?" Xanatos asked as the mutated billionaire walked with his assistant through the clan's wing of the castle.

"Roughly back at the beginning, sir," Owen answered, "The clan still has their badges, but PIT is likely going to collapse as a result of what was pulled last night…"

"And without it, Maccio has an open stage to broadcast from," Xanatos grumbled.

"And with no one to oppose him, eventually will gain the political support to get the gargoyles removed," Owen finished, "Unless you have some idea on how to trick the Order of the Phoenix into doing something equally stupid."

Xanatos only sighed. A good part of him was not above that, but with the clan out in the open, and it being public knowledge that he supported them, he doubted anything from his old bag of tricks would work. At least not well, anyway.

"It'd be nice, but I don't think anything that we could do would work," Xanatos told him, "we'll need to organize something…"

"We could take over the publishing of good press for the clan," Owen offered, "beyond that…"

"There's nothing we can do," Xanatos sighed.

The two then passed by the room that had been given to Candy's mother, Abigail Wexmand. As they passed, Xanatos noticed something out of the corner of his eye and stopped walking. Owen took a few steps before he too stopped and turned back to him employer.

"Sir?" Owen inquired.

"Owen, does anything look odd to you in there?" Xanatos responded.

Owen raised an eyebrow and moved to look into the room. Once he could see in, he almost gasped in surprise. In the room were two stone statues. One was obviously Candy, based on her webbed wings and her hair. The other, however was the shape of a human woman and based on the embrace that she was in with Candy, the woman could only be Abigail Wexmand.

"Do you know of anything like this happening before?" Xanatos asked, using a slightly different tone for the word 'you' to indicate that he was referring to Owen's fey form as "Puck."

"I've never seen it before," Owen answered, "but I have heard some stories…"

"And what do they entail?" Xanatos asked.

"With normal gargoyles… they've said that the human remained in stone sleep indefinitely because they weren't strong enough to break through the stone shell," Owen explained, "with Candy that could be different."

"Different?" Xanatos wondered.

"Remember that the clan's females, with the exception of Angela and Desdemona were all human, and powerful sorcery is what transformed them," Owen explained, "now, while the spell is not 'active' on Candy or any of the other transformed females the spell is still there…"

Xanatos blinked, not quite sure on what his majordomo's comment would be.

"What do you mean…?" Xanatos asked.

"The inactive spell, which is still on Candy, could journey across the stone skin that covers her," Owen said slowly, "Once it reaches Abigail, it could become active and she will transform while in stone sleep."

Xanatos gave a half whistle, "I suppose that'll give them more time together… though, it will certainly frighten Ms. Wexmand."

Owen nodded.

"If you can find one of the Guatemalans, perhaps we can get some info from them with regards to whether or not something like this has ever happened with them?"

"I will, sir," Owen answered.

With that, Owen left Xanatos looking into the room where Candy and Abigail were and went in search of the Guatemalan clan. He found them in the courtyard with Turquesa and Zafiro awake while Obsidiana and Jade stood in stone sleep to flank a small bench that stood in a garden area of the courtyard. It was Zafiro who noticed him approaching.

"Is there something you need, Mr. Burnett?" Zafiro asked.

"Mostly some references concerning something that has just come up," Owen spoke in his usual way to introduce what had happened and what he suspected would happen to Abigail Wexmand.

"We are aware of what this criminal has done," Turquesa spoke up, "I'm not sure there is anything we can do to alleviate the situation."

"Time will be the ultimate healer of that," Owen said confidently, "the issue that I must ask you about is related to it in a way, but not in the way you would think."

Both Zafiro and Turquesa traded glances and set down the tools they were using to come closer. Once Owen was certain he had their undivided attention, Owen began…

"Now, I know your clan's records are back in Guatemala, but I must ask if you clan had any stories about gargoyles taking humans into stone-sleep with them?" Owen asked carefully.

Zafiro traded looks of confusion between the two of them for a moment before the red snake-like gargoyle brought up the courage to as his question.

"Why the interest in my clan's stories?" Zafiro questioned, "You'd showed no interest in them before."

"Because Candy pulled her mother into stone-sleep with her when the sun rose this morning," Owen answered a calm tone, though one that also carried a hint of annoyance. His face, however, remained as straight as ever to the Guatemalans' eyes.

This is what finally elicited a gasp of surprise from both Zafiro and Turquesa. Owen took this as a sign that the Guatemalan clan did have such tales, as their surprise would not have been so pronounced if they did not.

"There were some stories of such events in the long ago past," Turquesa said slowly, "they all passed through word of mouth from generation to generation… so some might be embellished a little…"

Owen nodded.

"Supposedly members from our clan in times long passed, members of our clan had fallen for some of the Maya that we looked after," Turquesa explained, "Some of them joined our clan and were accidentally pulled into stone-sleep with them."

"According to the stories, they were to remain as statues bringing the gargoyle that loved them to tears," Zafiro answered.

"I can imagine," Owen replied.

"The gargoyles that lost their loves in the stories would later commit suicide with statue of their lover in their grief," Turquesa finished the story, "and according to the clan legend, it was these stories that inspired the Mayan shaman to create the pendants we wear to prevent us from turning to stone."

That actually gave Owen some idea on how to revive at least Abigail. Candy was already a gargoyle and would be able to wake up from stone-sleep on her own when the sun set.

"Would these pendants help anyone encased in stone-sleep?" Owen asked.

"They would help a gargoyle," Zafiro answered, "though thanks to the damage done to the Sun Amulet, our pendants only keep us awake if we remain conscious and alert. Meaning if we lay down and sleep, we will turn to stone… or if we are in a peaceful meditative type of trance, we will turn to stone… the damage has weakened the pendant's powers. I doubt you would be able to wake Candy up with it."

"The hope would be to wake up Abigail," Owen answered.

"That would only work if she were a gargoyle," Turquesa pointed out, "She is human."

Owen gave a frustrated sigh, "Remember that Candy is Abigail's biological daughter. She was transformed through sorcery. While the spell is no longer active on her… the residual element of the magic used on Candace Wexmand is still there."

There was then a brief flash of green light and Owen was replaced by fey trickster, Puck. Puck gave a short bow and then put on as serious a face as he could muster. He found both Zafiro and Turquesa looking surprised at what he had last said as Owen.

"You believe she is becoming a gargoyle?" Zafiro finally asked after he regained enough of his composure.

"She may already be a gargoyle and we simply cannot see it because she went into stone-sleep as a human," Puck answered.

Zafiro and Turquesa traded some half nervous glances. They knew Abigail Wexmand and managed some conversation with her from time to time. She had certainly recovered from quite a lot, considering her past with the Quarrymen, and both Guatemalan gargoyles wondered how she would react to becoming a gargoyle. She had become just as staunch a defender of the clan as the Xanatoses, PIT, and the clan's other human friends. That was a good thing, as it would mean she would argue against the Quarryman's replacement, the Order of the Phoenix, but it would also potentially mean that anything that hurt the organizations helping the clan or threatened her daughter would affect Abigail negatively.

Obsidiana had even glimpsed Abigail when she had returned to the castle following the PIT meeting. At the time, Obsidiana had only been using the bathroom and was preparing to return to the rest of her clan, and had figured that some plan had gone awry, but that things weren't serious. It was only when they saw the early news that they learned how bad the PIT meeting had gone and Obsidiana mentioned what she had seen to the others. Remembering this report, Zafiro got the sense that Abigail wouldn't respond well to suddenly becoming a gargoyle… her mind would be to focused on either protecting her daughter, or dwelling over how she had failed to do so. But then, if that had happened, there would be no escaping it, and Zafiro figured better to be a gargoyle than to be a statue for all eternity.

"What of the damaged Sun Amulet?" Zafiro asked, "even if she is turning into a gargoyle thanks to the spell put on Candy, her mind is presently asleep, and won't awaken until sunset."

Puck gave a fairly confident smile, "I believe I can fix the Sun Amulet if you would take me to it."

Zafiro glanced to Turquesa and then nodded, "I can."

Puck then floated up Turquesa, who backed away slightly. The Guatemalans, much like Goliath's clan, had come to tolerate Puck and his fun and games, particularly when instructing Alex, but they were not that easy with a lot of the mischief that went along with it.

"In the meantime, Miss Turquesa, I'll need you to collect the pendants from Obsidiana and Jade," Puck instructed, "If we are to wake up Candy and Abigail, we'll need them."

"Of course," Turquesa said slowly and let Puck move off to follow Zafiro.

**Elsewhere in Manhattan**

John Doe, meanwhile, quietly made his way through the streets of Manhattan. For the immediate moment, his mission was to get to someplace where he could figure out a plan of what to do. Being identified by the people from the PIT meeting that had seen him would mean that if he continued as he was, he would be caught and arrested. Not wanting to be arrested before he profit off of any of the chaos he had brought around so far, he did his best to figure out some basic plan. For the moment, that basic plan was to find some place that he could easily hide in and get some updates.

Doing that wasn't too terribly hard, as he found that while New York was alerted to his presence and actions, they were not so paranoid that they were searching for him directly. It meant that so long as he didn't draw too much attention to himself he might be able to find a hotel or shelter that wouldn't be paying that much attention to who came in or out. The peace would then allow him the time to think over the long term plans.

Part of him wanted to simply give up the pursuits he had intended. The clan had already proved to be worthy adversaries and if he continued in Manhattan, they might ultimately find a way to outsmart him and he'd be in serious trouble. However, he had not gotten into the real heart of his plans to profit off of chaos brought on the city. He had the dragon's blood and had yet been able to use it. With the world's top companies headquartered in New York it was one of a few select places that could enable him to take advantage of what he had done so far. Leaving would abandon all of that. John Doe was still mentally debating the issue.

As he walked, he made absolutely certain he wasn't bumping into anyone and wasn't drawing unnecessary attention to himself as he moved about. He wore a long jacket with its collar pulled up so that he could hide part of his face and played the part of a tourist. He periodically turned his head to look into windows as he passed them and looked up as if to marvel at the skyscrapers that made up New York City. He hoped this would give most people the impression that he was not a man who had incited a riot the night before and was looking for an escape of some sort.

However, his hopes of not attracting attention did not go unnoticed. As he walked, he failed to notice a lone black car following him slowly. Its driver paid very close attention while periodically glancing to a photo of who his target was and matched the image by his reflection in the glass windows of the buildings that John Doe walked by.

"It's definitely him, boss," the driver spoke into a cellphone that was strapped to his head as part of a 'hands-free' device, "shall we grab him."

"Yes," came the answer, "if this guy can get the feds to back off of recognizing the gargoyles, I want to see what else he can do…"

"It will be done," the driver spoke and then looked to the review mirror and nodded to the two men seated behind him.

The driver then accelerated his car. The revving of the engine sparked the attention of many, including John Doe, who turned to see the black car screech to a halt beside him. Before he could move, the back doors opened and two men rushed out. Fearing that this was some sort of FBI sting, John Doe moved to flee, only to be caught and clubbed by what felt like a policeman's baton.

"Hurry up!" the driver urged from the car as the two men lifted up John Doe from the ground.

Then men then tossed John Doe into the car and climbed in. Once they were in, the driver sped off, cutting off one car as he did so. Several people stood in surprise and could not move, and a small handful managed to call for the police, though they didn't have anything to identify who the attackers were or who the kidnapped man was.

**City Hall**

New York's mayor paced in a frustrated manner as he tried to talk with representatives of both the Democratic and Republican Party candidates running for President. The video teleconference made it clear that to him that there was frustration on their part as well.

"We're sorry, but these reports of a riot caused by those that are supposed to be backing the gargoyles…" the man representing the Republicans answered, "we cannot be seen associating with criminals."

"The gargoyles themselves aren't criminals," the mayor answered, "and the reports both I and my Police Commissioner have received would indicate that they've done a remarkably good job. In fact it was the Gargoyles Task Force that broke up the riot."

"We aren't questioning the actions of the gargoyles themselves," the man who represented the Democrats explained, "It's who is backing them."

"I would think they deserve the recognition for everything they've done," the mayor said firmly.

"Man… you've really come to like these things haven't you?" the Republican representative practically teased, "we haven't said anything about going after the gargoyles. We just want to make sure that we aren't doing anything that would give some group with bad ideas power…"

The mayor was about to retort with the Democratic representative cut him off.

"Need either of us remind you that you gave nearly full control of the city of New York to the Quarrymen, a group that is now considered criminal and the polar opposite of what you're now wanting us to do…?"

"I'll admit that that wasn't my administration's finest hour," the mayor sighed, "but that shouldn't be used as an excuse to do nothing now. The riot was not caused by the gargoyles."

"Clean up the mess going on between PIT and the Order of the Phoenix and we'll consider it," the Republican representative answered.

**Castle Wyvern**

Zafiro lead Puck quietly to different portion of the clan's wing of the castle. It was near where Elisa had had her room, which was now just a spare bedroom, and normally served as a sort of janitor's closet where the clan kept all the necessary utilities to keep their part of the castle clean. But, thanks to Xanatos's reworking of the castle's interior design when he purchased and rebuilt the castle, the room was also large enough to be a sort of storage area. Zafiro carefully moved past what had been set aside for cleaning and opened a large chest that the clan had procured during their stay in the castle.

"You're certain you could repair this?" Zafiro asked as he turned to present the damaged Sun Amulet to Puck.

Puck carefully looked to the damaged artifact. It was human magic, and he couldn't alter the spell it was supposed to perform, but the cracks and damage too it seemed fairly superficial. He was fairly certain that he could remove the damage done to it, though given that it was human magic, he would be exhausted as a result.

"I believe I can, though not much more than that," Puck said carefully, and held out his hand.

"We will not require any more than that," came Turquesa's voice as she came up behind them, "All we require is the full protection that the amulet provides for our pendants."

Puck turned to see the turquoise colored female approaching with Obsidiana's and Jade's pendants in her hands. He actually looked a little surprised at this.

"You didn't think it would take me THAT long, did you?" Turquesa questioned.

"Heh… my apologies," Puck replied, "First we'll deal with the amulet."

Puck then began a low chant…

_"Amulet of sun's light,_

_ You are damaged from a bad fight,_

_ Repair now,_

_ So that the wearer is not in a stoned bow."_

Zafiro and Turquesa only watched as the Sun Amulet then began to float out of Puck's hands and into the air. Green light, not coming from the amulet itself began to wrap around it, and slowly the cracks in the material vanished, leaving the surface smooth. One of the gems that had been missing somehow returned. After a few moments, there was a great flash of light that knocked all of them back, though Zafiro and Turquesa were forced back only a short distance. Puck, meanwhile as practically knocked to the floor. When the light faded, Zafiro looked out to see that the Sun Amulet was completely repaired and it floated down to his talons.

"You did it," Zafiro said slowly.

"Yes," came Owen's voice, "Yes, I did."

The two Guatemalans looked to see Owen Burnet slowly picking himself up from the floor. He showed no signs of strain or injury, yet something in the way he spoke gave the indication that he was fighting exhaustion.

"Are you alright?" Turquesa asked.

"I will be fine," Owen answered, "Repairing your amulet took a lot out of me and I need time to regain my strength… hence my reversion to Owen to let Puck regain his strength."

Zafiro and Turquesa nodded, not really knowing much about how fey magic worked and deciding to take Puck at his word.

"In the meantime, we must get the pendants that Jade and Obsidiana normally wear to Candy and Abigail," Owen said firmly.

**Dreamscape…**

Abigail found herself in a different portion of the castle and leaving her in some state of confusion. The last she remembered she had been trying to apologize to her daughter for failing to protect her from the machinations of some unknown man. What John Doe had done was to make it difficult for the clan and PIT to avoid negative issues related to human/gargoyle sentiments. Her entire mission in life had been to protect her daughter, especially since the man she had married had turned out to be a jerk. Thanks to the unknown man, John Doe, at the PIT meeting, Abigail felt she had failed her daughter. That was what she had her mind focused on.

However, what she saw in this strange dream was odd to her and was enough to raise confusion. The castle seemed to glow with an eerie green glow that seemed to strike her as magic. On top of it, she was surrounded by her daughter. It wasn't as though her daughter grew and changed to encompass her, there were simply several versions of her daughter moving around her. None of these versions were the same. Some were human, most were gargoyles, a few looked like they were children… or gargoyle hatchlings, and at least one looked like she was pregnant.

"Candy?" Abigail said slowly.

"Yeah, mom?" came the answer from every Candy in the room.

"What… what is this…?" Abigail managed to ask.

"We're sleeping right now, mom, or at least I am," Candy spoke, "the sun came up and I went into stone-sleep…"

"Yes, I remember," Abigail nodded and looked down to see what looked like a one year old gargoyle hatchling version of Candy suckling on her tail while seated at her mother's feet, "we were talking… I was trying to apologize for failing you…"

"You haven't failed me, mom," Candy cut her off, "even with everything that's happened in our lives… your time with the Quarrymen, my transformation, the Unseelie War… everything… you haven't failed me."

"But that attacker… the meeting… the Order of the Phoenix could take everything from you," Abigail said nervously, almost pleading with her daughter.

"Even if he manages to convince the city to take away our badges," Candy answered, taking Abigail's hand, "We'll carry on… and I doubt Maccio will be able to win. He's still too much of a loon to win."

Abigail then felt her daughter hug her again.

"We'll be fine," Candy assured her.

"Are all your dreams like this?" Abigail asked after a moment as she looked around.

"Not really," Candy answered, "the day usually goes quickly for me. I think some of this is because I pulled you into stone-sleep with me."

Abigail gave a rather sheepish shrug and tried to hide the embarrassment that was obvious on her face. Candy couldn't control the rising of the sun or its setting. If anything, Abigail reasoned to herself, she let herself be pulled into stone-sleep with her daughter.

"And all these versions of you?" Abigail wondered.

"Some are how I see myself, some are memories," Candy explained and then looked toward one of the pregnant versions of herself, "some are how I hope to be."

"I see, I…" Abigail began, when the room in castle suddenly began to crack all around them, "what's going on?"

"It must be dusk," Candy spoke, "I'm waking up…"

**Castle Wyvern, Abigail Wexmand's Room**

It was not dusk, however. Xanatos continued to keep watch over the two statues, though there was no direct threat to either statue. The black furred wolf mutate was quick to notice the repaired Sun Amulet in Zafiro's ands.

"Will this work, Owen?" Xanatos asked, half curious and half nervous.

While his relations with the clan had gotten much better since their helping him protect Alex after he was born, Xanatos tried to limit his interference in the clan's affairs to when it benefited the paying of his debt to Goliath. However, Xanatos did prefer to keep any and all situations in a position where he had control, and the present one he could not be certain of. It was possible that the spell on Candy would affect her mother while they were essentially one statue, but it might not. If Abigail didn't awaken as a gargoyle, Xanatos wondered how he would then try to console the depressed Candy and figure out what to do with regard to yet another consequence of the backlash being thrown from the previous night's riot.

"With the Sun Amulet repaired, sir, Candy will awaken," Owen answered, "and if my theory is correct, Abigail should awaken."

"What if the spell on Candy, however inactive, doesn't affect her mother?" Xanatos questioned.

"Then the Sun Amulet might awaken her," Owen answered, "I cannot be sure. Situations like this according to old lore are very rare."

Xanatos only sighed and nodded. He noticed that Owen looked a little tired from likely repairing the Sun Amulet, but said nothing. Owen quietly and stoically moved forward and started by placing one of the Guatemalan clan's pendants around Candy's neck. Doing so would separate mother and daughter, and allow them to move on to their next step. As Candy's form began to crack and snap as she awakened from stone-sleep, Owen turned and placed the next pendant on Abigail's statue.

Owen just managed get back in time as Candy erupted from within her stone-shell sending fragments everywhere and thrashing her pink tail behind her. At first the blond haired pink webwing wanted to back up but found that she was still in the stone embrace of her mother. Xanatos noted an almost look of depression move onto the female gargoyle's face.

"Mom…" Candy said nervously, ignoring those that were in the room with her, and reached toward her mother's stone cheek.

Just as her talon reached her mother's cheek, however, Candy's move was stopped when she heard audible cracks and snaps suddenly erupt from the statue in front of her. She then saw a spider-web of cracks begin to spread across her mother's face and form. They rapidly began to grow larger.

"Is that what happens to me when I awaken from stone-sleep?" Candy wondered to herself, having gotten so used to the process of turning to stone and then waking up again that it had become second nature to her. However, her curiosity was soon replaced with surprise as she saw something in between the cracks in the stone. "Is that… PINK skin?"

And it was indeed the color pink, the exact same shade as her own skin. It was only then that she noticed Owen and Xanatos being there as well.

"What's going on?" Candy demanded, "What's happening to my mother?"

"I believe she is waking up," Xanatos answered weakly.

"Mostly the result of the remnant energy from the spell Demona used to transform you, Amy, and Caroline," Owen added.

Candy only gasped as two large horns burst through the stone right above where her mother's eyes were, and arched up slightly. The horns were the same shade of pink that Candy was. Then there was a shower of stone shards beneath and behind her mother. Candy nervously looked around her mother to see a long pink serpentine tail thrashing back and forth and throwing flakes of stone off of it. Candy only gave a guilty sounding sigh in response to all of this.

"Oh… mother… what have I DONE to you?!" Candy silently lamented to herself.

At this time, Abigail strangely felt her mind regain consciousness. It wasn't like she was dead before, but as if she was in a very deep sleep. As she seemed to wake up, she felt very cramped. She felt a slight draft below and behind her, but sides felt the most confined, as it felt like part of her was wrapped around her and folded over to fit closely to her body. Every urge she had at the moment was stretch herself and break free. She immediately tried to flex her arms and legs.

Candy nervously watched as her mother's arms began to move slightly, the cracks growing larger. The stone around her mother's hands fell away, revealing four taloned, counting her thumb, hands. Then, finally, Abigail threw herself up to her full height and threw her arms back and screamed in relief and joy at her freedom.

"RRRRRRROOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRR!" Abigail roared, her eyes blazing red.

"Yikes," Candy gasped and was forced to hide behind one of her own webbed wings as she felt her mother's stoneskin bounce off of it.

When Candy lowered her arm, she looked on to see that her mother had broken free from the stone form that had wrapped her when Candy turned to stone, but she had emerged as a pink web-winged gargoyle. The only thing that was really different between the two was the fact that Candy had several small horns along her browridge, while her mother's looked almost like she had a juice box above her eyes with only two large horns growing up and out like little scimitars. However, becoming a gargoyle wasn't her mother's only problem.

"Mother…" Candy said slowly, trying to look down, and noticing that Xanatos and Owen were looking away, and Zafiro had actually left the area where he could look into the room.

"Candy?" Abigail said slowly looking to her daughter, "Candy… I feel… different."

"You've become a gargoyle…" Candy stated slowly, surprise written all through her voice.

"Huh?" Abigail answered, sounding more confused as her own mind was puzzled over a great many things, including why she had roared when she stone came off of her. Her mind remembered being human before Candy's stone wrapped around her.

She then looked down and practically shrieked. Abigail could clearly see the results of her change while wrapped in Candy's stone skin. She could see her hands with their four fingers tipped with sharp talons. She could see the web wings going down her sides, the lining of the wings a lighter shade of pink than the rest of her. But that wasn't what made her shriek.

What made her shriek was the fact that she had shredded her clothing when she awakened. Sitting on her chest were two pink breasts, which looked bigger than she remembered. All her body hair was gone, and her muscles looked much more defined. If she wasn't so horrified by her nudity, Abigail might have been amused by the muscle tone she had gained.

"EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEK!" Abigail shrieked and wrapped herself in her wings.

Candy then rushed forward to help try and cover her mother's nudity with her own wings. She then nervously addressed her.

"I know you're… you're in 'shock,' mom," Candy spoke, "and we'll get to the bottom of this… but I think for the moment, you're going to need to go through the surgery to allow you wear at least a normal tunic… or get you a leotard that has no sides."

Abigail in all her embarrassment looked over to her daughter, half noticing that she had shrunk a little, allowing her to stand on equal footing with her daughter again.

**Unknown Location**

John Doe awoke to find himself in a rather dark room. His assailants had put a blindfold on him, but he could look out under the bottom of it. It gave him a look at his thigh and the floor below him and not much else, but it was enough to let him know that the room was dark. He knew he had been grabbed by someone, and on some level he was somewhat afraid, as the police would not have him blindfolded. Someone had recognized him, and whoever they were, they were not necessarily legal. John Doe had his questions, but held his tongue. He didn't want to come off of as too demanding in case this was some vigilante group. His mental musings over his situation however ended when a feminine voice addressed him.

"So, Mr. Doe, I trust my associates were not too rough with you," the voice addressed him, "If so, I heavily apologize to you for their transgressions."

"You know me?" John Doe asked nervously, trying to play the role of a hostage who knew nothing.

"Just about everyone knows of you, Mr. Doe," the woman answered, "Inciting riots, this time between PIT and the Order of the Phoenix."

"I don't know what you're talking about," John Doe answered after a moment.

"Please, Mr. Doe, you need not worry, and you need not play so dumb," the woman chided, "you were on the news and identified as the starter of last night's riot… or at least the one who instigated it. And the backlash from that is giving Mr. Maccio a field day with the press to get his little group going."

John Doe sat by nervously, as he didn't really know what to say. He still didn't know who this woman was or why he was blindfolded.

"And you've captured me because I've endangered PIT and the gargoyles?" John Doe asked, deciding to be direct, as there was no way he control the situation. He hated it, but he had no control.

"No, far from it," the woman replied, "in fact, offing the Gargoyles Task Force would be beneficial to MY business."

This actually intrigued John Doe.

"Who are you?" John Doe asked, "And what do you do that the gargoyles threaten? They've always stated themselves to be protectors."

He only heard a chuckle.

"Heh, heh, forgive me for not introducing myself," the woman answered, "I am Tora Mikazu. And let us say that I am a businesswoman."

The tone she used was one that John Doe recognized as the voice of a member of organized crime.

"You're Yakuza…" John Doe said slowly.

"Sort of… I am Japanese by ethnicity, but my family's lived in America since the late 1800s," Tora replied, "but let us just say that I've found 'business' to be better on this side of the law… and you, John Doe, are an opportunity."

"So what's with the blindfold?" John Doe asked.

"Just precaution," Tora replied, "to make sure that if I let you go, you don't return and get me. I've only just gotten started here in New York with the destruction that Brode and Dracon brought on themselves by fighting each other and treating these gargoyles like they would some other rival mobster."

John Doe remembered seeing some of the news reports on the gang war between Anthony aka Tony Dracon and Thomas Brode. Supposedly it included direct hits on the gargoyles themselves. It was nasty and left the city open for many other organized crime syndicates to enter the area. John Doe figured this could play to his own plans for chaos, and might even enable him to take over Tora's organization, Yakuza or not.

"Then you have nothing to worry about," John Doe promised, "I have no wish to bring you into trouble."

"Very well," Tora answered.

John Doe then heard a snapping of fingers. He then felt the blindfold being removed. He then looked out to see a fit Japanese-American woman, likely in her early thirties, sitting across from him with her face obscured by the low light conditions.

"So," John Doe commented as he looked back to see the man that had driven the car that he had been grabbed into. The man did not look like he was even of Oriental descent, but he decided not to touch on it. Tora Mikazu might not be Yakuza, but she was still an organized crime leader, "what specific business have you been doing that the gargoyles threaten?"

"Anything I can," Tora replied, "and how do you plan to get rid of them?"

John Doe only smiled, "Chaos and inspire the people to have their own private civil war as a result."

"And the blood sample you had on you?" Tora questioned.

"Dragon's blood," John Doe answered, "for further chaos when I can get a clone created."

Tora only smiled in response.

**Castle Wyvern**

"Candy pulled her into stonesleep and that turned her into a gargoyle?" Fox asked, sounding half suspicious and half disbelieving.

"According to Owen because of the spell Demona used to turn Candy into a gargoyle," Xanatos answered, "It's no longer active, but the 'residue' of the spell is still on her. So, when Candy turned to stone, Candy's stone wrapped around her mother like it would her clothing and Abigail absorbed that residual magical energy."

"So…" Fox mused, "That's then why you gave me the rushed request to get this made?"

Xanatos looked over to see Fox holding up a white cotton tunic, which resembled the one that Candy wore, and like Candy's included built in underwear. There was also a belt to help hold it to Abigail's body, though Abigail's belt buckle was not as ornate as Candy's was. He then only nodded.

"This is all very strange," Fox replied.

"I would have thought the lessons your mother had been giving you would have covered the issue," Xanatos countered, "After all… magic is as magic does…"

"We didn't get that far," Fox answered, "and my pregnancy has advanced enough that my magic is now protecting our child more than enabling me to practice… If I try to practice the spells that mother has taught me, I'd risk harming the mutate pup within me."

"I see," Xanatos shrugged, "anyway, our mission right now, however, is to help Candy and Abigail for the moment."

Fox nodded. She had seen the news reports on the riot that had started the night before between PIT and Maccio and his associate. It was already beginning to reverberate in a way that would negatively affect the clan and their future in society. She was privately certain that Abigail's transformation would also create negative backlash on the clan. That, however, would be in the future, and for the moment would have to wait for the surgery to allow Abigail to wear clothing to be completed.

Ultimately wrapped in a blanket, Abigail had made her way to what amounted to the medical wing of the castle that had been set aside for Dr. Weinsheimer. The doctor had been called to come in, agreed to do the surgery. The fact that he was also treating Fox for her pregnancy gave Abigail some relief as well. That left Xanatos and Fox to getting things ready for when Dr. Weinsheimer finished the surgery. As Fox and Xanatos thought over this, the door opened and Dr. Weinsheimer stepped out.

"Well, it's done," Dr. Weinsheimer replied, "She'll be ready for some clothes, though I've advised against gliding or at least trying to for a while."

Xanatos nodded and turned to Fox, "Your turn, dear."

Inside the room, Abigail sat nervously on the table. Unlike Candy, who had taken a general anesthetic for her surgery, Abigail had accepted only a local anesthetic, since it was for all intents and purposes a piercing. The incision had been done with a laser, and had left behind no blood, but between the anesthetic and the surgery, Abigail still felt rather sore.

"Ohhh…" Abigail gave a half pained moan, "I'm going to feel that for a while."

"Actually, if you take the pendant off and go into stonesleep, you won't feel anything when you awaken again at dusk," Candy said off hand, "One of the perks of being a gargoyle… minor injuries and even some diseases are cured by stonesleep."

Abigail looked over to her daughter who looked half guilty. She assumed it was the fact that Candy was no longer the only gargoyle in their family.

"You need not feel guilty, dear," Abigail told her.

"I should have warned you that dawn was coming," Candy answered weakly.

"Maybe… but what that man did at the PIT meeting had me so frustrated and frightened for you and the clan, that I might have kept you close to me… even if you HAD told me."

Candy didn't answer immediately.

"And besides, I'll probably need your help to get used to being like this," Abigail said in a soft voice that didn't hide her own frustrations but did also show her experience as a loving parent, "you can help with that?"

"Yes," Candy nodded weakly, "thank you for not blaming me."

"Candy, everything I've ever done has been for you," Abigail told her, "even some of the mistakes I've made in my life have been made in your best interest. I could NEVER blame you for anything."

Candy gave a half smile, feeling grateful that there were no hard feelings, but was still a little unsure as to how she would help her mother. Elisa and Angela had been upfront with her and her friends when they joined the clan, but with a host of Tibetan hatchlings and her shifts with the NYPD as part of the Gargoyles Task Force, Candy was not sure if she would get either the time or the privacy to do that. She could do some of that now, but with her mother still recovering from the surgery, that didn't sound like the best idea. It was then that Fox entered the room.

"Hello, dear," Fox spoke carefully and tried to keep a very professional air about her, "are you feeling okay?"

"About as good as I can be," Abigail answered moving her arms to keep her webbed wings to over her breasts and genitals. Fox may have been a woman, but Abigail still had her firm sense of privacy and didn't want to expose herself to anyone she felt shouldn't be looking at her naked form.

Fox gave a weak smile and nodded, "I'm sure… new forms can be tough to adjust to… but don't worry, I'm sure the clan will give you all the help you need."

"I'll be counting on it," Abigail replied, forcing herself to laugh as Fox then presented the tunic to her.

"It isn't much, and you'll look a bit like Candy, but it's the best that we can manage," Fox explained.

"I wish there was some way I could wear shorts or pants or a shirt," Abigail gave a half sigh.

"You'd need MORE piercings to make that practical," Fox told her.

Abigail slowly nodded and reached for the tunic first with one hand. Fox put down the belt on the medical table next to Abigail and turned to leave. Candy was next to head toward the door.

"I'll give you a few moments to get dressed, Mom," Candy said over her shoulder, "I'll be right outside the door if you need me."

Abigail nodded and let Fox and Candy leave. She then set the tunic down and hoped off of the medical table. She picked up the tunic again when she noticed a large full length mirror installed in the wall nearby. She then remembered that the clan's medical wing had the advantage of a lot of the technology that Xanatos Enterprises was able to provide. It was like having a waiting room, clinic checkup room, major surgery center, a pregnancy care center, and almost every other section of medicine being available in one room. Curiosity got the better and she approached the wall mounted mirror.

"So this is me now," Abigail thought to herself as she looked at her gargoyle form in the mirror.

The pink skin, in different shades for her body, her wing lining, and her nipples stood out in the open for her to easily see. Abigail half wondered if that was because she was with Candy when she turned to stone, or this was the color she would be if she had been born a gargoyle and that Candy thus got her coloring from her. The fact that she was a web-winged gargoyle also reinforced that question in Abigail's mind. It gave her one of the questions she would surely ask her daughter later, since Candy had been experimenting on herself and researching gargoyle biology fairly thoroughly to see what made gargoyles tick and would be able to explain to her mother these things.

The two large horns differed from her daughters eight small ones, and reinforced the sort of demonic image that the Manhattan gargoyles had. Her fan shaped ears created an almost 'sea creature' type look on her that also caught Abigail's eyes. She was certain that people would come to fear her now, and the fact that she had been turned into a gargoyle by being pulled into stone-sleep by her own transformed daughter would surely make things worse.

"Maybe if we all looked like animals, the way the London Clan does, things would be easier," Abigail thought to herself.

Abigail put that to a side for a moment. She felt a great deal of embarrassment, surprise, and even curiosity as she continued to look over her present form. The pendant that was allowing her to stay awake hung between two breasts that were larger than what she had as a human, and with her shorter height, they were actually large and firm on her frame. Her overall frame is also obviously stronger. Her shoulders and biceps were larger than they were when she was human, and her now pink abdomen was marked by firm, yet still feminine muscle. Abigail also noticed something else.

"It took away the stretch marks I had from carrying Candy," Abigail thought to herself in surprise, "I don't look younger… but definitely stronger and healthier…"

She found herself blushing to herself at her bust and hips.

"Definitely healthier," Abigail decided.

"Are you okay, mom?" she heard Candy call from outside the room.

"I'm fine, dear," Abigail called back, coming out of herself examination of her body, "just looking over some things."

Abigail then focused on dressing herself. The tunic she had been given had no sides, like her daughter's had no sides, but considering that both of them were web-wings, that was a given. She'd just have to figure out a way to slide sideways into it. Figuring that her tail would be flexible enough to move in once the rest of the tunic was on, she lifted the tunic up and carefully it the hole for her head and fit it around her horns. That had no real trouble and she soon began to feel the cloth against her skin.

It was not without its own small problems, as for the moment, it felt a light tight in spots as she still needed to fit one leg through to the other side and fit her tail through the hole in the built in underwear. She carefully fit her leg through, but soon found that her tail was not as accommodating. By 'nature' it seemed to want to go in base first, and with the rest of the tail bent sideways, it didn't easily fit.

"How does Candy put up with this?" Abigail mumbled to herself as she turned around and began to fiddle with her tail and the underwear that was part of her tunic.

Eventually she did manage to her tail through, though it felt like she was stretching the material a little. She then proceeded to pull her hair out from where her new clothing had pinned it down. As she did so, she also noticed something about the back of her wings. While the inside lining of her wings was a lighter shade of pink than the rest of her, the back of her wings was a much darker shade. It wasn't the black shade that was on the backside of the wings of the other members of the clan, but an extremely dark pink, almost red. She decided to let it go, and hope that Candy would have answers for all her questions that she would have.

Abigail turned around and then looked at herself in her new tunic. Now that it was on fully, it fit perfectly. It was a little loose around her waist, but that was probably what the belt was for.

"Guess it's time to start getting used to things," Abigail sighed and turned to head out. She'd decided she'd ask Candy to talk with her about various things related to what had happened to her.

**Outside City Hall**

Several small and relatively crudely made signs waived as the Order of the Phoenix maintained another of their standard protests. Most of them hadn't been too much more than an annoyance, and while it looked like the clan might gain US citizenship, the Order of Phoenix members were practically ignored. But now, in light of the previous night's riot they were gaining some serious support. It might not yet be enough to persuade the mayor to drop his support or decision to deputize the clan, but it would surely raise enough noise to make him think again about his position.

"They all claim to be protectors!" Maccio shouted from the front of the group, "but what do they protect? Is it really the common man?"

"NO!" the Order of the Phoenix members shouted.

Maccio smiled back confidently. It would take a little while for him to get more formal results from his letters to the politicians, but the riot that had been started the night before had already done a lot to further his cause. It actually made him feel very confident, and he'd taken a day off from work to personally lead the protest and milk the attack on his person that PIT had committed for all it was worth. He knew that PIT was the key. If people saw them as criminal, it wouldn't take much to turn public opinion against the gargoyles. They'd forget all about how he seemed 'loony' to them to get rid of those they saw as 'criminal.'

"That's right!" Maccio replied, "They don't protect the common man. That would require having some sense of justice. They are devious and desire our conquest. To accomplish this, they support criminals! Vile thugs who think we are to be beaten about like an old newspaper!"

The crowd booed. Maccio only smiled and decided to keep going.

"PIT called us the latest incarnation of the Quarrymen!" Maccio shouted, "Yet has the Order of the Phoenix committed any crime… other than spreading the truth?"

"NO!"

"That's right!" Maccio responded, "It is PIT that committed the crime! They attacked me for no reason other than warning the good people of Manhattan of the dangers the gargoyles pose! And I'm doing a good job, because they sent their proxies to try and get me! But I'm stronger than that!"

The crowd cheered.

"Tell that to the Mayor! Tell him to stop supporting criminals and the creatures that back them!" Maccio shouted in encouragement, "and fight for a NORMAL life!"

Inside City Hall, the Mayor gave a frustrated sigh as he lowered the blinds in his office. The Order of the Phoenix's protests was still annoying, but he had to admit, they were gaining some additional support since the night before. The annoyance was bound to get worse if nothing was done about the Order of the Phoenix's protests.

"Sir," came the voice of his deputy mayor.

The mayor turned to see his deputy approaching him. He acknowledged the man with a polite nod and sighed again.

"That man continues to plague us," the mayor grumbled, referencing Maccio and his protestors.

The deputy mayor looked through the slats in the blinds and got a partial view of the protests outside the building. He then nodded in agreement. The Order of the Phoenix was surely giving them a lot of trouble. Maccio still came off as too much of a loon to be a threat to the mayor, but the more attention he received, the more likely someone who wasn't a loon would appear and take over the movement, and that could cost the mayor his job.

All of it would come because of the decision to deputize the gargoyles, which was more of an experiment than a show of true support for the clan. If they did well, the mayor had no qualms with claiming credit, and if it failed, at least the clan would be in a position where it could be arrested. And so far, things had gone fairly well. True it was weird to have police officers that weren't human, but most part things had moved more toward normal since the clan had been deputized. In fact the successes had been enough to convince the mayor that granting the clan rights and support was a good idea. Yet Maccio and the backlash from the previous night would undo all of that.

"Well… I might have some good news, sir," the deputy mayor spoke.

"Good news?" the mayor asked turning to face the deputy mayor directly.

The other man nodded slowly, "Yes. I just got off the phone with the PIT head. I originally intended to chew him out for sloppy control of his organization and threaten official investigation to see just how good they really work…"

"That won't stop Maccio's stunts," the mayor grumbled, "He's already blaming me for their action Putting stress on PIT might even make us look guilty."

"Well, from what the PIT head told me, we don't have to do anything," the deputy mayor spoke, "apparently PIT is going to have a press conference tonight and will essentially drum every single member that participated in last night's riot OUT of their organization."

The mayor blinked and then gave a different sigh, "glad I've never had to run against the guy… because that might work and undercut everything that Maccio is doing out there right now."

**Castle Wyvern**

Abigail sat quietly in a soft chair in the clan's TV room where Hudson normally preferred to relax. At present the television was off as she talked with her daughter over what Candy had learned and what she could expect. It was rather enlightening, though given that Candy was always eager to share what she had learned with regard to gargoyle anatomy and behavior, it was more a case of Abigail having to look at it from the position of being one. The thing that Abigail noticed the most was that Candy actually sounded relieved when she asked her question.

"So… I'm going to instinctively want to protect the city?" Abigail asked.

"That'll depend on what you WANT to do, mom," Candy replied, "that protective instinct is strong… and I know that following it makes me feel good mentally… but I've noticed I get that mental feeling whenever I do anything that can be defined as protection. It could be protecting the city… protecting the castle…"

Abigail watched as her daughter reached out to take her mother's hand in her own.

"Protecting my family," Candy finished, "The instinct gears a gargoyle to protect, but it doesn't define what is to be protected. Amy and I fairly quickly jumped at the idea of protecting the city with the clan… probably because… well… for me, Lex is one of the nicest, strongest, best looking guys that I've ever known… and he's been so helpful with regard studying gargoyle biology. Caroline took a little longer to get used to it, partially because the only connection she had was Lawrence and he was human… but in the end she accepted a gargoyle's protective drive."

"So, what should I protect for the rest of my life, since this has cost me my job?" Abigail asked, failing to hide some of her own frustrations, none of which she felt toward her daughter.

"That is up to you," Candy answered, "You're free to protect what you want… provided you don't break the law."

"I have no intention of that," Abigail sighed, "If anything… I'd prefer to do what I've always done… protect you and try to live up to my mistakes."

Candy only nodded, and said nothing.

"I'm still not sure what I can do or say get Maccio to back off," Abigail sighed, "that lone man gave PIT a near knockout blow…"

"Mister and Missus Axel will probably know what do and I'm sure you can help them," Candy tried to encourage her mother, "and I'd doubt that a loon like Maccio can really win. He's been off the wall and not only reminds most people of the Quarrymen in terms of base ideology but carries none of their imminent threat… he's just not smart enough to play the game without resorting to physical altercations and his members haven't the physical strength to risk it…"

"He's been smart enough to avoid the mistakes that Castaway made… that I… that I made," Abigail sighed.

"You made them to protect me," Candy said firmly, gazing into her mother's eyes, "that was different. And remember that Maccio's actions will only create more trouble for HIM in the long run."

"I hope so, I really…" Abigail began and then stopped when the phone rang. She turned to see the phone ringing heavily on a small end table that was at the end of the couch.

Abigail slowly reached out and picked up the phone.

"Hello?" Abigail spoke.

"Abby?!" came the surprised voice of Judith on the other end of the line, "I expected to leave a message on the clan's machine or maybe with Owen…"

"You didn't expect me to be awake?" Abigail asked.

"I… I expected you to be at work," Judith replied, "Given how hard they've worked you."

"Some things have come up," Abigail said slowly, "I'm afraid I've had to leave my job."

"This isn't related that guy from the meeting last night, is it?" Judith asked sounding concerned.

"Sort of… but not exactly…" Abigail managed, "It's complicated and might be easier if I SHOWED you."

"We can meet tonight," Judith offered, "PIT will be holding a special press conference, William and I will be there and the organization head Lucius Peeze will be there. It's to respond to what happened last night."

"Will it protect the clan?" Abigail asked, her concerns momentarily replaced by curiosity.

"We believe so," Judith answered.

"Candy and I will try to be there, but I can't make any promises," Abigail said slowly, "and we'll need to talk before this press conference."

Abigail listened silently for a moment and heard a sigh come over the line. Eventually Judith did speak.

"That's perfectly fine," Judith said with a sigh, "try to be there before eight o'clock if you need to speak. OK?"

"Okay," Abigail answered, "See you then."

With that, she hung up and turned to her daughter.

"Would you mind having a destination for my gliding lessons?" Abigail asked nervously.

"I have no problem," Candy answered, "You know this could cause some trouble…"

Abigail only responded with another very heavy sigh, "Yes… but we don't have much choice, do we?"

"I don't think so," Candy agreed.

**Dusk**

Abigail spent the rest of the day talking with her daughter and learning what she could about what her life would be like now. Candy had indeed learned or figured out a lot and did her best to be comforting, knowing that her mother was still in the beginnings of adapting to being a gargoyle. Abigail felt grateful for all that Candy had learned. The only thing that Candy hadn't told her about was reproduction, but then Abigail figured she was too old and she didn't want to intrude on her daughter's love life. Legally speaking she was an adult and as far as the clan was concerned, she was married.

Once Candy had covered everything, the two of them slowly made their way up onto the tower to wait sunset and update Goliath and Elisa on what had happened. Abigail watched quietly, still somewhat uneasy that what she was about to witness was what she would go through for the rest of her life, and had gone through once after the Sun Amulet Pendant had been put on her neck.

"I'm not sure if I'll ever get used to this," Abigail said nervously.

"You will," Candy said, "It'll take some time, but you will. Elisa went through it before Caroline, Amy, and I joined the clan. We did it… all you'll need is time."

Abigail couldn't answer as the sun finally disappeared from view and the sky looked very dark, outside of the glow of the electric lights. With nightfall, both Abigail and Candy quietly watched as cracks soon broke across Goliath and Elisa's forms. They spread like spider-webs and then both gargoyles burst free, flaring their wings and roaring to greet the new night. They slowly climbed down from the pedestals and turned and nearly jumped off the tower in surprise.

"Candy…" Goliath gasped, "You weren't here when we turned…"

"Abigail?!" Elisa gasped managing to recognize some of Abigail's facial features.

Abigail looked down in a very embarrassed manner. Elisa even made out that the pink female was ashamed by the frown and downcast eyes.

"Yes, it's me," Abigail said slowly.

"She wasn't feeling well, thanks to that guy from last night," Candy chipped in to try and explain, "I went to cheek on her and comfort her in some way and well… we lost track of time and when the sun came up we were in a very tight hug and when I turned to stone… I took my mom in with me."

Goliath picked up on Candy's own ashamed feelings as she got to the end of that and glanced to Elisa.

"According to what Puck said when he brought the Sun Amulet Pendants to wake us up, the spell that Demona cast that transformed Amy, Caroline, and I, while not active, was still on me and moved into my mother while she was encased in my stone," Caroline finished, and found herself giving a sniffle, "I transformed my mother in my sleep…"

"This will only make things worse," Goliath rumbled in a low voice, "If the consequences of the riot are what you said they could be…"

Elisa only nodded and turned to Candy and Abigail, "We'll try to help you both as much as we can though. Don't think we'll abandon you."

"Candy has already told me that you wouldn't do that," Abigail said slowly, "and for that I thank you. I'm sorry my worrying has caused you so much trouble."

"We will survive," Goliath assured her, "things cannot always go bad, and we have endured worse. This might be bad press… but we will overcome it."

Candy and Abigail slowly nodded as they heard the sound of crunching stone as Lexington climbed up to the top level of the tower. He was about to wonder what was going on and why Candy hadn't come to him when he saw Abigail standing there nervously and his already large eyes seemed to get wider.

"Mrs. Wexmand…" was all Lex could manage to say.

"It was my fault," Candy said to him, "the spell on me was still on me and went over to her…"

"But… how… why…?" Lexington managed.

"She was trying to help me get over the riot that man caused last night," Abigail answered, figuring this answer would need to be given a lot, "and I ended up getting pulled into stonesleep with her."

"Are you okay?" Lex asked, his eyes still fairly wide and showing a fair amount of confusion.

"I will be," Abigail sighed, "I just have a lot of things to get used to. For now though, I'd prefer that Candy do that."

Lex looked to his mate, who gave him a nod. He then turned back to Abigail, "I'll try to help on the nights when Candy has her shift with the Gargoyles Task Force… which we'll need to get ready for, Goliath."

Goliath nodded and prepared to head for breakfast.

"What do you two have planned for tonight?" Elisa asked to Candy and Abigail.

"After we return Obsidiana and Jade's pendants, we're going to tell Amy's folks about what happened," Candy explained, "and to privately keep an eye on a press conference PIT will be having in response to last night's riot."

"Someone might recognize you," Lex pointed out.

"Maybe all the better," Abigail sighed, "just about everyone knows that Candy is my daughter and was transformed… so I'm sure people might recognize me, but I can't hide here and it'll happen eventually in some way."

All that Lexington could easily remember was Goliath's comment to him after their first battle with the Pack.

_"We cannot hide from the world. We must live in it."_

With that Lexington only nodded.

"Just remember to contact those who are on duty if something goes on," Goliath spoke up from the stairway, "You are not on duty tonight, Candy, and your mother is not part of the task force…"

"And I don't plan to," Abigail answered, "I think I'll keep working with PIT. Spread the word that the clan is good and that those who believe otherwise have made a mistake."

Goliath only nodded and proceeded on his way in. The Manhattan leader and Lexington were due to go on shift that night. Elisa hung back with Candy and Abigail as they prepared to go in for breakfast themselves.

"We'll also keep things open in case you wish to join the GTF," Elisa told Abigail.

"Thank you," Abigail replied, "But I think that Candy will be the only policewoman in my family."

"It'll be open in case you change your mind," Elisa told her, "and good luck with the press conference. Goliath and I will help with explaining your transformation to the others."

"Thank you," was all Abigail could say.

Breakfast went by fairly well, though Abigail found herself and Candy having to answer the 'what happened to you' question several times, particularly with the Tibetan hatchlings that were rather curious. Their elders did mention that their clan had very old stories of gargoyles that had fallen in love with humans, but the turning the human into a statue was treated as a punishment for not keeping either bloodline pure. A very irritated and borderline aggressive growl from Caroline ultimately stopped that as the blue female held Lawrence to her.

Not all of the conversations dealt with that though, as Candy and Lexington both gave Abigail the basic pointers that Abigail would need to glide. Some of it was rehashing what Abigail and Candy had talked over earlier, but Abigail welcomed it. Part of her was afraid and part of her was actually curious as to whether or not she could. She had seen her daughter and the other gargoyles glide before, and it was just now hitting her, that she could do that now too. As such, she gave a half nervous gulp as she looked over the edge of the battlements after breakfast.

"We're quite a ways up," Abigail slowly commented.

"Yes, but remember, keep your arms and legs out in a firm 'X' formation with your body at the right angle that updrafts will keep you up, downdrafts won't push too hard on you, and all crosswinds will move you forward," Candy encouraged, "you'll do just fine. Your arms my get a bit sore, as this will be your first time… but you'll get used to it."

Abigail only gulped again. There was so much that could potentially go wrong. Candy traded a brief glance to Lexington as the other gargoyles that were going on duty prepared to leave.

"You'll do fine," Lex said in encouragement.

"I'd still prefer some kind of safety net," Abigail said nervously with a very weak smile, "just until I get the hang of this."

She then heard footsteps coming up the stairs and turned to see Elisa approaching.

"And you'll have it," Elisa told her, "Fox and the Guatemalans are all helping look after the hatchlings, so I'll get enough free time to help out."

"Thank you," Abigail said almost urgently.

"You will have to do your best," Elisa warned, "and listen to what Candy says. I might be able to help a little, but since you and she are web-wings, Candy is your best guide and teacher. I can only catch you if you fall."

"Okay," Abigail nodded and turned to Candy and Lexington.

The two younger web-wings were finishing a brief hug and kiss, which Abigail could swear she smelled something in their respective scents that told her that there was something they wanted, but couldn't get yet. Remembering her earlier talks with Candy, both regarding her transformation and regarding Candy's maturation as a member of the clan and as Lexington's mate, and guessing at what they wanted, Abigail found herself blushing.

"Have a good time," Lexington said to the younger pink female.

"Have a quiet night," Candy answered, "catch the guy who caused the riot."

"We'll certainly try to," Ian responded, "Come on, Lex. We need to get going."

Lex nodded and followed the black male off. Candy, Abigail, and Elisa watched quietly for a few moments before Candy returned to the matter at hand.

"Okay, mom, let's go!" Candy urged and leaped over the battlements.

Abigail watched as Candy dove down, feeling grateful that both Candy's tunic and her own had built in underwear. Candy dove down a couple of stories, extended her arms and legs and soon circled back up toward the castle. She then sort of hovered for a few moments while waiting for Abigail to go.

"Your turn, mom!" Candy encouraged, "You can do it."

Abigail gave frightened looking frown as she climbed onto the edge of the battlements and again looked down.

"You will catch me if I fall?" Abigail asked to Elisa.

Elisa nodded, leaving Abigail to give a heavy sigh and look down again.

"Best get this over with," Abigail thought to herself and then let herself fall off the edge.

The first thing Abigail felt was a rush of wind against her face and arms. She also found that she also easily feel the air currents going over her wings.

"Open your wings, mom!" Candy called down in instruction.

Abigail slowly began to open her arms and legs into the same sort of X that Candy formed with her body. As she did so, she felt more control over her fall. It was as if her wings would allow for great changes in direction with even the slightest movement. She then looked down to see the ground coming up fast and giving a frightened shriek, she arched her head and shoulders up and back, and to her surprise, her fall stopped. First she leveled out and then she was gliding up and away from the castle. Candy was quick to move up beside her.

"Okay now, mom, level it out," Candy encouraged, "go to where your spine is level and then raise your hips and legs slightly."

Abigail tried, and found herself bouncing up and down a little as she tried to find the right angle. Candy remained by her side and she noticed Elisa was beneath her, but so far she hadn't needed the help she thought she'd need. As she leveled out, she breathed a sigh of relief and looked out over the city for a moment, and feeling the breeze going over her wings and blowing her hair. Part of her was amazed and part of her was still a little nervous.

"I can't believe I'm doing this," Abigail said nervously.

"You're doing fine, mom," Candy told her.

"We'll be coming up to making our first turn pretty soon," Elisa spoke up.

**PIT Headquarters**

Judith and William Axel paced nervously outside the hotel conference room that PIT had been using for many of its most recent meetings. They had done well enough with regard to getting new members that they moved from either people's homes or apartments or during friendly bowling matches or dinners in decent but still small restaurants. The size of these meetings gave both the Axels the confidence that they would be able to protect the clan's safety. Now, thanks to the riot, that was going to be lost and PIT would be going back to the beginning.

"It's something that we need to do," Judith said with a sigh as she noticed her husband slowly pacing along the back wall to the conference room.

"I know," William replied, "but we're going to be in serious hurt for a while… you know that, right?"

Judith looked out toward the speaker's platform where PIT's leader as looking through notecards. She noted a few PIT members there in seats with a host of reporters moving about. There were television cameras and flashbulbs from newspaper photographers that were all moving about, or going off. She knew William was right. The media would feast on this, and while groups on the outside would see PIT as trying to avoid the criminal reputation that had taken down the Quarrymen, but it could very well create splinter groups that while supportive of the clan, would also challenge PIT because of being betrayed…

"I know," Judith sighed, "but we have no choice. Our only other option is to let Maccio ramble on about how we support criminals, which we don't."

William nodded and glanced to PIT's leader. He was still going through his notecards, and almost seemed ready to give his speech.

"I wonder where Abigail is," William wondered, "you did ask her to come, right."

"Given her past, I figured she would be a good speaker to try and make some case for sanity," Judith nodded, "but she should be here by now."

As if by cue, there came a rather hard knock on a nearby door. That actually raised some curiosity, as it was a door that was there as a potential extra exit, but it was one that opened into an alley. Someone was apparently knocking at the door there.

"Is that a fire exit?" Judith asked.

"I don't think so," William answered, and noticing a couple of security guards approaching, "maybe it's one of the clan. When they've attended meetings, they've generally taken 'alternative' entrances."

"That was before being deputized and potentially getting citizenship," Judith pointed out.

"And Maccio is threatening to force all that away," William reminded her and moved toward where the security guards were approaching. They were quick to also notice him and tried to persuade him off.

"You should step back, sir," the first security guard, "it's probably some troublemaker, and we have called others to go out and around."

"It could also be members of the clan seeking to avoid getting caught in the media's attention," William answered.

"Couldn't they use the main entrance?" the second security guard asked back.

"That depends on the media not swarming them," Judith commented, "to a great extent they are rather 'private' individuals."

Both security guards gave the Axel's rather suspicious looks, but sighed and then drew their weapons.

"Very well," the first spoke, "we'll open the door, but if it's a troublemaker, he'll be losing his freedom quick."

The first security guard opened the door to find three gargoyles. The Axels also came forward to see who had arrived. One was the tan female, Elisa Maza, and the second was the pink web-wing, Candy, but it was the third who truly caught their attention. The third was also a pink web-wing, and Candy was presently trying to help her up from the ground. Aside from her brow-ridge and horns, Judith would have thought that this gargoyle was Candy's mother, but she assumed that couldn't be true. Abigail Wexmand was human… at least as far as Judith knew. What clinched all the surprise that was felt was what Candy said to the new pink female.

"Your landings could use a little work, mom," Candy told her, "Just as your wings can help you glide, they can also help you land. Just closing them will only increase your speed."

"I didn't mean to," the new pink female said nervously, "I was trying to bank around the corner… and that fire escape… and I panicked."

"And crashed right into this door," Elisa spoke up, "Good thing it ISN'T glass."

That conversation was then interrupted by Judith's startled gasp, as she could no longer keep her surprise within her.

"ABBY!" Judith screamed.

Abigail looked over to her friend and former neighbor and looked somewhat embarrassed. It got worse when she noticed that everyone else in the room had turned when Judith screamed.

"Yes, it's me," Abigail said slowly, "I'd… I'd hoped this could have been done privately."

"How did this happen?" Judith asked, sounding extremely insistent.

"I accidently pulled her into stone-sleep with me this past dawn," Candy spoke up, "I was trying to console her after how much that unknown guy hurt her psychologically last night… and I'm afraid I lost track of time and didn't pull away… and the spell on me, if no longer active, then transformed my mother. She awoke like this."

Judith blinked and noticed a clear protectiveness in the younger pink web-wing. She knew that Abigail had been under a great deal of strain over the riot, and Judith also knew that Abigail was very protective of her daughter. To see people do something that would risk the backlash that the clan was facing now had to hurt her greatly. However, Judith was still very curious about what happened and wished she could ask more.

"Did you invite the clan to listen?" came the voice of PIT's leader from behind them.

Judith and William both turned to see their organization's leader, who had been elected as the leader of PIT standing there politely. If he had any surprise or shock at seeing one of their members as a gargoyle, he didn't show it.

"Just a small handful," William answered, "What affects us will affect them."

PIT's leader gave a heavy sigh and nodded, "Then let them in. We're about ready to get started."

Judith and William both breathed a sigh of relief and ushered Candy, Abigail, and Elisa in. As they moved to where they could stand and watch the announcement, Judith glanced to Candy for a moment.

"I had thought that your mother would come with Brooklyn and Amy," Judith whispered, "I understand that what has happened has changed some things… but I still would have expected them to accompany you."

"I think Amy did want to come, but she and Brooklyn are stuck on hatchling duty right now," Candy whispered back and then looked out over the crowd.

Many in the crowd were murmuring things. They clearly recognized her mother, but were likely too shocked at seeing her as a gargoyle to do anything more than gasp or mummer. She privately wondered how much this would hurt. The people of New York had learned that she, her friends, and Elisa had all been human and had been transformed by magic, but they had also been told that the likelihood of that spell being cast again was low. Now, maybe they could generate a 'white lie' that someone did that to her mother, but then that would lead to a witch-hunt for the perpetrator. The other option was to tell the truth and reveal greater complexity within the magic that had so long ago and yet not so long ago transformed her. The fear of very negative backlash was still very strong. Candy also figured out that her mother was just as nervous about it when she felt her grip her hand quite tightly.

They all watched as PIT's leader slowly returned to the podium and began to speak. As he did so, the flashbulbs and the video cameras were raised to capture what he had to say in response to the riot that John Doe had caused the night before.

"Ladies and gentlemen of the press and PIT members, I wish I could speaking to you under better conditions," PIT's leader began, "but at present, we face troubled times."

Elisa glanced to Candy and Abigail. Both looked a little nervous and Abigail's eyes seemed to be looking about the room, as if to see who might go after her for what had happened.

"When I formed PIT, I had formed it to counter the unbending and racist attitudes of the Quarrymen," PIT's leader continued, "for I knew that if we are to prove that humanity is a force for good that we must accept the gargoyles and live with them. I recognized that they weren't here to hurt us and thus deserved to live with us… and so PIT was formed to stand in opposition to the Quarryman's hatred and violence. And our opposition was to be peaceful and non-violent. To show the gargoyles that not all of us are monsters."

PIT's leader then shuffled the notecards he had in case he forgot anything. As they tapped against the wood of the podium, he sighed heavily.

"And we successful against the Quarrymen," PIT's leader spoke, "their actions brought them legal scrutiny the lack of crimes committed by the gargoyles proved them wrong. That was a great victory… but no battles against racism are ever easy, and that is why what happened last night represents a failure of PIT's principles."

Judith and William quietly nodded. They had been there when PIT had been founded and had even voted for PIT's present leader. They didn't like having to boot people out of PIT, but at present they had no choice. What was said next came as a surprise to both Axels and the gargoyles that had come along.

"While the NYPD has identified man who incited last night's riot, it does not change the fact that PIT members decided to attack Ralph Maccio publically," PIT's leader continued, "and while on some level Maccio probably deserves it… that is not the way PIT acts, and he knows it. He spent today using it to go after us and threaten to get rid of the support the gargoyles truly need if they are to live freely among us!"

**Ralph Maccio's Apartment**

Maccio didn't make it a habit to drink without eating, but at present he felt confident enough to do so. His protests hadn't convinced the mayor to change his opinion, but based on the figures several Order of the Phoenix members had given him, in that day alone, one hundred people and joined and a few even paid the membership dues. That would be more than enough to raise the strength needed to begin to curry favor with at least local politicians. And now, PIT was trying to cover up what had happened save their own skins from the fire they had lit. He was certain that they would fall all over themselves trying to cover up the fact that they had caused a riot, and thus he had a bottle of wine with him to celebrate.

And so far, from what he could see on the news, the press conference had done nothing to try and persuade people that the riot didn't serve some other purpose. They'd only summarized their intentions to serve the gargoyles and that they'd taken their next step.

"Sell it however you wish," Maccio raised his wine glass, "but you've lost."

He then drank deeply and continued to watch the conference.

"And that is what represents the true failure from last night," PIT's leader spoke on the screen, "a failure on PIT's part as an organization and my part as a leader."

Maccio blinked at this, as that line was unexpected. He also saw some surprise go over the faces of the three gargoyles that were present as well as the two humans standing with them. One of them was the man who had debated him and somehow tricked the people that he was wrong. Maccio got some pleasure at seeing William Axel squirm, but the human was not the main prize to be won. The legal extermination of the gargoyles was that prize. And what PIT's leader had just said was enough of a surprise that any enjoyment at seeing William Axel squirm was temporarily lost.

"There is nothing that can be done to change what has happened," PIT's leader continued, "Maccio is right when he says that PIT members attacked him. However, he is wrong when he says that they did so deliberately or with PIT's sanction. Violence has NEVER been part of PIT's mission and those who joined the riot did not do so with our permission. In that sense, they were rogue, and PIT cannot stand for such behavior."

Maccio lowered his wine glass and leaned forward. Something in this was becoming far too confusing for him to understand.

"I have discussed this with the other leaders of PIT including the newer chapters outside of New York City," PIT's leader continued, "and it has been decided that all of the members that allowed the criminal, known only as John Doe, to lead them in inciting a riot with the attack on Ralph Maccio are expelled from PIT and will never be allowed back. We are not criminals and will not allow criminals to use our people to suit their aims… and will sacrifice numbers to protect our status as a non-criminal organization."

Wine flew from Maccio's mouth as his eyes widened and surprise got the better of him.

**PIT Press Conference**

Judith glanced to William as PIT's leader gave the results of PIT's decision to deal with the backlash that had come from the riot. He looked reserved and calm, but Judith got the sense that the consequences of the riot would keep going, especially with the fact that one of those consequences was Abigail's transformation. That would create even more bad consequences for the Clan and for PIT. As she turned back, to PIT's leader, she watched as the man continued on, which actually came as a bit of a surprise to her and her husband.

"I deeply regret having to do this, and it represents a failure on my part to keep PIT on the straight and narrow," PIT's leader said in a tone that became very solemn, "As such, I feel that if I cannot keep PIT focused on what it is supposed to do, it is time for me to step down as its leader."

Heavy gasps of surprise echoed throughout the room as eyes widened and drinks or bits of food that were at a couple of tables fell out of the mouths that had been chewing.

"I thus pass leadership of PIT over to William and Judith Axel, who've done more than anyone else in PIT to build us up as a voice for the gargoyles and a more free and tolerant society than even I have," PIT's leader announced, "they will hold the post until a new PIT election can be held."

Judith nearly fainted, and only didn't fall to the ground when she felt Abigail's had catch the small of her back and one shoulder while William caught her other shoulder. More flashbulbs went off and more cameras turned to face them. Judith regained her feet and looked over to the now 'former' leader of PIT who had stepped back from the podium and was motioning for her and her husband to come forward.

"Go on, Judy," Abigail encouraged, "If anyone can get us out of the mess we're presently in… I'm sure it'll be you."

"Amy will be thrilled," Candy added.

Judith gave a weak smile and slowly moved forward, with William beside her. The announcement was a surprise to both of them, and Judith could tell that her husband was just as nervous as she was when she heard him gulp.

"I don't think we're ready for this…" Judith said in a low voice.

"You've both been leaders with regard to ideas, and most of PIT's strategies are yours," the former PIT leader replied, "I've merely been a good voice for your decisions. And since I couldn't keep our members from committing criminal acts… it would be clear that simply having the voice is not good enough."

"I hope we don't let you down," William told him.

"I'm sure you won't," the former leader gave a smile and fully surrendered the podium.

William took the podium while Judith stood by his side and while the former PIT leader moved back to stand beside Elisa. He squinted his eyes slightly thanks to all the flashbulbs going off as he took the podium and then took a deep breath. As he did so, he was bombarded by questions.

"Do you agree with the expulsion of those that participated in last night's riot?"

"What do you plan to do with PIT?"

"Do you think your familial relations to the gargoyles, considering your daughter was transformed into one, will help or hurt PIT?"

"Do you know all the gargoyles?"

"Do you know the new pink one?"

The questions all came in at once and William carefully raised his hands as if to shush them.

"If you can give me a moment, I will do what I can to answer your questions, as this is a bit of a surprise for me, just as it is for you," William spoke carefully as he raised his hands up toward his face and then lowered them so that they were parallel with the ground.

William then took another deep breath and began to answer the questions.

"Expelling the former members that had joined John Doe's riot was actually my idea," William spoke, "I don't like it, and I think the backlash from this could give us trouble later… but it was something we had to do… otherwise, Ralph Maccio will use the riot as a stick with which to beat us with… It's already cost the clan a real shot at being recognized as citizens and being protected by more than just the consent of the New York City Mayor's office. We are not criminals and we cannot tolerate criminal behavior."

William Axel then paused as several of the newspaper reporters began hastily writing down notes.

"I know the Manhattan Clan fairly well, yes, and my daughter's transformation was probably the only window that allowed my wife and I to forge a personal relationship with them," William answered, "As the clan is essentially like any other person… they enjoy their own privacy and outside of what they must do to protect the city, they do not interfere with other's privacy… But they are still very caring individuals and when my Amy was transformed they took it upon themselves to help her and let Judith and I know what had happened. THAT, however, is private."

William then glanced over his left shoulder to see Abigail and Candy still standing together. Both still looked nervous, and Abigail seemed to be following the hushed whispers of recognition at her form from those in the crowd.

"My family's relationship with the clan has led to the recognition that world is not as simple as we had once imagined and that ANYTHING can change, and apparently so can anyone," William continued, "but to reject anyone or anything because of differences or changes only serves to show we aren't kind, caring, or understanding. The world is always changing, and I feel that PIT's mission should always be to accept changes that are clearly not for the worse. While not every gargoyle is good… most are… and it would also show that gargoyles are just like humanity in that sense and there are bad as well as good humans. Good and evil cannot be drawn in species terms and we must give everyone the same chance to prove they are good and succeed or evil and fail."

Abigail stood quietly listening to William Axel speak. His point about accepting change seemed very good, and would definitely apply to her situation. Though she didn't know how well that would work out. She could hear a lot of whispers, and they were soft enough that even her new gargoyle hearing couldn't pick up what they were saying.

"We'll get through it, Mom," Candy whispered to her, "whatever backlash comes… we will get through it."

Abigail nodded as William stepped back and gave a brief statement to end the press conference. Many in the media took a few last pictures and then began to move away. Many in the crowd also moved forward to congratulate William and Judy. Abigail even swore she heard some clapping as William finished speaking. A soft 'ahem' from her left made her, Candy, and Elisa turn to the sound. She found that it was a lone man, who physically appeared to be about her age (in human years). He looked a bit hesitant and nervous, almost as nervous as she did.

"Abigail?" he said slowly.

"Yes, it's me," Abigail replied guessing the man had recognized her from previous PIT meetings, though she didn't recall ever getting his name, "Do I know you?"

"Not directly," the man answered, "My name is Hank Quest, and you and I do have some things in common."

"How so?" Abigail asked nervously, beginning to twitch her tail as if to look for some sort of escape.

"Both of us were once members of the Quarrymen," the man, Hank, admitted, "They never let me do anything more than pass out flyers… and once they started committing crimes I quit… after all, if your methodology is criminal behavior… you can't be right."

This surprised Abigail a little, but not too much as there were actually several former Quarrymen members that had joined PIT since the Quarrymen were disbanded. All of them had their own 'seeing the light' moments.

"Why didn't you join me in speaking out against that guy last night?!" Abigail found herself growling almost instinctively, and her eyes coming to a full red glow, "he undid nearly all the progress PIT has made!"

Candy, behind her mother, nearly jumped at the reaction and managed to put one hand on her mother's shoulder as if to try and calm her down. Hank seemed to slink back a little, looking embarrassed.

"I didn't… I… I was too afraid to speak then," Hank answered, "Right now, I largely wished to tell you that I was sorry for not speaking."

"Oh," Abigail felt herself calm down and immediately felt sheepish for being so easily angered, "sorry…"

"No… you had every right to be angry," Hank replied, "I mean you've said that your daughter was transformed when the Axel's daughter was…"

"Along with our good friend, Caroline," Candy spoke up as she came around her mother.

"This is my daughter, Candace," Abigail introduced her daughter.

"I prefer Candy," Candy informed him.

"Ah ha," Hank spoke, "Well… I wish you both the best, and I'm sorry for not speaking up earlier. If you ever need any help… I'm more than willing… come up with something that would show that Maccio's line of thought is closer to Castaway's than he likes to make people think."

"Sure," Abigail answered, "If we can brainstorm something good we can help Will and Judy," Abigail answered, "and protect my family…"

Hank nodded and gave a soft smile. Abigail strangely found herself smiling back. Things always had consequences, but not all of them were bad.

**The End…**


	57. Hunting John Doe, Part 1

All characters appearing in Gargoyles and Gargoyles: The Goliath Chronicles are copyrighted to Buena Vista Television/The Walt Disney Company. I've taken the idea for the Unseelie Court from the TGS. Characters and concepts from Star Trek are property of Paramount and created by Gene Roddenberry. No Infringement of these copyrights is intended, and is not authorized by the copyright holder. All original characters are the property of SN/TVfan.

Note: I'm disregarding the events of the "Goliath Chronicles", with the exception of "The Journey" because I do not wish to use the rest of the "Goliath Chronicles" as canon to my story. Also, I'm altering large sections of the Star Trek storyline, especially concerning events like WWIII and the Eugenics Wars, which without the Cold War as a backdrop probably wouldn't happen the way Roddenberry wrote them, if at all. This story takes place one day after "Backlash".

Hunting John Doe, Part 1

By SN/TVfan

Email: Sam_Nary

**Castle Wyvern**

Abigail felt very grateful that Lexington and Candy had perched on either side of her. As the sun set and she burst free of her stone shell with a great roar, she nearly lost her balance and fell from the place she had been given on the tower. Despite getting some gliding lessons, and actually make decent progress at them, Abigail was only just starting and knew it would take a while before she could glide well and keep her balance while standing on the balls of her feet.

"Easy, mom," Candy said to her, "Easy."

"I'm never going to get used to this," Abigail said nervously as her daughter and son-in-law helped her down.

"Never say never, mom," Candy advised, "Elisa got used to it. I got used to it. Amy got used to it. Even Caroline got used to it eventually. You'll get used to it too… it'll just take some time."

"And you know the clan will be here to help," Lexington added.

"Thank you," Abigail said to the olive green male with a weak smile, "so… what is the plan for tonight?"

"Well… tonight I go on duty and Lex is here," Candy answered, "Any gliding lessons and adaptation stuff you'll have to do with him…"

"And I'll be a perfect gentleman," Lex added.

Abigail nodded. Despite her past and what it took to get over old Quarryman sympathies, she felt that Lex went far beyond being a gentleman. He helped Candy with no real need to do so, and had grown adapt to listening talk out her theories on gargoyle biology and so forth. The fact that Lex and her daughter were married as far as the clan was concern reinforced Abigail's opinion of Lexington, and she hoped that the two of them would have a long and healthy marriage.

"Thank you," Abigail said slowly.

"And hopefully those of us on shift will begin looking for the guy that started the riot," Candy finished, "but I don't think we'll find that out until we get there."

"Let's have breakfast first," Abigail offered, "I'm dying for some bacon and eggs."

"Me too," came Broadway's voice as he and Angela came from a different part of the tower level they were on, "we must have had the same dream."

Abigail gave a slight chuckle, thankful that the clan was all so willing. She soon followed the others on their level into a nearby doorway to go inside for breakfast. Part of her regretted what all she had lost thanks to her own worrying… her job and likely her place in society outside of PIT, but there was the fact that she would be able to be with her daughter more. Stone sleep was still an odd sensation and it would surely take a while to adapt to. Hopefully the others would be patient when it came to helping her.

"So what will you want to do?" Lexington asked.

"I'd think some gliding practice would be worthwhile," Abigail sighed, "I don't want to spend all my time as a gargoyle crashing into things."

"Yeah," Candy then chuckled unable to resist the joke, "that hurts. All of us had some issues with that at some point…"

That got a few chuckles, though none of the others countered what Candy said. Abigail supposed there was some difference in the timing of the 'crashing' issues. Lexington, Angela and Broadway probably only crashed when they were hatchlings and just learning how to use their wings. The rest of the Manhattan's clan's females had to learn to glide at a much older age, and thus, remembered their difficulties.

**23****rd**** Precinct**

Matt came in early while still trying to think over how they would catch John Doe, especially after the whole incident that had started a riot and practically killed the clan from getting official recognition at the Federal level in the near future. They had gotten one lead as to an apartment room, but the time human officers could check it the previous night, the hotel room was empty and had even been cleaned by the hotel staff. They found nothing. Matt hoped there was some way that they could get a plan together so they would at least get some idea on where to look.

"Hey! Detective!" a voice called to him.

Matt turned to see Officer Morgan escorting a lone man toward him. The man looked nervous, but wasn't in cuffs and wasn't being led in any way that would indicate that he was under arrest. Matt stopped and looked over to them with some slight concern.

"Is something wrong?" Matt asked.

"Not necessarily wrong, but connected with your John Doe case with the GTF," Officer Morgan said slowly.

"Did you see him?" Matt asked urgently, knowing that a sighting might give them some clue as to where to look.

"I think so," the man said slowly, "at least it looked like the guy you showed on the news. He was walkin' on the street when this black car came out of nowhere and grabbed him."

"He was grabbed?" Matt asked.

"That's what he told me, just as I came in," Officer Morgan nodded, "but I thought it best if you listened to him based on where he says he was. It might mean that your present case is continuing to expand."

Matt gave a heavy sigh at that. The words 'continuing to expand' meant that things were getting tougher. He'd served well as an FBI agent, despite his private search for the Illuminati, and had proven to be a very good cop and detective in New York. He also knew that the clan had been good protectors on their own and were rapidly proving to be good cops as well. Matt and Elisa had both learned through years of experience, and they had tried to teach to the rest of the clan, that cases always had some complication to them. The more cases expanded or the more complications they had commonly meant that the harder the answer would be. The term 'open and shut' case was only a euphemism for the few cases that were relatively simple.

Finding out who had sparked the riot against Ralph Maccio had given them an idea as to who they were looking for, but the identification had done nothing to say where John Doe was hanging out or frequently operating. In that sense it was already a needle in a haystack, which meant that while the case was officially the Gargoyles Task Force's, other units in the NYPD were also working the case as well. Now, it would appear that John Doe had been kidnapped by someone and that the case was expanding. This was not good news.

"Come with me," Matt sighed and motioned for the man to follow him, he figured he'd hear the new twist on the present case in his 'office' with a fresh cup of coffee.

The man followed him all the way up to the attic office area for the Gargoyles Task Force. Detective Flariaty was already present, but was just setting down some of her things and noticed the man nervously following him.

"You pick up a recruit, Matt?" Detective Flariaty teased.

"No," Matt sighed, "We have someone who has witnessed something. He's already given a statement to Officer Morgan and now he's here to give it to us."

Detective Flariaty nodded and offered the man a chair in front of Matt's desk. Once the chair was in place and the man was seated, Detective Flariaty stepped back, but did keep some focus on the man. If he had come to make a statement to the Gargoyles Task Force, it would have to be something big.

"You said downstairs that you saw the man we've identified as John Doe?" Matt asked him.

"Yes, I believe so," the man answered, "but he got grabbed by these guys in a black car… might have been an SUV. Looked like something the Feds would use."

Matt let that part slide. The FBI didn't always use black vans, and more often than not, agents used their own vehicles when they drove two or from scenes on simple investigations. A more 'armored' vehicle was only used if the situation required it. The NYPD operated under fairly similar principles, though a uniformed officer and an FBI agent largely filled different roles.

"Did you get the license plate of this car, van, whatever?" Detective Flariaty asked.

The man paused and thought for a moment and then asked, "You guys will make sure that they don't get me for seeing it? The guys in the van looked rather big."

"We can keep your statement anonymous," Matt assured him, "no one but us will know that you made the statement."

"I was thinking that one of your gargoyles could be a bodyguard," the man replied nervously, "and if they come at me, they can arrest them."

Matt sighed. The guy seemed terrified by what he saw, which could either mean one of two things. One it was some sort of monstrous creature, which since everyone knew about the gargoyles couldn't be impossible. The other was that organized crime was involved and would be ruthless enough to bully witnesses.

"We can put you into protective custody if you really think that whoever kidnapped John Doe is that much of a threat," Matt offered, "but the clan's duties with the NYPD are not to be personal bodyguards."

"Protective custody sounds good," the man said nervously.

"Okay," Detective Flariaty sighed, hoping to get things moving again, as the man seemed to be extremely nervous, "did you get the license plate on the car?"

"Yeah…" the man said slowly, "I believe it was A478D01… I think…"

That made Matt and Flariaty blink. On many common cases, units within any police would share some information through various units, task forces, and precincts. One such case was reported the night before with a black SUV type vehicle pulling in rapidly to having a guy on the street being grabbed, but none of the reports actually identified the man that was grabbed. It was treated as a common kidnapping case and circulated among the patrol units, which included the Gargoyles Task Force.

Matt read some of the faxes that had been sent up, but since they 'officially' began the search for John Doe the previous night, that case was essentially filed under a 'if opportunity arises' scenario. Now, the case would be tied into the case for John Doe and would give them an opportunity to get a lead on where the man had gone.

"Did that help?" the man asked, noticing Matt's response.

"Yes," Matt gave a bit more confident smile, "it will complicate some things for sure… BUT you've actually given us something that could lead to John Doe's capture. And for that you have my thanks."

"And the protective custody?" the man asked.

"I can help you with that," Detective Flariaty answered, "I can take you down to the Witness Protection Offices and we'll go through the paperwork for it… though, you'll need to remember that your testimony will probably go for the trial of whoever kidnapped John Doe, okay?"

The man nodded and rapidly followed Detective Flariaty back to the stairs.

"Are we interrupting something?" came Brooklyn's voice making Matt turn to the glass doors that lead to the outside of the clock-tower offices that the Gargoyles Task Force operated in.

"No," Matt answered, "You guys are right on time, and we actually have good news to start your shift."

Brooklyn glanced to Broadway shrugged and made his way in. Good news was better than no news. The members of the clan that were on duty slowly entered and gathered around a large flat desk that served as a situation desk for them. At the same time, Matt walked over from his desk was to explain what had just happened that might potentially give them a shot at catching John Doe. Matt gave a polite nod to Elisa and then began to lean over the desk, where there was a map of the city.

"So, what's the good news, Matt?" Elisa asked him.

"A lead," Matt said simply, "As you all know… likely from those who were on duty last night or were involved in stopping the attack on Maccio… that our present mission is to find and arrest one 'John Doe' for his involvement in sparking the riot."

Matt heard collective sighs from all of the gargoyles there. Candy's sounded particularly heavy, which meant that there was some personal trouble that had been sparked by the riot, but Matt wasn't going to mess with that for the moment. He had long respected Elisa as a cop, due to their time as partners, but over time he had also come to respect the younger females that had joined the clan. They had had to put up with quite a lot with regard to the change in their species, but they had also shown a level of maturity that Matt would have never expected from teenagers in what was likely their last year of high school. He held back a chuckle as he remembered some of the 'wild' things he did even in his freshman year of college.

"On the surface this is a needle in a haystack… since John Doe appears to have the sort of face that is not easily noticed unless you're deliberately looking for him," Matt sighed, "As Goliath's shift can surely attest from last night… but now we've gotten a lead that will help us find him."

"Someone saw him?" Caroline asked, remembering the first riot the man had caused.

Matt nodded and then pointed to the area on the map where the other reports had been made about a guy being grabbed and taken into a black SUV type vehicle.

"Yesterday during the day a guy was grabbed here by some tough guys in a black SUV," Matt explained, "The license read A478D01. At the time we assumed it to be a standard kidnapping since the identity of who was grabbed hadn't been known… but now we did get a witness who did identify the man who was grabbed…"

"And he was identified as John Doe?" Elisa asked, "Why didn't he report this earlier?"

"He is John Doe, as to why… he didn't tell me," Matt sighed, "He likely told Officer Morgan, but I haven't had the chance to get that answer from him, yet…"

The others nodded.

"Anyway, we know that John Doe was grabbed by two men in that black SUV," Matt answered, "We find the vehicle, we'll find the owner, and the owner can then point us in the direction of John Doe."

The others gave some optimistic smiles and possibly finding the man that had caused them so much chaos of late. Matt noticed and also gave a warning, to make sure no one got too cocky.

"Just for warning… the witness we have seemed to be on edge just about reporting the situation to us," Matt said in warning, "This could mean that the perpetrator is something… something odd by most human norms or is part of some organized crime movement. And if it's the latter, we can't assume that they're as stupid as Dracon was."

"We'll be careful," Elisa assured him, "and remember, we can't go into any raised and underground parking lots to look for this SUV. Not without a warrant and the judges aren't going to give one to search every garage in the city…"

"We'd also tip them off if we do that," Matt nodded, "if you can find it on the road, tail it and we'll go from there."

**Elsewhere**

"This is actually a pretty nice place," John Doe commented to his host, Tora Mikazu, as they went through what looked like a fairly upscale hotel.

"Isn't it?" Tora replied, "Supposedly Tony Dracon used to use this place a lot before his sloppy behavior attracted to much attention to his criminal endeavors."

"Wouldn't that mean that the police would be watching this place closely?" John Doe wondered carefully.

"Why?" Tora asked back, "Dracon got himself and his whole organization busted. Now… I've heard rumors that he could get out some technicalities here or there, but they're likely only rumors based on how sloppy he was. Most of that related to deciding to go after the gargoyles as if it were a personal vendetta."

"As we've already agreed getting rid of the gargoyles wouldn't be a bad thing," John Doe commented, "though, I'd honestly warn you that getting rid of them is also counterproductive. What is wanted or needed is money, going after the gargoyles produces no money… not unless you have secret supporter you haven't told me of yet."

"But they make it tougher to get money," Tora commented, "One could make it easier by getting rid of them. Humans we can fool… and to some extent even dogs can be fooled, but these gargoyles seem to not only have a dog's sense of smell but a human's reasoning power. This means they might spot something that is used to trick a dog and make the conclusion that would then lead to a conviction."

"Maybe… but greater daytime activity or perhaps smarter tactics might allow you to avoid them," John Doe answered, "confronting them was Dracon's problem. I could see that on the news in England. Going after them only attracted more attention to Dracon and lessened the loopholes he could use to get out of his crimes."

Tora then glanced at John Doe heavily with a slightly disapproving look.

"And what does your whole scheme with cloning a dragon going to do?" Tora questioned, "You'll need cooperation from someone that is skilled in genetics and crooked enough to do the job and accept bribes… or wicked enough to do it for a share of the cut from whatever crimes you commit after your distraction…"

"I have no illusions of the gargoyles or the police not noticing my actions," John Doe answered, "They've already caught me once and are presently looking for me in connection with the riot between PIT and Ralph Maccio. But they won't be able to connect the dots behind the true meaning of my actions until after I've done them… and by then I intend to be gone. Misdirection is the best weapon to use. While they chase the distraction, capitalize on it."

"That sounds like a short term solution," Tora answered, "I'm looking at something more long lasting than being around for a week or two…"

"Then eventually you'll make the same sloppy mistakes that Dracon made," John Doe warned, "the longer you're around, the more links the police will draw to you, and the more heat you'll take."

Tora scowled at him again.

"I can easily have you 'offed,' you know that, right?" Tora questioned, not liking the advice that John Doe was giving.

"Of course," John Doe answered, "but I was under the impression that you merely wished to profit off of my activities and that I was not to be some sort of permanent fixture in your organization…"

"You will serve me as long as I need," Tora answered, deciding to take a harsher stance, "the original deal has changed and I will keep changing it until I get what I want."

John Doe looked fairly cautious at that, and then heard something that made him a bit more afraid.

"And I know you've also been involved in the murder of a couple of people using some dart gun and poison," Tora answered, "we confiscated it when we grabbed you."

John Doe gave a slightly nervous gulp, as he hadn't thought to look for the weapon he had.

"I'll do what I can," John Doe said weakly.

"I thought you would," Tora smiled.

"And how are you making sure that no one will spot me here?" John Doe asked.

"Unlike Dracon who simply rented suites here, I BOUGHT the place as a front," Tora answered, "I make money off of the standard and legal deals the hotel makes. As such, all images of you on the security cameras will mysteriously vanish on my orders and this floor is kept vacant… so long as you hold your end of the bargain."

"I will," John Doe replied, "Hopefully though… your errand boys are a little bit more tactful with the various geneticists in Manhattan than they were with me."

"They're professionals, don't worry," Tora said slowly.

**Gen-U-Tech**

Meanwhile, Tora's main lieutenants made their way into the office of the top geneticist in the company. While David Xanatos had chummed up to gargoyles since their being revealed all Manhattan and had cut his ties with Anton Sevarius since that time as well, Gen-U-Tech was still a leading company in genetics and the two lieutenants figured it was the best place to start. They wore crude imitations of US Army dress uniforms in the hopes that the question would not look as though they were thugs playing to corruption. As they entered the office they found that the other option might have been better. Papers and notes seemed to be scattered around, and much of them seemed to be filled with various theories that neither understood.

"Can I help you?" came a slightly puzzled sounding voice from behind the desk.

They both looked over to see the new Gen-U-Tech geneticist sitting there looking suspiciously at both of them. Eventually, the first of them stepped forward.

"I'm Captain Karloff and this is Captain Edwards, sir," the man spoke, using aliases, but it was doubtful the geneticist would know that, "and we are here on a bit of a government R & D mission for you."

"Research and development?" the geneticist asked.

"Yes," Karloff answered, "what sounds so odd about that?"

"This is a genetics company," the geneticist answered, "you army guys are usually more into gadgets than genetics."

"That was before the dragon," Karloff explained.

"That dragon?!" the geneticist gasped, not giving Karloff or Edwards a chance to even continued, "That thing practically destroyed the city and did who knows how much damage! And the gargoyles when they finally engaged it had to do quite a lot just to take it down."

"That was precisely what we're talking about," Edwards spoke up, "we did get a blood sample from it, and we figured we could clone the dragon. Once it grows up and with the right training it'd be an unstoppable weapon!"

"And it would save a lot of human lives since it would also carry the sort of mystical shock factor that people won't want to fight it and will just surrender so that we don't have to use it," Karloff finished.

The geneticist gave a heavy sight and rubbed his head with one hand. He was tasked at present to try and reverse the mutation that Anton Sevarius had inflicted on the mutates, and that was what all the notes in his office were designed to deal with that issue. Updates from Dr. Weinsheimer and his treatment of Fox's pregnancy was helpful, but that was mostly with the physiology of the mutates.

What he needed was the status of the formula that Sevarius had created in the bloodstream of those mutated. If it was still there, it could mean that the presence of the formula was the only think keeping the mutates as mutates. All that would really be needed is something that would kill the formula and wouldn't touch their bodily cells and eventually they would revert back to human form as part of normal cell division. If it was no longer there, it would mean an entirely new serum would need to be developed and one that would need the original DNA strains would need to be there in order for it to work. Based on what notes that Sevarius had left behind, the geneticist had figured out that if they did use a retro-virus serum, if they just used random human DNA, the mutate would likely be turned into a clone of the person who's DNA was used.

All of this was frustrating and the geneticist felt he was losing a lot of sleep trying to find a cure for his predecessor's insane experiments. He'd even told Xanatos flat out that the experiments he'd commissioned from Sevarius broke every moral code that could be read and furthered the scientist's insane lack of morals and willingness to do such things. Because of this, Xanatos had left himself open for a lifetime prison sentence if any of the mutates decided to expose his involvement in their mutation, and the fact that Sevarius came back to bite Xanatos and his family in butt wouldn't matter. Xanatos admitted he had done wrong and that's why the geneticist was hired to reverse it.

And now the army was wanting him to engage in another of Sevarius's morally wrong and extralegal activities. All of it was part of some idea for a more organic weapon, as if a dragon could be trained like a dog. The geneticist supposed it was possible, but given what the dragon that had attacked New York had done, he doubted it.

"And the Defense Department really wants this?" the geneticist asked after a few moments of rubbing his head.

"That's why we're here," Edwards said with a smile.

"Do you have the request form? And Mr. Xanatos's approval?" the geneticist questioned carefully.

Karloff turned in his seat and the geneticist could hear a briefcase opening and then papers shuffling. The man then presented the paper to the geneticist. The geneticist looked at it and then raised an eyebrow suspiciously.

"Only you and your associate have signed this," the geneticist commented, "where is your commanding officer's signature? Where is the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff's signature? Where is the Secretary of Defense's signature? Where is the President's signature?"

"We are in command of the project, our signatures are all you need," Karloff assured him.

"Two Captains are in charge of a large government project to raise an army of dragons to threaten enemies with?" the geneticist said slowly.

"Yes," Karloff nodded.

The geneticist gave a sigh, "buddy, my father served in Vietnam and served for a few years after Vietnam ended. During that time he was involved in some of the development of new weaponry. Captains were certainly involved, but they didn't command the entire program."

Karloff and Edwards glanced to each other.

"The program is new and isn't fully organized yet," Edwards said quickly, "but the orders we received were to find a genetics company willing to work on the project as quickly as possible."

"So they're rushing you around before getting their act together?" the geneticist asked, still not totally buying what the two men were selling.

"Yes," Karloff replied with a nod and a very heavy sigh.

"Well… fax me the details tomorrow and get Mr. Xanatos's approval for the go ahead on this project," the geneticist answered, "and I'll consider it."

"Mr. Xanatos's approval?" Edwards asked, sounding surprised.

"Yes," the geneticist nodded, "Gen-U-Tech is a subsidy of Xanatos Enterprises. Any project, be it from the government or from Xanatos, himself, would have some paperwork from his office. I'll overlook the fact that you've shown up here without his approval thanks to your commanders deciding to rush things beyond all reason, but that is the protocol that is followed. You send the request to us and Mr. Xanatos, Xanatos then confirms the assignment and gives us the exact parameters to carry out the project to then sell to the government. That's how it works."

Both Edwards and Karloff sighed and agreed to do what they could. They shook the geneticist's hand and then made their way out.

"Tora's gonna kill us," Karloff grumbled.

"No, she'll kill John Doe," Edwards corrected, "It was his idea and his plan."

**Above New York**

Abigail Wexmand was getting better at gliding, and Lex could see it easily as they glided above the streets of the city. Of course, being a web-winged gargoyle, that was easy to do. The rest of the clan might have the ability to carry more since their wings were on their back, but Lex, Candy, and now Abigail could actual feel the air currents better than the others better. This allowed for quicker and easier adjustments. The great downside for them was that they couldn't carry anything heavy that would require more than two hands and they would have to get used to stiff arms.

"You're doing quite well," Lex told her encouragingly.

"Yeah," Abigail managed weakly, "going in a straight line and that's about it. I don't corner well and my landings need a lot of work."

That was true, but they were really only things that would get better with practice. Corners and landing were always something even hatchlings struggled with, but it was easier for web-winged gargoyles. For Lex, turning was a simple matter of tipping his body in the direction he wanted to turn. For Brooklyn, turning meant tilting his wings in opposite directions. One wing had to go down while the other went up, and they had to stop at a point where the crosswinds caught his wings almost as much as the wind pushing him along. In the maze of New York's buildings that was surprisingly easy, but if he didn't get the exact angle of his wings right, even in such an easy area to glide and turn, he could lose control. Brooklyn had even mentioned that Amy made mistakes on that when she was learning to glide.

"Well… just remember that as a web-wing, turning is easy for us," Lex told her, "all we have to do is bank and keep our arms and legs out as though we were still in level flight… or gliding…"

They made their way around a corner and kept on their way. Abigail did do slightly better, and she did admit that Lex was right there. Her turns were not as sharp as the olive green male's, but they also didn't give her too much trouble. With all of that, she half wondered those with more 'normal' wings managed to glide, since no one had actually told her about that. Her chief concern was mostly with her landings where she almost always managed to misjudge how much she was slowing down in her attempts. Either she didn't slow down enough and she glided straight into something or she slowed down too much and ended up falling straight down and landing roughly… not always on her feet.

"I wish landing were easier," Abigail gave a half grumble, "to be honest, this would be a lot better without the fear of crashing at the end."

"That'll come with practice," Lex said with a sigh, "besides, if you're going to be gliding anywhere… like the PIT meetings or to meet with Mr. Quest… you'll have to master landing. We can't go along and catch you at every meeting… and Candy would certainly be jealous if it were me having to do that."

"Don't worry," Abigail gave a sigh at the joke, "you're a little too young for me. It'd be robbing the cradle."

They went a little farther when the sound of a frustrated conversation came up from below them.

"I'm sorry, but that's what he said, we need Xanatos's approval before they can formally go ahead," the voice stated loudly and defensively, almost as if he was trying to persuade someone who could have him killed and he was having a panic attack.

Lex looked down to see Karloff and Edwards walking out of Gen-U-Tech and toward a black SUV in the genetics company's parking lot. For the moment it raised some curiosity on Lex's part, as he didn't think Xanatos had any big deals with the military going on at the present time.

"Yeah," Karloff then continued, "We're on our way there now and we'll see what we can do… but next time Mr. Doe gets a great idea, tell him to fully research the idea FIRST!"

That turned things from curiosity to suspicion.

"Doe… as in John Doe?" Lex wondered aloud.

"What is it?" Abigail asked him.

"I think those guys are in league with the guy that started the riot," Lex whispered.

Abigail's eyes flashed red almost instinctively.

"Get them," Abigail instructed in an almost growling tone.

"I can't," Lex answered nervously, "I'm not on duty. If I just jump them, I'm breaking the duty schedule the Gargoyles Task Force is under."

"They went after my daughter and your mate!" Abigail argued.

Lex gave a sigh. In all likelihood, John Doe went after all of the gargoyles to try and stir up some sort of trouble. It was likely only a coincidence that Candy had been on duty and responded to the riot he caused and that John Doe decided to stir up his trouble at a PIT meeting.

"I'm sure… but remember we're supposed to be proving we aren't beasts and monsters," Lex argued back, "He may be wrong, but if we just jump them… especially while I'm off duty and you don't have a badge… we'll only give Maccio more fuel to burn. Do you want that?"

That snapped Abigail out of her anger and she shook her head no. What she wanted was for her daughter to be allowed to be happy. She personally considered John Doe a threat to that, but she could also realize that he wasn't the only threat the clan had… and she'd been around them enough to also know that things weren't easy. They then began to slowly glide after the car that Karloff and Edwards were in, though after a block or two, it was quite clear that they were headed toward the Eyrie Building.

"No," Abigail admitted, "he just made me angry… that's all…"

"It's okay," Lex told her, "gargoyles are by nature protective. Going after someone who's threatened someone you protect is an instinctive response and perfectly natural. It will be something you'll need to control though…"

Abigail again nodded slowly.

"So, if you can't arrest them…"

"I do have my walkie-talkie radio that we all have," Lex answered, "I can give a report in to either the Precinct's dispatch officers or directly to the Gargoyles Task Force and let them know that we've stumbled across a lead. They will then take it from there… and since they've said they're on their way to see Xanatos…"

"You can tell them where these guys are headed," Abigail finished.

And with that Lex nodded, "And they can then take the appropriate action, be it arrest them, monitor them, or confront them with a deal to offer."

The two then slowly glided after the car. Slowing down was okay for Abigail, though she felt she had to focus on what she was doing. She hadn't learned enough to do too much more. Lex, meanwhile, was getting ready for what he had to do next.

A couple of blocks away, Caroline and Angela glided quietly, keeping an eye out for any trouble and waiting for any alert from the dispatch officer for trouble. Though, while they were supposed to be focused on keeping crime down in all of Manhattan, the fact that they finally had a lead on John Doe was what was on their minds the most. Particularly as the two of them were the ones to catch John Doe the first time for his little stunt with a zip line and a fake gargoyle to see what people would do if 'buzzed' by one.

"Any sign of any van?" Caroline asked as she scanned the roadway, trying to catch the license plates of the cars below them.

"No," Angela sighed, "not that I can see… but if it's out there, either we will find him or one of the others will catch him."

Just as the two rounded another corner, the communicator on Angela's belt came to live with short buzzing. Reaching into the pouch on her belt, the lavender female carefully readied the walkie-talkie that the clan carried to talk with each other while on patrol or with the NYPD's dispatch officers. She soon found that the one calling her was not dispatch or Matt but Lexington.

"Hey, this is Lex," came Lex's voice almost as soon as Angela activated the walkie-talkie.

"Lex?!" Angela gasped, "You're off duty! What are you doing?"

Both of them were surprised to have Lex contacting them directly. Normally those not on duty with the police were busy at the castle with babysitting duties with the Tibetan hatchlings. Some of that would be a bit difficult sense some of them were now being allowed to go out on outings outside the castle. Lex's case might be a bit different, since and Angela and Caroline both assumed that he would be helping Candy's mom when he wasn't on duty and Candy would take over those duties on the other nights. Still, they didn't expect to have him call them.

"Right now I'm helping Abigail with her gliding," Lex answered over the radio, "but we've just come across something that I thought should be reported in to you guys… and I've been trying to get to those other than Candy and Amy… you two are the only ones not on a different call."

"It isn't John Doe, is it?" Caroline asked to Angela in curiosity and then waited while Angela repeated the question.

Caroline assumed that it had to have been him. While Caroline and Angela wanted to catch him because of the fact that they had been the first to catch him, Caroline was fairly certain that the matter was personal for Candy. After all, John Doe had busted up a PIT meeting, incited a riot, and totally unnerved Abigail Wexmand to the point where she clutched at her daughter when Candy returned near to dusk. The fact that Abigail Wexmand hadn't been killed by being pulled into stone-sleep with Candy was a minor miracle, but becoming a gargoyle as a result of it would mean a big change for now two pink web-winged gargoyles.

There were some things that also made Caroline potentially nervous on that whole thing. The fact that Demona's failed attempt to become human again that had transformed the female trio so long ago had left some 'magical residue' on Candy that Abigail absorbed would mean that all of the clan's transformed females had that same residue on them as well. That made Caroline worry a little bit over her own relationship with Lawrence. She loved him dearly, and there was a part of her mind that had traitorously wondered about pulling him into stonesleep with her so they could be the same species again, but she banished those thoughts from her mind. Lawrence had loved her in spite of all their differences and had been loyal to her when she was just adapting to being a gargoyle, herself. And while they would have many years as husband and wife ahead of them, Caroline wasn't about to rob Lawrence of the future of his choice by making him be a gargoyle.

That then brought her mind back to the situation Candy had found herself in. She wondered what she would do if some lunatic had so unhinged Lawrence that he would have made the same decisions Abigail had… to hold her as if his own presence would protect her. She figured she'd probably want to throttle the guy for going after her husband and mate in such a way. That was probably what Lex was thinking, avoiding alerting his mate to a crook's location when that crook had thoroughly attacked his mate's family in the most insidious of ways.

"I think they work for John Doe, but I couldn't hear all that well, but I do know they're headed for the Eyrie Building," Lex answered, "Likely to carry out some sort of weird plan. We're following them now, but as you said… I'm off duty. So whenever you can catch up, Abigail and I will back off."

"Can you see the license plate?" Angela asked, figuring to see if they could get any additional information as to the identity of who Lex had stumbled onto while giving gliding lessons.

"A478D01," Lex answered.

"We'll be right there," Angela answered quickly, "Where are you right now?"

"About a block north from Gen-U-Tech," Lex answered, "We'll update you on what turns they make."

"Right," Angela responded.

The two then banked and moved toward the general area that Lex had said where he was. Even with knowledge of where John Doe's kidnappers were going, and with the fact that if Lex was the only one who could respond, he could respond according to the procedures they had learned, both also knew that the Gargoyles Task Force was wrestling with a lot of political issues and until their shifts were officially moved from these alternating shifts to an everyday shift they couldn't give Maccio any more fire to claim that they were taking over the city. The wind rustled a little under their wings, but they were quick continue on their way to doing what would be needed to be done.

**The Eyrie Building, Xanatos's Office**

Xanatos looked over some of the daily reports that were due for official supervision and as Xanatos Enterprises CEO needed his attention. Most of them were reports on updates for various projects. Some were requests for new projects and some were requisitions for specific parts that would be needed for certain projects. Some things were doing fairly well while others weren't doing as well, but that was of course, business. His mutated form probably didn't help matters, but Gen-U-Tech's scientists were working hard to try and reverse Sevarius's schemes. If they got lucky, the mutations would be reversed. He and his wife could resume their lives as they were before their mutation. Talon and the others could move out of the sewers.

But, until then, he couldn't do that. The robot doppelganger might work in some cases, particularly if he remotely piloted it as a drone, but it wouldn't work for everything, and it didn't have an unlimited power supply. This meant it couldn't go on a trip that would take it away from Xanatos Enterprises headquarters for long. So, Xanatos contented himself to work from the shadows and through Owen, and taking whatever hits that came his way the best way possible.

He'd just finished looking over one report when he heard the mechanical hiss of the door to his office opening. He looked up to see Owen entering and on the phone.

"Very well, thank you, Doctor," Owen stated calmly.

"Is something up, Owen?" Xanatos asked curiously.

"If by something odd, then yes, sir," Owen answered, "that was the present head of research at Gen-U-Tech. He has informed me of being contacted by two US Army Captains, or at least so they claim to be…"

"Two people impersonating officers of the United States Army contacted him?" Xanatos asked, "Directly."

Owen slowly nodded, "Yes, sir. They proposed stated that they had a genetic sample from the dragon that attacked the Eyrie Building and want to clone that dragon."

"Clone the dragon?" Xanatos wondered.

"From what they told our geneticist, to train to be the ultimate weapon," Owen answered.

"Well… someone's got his big boy schemes on, doesn't he?" Xanatos half chuckled, "If such a project were to come around from the army we'd get a call from a general or someone in the Defense Department… not two captains."

"That's what our geneticist said," Owen answered, "He believes they are trying some sort of scam, but their papers do look legitimate beyond the lack of the signatures we would expect… as such they likely on their way."

That made Xanatos look up with startled and wide eyes. He had no appointments and didn't expect to have any. Of course, he generally hadn't had ANY appointments since his mutation, but Owen took over the majority of the appointments that were scheduled. Owen, however, didn't have any scheduled either.

"Yes, sir," Owen said slowly, "They are on their way. Do you wish me to power up the drone to be done robotically… will you control it remotely… or do you wish me to handle the meeting?"

"I'll pilot the drone remotely," Xanatos answered, "Someone is trying to pull a fast one on us, and I'm too curious about who it could be. If everything is legit, we'll file it under 'to be done later' when the official call comes in… and if not… will turn the papers they have as well as our security camera footage of the meeting over to the police for fraud charges."

Owen only nodded.

Outside, Karloff and Edwards arrived and moved to park in the underground parking garage that was under the Eyrie Building. They were slightly nervous as their meeting with Gen-U-Tech's geneticist didn't go as easily as John Doe told them it should have gone, and the fact that they had to try and play the same game again with one of the most powerful men in the country with regard to his personal fortune that was then touched with a rather eccentric nature made things even more difficult.

"This isn't going to go well," Edwards said nervously as they walked toward the stairs that would take them up to the lobby area, "We barely got the geneticist to accept things and he still sounded suspicious."

"Hey, our paperwork is legit," Karloff answered, "All we gotta do is act like real Army captains and he'll just cave."

"Like the geneticist caved?" Edwards questioned, "He barely bought that we're part of a project that barely has its organization together and yet wants to rush results through before everything is together."

Karloff didn't answer.

"I know you're just as nervous as I am," Edwards said again as they began climbing the stairs.

"We have to act confident," Karloff answered, his words soft and barely heard over the sound of their shoes hitting the concrete stairs. "If not… we won't succeed. We did succeed with the geneticist. Talk confident, look confident, and make it clear that the government wants this done quickly… perhaps even completed before the Presidential elections in November… and we might manage to succeed."

Edwards glanced to Karloff but then figured the line he said about the Presidential election might work. Hopefully the idea worked, because it sounded like too good a trick to fail.

**Castle Wyvern**

"Eeeek!" Abigail gave a half shriek as she came in a landing.

The landing wasn't a complete failure, as she didn't end up flat on her face, but she did end up skidding along the stones with her talons digging into them. She breathed a sigh of relief at not completely crashing as Lex, Angela, and Caroline came into land behind her. She then heard a series of giggles and looked over Goliath standing there with a small group of Tibetan hatchlings near one of the far walls of the courtyard. It appeared as though the large lavender male had been giving an astronomy lesson.

"I'm sorry if I interrupted anything," Abigail said apologetically.

"That was cool," one of the hatchlings said excitedly.

"Do you always squeal like that when having fun?" another asked.

Abigail didn't know how to answer that. The hatchlings looked rather curious and innocent, and she wasn't sure on how to explain that she wasn't showing off, but was failing to land calmly.

"They don't mind," Goliath gave a chuckle, "and I'm only pointing out the constellations we can see here, and seeing if they know anything about the sky in their traditional home."

Abigail only nodded and finally answered the hatchlings that had come up to her, "I'm still only learning."

That created a series of giggles. The hatchlings had been told what had happened to Abigail Wexmand, and had been told to be respectful, but that doesn't mean that kids of any species necessarily did everything they were told to do. Abigail only let that go. Goliath, meanwhile, looked to see that Caroline and Angela had also landed in the courtyard.

"What are you doing here?" Goliath asked, sounding half surprised and half puzzled.

"For the moment following two guys that kidnapped John Doe, mostly in the hope that he will ultimately lead us to him," Angela answered.

"Kidnapped?" Lex and Abigail gasped.

"Yes, some guy reported to Matt just as our shift started that John Doe was actually the guy grabbed by some guys in a black SUV with the license plate A478D01," Caroline nodded, "they'll ultimately lead us to where they have him or to where we can arrest them."

"From what we overheard, I think they're actually working for John Doe," Lex told them.

"Either way, if the lead will allow for his capture, it doesn't matter," Goliath rumbled, "I assume they apparently have some scheme they're playing out with Xanatos?"

"While masquerading as two Army officers from what Lex and I could see," Abigail reported, feeling that it was the right thing to do. Even if she wasn't going to join the police, she could at least give them the information they'd need to protect the city.

"We'll be up on the battlements until they actually head out again," Angela told her father.

With that, Caroline and Angela left for the stairs while Lex and Abigail found themselves being pulled into helping Goliath point out constellations.

Meanwhile, Karloff and Edwards made their way into large and rather spacious office, though they also found it fairly dimly lit, other than a few lights that were around the desk where they saw a man in a dark suit while looking over various pieces of paperwork. They were following a blonde man in a blue suit who also carried himself like he was made of wood. The two of them found the blonde man hard to read and hoped that Xanatos's reputation of being more 'fluid' was real.

"Sir, Captains Edwards and Karloff are here to see you," the blonde man, Owen, stated.

The Xanatos drone then looked up and focused on both Edwards and Karloff for a few moments.

"I wasn't expecting a visit from the army," 'Xanatos' said slowly.

"We apologize for the rushed nature of our business, Mr. Xanatos," Karloff spoke, "but our orders are to get our project running as quickly as possible and to have it done before the November elections."

"A rushed project?" Xanatos raised an eyebrow.

"Yes," Karloff nodded, "We've been tasked to create a clone of the dragon that rampaged through New York… and to get it done quickly."

"The program has been so rushed that Captain Karloff and I have been the only ones whose names had been put into the project," Edwards answered.

"But your orders do come from the Defense Department?" Xanatos questioned.

"Yes, the orders given to us for the program are from the Defense Department," Karloff answered, "that is back in our own offices. What we have is the project commission forms."

Again the false documents were taken from the briefcase they hand and were handed to Xanatos while Owen stood quietly near a wall. Xanatos took them with a soft smile and looked over them for a few moments.

"Only your names are on the documents," Xanatos said after a moment.

"Yes," Edwards nodded, "as we said, things are rather rushed at the moment. We don't even have a formal commander, yet."

"Because they want it done before the elections?" Xanatos asked.

"Yes," Karloff answered, "we fear that the government will change and our budget will be slashed. If we can get the project started before the election, it'll take time for them cancel it… and by that time…"

"You hope to have a grown and trained dragon that could be your ultimate weapon," Xanatos finished with an almost playful smirk.

Karloff and Edwards nodded eagerly, not fully catching the smirk that Xanatos gave. Much of their lack of noticing was the fact that they were actually making progress with the man. They figured that since he wasn't poking holes in their statements and giving excuses why they shouldn't have to do something that Xanatos would go along with it. In fact, Karloff felt so confident that he had to suppress a confident smile.

"Precisely," Karloff answered, "and one that being biological we could grow several… possibly even engineer it so that there are males and females and then new dragons wouldn't need a lot of lab work. It would give us the strength to defeat or frighten any enemy of the US."

His voice sounded eager, but if Xanatos noticed it, he didn't show it. Eventually he looked at the papers that he had passed to the billionaire.

"I trust you have everything you'll need?" Karloff asked.

"Yes," Xanatos nodded, "I see you have a Manhattan address… you don't want our updates delivered to the Pentagon?"

"You can send copies there if you wish," Karloff spoke, "but our offices will be in Manhattan to keep close watch on the project."

"I see," Xanatos gave a shrug, "we'll let you know on how our progress goes."

"Thank you, Mr. Xanatos," Edwards spoke up.

"No, thank you," Xanatos answered, "Owen will show you out."

Xanatos then nodded to the blonde man who then nodded and stepped forward.

"If you'll come with me," Owen said them.

Playing the role of Army captains, Karloff and Edwards nodded and then followed him. The journey went back to the elevator went quietly and almost with an eerie silence that made both of them nervous, but did their best to hide it. The ride in the elevator only had the noise of soft music playing in the background. Once they finally reached the ground floor, Owen pressed the door open button and stood watch Karloff and Edwards leave.

"Have a good evening," Owen said to them as they left.

Karloff and Edwards nodded and walked out. When they made it to the stairs that would enable them to drive out, they finally smiled. They had done it.

On the battlements, Caroline and Angela looked down toward where the exit to the Eyrie Building's underground parking garage was. The wait was a quiet one, besides the stargazing committee in the courtyard. And not all of the conversation was on the subject of the stars.

"I wish the hatchlings wouldn't pester her like that," Caroline sighed softly

Angela glanced back to listen to some of the hatchlings ask Abigail for her opinions on the differences between life as a human and life as a gargoyle and which she preferred. There were a couple of other questions too, that all sounded rather silly, and Angela did remember them asking Elisa and the clan's other transformed females some of the same questions when they first arrived in New York. They weren't bad or hurtful questions, Angela did agree that the questions didn't help much with regard to someone still trying to adjust to such a drastic change in lifestyle.

"True… but I suppose children will always ask such questions," Angela said slowly after a moment or two, "too innocent to know that what they're asking could be hurtful."

Caroline nodded and resumed her observing the ground below them. They had to keep vigilant and would have to leave handling the hatchlings to those that were not on duty. After a few moments, the black SUV finally appeared on the street. With that, the two females dove from the battlements and began to slowly follow the SUV again. They had their mission to catch the man that caused so much trouble and Karloff and Edwards would be their best chance of getting to John Doe. Caroline wanted the hatchlings to be tolerant with Candy's mother, but she also felt the strong protective instincts of any gargoyle and wanted to catch the man that had, in a way, attacked her clan… her friends… her best friend's mother. She paid little attention to how much she had fought these sorts of protective feelings when she had been adjusting to being a gargoyle.

Back inside Xanatos's office, the real Xanatos regrouped with Owen. He made his own investigative phone calls while he waited for Owen to finish escorting Karloff and Edwards out. When Owen returned the two began to go over the conversation with Karloff and Edwards.

"So, what do you think, sir?" Owen asked.

"They're running some scam, especially with the names Jonathan Karloff and Boris Edwards," Xanatos answered, "But for the moment we'll give them the benefit of the doubt. I gave a call into our contacts with the defense department just to see if there are any Captains Karloff and Edwards in their records. If they do say, yes, that there are such captains, they'll also say as to whether or not they're actually working on such a project…"

"And if not, sir?" Owen asked.

"Then we call the police," Xanatos answered, "Of course, we may have to wait a day or two…"

**23****rd**** Precinct**

"Well that does sound like some progress," Captain Chavez said with a sigh to Detective Flariaty as the deputy commander of the Gargoyles Task Force finished her report on the John Doe case, "You say that Angela and Caroline are following the kidnappers?"

"After Lex stumbled onto them and reported them to Angela and Caroline," Detective Flariaty nodded, "though from what he gave in his statement to them, they might not entirely be kidnappers. The two made it seem like they were actually working WITH John Doe."

Captain Chavez gave a groan and set her pen down. Detective Flariaty then watched as her precinct captain then began to rub her temples with her fingers. She tried to keep her composure, as she didn't want Captain Chavez to think her too easily frustrated by a case that was clearly growing more and more complicated the longer it went on.

"We can't know that for sure until we can catch them," Captain Chavez finally spoke, "Did they say… either Angela or Caroline or Lex… what they were doing at Gen-U-Tech and Xanatos Enterprises?"

"Probably selling something while dressed up as Army officers," Detective Flariaty answered, "Unfortunately they couldn't hear exactly what, and Mr. Xanatos hasn't reported anything on them."

Chavez only shook her head with disappointment at the situation, "when the clan returns to clock out and return to the Castle, have one of them… Elisa preferably… 'lean' on the man. If he wants to protect the clan we need his cooperation in this. We need to know what those two or John Doe are planning…"

"So we can catch them," Detective Flariaty nodded in agreement, "though he might not yet know that the ones that kidnapped/working with John Doe are the ones he was talking to."

"So it'll become a waiting game," Chavez sighed, "as just about all long cases are."

Detective Flariaty nodded.

"How have the other's patrols gone so far tonight?" Chavez asked after a few moments.

"Mostly small things and standard calls that one would expect," Detective Flariaty answered, "attempted robbery, burglary… that sort of thing. Nothing that's going to make a big splash or get Maccio to shut up."

Chavez slowly nodded. It was all standard police work that would never gain much glory or change the opinion of the people like Maccio that were after the clan, but she also knew she had to try and be optimistic and that if they did their job well enough and did it repeatedly, things would change.

"We can only hope," Chavez sighed.

**Tora's Hotel**

Tora and John Doe sat quietly as the two lieutenants who had pretended to be Edwards and Karloff finished their report. They could have done so over the phone, but felt this one was best done in person, particularly to relish in their perceived success.

"So, Xanatos actually bought it?" Tora asked carefully.

"He seemed much more willing to work with it," Edwards answered carefully, "we won't know for sure until we get the call that says that they're ready to receive the blood sample at Gen-U-Tech…"

"But he didn't sound opposed to the idea," Karloff answered, "In fact, he actually sounded more curious than anything else."

"Curious?" John Doe said slowly.

"Yes," Karloff answered.

"We'll need to try some of the other genetics firms tomorrow," John Doe gave a sigh and sat back on the leather couch in the suite that Tora had given him to 'hide out' in.

"What? We put a lot of work into that, and we finally get a yes, and you say we need to start over?!" Edwards gasped.

"You said that this cloned dragon would be a great weapon to capitalize on the chaos it caused!" Tora answered, "And now you're giving up?"

John Doe gave a heavy sigh, "Not giving up, getting a clone of the dragon will open up many opportunities for a good score… but you need to remember who we tried to get to take on the project."

The three people in the room looked at him carefully. John Doe only looked back as though they had completely missed something.

"David Xanatos is well known for his SUPPORT for the gargoyle clan, he has them living in HIS castle," John Doe began…

"Everyone knows that," Tora argued, "but you said it was possible that he could be deceived."

"Possible, but not likely," John Doe answered, "the only reason I considered trying it was because Xanatos has been successful in getting the best possible scientists to work for him and has had a track record of them being rather crooked at times…"

"That a… a Sevarius reference?" Karloff asked.

John Doe nodded at that, thankful that his captors/partners weren't complete blockheads. They at least knew who John Doe was referring to.

"It was well known that Sevarius had rather strange ideas with regard to genetics, including making published works on the possibility of transforming animals into another species of animal," John Doe commented, "it made for revolutionary genetic engineering ideas, but most of the critiques of his work stated that his theories seemed to be based more on Mengele rather than any sound scientific purpose… His question was "what would happen if I do this…" and theorized on those questions. And given that his conclusions never gave any explanation for improving the quality of life for humans, they found it to have no moral center and of questionable scientific value. About the only thing one could create from Sevarius's theories is a monster."

"Yes, but Xanatos did employ him," Karloff pointed out, "it's why it was possible…"

John Doe nodded, "but he's also protected the gargoyles… who have claimed to protect the city. That represents a duel nature in Xanatos that is quite dangerous. He could very well be the perfect guy to work with, because his moral code is not squeaky clean… but he could also be dangerous to us, because unlike Sevarius, Xanatos does appear to have a moral code. Something made him side with the gargoyles and he's supported them regardless of what that support has done to his profits."

"You mean…?" Tora asked.

"I'm saying he might have been suspicious and was toying with you and using what made him a good candidate to aid the gargoyles," John Doe answered.

"Damn," Tora grumbled.

"Want us to off him?" Edwards asked.

"No, leave him alone," John Doe sighed, "My hunch could be wrong, and if we do get some call for things to proceed… we'll have a place to start…and even if my hunch is right… doing that will only attract MORE attention."

Edwards and Karloff both looked to Tora. Tora nodded, grateful for John Doe's help, as when he was working with them, he did make sense.

Outside, on the roof, Angela and Caroline crouched quietly and looked down on the parking lot below the hotel.

"Why do you think they're here?" Caroline wondered, "Wouldn't this look a little… swanky for mobsters…"

"That might be the perfect cover," Angela managed a shrug, "after all, if one doesn't want to look like a mobster, one doesn't stay where one would look like a mobster."

"I suppose that makes sense," Caroline sighed…

Following Karloff and Edwards had been easy for them. The only thing that had been a surprise was that they had been lead to a swanky upscale hotel. That in itself also created problems that were separate from the fact that Karloff and Edwards were not the people being looked for by the NYPD. Sure they were would be arrested for kidnapping John Doe, and perhaps for impersonating army officers, but the one they needed to catch was John Doe. Their entire mission to tail Karloff and Edwards was to get a lead on where John Doe was.

"Did you get a good look at their faces when they went in?" Caroline asked after a moment.

"Yeah… we'd actually need a photograph for it to work… or actual names, and that we don't have," Angela answered, "For the moment, all we can do is report the buildings they go to. I suppose getting photos of them will be the duty of those who are on tomorrow night's shift."

"Everything's part of a process I suppose," Caroline then sighed.

They ended up waiting quietly until they saw both Karloff and Edwards come out of the hotel. They returned to their vehicle and both gargoyles readied their wings as they saw the SUV start up. While they could pick up the engine starting, it sort of blended in with the sounds of the other car engines in Manhattan and they had to rely on see the SUV's headlights come on. As the SUV reached the intersection with the street, the blue and lavender females leaped from the roof to begin following the SUV again.

"Hopefully they go home this time," Angela commented, "If we can put them in an apartment building… and identify it as their place of residence…"

"A regular unit can set up some observation," Caroline nodded, "and the nose will tighten around John Doe."

Angela nodded. Gliding after the vehicle took precision gliding, too low, too far back, or too far to a side would leave them exposed to being seen in the vehicle's mirrors. If they go too high or stay directly above it and they'd either fail to turn or would end up swinging so wide that they would be spotted in the rearview mirrors. The only way they could be sure that that hadn't happened was by continuing to follow them. If they went to a series of random places, they had been spotted, and if they went straight to what would likely be their apartments, they hadn't been spotted.

"They looking up?" Angela asked from her position above Caroline as they rounded a corner.

"Don't think so," Caroline answered and kept her eyes looking down on the SUV.

Caroline really couldn't see anything that would indicate that the driver of the SUV ever looked up in the rearview mirror or out through the side mirrors. They ultimately led the two gargoyles into Brooklyn and into Queens. Outside of Manhattan's skyscrapers, Angela and Caroline had to be extra careful with fewer shadows of tall buildings that they could dodge to, but still no one appeared to look up toward them. They finally pulled into a moderately sized parking lot near a small outdoor basketball court and a few apartment buildings.

"This must be it," Caroline commented as they landed on the roof of one of the apartment buildings, "Now all we need is to see which one they go into."

The two then stayed low so that they wouldn't be easily seen.

On the ground, Karloff and Edwards slowly made their way back to their apartment. It wasn't poor by any means, but neither was it in the "high rent" district, but then, that played allowing them to avoid too much serious notice. Though, for the moment, avoiding being noticed was something they feared wouldn't last long. They didn't like the fact that they might have to start all over again with trying to impersonate army officers to get a company to begin a cloning project that the government wasn't actually asking for.

"Do you think Xanatos will be able to out us?" Edwards wondered nervously as they made their way toward the apartment building they resided.

"I'm certain he has the cameras to give to the NYPD and if he does claim we were impersonating army officers, we can probably still get off on something along the lines of mischief and minor pranks," Karloff replied.

"That's the only good thing out of this," Edwards sighed, "how long do you think they'll put us away for playing such a prank?"

"Probably only a fine if Tora pays it," Karloff answered, "If not… a few months in a minimum security prison… I think."

Edwards only sighed and opened the door to the building he lived in, "We'll start again in a few hours… but I need to get a little sleep."

"Yep," Karloff nodded, "See you in a few hours."

Edwards went in and Karloff then walked diagonally across the street to the apartment building he lived in.

"Two different buildings," Angela said slowly as she stood back up, "Could make them more difficult to grab…"

"But one parking space," Caroline answered, "and this is all part of a process."

Angela nodded. They'd only accomplished step one, but it was a key step in the hunt for John Doe.

**To Be Continued…**


End file.
